Post by 4th and Maine on Mar 31, 2009 0:48:14 GMT -5
Well after 61 games and two weeks, we have eliminated 61 teams in the NCAA tournament and we are left with the final four: Connecticut, Michigan State, Villanova, and North Carolina. These four teams survived the first four rounds and will move on to Detroit this weekend and the final two rounds.
Michigan State will be right in their back yard as they are the sole two seed representative left in this tournament. They will surely have most of the crowd on their side as they square off against one of the final top seeds remaining, UConn. The Huskies have played extremely well in this tournament and have a lot of momentum even in the middle of all the allegations against the school and an agent who use to be affiliated with the school. The game will be played extremely close to Michigan State's home gym and it is expected that many of their fans will make the trip. However, UConn is a stories program and their fans do travel well, it will probably still be 75%-25% in favor of the Spartans.
In the other semi-final we have the other top seed, North Carolina, and the darlings of the tournament in my eyes so far, Villanova. The Wildcats got a little bit of home cooking in the first two rounds as they were able to play in Philidelphia, but hey it's not the first time a team has gotten a relatively easy road early, it happens. The Wildcats still had to go to Boston and dispose of both Duke and Pittsburgh, in what might have been the game of the tournament. They look to go to their first National Championship since 1985, the last time they took home the big prize.
But with the overall number one seed now out, it seems to be the heavy favorite now, if they still weren't before, would be the Tar Heels. They are coming off of victories over #4 Gonzaga and #2 Oklahoma and the National Player of the Year, Blake Griffin. The ankle of Ty Lawson appears to be holding up fine, and he only has two games left to get through. Tyler Hansbrough has been playing his typical hustle basketball, and even out shined against Griffin this past Sunday night.
So who is going to move on? I am going to go on a limb and say we are not going to get the #1 vs. #1 match-up and everyone wants to see. I think Tom Izzo is going to keep motivating the troops and getting the most out of his players when they lace em up in Detroit and play what will essentially be a home game. I think Thabeet gets into some foul trouble early in the second half, some of the three pointers fall for old Spartie, and Michigan State is barely able to score enough to knock off UConn and move on to the National title. Their opponent? The Tar Heels. Villanova has had a serious run and looks like they were a little under rated in the Big East this year. Then again with so many good teams knocking each other off, it's hard for all of them to go a whole season without flying under the radar a little bit. However, the run will end on Saturday and Villanova will not go to their first National title in twenty four years. Instead, North Carolina will be returning their for the second time in five years.
As far as the championship? I am also going to go with the Tar Heels. Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, and gang will complete their run and get Roy Williams another National title. I will have a more detailed preview as we get closer, just in case my final four predictions are wrong. Which isn't entirely out of the questions looking at my bracket in hindsight. However, I still do have a chance to get the ultimate prize, I did pick the Tar Heels to win the whole thing after all.
Other Notes:
*It looks like John Calipari may be leaving the Memphis Tigers to move into the Southeastern Conference and take the recently vacated job at Kentucky. Billy Gillesppi was fired a few days ago and the Wildcats have been looking to make a big splash actively pursuing both Billy Donnovan of the Florida Gators and Calipari of Memphis. It is being rumored by both ESPN and some of Calipari's staff that he is going to accept the deal and bolt from Memphis.
Smart decision? Why not. Kentucky is a legendary school and although a few people have had their problems their recently, the right guy can win there. The SEC also isn't overly strong on the hard wood, so building the program back up and being competitive in one of the "BCS conferences" may not take as long as it may have say he left for the Big East or ACC. If it is true and Calipari does end up in the blue grass state then Billy Donnovan, Bruce Pearl, and some of the other class coaches off the SEC better watch out. The coaching pool would get a whole lot deeper with this signing and some of Kentucky's tradition and credibility would be back over night. As a Gator fan this is something that makes me a little nervous.
*'Zo Mourning got his number retired last night, it was nice to see him so moved and touched by the ceremony. Mourning was a real good guy in the sports world and it's terrible some of the things he had to go though. He was a tough guy and was able to over come a lot of those to come back and make a return to the NBA. He def. deserved the ceremony and to have his number raised to the rafters. As far as the game went, D-Wade dropped 42 for the Miami Heat and they still lost by six points to the surging Orlando Magic. Dwayne Wade is certainly having an MVP like season, but on Mourning's night it sure looked like the Miami Heat could of used a big man much like himself out there on the court.
*If the playoffs in the NBA were to begin today the Magic would have the number two seed in the Eastern Conference. It kind of puts into perspective how much of a toll injuries and lack of depth off the bench have hurt the Boston Celtics. It wasn't long ago that they were the top seed in the East and fighting for home court advantage. Now if they playoffs were to be seeded the way they are now it would look like this:
#1 Cleveland vs. #8 Chicago
#2 Orlando vs. #7 Detroit
#3 Boston vs. #6 Philadelphia
#4 Atlanta vs. Miami
Seeing that and being a Celtics fan, makes me feel a little bit better. The 76ers in the first round wouldn't be a terrible match-up. Brand should still be out for the playoffs and if you are able to control Andre Iguodala, there isn't much else on the team to hurt you. Once the C's are into the second round they would have to face the Magic. Once you get past Dwight Howard, I don't think those three point shooters will hold up to lead them to the NBA championship. Then it would be off to Cleveland and a war with the Cav's. All bets would be off then.
Look at those seeds makes one other thing very clear. Oh my how the Detroit Pistons have fallen. They look as if their six year run to Eastern Conference finals will surely be over, and they are only a game ahead of Chicago of eighth and dead last. They would mean a first round date with Lebron. Goodluck Detroit. Then again you are only three games ahead of the Bobcats, one big slide and maybe Mo Town misses the playoffs completely. Ah, got to love that Billups for Iverson trade huh Pistons fans?
*Mark Cuban was fined by the NBA Monday for making comments regarding NBA officials on twitter. This comes as just the latest in a slew of public new of NBA stars or public figures and twitter. Charlie Villanueva was fined a couple weeks ago for tweeting during halftime. A week late Shaq O'Neil, one of the widely followed Twitter stars, decided to do the same thing and proclaimed nothing would happen. It didn't. Suns coach stepped up and said as long as the big fella is putting up his numbers there isn't a problem. Cuban wasn't so lucky, his pocket will be a little lighter for the comments. It's ok guys, I still enjoy them. I am following all three of them on twitter and love it as a fan. Are you on twitter yet? You can follow me on the right hand of this website.
*Caught Lebron James on 60 Minutes this past Sunday night. Kind of made me realize just how big this guy is 6'9 and 260 pounds? Now that's a grown man. Hitting an under hand shot, first attempt, from behind half court? Simply amazing. Reminds me of the old Michael Vick commercial where he throws the ball over 100 yards in the air, except this looked real. Swish.
*And finally, is it freakin' time for NBA playoffs yet? Christ.
Michigan State will be right in their back yard as they are the sole two seed representative left in this tournament. They will surely have most of the crowd on their side as they square off against one of the final top seeds remaining, UConn. The Huskies have played extremely well in this tournament and have a lot of momentum even in the middle of all the allegations against the school and an agent who use to be affiliated with the school. The game will be played extremely close to Michigan State's home gym and it is expected that many of their fans will make the trip. However, UConn is a stories program and their fans do travel well, it will probably still be 75%-25% in favor of the Spartans.
In the other semi-final we have the other top seed, North Carolina, and the darlings of the tournament in my eyes so far, Villanova. The Wildcats got a little bit of home cooking in the first two rounds as they were able to play in Philidelphia, but hey it's not the first time a team has gotten a relatively easy road early, it happens. The Wildcats still had to go to Boston and dispose of both Duke and Pittsburgh, in what might have been the game of the tournament. They look to go to their first National Championship since 1985, the last time they took home the big prize.
But with the overall number one seed now out, it seems to be the heavy favorite now, if they still weren't before, would be the Tar Heels. They are coming off of victories over #4 Gonzaga and #2 Oklahoma and the National Player of the Year, Blake Griffin. The ankle of Ty Lawson appears to be holding up fine, and he only has two games left to get through. Tyler Hansbrough has been playing his typical hustle basketball, and even out shined against Griffin this past Sunday night.
So who is going to move on? I am going to go on a limb and say we are not going to get the #1 vs. #1 match-up and everyone wants to see. I think Tom Izzo is going to keep motivating the troops and getting the most out of his players when they lace em up in Detroit and play what will essentially be a home game. I think Thabeet gets into some foul trouble early in the second half, some of the three pointers fall for old Spartie, and Michigan State is barely able to score enough to knock off UConn and move on to the National title. Their opponent? The Tar Heels. Villanova has had a serious run and looks like they were a little under rated in the Big East this year. Then again with so many good teams knocking each other off, it's hard for all of them to go a whole season without flying under the radar a little bit. However, the run will end on Saturday and Villanova will not go to their first National title in twenty four years. Instead, North Carolina will be returning their for the second time in five years.
As far as the championship? I am also going to go with the Tar Heels. Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, and gang will complete their run and get Roy Williams another National title. I will have a more detailed preview as we get closer, just in case my final four predictions are wrong. Which isn't entirely out of the questions looking at my bracket in hindsight. However, I still do have a chance to get the ultimate prize, I did pick the Tar Heels to win the whole thing after all.
Other Notes:
*It looks like John Calipari may be leaving the Memphis Tigers to move into the Southeastern Conference and take the recently vacated job at Kentucky. Billy Gillesppi was fired a few days ago and the Wildcats have been looking to make a big splash actively pursuing both Billy Donnovan of the Florida Gators and Calipari of Memphis. It is being rumored by both ESPN and some of Calipari's staff that he is going to accept the deal and bolt from Memphis.
Smart decision? Why not. Kentucky is a legendary school and although a few people have had their problems their recently, the right guy can win there. The SEC also isn't overly strong on the hard wood, so building the program back up and being competitive in one of the "BCS conferences" may not take as long as it may have say he left for the Big East or ACC. If it is true and Calipari does end up in the blue grass state then Billy Donnovan, Bruce Pearl, and some of the other class coaches off the SEC better watch out. The coaching pool would get a whole lot deeper with this signing and some of Kentucky's tradition and credibility would be back over night. As a Gator fan this is something that makes me a little nervous.
*'Zo Mourning got his number retired last night, it was nice to see him so moved and touched by the ceremony. Mourning was a real good guy in the sports world and it's terrible some of the things he had to go though. He was a tough guy and was able to over come a lot of those to come back and make a return to the NBA. He def. deserved the ceremony and to have his number raised to the rafters. As far as the game went, D-Wade dropped 42 for the Miami Heat and they still lost by six points to the surging Orlando Magic. Dwayne Wade is certainly having an MVP like season, but on Mourning's night it sure looked like the Miami Heat could of used a big man much like himself out there on the court.
*If the playoffs in the NBA were to begin today the Magic would have the number two seed in the Eastern Conference. It kind of puts into perspective how much of a toll injuries and lack of depth off the bench have hurt the Boston Celtics. It wasn't long ago that they were the top seed in the East and fighting for home court advantage. Now if they playoffs were to be seeded the way they are now it would look like this:
#1 Cleveland vs. #8 Chicago
#2 Orlando vs. #7 Detroit
#3 Boston vs. #6 Philadelphia
#4 Atlanta vs. Miami
Seeing that and being a Celtics fan, makes me feel a little bit better. The 76ers in the first round wouldn't be a terrible match-up. Brand should still be out for the playoffs and if you are able to control Andre Iguodala, there isn't much else on the team to hurt you. Once the C's are into the second round they would have to face the Magic. Once you get past Dwight Howard, I don't think those three point shooters will hold up to lead them to the NBA championship. Then it would be off to Cleveland and a war with the Cav's. All bets would be off then.
Look at those seeds makes one other thing very clear. Oh my how the Detroit Pistons have fallen. They look as if their six year run to Eastern Conference finals will surely be over, and they are only a game ahead of Chicago of eighth and dead last. They would mean a first round date with Lebron. Goodluck Detroit. Then again you are only three games ahead of the Bobcats, one big slide and maybe Mo Town misses the playoffs completely. Ah, got to love that Billups for Iverson trade huh Pistons fans?
*Mark Cuban was fined by the NBA Monday for making comments regarding NBA officials on twitter. This comes as just the latest in a slew of public new of NBA stars or public figures and twitter. Charlie Villanueva was fined a couple weeks ago for tweeting during halftime. A week late Shaq O'Neil, one of the widely followed Twitter stars, decided to do the same thing and proclaimed nothing would happen. It didn't. Suns coach stepped up and said as long as the big fella is putting up his numbers there isn't a problem. Cuban wasn't so lucky, his pocket will be a little lighter for the comments. It's ok guys, I still enjoy them. I am following all three of them on twitter and love it as a fan. Are you on twitter yet? You can follow me on the right hand of this website.
*Caught Lebron James on 60 Minutes this past Sunday night. Kind of made me realize just how big this guy is 6'9 and 260 pounds? Now that's a grown man. Hitting an under hand shot, first attempt, from behind half court? Simply amazing. Reminds me of the old Michael Vick commercial where he throws the ball over 100 yards in the air, except this looked real. Swish.
*And finally, is it freakin' time for NBA playoffs yet? Christ.