Friday, March 21, 2008

NCAA Hoops: Day 2

Just 24 hours ago, I was saying that the tournament was providing good games, but not much in upsets. The God of College Basketball (Pete Maravich?) heard me, and decided to stop that one complaint post haste.

Let's review:

Biggest Upset: As Luke Cage would say, "Sweet Christmas!" Take your pick; today was lousy with upsets. I don't think #10 Davidson over #7 Gonzaga really counts, but it is technically an upset. You've got #12 Western Kentucky, those fucking Hilltoppers, beating #5 Drake on a last second 3-pointer that was ridiculous for any number of reasons. The fourth ranked UConn Huskypups lost to the pretty queer mascotted Toreros of San Diego State, which totally fucked one of my brackets. There was overrated Villanova beating more overated Clemson. I guess I'll go with #13 Siena beating #4 Vanderbilt, because of the following reasons: They didn't win on a lucky shot at the end of a game--they destroyed Vanderbilt; also, I picked it. I didn't get to watch more than 5 minutes of that game, in part because CBS thought I would be more interested in the non upset destruction that North Carolina visited on Mt. Saint Mary's. Thanks, CBS.

Biggest Almost Upset: There wasn't one today. Either the ranked team won handily, or it was an upset. The closest game to my "almost upset" parameters was Georgetown taking until the second half to dispose of University of Maryland Baltimore County. When all was said and done, they won handily. There were no close games in which the seeded team hung on to win, though. Today was a weird day. A weird, glorious day.

Best Players You Didn't See: Unless you were sneaky on your workday, you didn't see Davidson's Stephen Curry pour in 40 points against Gonzaga. I don't think he'll find himself as open as he was today against Georgetown in the second round. But he doesn't need much space, and he's willing to fire from anywhere inside the half line. If you haven't watched Dell Curry's babyfaced son shoot the lights out, make an appointment to watch him. By the way, did you see Adam Morrison in the crowd? He's gone totally awesome--shoulder length hair, and a Jesus Beard! Keep getting cooler, Adam Morrison, and good work not crying. There was David Godbold for Oklahoma; Kenny Hasbrouck of Siena (who was just ridiculous)--both of them carved up defenses, with shooting and passing and cutting and all that good shit. But I'm going to go with my man, Sonny Weems, which is just a super cool Southern black guy name. He was amazing tonight, working the Hoosiers like your dad works his cheap whore that your mom pretends to not know about. Sonny was the bomb--hittin' 3's, driving into the lane, stopping, popping, and hitting from 15--he did it all. Sonny hit 12 of 14 shots from the floor, and was 100% from the line. It will be very interesting to see how UNC matches up with him--I don't think they have anyone who can stop him.

Storylines: The East Bracket has been devoid of major upsets, but there are some very intriguing match-ups. Arkansas has it in them to beat UNC; Butler could beat Tennessee. Just because there hasn't been upsets in this Region doesn't mean they won't happen. Watch this Region. In the Midwest, you have seeds #10-13 all playing on the second day. Most likely upset? K-State over Wisconsin. (Aside from the obvious advancing of either #12 Villanova or #13 Siena, who play each other. I'd put money on Siena). In the West, I fully expect WVA to beat Duke, handily. And you've got #12 and #13 playing each other for a Sweet Sixteen berth. Weird day.

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