Weekend Review

As expected it was yet again a very exciting opening couple rounds of the NCAA Tournament.  There were the usual upsets, the big boys pushing around the little guys, injured players coming back and contributing, buzzer beaters, and nail biters.  The overall talent pool in college basketball may not be as good as it has been in the past. With that, and even with the tinkering that the NCAA insists on doing, the NCAA Tournament still produces the best sports drama of the year.  After making a very impressive mold of my posterior in my couch from Thursday morning to Sunday night I have some things that jumped out at me in good and bad ways and of course the Duke story as they head to the Sweet 16 again.

Duke's Weekend in Charlotte:

Kyrie Irving came back against an over matched Hampton team on Friday afternoon.  Duke really just imposed its will from the opening tip and the game was over early.  The most intriguing part of the game was how would Kyrie Irving look after not playing since early December?  In the first half Kyrie looked a bit apprehensive on the foot and looked like a guy that hadn’t played in over 3 months.  In the second half though Kyrie found his groove and ended with a team high 14 points.  Michigan smoked a distracted Tennessee team earlier that day and that set up a throwback game to the early 90’s between Michigan and Duke.

I’ll admit going in I was very happy to see Michigan moving past Tennessee.  Due to Tennessee being a “giant killer” all year.  After the game though I was surprised at how impressive the young Wolverines played.  Duke controlled the game for all except the last 6-10 minutes.  Nolan Smith played up to his usual Player of the Year level, then came Michigan’s 1-3-1.  The zone shut down Smith’s penetration and the open threes that Duke did get at the end of possessions weren’t falling.  Slowly the double digit lead that Duke had built early in the half disintegrated.  Duke held on in the end and survived a buzzer beating possible game tying shot from Michigan after a Nolan Smith missed free throw. 

I think overall it was a successful weekend for Duke.  Getting Kyrie Irving back was the best surprise for Duke.  I thought and now think even more the key for Duke was to get past this weekend.  Now Kyrie can have a near full week of practice to get re-integrated into the offense and get his legs under him.  The Michigan game was closer than it should’ve been, and I put the blame for that on the guy who won his 900^th game Sunday.  Coach K didn’t have the team ready to handle the 1-3-1 defense, and although it may not be a go to defense by Michigan it has been played before.  Also Coach K went into “clock kill” mode too early with the small lead that Duke had and against a team that can shoot the 3 like Michigan .  For me K goes into “clock kill” mode too early very often and it is a pet peeve of mine, it does usually work but yesterday was an example of what can happen with this strategy.  Hopefully moving forward Coach K will wait for a bigger lead, or less time left in the game prior to calling off the dogs so that a repeat of this near disaster doesn’t happen again.

Most Impressive Team: Ohio State

Murdered both teams they played this weekend and looked unstoppable.  I have to counter that though with the fact that the first game was against a 16 seed, and in the second game George Mason lost a leader of their team to illness prior to the game.  George Mason had no chance even with their ill player, but I think the impressive blow out may not have been quite as impressive.  Still, the Buckeyes showed why they are the #1 overall seed and favorites to cut down the nets in the end.

Most Impressive Player:  Matt Howard, Butler

As usual Howard didn’t put up the best numbers, but also as usual the plays that Howard made won games for Butler.  A buzzer beater to beat Old Dominion, a smart “Vlade Divac” flop/exaggeration on the rebound foul against Pitt and then sinking the game winning free throw.  A serious case could be made for Arizona’s Derrick Williams, and I wouldn’t argue but I choose Howard for this weekend because his heroics beat a #1 seed.

Biggest Disappointment: Big East

I have told friends for a while that the Big East is the deepest conference in the country, but as far as elite teams it isn’t the best conference.  Again it lived up to my opinion this weekend, whether it was Louisville falling to Morehead State or Notre Dame getting embarrassed by Florida State (should’ve left that pick on my bracket…gotta go with your gut).  Then Pitt losing against Butler, then Butler making a bone headed play to give the game back to Pitt, only for Pitt to make a more boneheaded play to give it right back to Butler.  Up to this point it has been another disappointing tournament for the Big East.

What I am Rooting For (other than Duke):

Who will come out of the Southwest and Southeast regions and represent them in the Final Four?  Kansas and Florida would be the favorites, but as we re-learn every single March the favorites aren’t the best pick usually.  My rooting interests will be Florida State beating Kansas with its superior length and athleticism in the Southwest final.  In order for that to happen Florida State will need to just continue executing offensively like it did against Notre Dame and not fall behind in its next two games.  FSU is great when playing with a lead, horrible coming from behind.  My other rooting interest on the right side of the bracket will be Butler.  I was rooting for them hard when they beat Pitt Saturday night and why not just carry that on and hope for repeat of last year’s National Title game?

I’ll have a Sweet 16/Elite 8 preview later this week.