everything that's on my mind
(as if there's not already enough people doing this)Monday, March 13, 2006
ACC tournament
Duke managed to win their seventh ACC tournament championship in the last eight years, by defeating Boston College yesterday 78-76. They have been to nine straight title games, losing th
e first to North Carolina in 1998, then winning 5 in a row. They've now won 2 in a row after a loss to Maryland in 2004. The win also places them at the top of the list for ACC tournament titles. They passed UNC (15) for their 16th tournament title.
A lot of people left Duke for dead last week after 2 losses. They were tired. Teams figured out how to beat them. They were overrated. And yet, after that brief hiccup, they continue to win. Not only that, freshmen Greg Paulus and Josh McRoberts played as well as they've played all season against Wake Forest and Boston College. While Redick was voted tournament MVP, I don't think they would've won - especially against BC - were it not for the play of Paulus and McRoberts. Shelden Williams played great (and still doesn't get the credit he deserves), Redick shot great, but the two freshmen may have been their most valuable asset in Greensboro.
First, a couple of no-shows. Florida State apparently thought the game was over long before the time ran out, and ended up going home on Thursday after a loss to last-place Wake Forest. FSU also said goodbye to the NCAA tournament when they lost that game. Their schedule was far to weak to get in without a couple of wins in the ACC tournament (and still they would've been a bubble team.) A loss on day one, however, solidified an NIT bid.
Maryland, while defeating Georgia Tech on day one, was embarrassed by BC on Friday. Like FSU, they said goodbye to the NCAA's as well. Then Gary Williams - perhaps in protest to not getting in - announces Maryland will not be playing in the NIT, only to backtrack shortly afterwards and say, yes, they will be playing. When you don't really beat anyone all season long, then you start your tournament quarterfinal down 22-4, I think you should just shut-up and start preparing for the NIT.
As for Duke, it was great to see J.J.'s shot return in the Miami game on Friday. He shot over 50% and ended up with 25 points, including a clutch shot late in the game to stretch Duke's lead from 1 to 3 and send Duke to the semifinals. He didn't shoot quite as well against Wake, but still managed 20 points.
Wake really caught fire and played more like the team most people expected to see earlier in the year, as opposed to the last place ACC team we'd seen for the last couple of months, in knocking off FSU and an N.C. State team that can't seem to stop the downward spiral they've been in of late. I like Wake's seniors, particularly Justin Gray, and would've liked to have seen them run the table, were it not for Duke, of course. In the end, they didn't have enough to stop Duke.
The other semifinal was a great game in which BC and UNC really went at each other, and in the end BC pulled out a huge win. After that second game, nearly everyone seemed to be saying that BC would knock Duke off in the finals. But, it was not to be. Duke continues to rule the ACC tournament (and were it not for an injury that hampered Chris Duhon in 2004, they would've just won their 8th in a row.)
Redick's shooting improvement in the first two games proved not to be a fluke, as he scored 26 in the title game including 7-11 from 3-point range. At one point in the 2nd half, he hit
3 straight from behind the arc to give Duke a 10 point lead. After BC came back and took the lead, he hit back to back 3's in the final two mintues to first tie the game, then give Duke the lead for good. It was this title game performance that likely won him the MVP.
It was great to see Duke playing well again. Besides Redick, Williams, McRoberts and Paulus, DeMarcus Nelson had a pretty good tournament as well and is pretty consistently scoring in double-figures now. If that continues, and Dockery and Melchionni can contribute a few buckets here and there, Duke will be hard to beat in the NCAA tournament. If Melchionni could consistently hit the 3 like he did last year, Duke would be even more dangerous on offense. For some reason, he just hasn't done that very often this year.
One incident in the title game involved Paulus and BC guard Louis Hinnant, in which Paulus made a steal and threw the ball off Hinnant and out of bounds. As he jumped up off of the floor - excited about the good defensive play - Paulus pumped his arms and accidentally hit Hinnant in the chest. Hinnant took offense and then shoved Paulus, causing players from both teams to congregate in front of the Duke bench (where the play occurred.) On the replay - which we saw at least 47 times - it was clear that Paulus was excited and not taking a swing at Hinnant. He wasn't even looking in Hinnant's direction when he threw his arm out, and didn't even realize it was Hinnant shoving him back for a couple of seconds (he likely thought it was a teammate congratulating him on a great play.) The teams were separated without further incident, and some technicals were called, but nothing that really altered the game. What was beyond me is why Dick Vitale and Mike Patrick, who were calling the game, couldn't see this. They went on and on about how maybe Paulus was tapping Hinnant for a good hustle and Hinnant didn't understand, etc. and a couple of other stupid theories. It was pretty obvious what happened, but these guys were blind to it.
I've seen a number of people now picking BC into the final four. I wouldn't be surprised at all. They've won 10 of their last 12, and they are a very good team. Despite Carolina's recent play (they've won 8 of 9, I believe), most expected BC to be the second best team behind Duke in the ACC this year, and I'd say they probably are at this point. They're both very good and BC is only considered 2nd to Duke because they lost twice to them. But, they lost by only 2 both times. I think BC is a legitimate Final Four contender. I'm not sure about UNC due primarily to their youth.
And, of course, I'm seeing a lot of people still picking Duke to lose early (usually to LSU) in the tournament. Despite beating a very good BC team and winning the ACC - and despite the obvious improvement in play of Redick and Williams' supporting cast - nobody believes they'll go far. I'll have more to say about the tournament later, but for now let me say this - I think they'll be in Indianapolis.
e first to North Carolina in 1998, then winning 5 in a row. They've now won 2 in a row after a loss to Maryland in 2004. The win also places them at the top of the list for ACC tournament titles. They passed UNC (15) for their 16th tournament title.A lot of people left Duke for dead last week after 2 losses. They were tired. Teams figured out how to beat them. They were overrated. And yet, after that brief hiccup, they continue to win. Not only that, freshmen Greg Paulus and Josh McRoberts played as well as they've played all season against Wake Forest and Boston College. While Redick was voted tournament MVP, I don't think they would've won - especially against BC - were it not for the play of Paulus and McRoberts. Shelden Williams played great (and still doesn't get the credit he deserves), Redick shot great, but the two freshmen may have been their most valuable asset in Greensboro.
First, a couple of no-shows. Florida State apparently thought the game was over long before the time ran out, and ended up going home on Thursday after a loss to last-place Wake Forest. FSU also said goodbye to the NCAA tournament when they lost that game. Their schedule was far to weak to get in without a couple of wins in the ACC tournament (and still they would've been a bubble team.) A loss on day one, however, solidified an NIT bid.
Maryland, while defeating Georgia Tech on day one, was embarrassed by BC on Friday. Like FSU, they said goodbye to the NCAA's as well. Then Gary Williams - perhaps in protest to not getting in - announces Maryland will not be playing in the NIT, only to backtrack shortly afterwards and say, yes, they will be playing. When you don't really beat anyone all season long, then you start your tournament quarterfinal down 22-4, I think you should just shut-up and start preparing for the NIT.
As for Duke, it was great to see J.J.'s shot return in the Miami game on Friday. He shot over 50% and ended up with 25 points, including a clutch shot late in the game to stretch Duke's lead from 1 to 3 and send Duke to the semifinals. He didn't shoot quite as well against Wake, but still managed 20 points.
Wake really caught fire and played more like the team most people expected to see earlier in the year, as opposed to the last place ACC team we'd seen for the last couple of months, in knocking off FSU and an N.C. State team that can't seem to stop the downward spiral they've been in of late. I like Wake's seniors, particularly Justin Gray, and would've liked to have seen them run the table, were it not for Duke, of course. In the end, they didn't have enough to stop Duke.
The other semifinal was a great game in which BC and UNC really went at each other, and in the end BC pulled out a huge win. After that second game, nearly everyone seemed to be saying that BC would knock Duke off in the finals. But, it was not to be. Duke continues to rule the ACC tournament (and were it not for an injury that hampered Chris Duhon in 2004, they would've just won their 8th in a row.)
Redick's shooting improvement in the first two games proved not to be a fluke, as he scored 26 in the title game including 7-11 from 3-point range. At one point in the 2nd half, he hit
3 straight from behind the arc to give Duke a 10 point lead. After BC came back and took the lead, he hit back to back 3's in the final two mintues to first tie the game, then give Duke the lead for good. It was this title game performance that likely won him the MVP.It was great to see Duke playing well again. Besides Redick, Williams, McRoberts and Paulus, DeMarcus Nelson had a pretty good tournament as well and is pretty consistently scoring in double-figures now. If that continues, and Dockery and Melchionni can contribute a few buckets here and there, Duke will be hard to beat in the NCAA tournament. If Melchionni could consistently hit the 3 like he did last year, Duke would be even more dangerous on offense. For some reason, he just hasn't done that very often this year.
One incident in the title game involved Paulus and BC guard Louis Hinnant, in which Paulus made a steal and threw the ball off Hinnant and out of bounds. As he jumped up off of the floor - excited about the good defensive play - Paulus pumped his arms and accidentally hit Hinnant in the chest. Hinnant took offense and then shoved Paulus, causing players from both teams to congregate in front of the Duke bench (where the play occurred.) On the replay - which we saw at least 47 times - it was clear that Paulus was excited and not taking a swing at Hinnant. He wasn't even looking in Hinnant's direction when he threw his arm out, and didn't even realize it was Hinnant shoving him back for a couple of seconds (he likely thought it was a teammate congratulating him on a great play.) The teams were separated without further incident, and some technicals were called, but nothing that really altered the game. What was beyond me is why Dick Vitale and Mike Patrick, who were calling the game, couldn't see this. They went on and on about how maybe Paulus was tapping Hinnant for a good hustle and Hinnant didn't understand, etc. and a couple of other stupid theories. It was pretty obvious what happened, but these guys were blind to it.
I've seen a number of people now picking BC into the final four. I wouldn't be surprised at all. They've won 10 of their last 12, and they are a very good team. Despite Carolina's recent play (they've won 8 of 9, I believe), most expected BC to be the second best team behind Duke in the ACC this year, and I'd say they probably are at this point. They're both very good and BC is only considered 2nd to Duke because they lost twice to them. But, they lost by only 2 both times. I think BC is a legitimate Final Four contender. I'm not sure about UNC due primarily to their youth.
And, of course, I'm seeing a lot of people still picking Duke to lose early (usually to LSU) in the tournament. Despite beating a very good BC team and winning the ACC - and despite the obvious improvement in play of Redick and Williams' supporting cast - nobody believes they'll go far. I'll have more to say about the tournament later, but for now let me say this - I think they'll be in Indianapolis.
Chaney retires
Evidently Temple basketball coach John Chaney has retired as of this morning. A quote from the article:
Evidently Temple basketball coach John Chaney has retired as of this morning. A quote from the article:
PHILADELPHIA - John Chaney retired Monday after 24 seasons as Temple's basketball coach, ending a Hall of Fame career.
"I have said all along that I would know when it would be time to step down and now is that time," Chaney said in a statement. "I want to thank Temple University, its fans and community for allowing me to do what I love for so long. It has never been a job for me, but a passion. Now that I'm retiring, my passion will be to spend more time with my family, and, of course, kill John Calipari."
Best wishes to Coach Chaney in his future endeavors.
I'll be posting by Wednesday night regarding the NCAA tournament, including my take on the bracket, seedings, interesting matchups, etc., as well as my picks.
I'll be posting by Wednesday night regarding the NCAA tournament, including my take on the bracket, seedings, interesting matchups, etc., as well as my picks.
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I look forward to reading your take on the tournament. Maybe I should hold off on filling in my bracket until then. ;-)
Cry havoc, and let slip the Devils of Duke!
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Cry havoc, and let slip the Devils of Duke!
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