24 Thoughts on 48 Games

There are few weekends I enjoy more than the 1st and 2nd rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament. Brackets are busted. Coaches are angry. Kids are crying. March is Madness.

Most people are probably lamenting how much time they spent in front of the television this weekend, but not me. I wish I had watched more basketball. Easter afternoon dinner cost me the end of the Davidson/Georgetown game. A kid's birthday party meant I missed West Virginia/Duke.

Heck, I'm a little annoyed I missed all the NIT action.

I did, however, watch lots and lots of basketball. Here are 24 thoughts about the 48 games throughout the weekend:

1) I was not sold on North Carolina being the best team in the country, but I am now. They destroyed Arkansas yesterday, the same Arkansas team that beat Tennessee. I thought Arkansas would give the Tar Heels a game, but UNC is playing at a different level than the rest of the tournament right now. I think they would probably be a better #8 seed in the NBA East than the Hawks or Nets right now.

2) What is going on with UCLA? They get the bail out call of all bail out calls against Stanford, then hit an illegal shot to beat Cal, then get away with an easy foul call against Texas A&M on Saturday night in what was a terrific game. Don't think it was a foul? Look at this and this. Yeesh. Sloan's mugging falls somewhere between water-boarding and a double-arm chicken wing, but nothing was called.

3) Staying in the Pac-10 a little longer, what happened to USC? Like everyone else, I thought they were peaking in March, but the Trojans laid an egg against Kansas State. O.J. Mayo had a few moments, but never could take over the game. I think college basketball can kiss him goodbye, along with Eric Gordon, Michael Beasley and DeAndre Jordan. We still get Derrick Rose for at least one more game. I realize these guys are not true student-athletes, but I love the impact they are having on the game.

4) Stanford's Trent Johnson deserves the criticism he is getting here. The call that had him so steamed was not even a bad one, though I was not watching to see if that was more of a culmination of frustration or an isolated incident. Either way, he has to know better than to keep after the officials after the first technical. He could have cost his team the game by getting tossed so early. I know some people think it was unwarranted, but the referees have a job to do as well. If the coach won't take the first warning or the first technical as hints to back off, what choice do they have but to eject him?

5) I'm glad the five foul discussion is back. Dick Vitale seems to be championing the idea of giving more fouls to college players than the five allowed before disqualification. It is one of the worst rules in sports that players are thrown out of the game for committing five fouls. The idea is that otherwise players would foul, foul, foul because there is no penalty. That is pure silliness. Players and coaches do not want to foul because foul shots lead to easy points. If college went to six fouls before disqualification or some different sort of penalty (foul shots and the ball after the 5th foul?), the game could be officiated better (no reason to worry about fouling out stars) and would be more entertaining (stars get to play instead of watch). Games have been affected by fouls - Michael Beasley was saddled with cheap fouls against USC. San Diego went into overtime against UConn without its best player. Roy Hibbert played just 16 minutes in the loss to Davidson. Let the players decide the games.

6) Favorite game so far? I didn't get to see much of the Western Kentucky/Drake game, so it has to be Belmont/Duke. The Bruins were brilliant for 39 minutes against the Blue Devils, backdooring and launching 3's against the Duke defense. The last minute, however, was a disaster. Instead of getting a 2 for 1 in the final minute, they ran down the clock with a one point lead and got a horrible look. Then, they failed to get back in transition and gave up a lay-up (!). Finally, with the ball under their own basket, they ran a lob player for a guy who could not be over six feet tall. Even Vince Gill knew that play was not going to work.

7) What about Duke? The Blue Devils over-achieved all year, so this was a terrific season for Coach K. On the flip side, however, is that Duke is not bringing in the Chrisitan Laettners, Elton Brands and Shane Battiers anymore to win championships. This Duke squad was not a serious contender. Is Coach K content with coaching great kids who cannot win it all, ala his mentor Bobby Knight?

8) I picked Arizona to get to the Elite Eight in my bracket and still don't understand why that was a bad pick. The Wildcats are loaded with talent and a good coach, but never clicked all year.

9) There is no control over the draw, but UCLA is benefitting from upsets to UConn and Drake while the East & South Brackets are loaded with the top seeds advancing. With referee help and a kind draw, the Bruins' Road to the Final Four has been the least bumpy of any team thus far.

10) Best CBS basketball commentator continues to be Bill Raftery. He called both Tennessee games and was on the money throughout each. I am also thoroughly enjoying Bobby Knight's insights in the ESPN studio.

11) Memphis made 15 out of 32 free throws to survive against Mississippi State. How can you play basketball and make less than half your free throws? Granny shots, anyone?

12) Breakout star of the tournament? Stephen Curry. The guy's shot is a Monet. There are no flaws in that thing whatsoever. His dad was a great NBA shooter (Dell Curry) and his mom is beautiful even as she is ripping chunks of hair from her head everytime Davidson gives up a basket. He has a great looking smile, a confident swagger...if he was a Tar Heel instead of a Wildcat, he'd be a household name. He might become one before the tournament is done.

13) Davidson beat Gonzaga and Georgetown. That is the most impressive resume of the tournament so far, followed by West Virginia's impressive wins over Arizona and Duke. Least impressive resume belongs to Louisville (Boise State and an over-rated Oklahoma).

14) Tennessee is the lone SEC team standing after Arkansas and Mississippi State went down yesterday. The ACC is down to one as well after being touted as the best conference according to the RPI. Meanwhile, there are three Big East and Pac-10 teams still alive in the Dance. It is all cyclical, but the best ball is not being played in the South right now.

15) Is the Xavier/Purdue game over yet?

16) Nobody gives Wisconsin any love, but they win, win, win. They run a fairly boring offensive system (an inverted flex offense called the "Swing" offense) and play a fairly boring defensive style (contest, rebound - few live ball turnovers or pressing) with a group of fairly boring players (no McDonald's All-Americans). They are like the Foreigner of college basketball. It is dull, mediocre and bland, but it keeps making the classic rock rotation year after year. I guess Bo Ryan is the Lou Gramm of the band.

17) Joke that got old very quickly: Love the Drake. I love Seinfeld, but the joke was too obvious and too often repeated throughout the opening round. Every Bulldog highlight included either the "love" or "hate" version of the phrase.

18) Roy Williams complained about the slippery NCAA logo at the center of the court. I wondered about that thing too - what is the point of it? Are they advertising the NCAA? Don't they get enough advertising throughout the tournament without needing center court? Furthermore, why advertise the NCAA in the first place? It does not need customers. Sell that spot to the highest bidder, I say. I'd rather see the Sonic couple at mid-court than that big blue ice patch.

19) Is it time to shorten the shot clock again? It was once 45 seconds, but now it sits at 35. There are far too many games right now that feature teams dribbling around aimlessly for 28 seconds before setting a ball screen to get a contested three at the end of the shot clock. The women have 30 seconds to shoot. Women!?!

20) Villanova was the last team to get an at-large bid, but they are still in the tournament after wins over Clemson and Siena. The teams that got at-large bids and then showed they did not belong were South Alabama and Baylor. Jay Wright is an under-rated coach for one reason - he is too good-looking. Basketball coaches ought to look like Phil Martelli, not GQ models. Wright is too pretty for his own good.

21) Which coach will ride March success into a bigger job, ala Bruce Pearl or Stan Heath? My money is on Tony Bennett to leave Washington State for greener pastures (Indiana?). His team has made a nice run to the Sweet Sixteen, but he'll never be able to recruit a championship team in Pullman. If he becomes a Hoosier, he will replace another former Cougar coach in Kelvin Sampson.

22) There is a reason teams will play out seemingly over games to the very last second like Miami did yesterday. The Longhorns kept missing free throws and the Hurricanes made a few shots to get the game down to one possession before the final buzzer. It might seem like coaches are delaying the inevitable, but it really does not take much to turn a double-digit lead into a nail-biter if a team cannot make free throws.

23) Speaking of Texas, the Longhorns travel to Houston this weekend for a chance to play in the Final Four...in San Antonio. That is quite an advantage for the #2 seed of the South Bracket. The Women's Tournament is even worse - Tennessee, the #1 seed, is playing against #9 seed Purdue tonight...at Purdue!?! I understand the desire to fill the seats, but why are lower seeds getting a home court advantage?

24) Best tournament moments thus far?

5 - Tennessee's Tyler Smith's block of A.J. Graves lay-up in win over Butler
4 - Duke's Gerald Henderson's lay-up to beat Belmont
3 - Stanford's Brook Lopez beats Marquette
2 - San Diego's De'Jon Jackson knocks UConn out of the tourney
1 - Western Kentucky's Ty Rogers beats Drake with a buzzer-beating three-pointer

Two more days until more Madness...