Thursday, March 31, 2005
The 2005 Fighting Illini
Illinois is 36-1 and in the Final Four and this Illini fan woke up this morning as he does every morning and went about his business in an ordinary and non-disruptive fashion.
But if you had pulled Wonk aside last November 1 and divulged that in exactly five months Illinois would be 36-1 and in the Final Four, this blogger would have run around screaming with joy and waving his hands above his head for the better part of, well, five months.
Why is that? What is it about incremental and cumulative spectacular good fortune that makes us treat it like it was expected?
Well, this wasn't expected. No one, and Wonk means no one, saw this coming. Yes, we knew Illinois was going to be good. But 36-1? That's beyond good. It's historic.
There have been deeper Illinois teams and taller ones, certainly. But none better.
Now this team is in the Final Four where they could very well win Illinois' first national championship--or they could very well be finished by early Saturday night. Either way, it's been historic. (But, um, two more wins would be fine, too.)
So thank you, Illini:
For playing a brand of ball that pleases John Wooden and defeats opponents.
For blazing through December playing at April efficiency (here's hoping you can do it again in April).
For destroying the then number-1 team by more than what the final score said.
For the tough road wins at Madison and East Lansing.
For winning even on your off days and nights.
For the 14-pass possession against Northwestern.
For recovering from the loss at Ohio State and winning the Big Ten tournament with relative ease.
And, of course, for the luminous and destined to be legendary comeback against Arizona.
Once-in-a-generation Big Ten team Illinois, Wonk salutes you!
Has The Sporting News lost its server or its mind?
Coverage of college hoops at sportingnews.com seems to have almost entirely evaporated as of this morning. Clicking on the "college basketball" tab on the main screen takes you directly to this article on Kansas by Mike DeCourcy, which is very interesting and well done but does not in itself constitute coverage of the entire sport. What's going on?
The end draws near(er)
Wonk is going to put the blog on hiatus for six months or so after posting next Friday, April 8. Watch for a week-long 2004-05 retrospective starting Monday! Five-themed features to include:
--Wonk’s five dumbest posts of the year (I know, I know: only five? Send in those nominations today!)
--Wonk’s five favorite contributions to Wonk Back! from the alert readers.
--Five hoops blogs Wonk loves.
Wonk will then shut the old girl down for the off-season like a Bar Harbor lobster pound.
Only to descend visigoth-like upon your free time yet again come November.
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Indiana sophomore Patrick Ewing, Jr. yesterday announced he will transfer to a yet to be determined school. He will be required to sit out the 2005-06 season. Indefatigable Hoosier beat writer Terry Hutchens of the Indianapolis Star reports that playing time (too little) and style of play (too slow) were the main reasons for Ewing's decision.
Pierre Pierce update: Lawyers for the former Iowa player yesterday asked the judge in the case to dismiss charges of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. Pierce also faces charges of burglary and criminal mischief. He is currently not in custody but is required to remain in the state of Iowa. Pierce was given permission to visit his home in Illinois for the Easter holiday. (Link here.)
Wisconsin assistant coach Rob Jeter may be one of the leading candidates for Bruce Pearl's old job at Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Stories split four ways--Final Four coverage....
Andy Katz of espn.com looks at all four head coaches here....CBS can't just come out and say they're happy with Illinois and North Carolina making it to the Final Four but, well, they're happy with Illinois and North Carolina making it to the Final Four. (Last year's national championship game between Connecticut and Georgia Tech drew the lowest viewership rating in recent history.) Scramble for tickets coverage here....It's an odd adjective that takes in both Juan Diego Palacios and Drew Neitzel. And yet they're the only two freshmen who will start in Saturday's games. Conclusion? Upperclassmen rock! So sayeth the always read-worthy Jeff Shelman of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
(Michigan) State of euphoria!
Start here: Ken Pomeroy looks at the MSU-North Carolina match up and, as always, takes the rock straight to the cognitive rim as it were....
Much has been made about UNC's defense this week. Michigan State as a five-seed, is not a huge underdog, mainly because of their ability to score and the Tar Heels perceived inability to prevent the score. But is UNC's defense really a liability?...
Beginning with the NC State game on February 22nd, nine of ten Tar Heel opponents have breached the point per possession mark. Part of this was attributable to Rashad McCants' absence. But McCants has returned to his usual minutes in the NCAA tourney, and UNC is coming off of its worst defensive game of the year against Wisconsin--the Badgers' offensive efficiency was 118.
The culprit has been UNC's inability to create turnovers. Before McCants left, UNC had forced at least 13 turnovers in every game. Since? Only three of ten opponents have had that many turnovers. During the first twelve games of the ACC season, UNC opponents were committing a turnover once in every four possessions. During the NCAA Tournament that number has dropped to one in six.
It unlikely that UNC can hold the big green S to less than a point per possession, even by playing their January-type defense. The Spartans have failed to reach that mark only three times in 32 games, and are coming off of arguably their best offensive game of the season, hanging a 126 OE on Kentucky. But Michigan State can play at that lofty level again if they adhere to the 15/15 rule: gather more than 15 offensive boards, and turn it over fewer than 15 times. That's the recipe for an upset.
In other less succinct venues....
Forecast: fast. Tom Izzo remembers getting whipped by North Carolina in 1998 in the Sweet 16 and says the moral of the story is not to change your style of play: State's going to run Saturday night.
Profiles in saturation. Two-headed monster profile of Shannon Brown and Maurice Ager here. Profile of Drew Neitzel here. Profile of Tim Bograkos here. (A quick scan does not as yet turn up the word "scrappy" but Wonk trusts it's in there somewhere.) Profiles of the next Tulsa head coach, current Spartan assistant, and former North Carolina assistant Doug Wojcik here and here. Profile of the Spartan parents here.
One profile of Paul Davis here. Want more? Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press adopts a Barbara-Walters tone of prying earnestness and curls up in front of the fire for an intimate chat with Davis here. BONUS Wonk piece of advice for all Final Four players! Run--run I tells ya--when you see Albom coming. Indulgently oleaginous prose fairly oozes from this misplaced camp counselor like ink from a squid, to wit: "Spend a little time with Paul Davis, the Spartans' 6-foot-11 junior center, the jewel of his recruiting class, the NBA hopeful, the likely lynchpin of Michigan State's chances against North Carolina at the Final Four, and you realize that look on his face, the furrowed brow, the down-turned mouth, the reddened cheeks, the burning eyes, is not a look of anger, bitterness or ego." Ewww. Wonk's keyboard typed that. Must disinfect....
Illinipalooza!
Minnesota coach Dan Monson, Northwestern coach Bill Carmody, and Drake coach Tom Davis rave about the Illini and their style of play here.
More advisors than players. Advice for Bruce Weber from 1994 Final Four participant Lon Kruger here. Advice for the Illinois players from old geezers (Jerry Harkness, Gary Garland, Marcus Liberty, Kenny Battle) who've been to the Final Four with state of Illinois-based teams here. Advice for both the coaches and the players from public-speaking consultants (Wonk is not making this up) on how to talk to the press here.
Micro-coverage alert! There's friction between the 1989 and 2005 teams about who's better! Much ado about nothing, you say? Tell it to the Chicago Sun-Times' Jay Mariotti, who covers the dispute with the feverish he-said-it-first breathlessness of a junior-high-school girl adjudicating a hallway dispute between friends here. Meanwhile, Skip Myslenski of the Chicago Tribune adopts more of a Jimmy Carter outside-mediator tone on the same weighty matter here....Stale writes-itself connect-the-dots on Champaign-Urbana/Urbana-Champaign befuddlement here.
Profiles in endurance. Profile of Luther Head, pride of the West Side, here. Two-headed-monster profile of Dee Brown and Deron Williams here. Bruce Weber (he "drinks three beers faster than anyone and then stops") here. Rick Pitino here. Two-headed-monster profile of Louisville assistants Kevin Willard and Vince Taylor here. Ryan Anderson here. (Who's Ryan Anderson? Exactly. Look, it's only Thursday and sportswriters are already running out of topics. So if you've ever wanted to be the subject of a newspaper profile, now's your chance. Get down to the Edward Jones Dome and look talkative. It worked for Ryan Anderson.)
Gregg Doyel of cbs.sportsline says "Louisville matches up with Illinois better than anyone the Illini have faced this season." (Wonk says: Doyel writes this passage as if he's unaware of how much zone defense the Cardinals are likely to play. So his examples--Arkansas and Iowa--of big guards bothering Illinois don't really apply.)
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Crying Powell
Wonk,
In handicapping the Illinois-Louisville game, Seth Davis has listed Illinois’ bigs as James Augustine, Jack Ingram, and Warren Carter.
Considering that Steve Alford said that Roger Powell is the key in this contest (and I agree), this seems like a significant omission.
Charles A.
Agreed. Thanks, Charles!
Return of the Ohio State "don't go the airport" jinx?
Longtime alert readers will recall that during the second half of Illinois' game at Ohio State on March 6 (with the Illini nursing a seemingly comfortable double-digit lead) the local CBS affiliate in Champaign ran a text message across the screen telling viewers not to come to the airport for a celebration welcoming the team home. The Illini promptly blew the lead and lost the game, their only loss of the season.
Now, a watchful fan thinks perhaps another such jinx is in the works....
Wonk,
The Illinois athletic department looks like it's up to its Ohio State celebration-anticipating shenanigans again. The office of the athletic director had a send-off this evening for the team, and it has also planned a watch party at the Assembly Hall on the new video board... IF the Illini win on Saturday.
As if that weren't bad enough, an e-mail was sent out to "all faculty, academic professionals, civil service staff, grad students, and undergrad students" at Illinois from Bruce Weber (or someone pretending to be him) asking "everyone's help in ensuring that whatever celebrations may take place at the end of the season be safe and enjoyable for everyone." I believe they've also scheduled a "greet the team on April 5th" event.
Does this reek of the Ohio State "there are no celebrations" crawl to you?
Greg C.
Hmm, tough call. The egregious and basketball-gods-flouting aspect of the Ohio State game message, of course, was its premature nature. It felt like someone at Illinois was saying: "We have this game won and we're going to finish the regular season undefeated. Better tell people not to come to the airport."
Planning for if-we-win and if-we-lose events, by contrast, would not seem to tweak the noses of the hoops gods so. (Michigan State is making the same plans, after all.) And remember, the one sure-fire way to absolutely positively lose this weekend would be to put a furled banner in the rafters of the Edward Jones Dome saying "ILLINOIS: NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 2005." Fortunately the Edward Jones Dome doesn't have rafters so we don't have to worry about that.
¶ 7:51 AM
Illinois is 36-1 and in the Final Four and this Illini fan woke up this morning as he does every morning and went about his business in an ordinary and non-disruptive fashion.
But if you had pulled Wonk aside last November 1 and divulged that in exactly five months Illinois would be 36-1 and in the Final Four, this blogger would have run around screaming with joy and waving his hands above his head for the better part of, well, five months.
Why is that? What is it about incremental and cumulative spectacular good fortune that makes us treat it like it was expected?
Well, this wasn't expected. No one, and Wonk means no one, saw this coming. Yes, we knew Illinois was going to be good. But 36-1? That's beyond good. It's historic.
There have been deeper Illinois teams and taller ones, certainly. But none better.
Now this team is in the Final Four where they could very well win Illinois' first national championship--or they could very well be finished by early Saturday night. Either way, it's been historic. (But, um, two more wins would be fine, too.)
So thank you, Illini:
For playing a brand of ball that pleases John Wooden and defeats opponents.
For blazing through December playing at April efficiency (here's hoping you can do it again in April).
For destroying the then number-1 team by more than what the final score said.
For the tough road wins at Madison and East Lansing.
For winning even on your off days and nights.
For the 14-pass possession against Northwestern.
For recovering from the loss at Ohio State and winning the Big Ten tournament with relative ease.
And, of course, for the luminous and destined to be legendary comeback against Arizona.
Once-in-a-generation Big Ten team Illinois, Wonk salutes you!
Has The Sporting News lost its server or its mind?
Coverage of college hoops at sportingnews.com seems to have almost entirely evaporated as of this morning. Clicking on the "college basketball" tab on the main screen takes you directly to this article on Kansas by Mike DeCourcy, which is very interesting and well done but does not in itself constitute coverage of the entire sport. What's going on?
The end draws near(er)
Wonk is going to put the blog on hiatus for six months or so after posting next Friday, April 8. Watch for a week-long 2004-05 retrospective starting Monday! Five-themed features to include:
--Wonk’s five dumbest posts of the year (I know, I know: only five? Send in those nominations today!)
--Wonk’s five favorite contributions to Wonk Back! from the alert readers.
--Five hoops blogs Wonk loves.
Wonk will then shut the old girl down for the off-season like a Bar Harbor lobster pound.
Only to descend visigoth-like upon your free time yet again come November.
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Indiana sophomore Patrick Ewing, Jr. yesterday announced he will transfer to a yet to be determined school. He will be required to sit out the 2005-06 season. Indefatigable Hoosier beat writer Terry Hutchens of the Indianapolis Star reports that playing time (too little) and style of play (too slow) were the main reasons for Ewing's decision.
Pierre Pierce update: Lawyers for the former Iowa player yesterday asked the judge in the case to dismiss charges of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. Pierce also faces charges of burglary and criminal mischief. He is currently not in custody but is required to remain in the state of Iowa. Pierce was given permission to visit his home in Illinois for the Easter holiday. (Link here.)
Wisconsin assistant coach Rob Jeter may be one of the leading candidates for Bruce Pearl's old job at Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Stories split four ways--Final Four coverage....
Andy Katz of espn.com looks at all four head coaches here....CBS can't just come out and say they're happy with Illinois and North Carolina making it to the Final Four but, well, they're happy with Illinois and North Carolina making it to the Final Four. (Last year's national championship game between Connecticut and Georgia Tech drew the lowest viewership rating in recent history.) Scramble for tickets coverage here....It's an odd adjective that takes in both Juan Diego Palacios and Drew Neitzel. And yet they're the only two freshmen who will start in Saturday's games. Conclusion? Upperclassmen rock! So sayeth the always read-worthy Jeff Shelman of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
(Michigan) State of euphoria!
Start here: Ken Pomeroy looks at the MSU-North Carolina match up and, as always, takes the rock straight to the cognitive rim as it were....
Much has been made about UNC's defense this week. Michigan State as a five-seed, is not a huge underdog, mainly because of their ability to score and the Tar Heels perceived inability to prevent the score. But is UNC's defense really a liability?...
Beginning with the NC State game on February 22nd, nine of ten Tar Heel opponents have breached the point per possession mark. Part of this was attributable to Rashad McCants' absence. But McCants has returned to his usual minutes in the NCAA tourney, and UNC is coming off of its worst defensive game of the year against Wisconsin--the Badgers' offensive efficiency was 118.
The culprit has been UNC's inability to create turnovers. Before McCants left, UNC had forced at least 13 turnovers in every game. Since? Only three of ten opponents have had that many turnovers. During the first twelve games of the ACC season, UNC opponents were committing a turnover once in every four possessions. During the NCAA Tournament that number has dropped to one in six.
It unlikely that UNC can hold the big green S to less than a point per possession, even by playing their January-type defense. The Spartans have failed to reach that mark only three times in 32 games, and are coming off of arguably their best offensive game of the season, hanging a 126 OE on Kentucky. But Michigan State can play at that lofty level again if they adhere to the 15/15 rule: gather more than 15 offensive boards, and turn it over fewer than 15 times. That's the recipe for an upset.
In other less succinct venues....
Forecast: fast. Tom Izzo remembers getting whipped by North Carolina in 1998 in the Sweet 16 and says the moral of the story is not to change your style of play: State's going to run Saturday night.
Profiles in saturation. Two-headed monster profile of Shannon Brown and Maurice Ager here. Profile of Drew Neitzel here. Profile of Tim Bograkos here. (A quick scan does not as yet turn up the word "scrappy" but Wonk trusts it's in there somewhere.) Profiles of the next Tulsa head coach, current Spartan assistant, and former North Carolina assistant Doug Wojcik here and here. Profile of the Spartan parents here.
One profile of Paul Davis here. Want more? Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press adopts a Barbara-Walters tone of prying earnestness and curls up in front of the fire for an intimate chat with Davis here. BONUS Wonk piece of advice for all Final Four players! Run--run I tells ya--when you see Albom coming. Indulgently oleaginous prose fairly oozes from this misplaced camp counselor like ink from a squid, to wit: "Spend a little time with Paul Davis, the Spartans' 6-foot-11 junior center, the jewel of his recruiting class, the NBA hopeful, the likely lynchpin of Michigan State's chances against North Carolina at the Final Four, and you realize that look on his face, the furrowed brow, the down-turned mouth, the reddened cheeks, the burning eyes, is not a look of anger, bitterness or ego." Ewww. Wonk's keyboard typed that. Must disinfect....
Illinipalooza!
Minnesota coach Dan Monson, Northwestern coach Bill Carmody, and Drake coach Tom Davis rave about the Illini and their style of play here.
More advisors than players. Advice for Bruce Weber from 1994 Final Four participant Lon Kruger here. Advice for the Illinois players from old geezers (Jerry Harkness, Gary Garland, Marcus Liberty, Kenny Battle) who've been to the Final Four with state of Illinois-based teams here. Advice for both the coaches and the players from public-speaking consultants (Wonk is not making this up) on how to talk to the press here.
Micro-coverage alert! There's friction between the 1989 and 2005 teams about who's better! Much ado about nothing, you say? Tell it to the Chicago Sun-Times' Jay Mariotti, who covers the dispute with the feverish he-said-it-first breathlessness of a junior-high-school girl adjudicating a hallway dispute between friends here. Meanwhile, Skip Myslenski of the Chicago Tribune adopts more of a Jimmy Carter outside-mediator tone on the same weighty matter here....Stale writes-itself connect-the-dots on Champaign-Urbana/Urbana-Champaign befuddlement here.
Profiles in endurance. Profile of Luther Head, pride of the West Side, here. Two-headed-monster profile of Dee Brown and Deron Williams here. Bruce Weber (he "drinks three beers faster than anyone and then stops") here. Rick Pitino here. Two-headed-monster profile of Louisville assistants Kevin Willard and Vince Taylor here. Ryan Anderson here. (Who's Ryan Anderson? Exactly. Look, it's only Thursday and sportswriters are already running out of topics. So if you've ever wanted to be the subject of a newspaper profile, now's your chance. Get down to the Edward Jones Dome and look talkative. It worked for Ryan Anderson.)
Gregg Doyel of cbs.sportsline says "Louisville matches up with Illinois better than anyone the Illini have faced this season." (Wonk says: Doyel writes this passage as if he's unaware of how much zone defense the Cardinals are likely to play. So his examples--Arkansas and Iowa--of big guards bothering Illinois don't really apply.)
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Crying Powell
Wonk,
In handicapping the Illinois-Louisville game, Seth Davis has listed Illinois’ bigs as James Augustine, Jack Ingram, and Warren Carter.
Considering that Steve Alford said that Roger Powell is the key in this contest (and I agree), this seems like a significant omission.
Charles A.
Agreed. Thanks, Charles!
Return of the Ohio State "don't go the airport" jinx?
Longtime alert readers will recall that during the second half of Illinois' game at Ohio State on March 6 (with the Illini nursing a seemingly comfortable double-digit lead) the local CBS affiliate in Champaign ran a text message across the screen telling viewers not to come to the airport for a celebration welcoming the team home. The Illini promptly blew the lead and lost the game, their only loss of the season.
Now, a watchful fan thinks perhaps another such jinx is in the works....
Wonk,
The Illinois athletic department looks like it's up to its Ohio State celebration-anticipating shenanigans again. The office of the athletic director had a send-off this evening for the team, and it has also planned a watch party at the Assembly Hall on the new video board... IF the Illini win on Saturday.
As if that weren't bad enough, an e-mail was sent out to "all faculty, academic professionals, civil service staff, grad students, and undergrad students" at Illinois from Bruce Weber (or someone pretending to be him) asking "everyone's help in ensuring that whatever celebrations may take place at the end of the season be safe and enjoyable for everyone." I believe they've also scheduled a "greet the team on April 5th" event.
Does this reek of the Ohio State "there are no celebrations" crawl to you?
Greg C.
Hmm, tough call. The egregious and basketball-gods-flouting aspect of the Ohio State game message, of course, was its premature nature. It felt like someone at Illinois was saying: "We have this game won and we're going to finish the regular season undefeated. Better tell people not to come to the airport."
Planning for if-we-win and if-we-lose events, by contrast, would not seem to tweak the noses of the hoops gods so. (Michigan State is making the same plans, after all.) And remember, the one sure-fire way to absolutely positively lose this weekend would be to put a furled banner in the rafters of the Edward Jones Dome saying "ILLINOIS: NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 2005." Fortunately the Edward Jones Dome doesn't have rafters so we don't have to worry about that.
¶ 7:51 AM
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
The redemptive power of State vs. Carolina
Wonk can think of no better way of expressing his high expectations for Saturday night’s game between Michigan State and North Carolina than to say he believes it holds the potential to equal the standard set by this past weekend’s games. These are two heavyweights, each saying to the other: "We beat Duke, too. What of it?" To win this game, one team is going to have to exceed that which is usually sufficient for them....
For Carolina, it has almost without exception been sufficient this year merely to show up. But not recently (one-point win over Villanova; six-point victory against Wisconsin) and definitely not Saturday night. Imagine for a moment what would happen if the strangely indifferent defense the Tar Heels played this weekend were pitted against the offensive efficiency displayed by State in the second half against Kentucky. Even the Heels can't score enough points to emerge from that spectacle with a W. What got them here isn't enough anymore. To win Saturday night Roy Williams' team is going to have to defend.
As for the Spartans, they've made a season out of wearing down the opposition with superior depth. On Sunday it took an extra ten minutes, granted, but, sure enough, by the end Kentucky was exhausted and State advanced. Yet there is little chance of tiring out a Roy Williams fast-breaking team in the abstract and close to zero chance of tiring out this Carolina team in particular. And in this State's a bit like a dome-housed high-octane passing offense playing an NFC or AFC championship game in January in Philadelphia or New England. What got them here isn't enough anymore. To win Saturday night Tom Izzo's team is going to have to outperform an equally-matched opponent straight-up.
Man, Wonk loves this time of year. Love everything about it. Except....
CBS, bloggers, and one unpopular weird old guy
See the parallels? Can recent history repeat itself—if not by Saturday at least by next year? We can only hope: yesterday’s post in this space suggesting immediate jury duty for Billy Packer resulted in this blog’s busiest day ever. (Note to self: fewer posts on ho-hum things like historic comebacks and double-OT's in Elite Eight games; more dropping upon Packer like a jaguar out of a tree.) Apparently Wonk is not alone in wishing fervently that Packer could find something—anything—else to do this weekend.
Styling himself after the 1972 Dolphins and their annual ritual, Wonk has a bottle of champagne on ice waiting for the day--and it will come--when CBS announces that Packer has at last laid down his headset.
The end draws near
Speaking of moving on, Wonk is going to put the blog on hiatus for six months or so after posting next Friday, April 8. Watch for a week-long 2004-05 retrospective starting Monday! Five-themed features to include:
Wonk’s five dumbest posts of the year (I know, I know: only five? Send in those nominations today!)
Wonk’s five favorite contributions to Wonk Back! from the alert readers.
“Five Hoops Blogs I Love.”
After that Wonk will shut the old girl down for the off-season like a Bar Harbor lobster pound.
Only to descend visigoth-like upon your free time yet again come November.
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Ah, that heartiest of perennials! The snappish move-the-line-back piece complaining that nowadays threes come too easily. It's a familiar refrain but give credit to Dave Boling of the Tacoma News Tribune--he's come up with some tasty word-bites: "At one point deep into its game against Louisville, West Virginia had connected on so many 3s that the Mountaineers' point total was greater than if they'd shot 100 percent from two-point range."
Northwestern guard T.J. Parker has announced his intention to forego his senior season, hire an agent and turn pro. Parker says he made the decision while visiting his brother, San Antonio guard Tony Parker.
Purdue coach Matt Painter announced yesterday that two players, Xavier Price and Adam Liddell, have decided to transfer. Meanwhile, the softies at the Indianapolis Star send the two ex-Boilermakers off into the world with this notably un-sentimental and un-cuddly actual headline: "2 little-used players leave Purdue program." (Not unlike the warm fuzzies inherent in Wonk's favorite recent headline, seen in a British tabloid announcing the impending nuptials of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles: "BORING OLD GITS TO WED.")
Minnesota is also losing a couple players. Kerry Wooldridge and Miles Webb have both announced their intentions to transfer.
Wisconsin's future is bright! So sayeth Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal, here.
Eerie coincidence! Which team played all of the Final Four teams this year? Iowa. Steve Alford went 2-4 against that group and handicaps the field here. And here. Here, too! And, um, here. Now, on a different topic--no, wait, here, too...Seth Davis of sportsillustrated.com, by notable contrast, didn't play any of the Final Four this year. Nevertheless, he has the temerity to handicap the field here.
(Pierre Pierce update: news from the courtroom here.)
Who needs seniors? Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press salutes the Final Four's junior class (Sean May, Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants, Dee Brown, Deron Williams, Paul Davis, Francisco Garcia, etc., etc.)
The United Colors of the Big Ten. Are Michigan State fans really going to wear orange for the first game Saturday? Are Illini fans really going to wear green for the nightcap? That's the talk and, if they can pull it off, it would be nifty. (Not to mention a boon for merchants selling Illini gear in Michigan and Spartan gear in Illinois.)
(Michigan) State of euphoria!
Detroit News columnist Bob Wojnowski says Michigan State's "Final Four story is unique and enlightening, and not just because the ego-less Spartans defied their own recent history and won huge games. It's because Izzo, a man who already had accomplished everything in college basketball, adjusted and found another way to accomplish more." (Four Final Fours say the man's doing something right. So are his assistants.)
Meanwhile, Izzo is busy with patter of the first-tee variety, talking up North Carolina and making his Spartans out to be more of an underdog than they really are. "If every one of those guys and every one of our guys plays to [their] potential, there's just more talent there." Still, Izzo says he's going to dance with that girl that brung him and run the floor, even against the run-the-floor Heels.
Actual photo caption! "Michigan State's Alan Anderson grabs coach Tom Izzo by the head." Link here for quite a visual.
Why wasn't Wonk told! Roy Williams has never won a national title? Who knew? UPDATE: Wonk is receiving reports, as yet unconfirmed, that Roy Williams has never won a national championship. Wonk will keep you updated on this breaking story as further information becomes available...Skip Myslenski of the Chicago Tribune salutes Williams here.
Wall-to-wall Doug Wojcik! More on the next head coach of Tulsa who's currently an assistant at Michigan State and who used to be an assistant at North Carolina here.
New nominee for dullest opening sentence. Ever.
Illinipalooza!
Bruce Weber is making calls to coaches with Final Four experience (Tom Crean, Jim Calhoun, and, yup, Tom Izzo) to get ideas on how best to guide the team through the weekend hoopla. Gregg Doyel of cbs.sportsline salutes Weber here. And Weber's former boss, Gene Keady, says he'll be in St. Louis this weekend cheering for the Illini....Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper blogs about the superstitions of Illini Nation. And in his dead-tree space this morning, Tupper says there's no question about it: Deron Williams is the MVP of this team....The fan poll at espn.com has Illinois trailing North Carolina in the who's-going-to-win-it-all voting and, by Godfrey, Rick Morrissey is ticked!
Wonk's streak of consecutive posts without a pun on Bill Self's name continues! The former Illini coach says he has no regrets about missing out on a Final Four run made by players he recruited. "We knew there was a potential for this to be an unbelievably special group. And it has played out to be every bit of that. That said, I'm happy for them and certainly think that could be me coaching them. But I don't dwell on that at all." More Self coverage here and here.
Dee Brown was named one of five finalists for the Wooden Award yesterday. The other finalists are Andrew Bogut, Sean May, J.J. Redick, and Wayne Simien....Profile of Brown here. Deron Williams here. Pocket history of Weber-at-Illinois here. Celebration of Chicago-bred Illini greats, past and present, here.
Bill Murray on-the-bandwagon coverage here. Plans for on-campus Illini send-off's, celebrations, etc. detailed here.
The Louisville Cardinals held a pep rally in downtown Louisville yesterday and 16,000 people came. Was the crowd even more enthused because Kentucky lost this weekend? Apparently....Profiles of Larry O'Bannon here and here. Profile of Francisco Garcia here....Pat Forde of espn.com looks at the Cards here. Louisville for Dummies here....Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins played both Illinois and Louisville this season and offers up his thoughts here.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Revisiting Michigan State vs. Kentucky
Wonk,
You have a great site. But I think you ought to mention the dead-obvious foul on Patrick Sparks at the end of regulation. Sparks did more on that play than hit a tough three. He juked his defender and deserved to go to the line. Now what would have been an all-time great play will be forgotten. As much as I agree that Michigan State is the better team, they needed a horrible call to win.
Matt N.
Wonk loves Kelvin Torbert to pieces and has blogged accordingly for months now. But the customarily savvy Spartan did indeed come achingly close to recording a foul as Edvard Munch-level stupid and potentially disastrous as that committed by former Indiana great (and new IPFW head coach!) Dane Fife against Duke's Jay Williams in the final seconds of the 2002 regional semifinal. "Dead-obvious"? Not to this blogger's eyes. But close enough to make Wonk squirm mightily when he watched it live, certainly.
(On the other hand, Sparks had just missed a crucial free throw a minute before--and thereafter did his best imitation of Nick Smith moping on the bench--so Wonk's not so sure a foul call would have translated so directly into a Kentucky win.)
May, Augustine, and PPWS
Wonk,
Sean May is having a monster tournament: 86 points in four games, 67% shooting from the floor and 80% from the line. This averages out to be about a 1.43 PPWS.
So I was surprised that James Augustine was atop your PPWS standings and didn't believe you until I looked at the actual stats and realized Augustine's shooting 63% from the floor for the year.
Wow. That's something the press has overlooked, despite them exhausting every possible storyline from Illinois this year.
Thanks for the education.
Brian H.
Thanks, Brian!
¶ 7:05 AM
Wonk can think of no better way of expressing his high expectations for Saturday night’s game between Michigan State and North Carolina than to say he believes it holds the potential to equal the standard set by this past weekend’s games. These are two heavyweights, each saying to the other: "We beat Duke, too. What of it?" To win this game, one team is going to have to exceed that which is usually sufficient for them....
For Carolina, it has almost without exception been sufficient this year merely to show up. But not recently (one-point win over Villanova; six-point victory against Wisconsin) and definitely not Saturday night. Imagine for a moment what would happen if the strangely indifferent defense the Tar Heels played this weekend were pitted against the offensive efficiency displayed by State in the second half against Kentucky. Even the Heels can't score enough points to emerge from that spectacle with a W. What got them here isn't enough anymore. To win Saturday night Roy Williams' team is going to have to defend.
As for the Spartans, they've made a season out of wearing down the opposition with superior depth. On Sunday it took an extra ten minutes, granted, but, sure enough, by the end Kentucky was exhausted and State advanced. Yet there is little chance of tiring out a Roy Williams fast-breaking team in the abstract and close to zero chance of tiring out this Carolina team in particular. And in this State's a bit like a dome-housed high-octane passing offense playing an NFC or AFC championship game in January in Philadelphia or New England. What got them here isn't enough anymore. To win Saturday night Tom Izzo's team is going to have to outperform an equally-matched opponent straight-up.
Man, Wonk loves this time of year. Love everything about it. Except....
CBS, bloggers, and one unpopular weird old guy
See the parallels? Can recent history repeat itself—if not by Saturday at least by next year? We can only hope: yesterday’s post in this space suggesting immediate jury duty for Billy Packer resulted in this blog’s busiest day ever. (Note to self: fewer posts on ho-hum things like historic comebacks and double-OT's in Elite Eight games; more dropping upon Packer like a jaguar out of a tree.) Apparently Wonk is not alone in wishing fervently that Packer could find something—anything—else to do this weekend.
Styling himself after the 1972 Dolphins and their annual ritual, Wonk has a bottle of champagne on ice waiting for the day--and it will come--when CBS announces that Packer has at last laid down his headset.
The end draws near
Speaking of moving on, Wonk is going to put the blog on hiatus for six months or so after posting next Friday, April 8. Watch for a week-long 2004-05 retrospective starting Monday! Five-themed features to include:
Wonk’s five dumbest posts of the year (I know, I know: only five? Send in those nominations today!)
Wonk’s five favorite contributions to Wonk Back! from the alert readers.
“Five Hoops Blogs I Love.”
After that Wonk will shut the old girl down for the off-season like a Bar Harbor lobster pound.
Only to descend visigoth-like upon your free time yet again come November.
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Ah, that heartiest of perennials! The snappish move-the-line-back piece complaining that nowadays threes come too easily. It's a familiar refrain but give credit to Dave Boling of the Tacoma News Tribune--he's come up with some tasty word-bites: "At one point deep into its game against Louisville, West Virginia had connected on so many 3s that the Mountaineers' point total was greater than if they'd shot 100 percent from two-point range."
Northwestern guard T.J. Parker has announced his intention to forego his senior season, hire an agent and turn pro. Parker says he made the decision while visiting his brother, San Antonio guard Tony Parker.
Purdue coach Matt Painter announced yesterday that two players, Xavier Price and Adam Liddell, have decided to transfer. Meanwhile, the softies at the Indianapolis Star send the two ex-Boilermakers off into the world with this notably un-sentimental and un-cuddly actual headline: "2 little-used players leave Purdue program." (Not unlike the warm fuzzies inherent in Wonk's favorite recent headline, seen in a British tabloid announcing the impending nuptials of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles: "BORING OLD GITS TO WED.")
Minnesota is also losing a couple players. Kerry Wooldridge and Miles Webb have both announced their intentions to transfer.
Wisconsin's future is bright! So sayeth Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal, here.
Eerie coincidence! Which team played all of the Final Four teams this year? Iowa. Steve Alford went 2-4 against that group and handicaps the field here. And here. Here, too! And, um, here. Now, on a different topic--no, wait, here, too...Seth Davis of sportsillustrated.com, by notable contrast, didn't play any of the Final Four this year. Nevertheless, he has the temerity to handicap the field here.
(Pierre Pierce update: news from the courtroom here.)
Who needs seniors? Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press salutes the Final Four's junior class (Sean May, Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants, Dee Brown, Deron Williams, Paul Davis, Francisco Garcia, etc., etc.)
The United Colors of the Big Ten. Are Michigan State fans really going to wear orange for the first game Saturday? Are Illini fans really going to wear green for the nightcap? That's the talk and, if they can pull it off, it would be nifty. (Not to mention a boon for merchants selling Illini gear in Michigan and Spartan gear in Illinois.)
(Michigan) State of euphoria!
Detroit News columnist Bob Wojnowski says Michigan State's "Final Four story is unique and enlightening, and not just because the ego-less Spartans defied their own recent history and won huge games. It's because Izzo, a man who already had accomplished everything in college basketball, adjusted and found another way to accomplish more." (Four Final Fours say the man's doing something right. So are his assistants.)
Meanwhile, Izzo is busy with patter of the first-tee variety, talking up North Carolina and making his Spartans out to be more of an underdog than they really are. "If every one of those guys and every one of our guys plays to [their] potential, there's just more talent there." Still, Izzo says he's going to dance with that girl that brung him and run the floor, even against the run-the-floor Heels.
Actual photo caption! "Michigan State's Alan Anderson grabs coach Tom Izzo by the head." Link here for quite a visual.
Why wasn't Wonk told! Roy Williams has never won a national title? Who knew? UPDATE: Wonk is receiving reports, as yet unconfirmed, that Roy Williams has never won a national championship. Wonk will keep you updated on this breaking story as further information becomes available...Skip Myslenski of the Chicago Tribune salutes Williams here.
Wall-to-wall Doug Wojcik! More on the next head coach of Tulsa who's currently an assistant at Michigan State and who used to be an assistant at North Carolina here.
New nominee for dullest opening sentence. Ever.
Illinipalooza!
Bruce Weber is making calls to coaches with Final Four experience (Tom Crean, Jim Calhoun, and, yup, Tom Izzo) to get ideas on how best to guide the team through the weekend hoopla. Gregg Doyel of cbs.sportsline salutes Weber here. And Weber's former boss, Gene Keady, says he'll be in St. Louis this weekend cheering for the Illini....Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper blogs about the superstitions of Illini Nation. And in his dead-tree space this morning, Tupper says there's no question about it: Deron Williams is the MVP of this team....The fan poll at espn.com has Illinois trailing North Carolina in the who's-going-to-win-it-all voting and, by Godfrey, Rick Morrissey is ticked!
Wonk's streak of consecutive posts without a pun on Bill Self's name continues! The former Illini coach says he has no regrets about missing out on a Final Four run made by players he recruited. "We knew there was a potential for this to be an unbelievably special group. And it has played out to be every bit of that. That said, I'm happy for them and certainly think that could be me coaching them. But I don't dwell on that at all." More Self coverage here and here.
Dee Brown was named one of five finalists for the Wooden Award yesterday. The other finalists are Andrew Bogut, Sean May, J.J. Redick, and Wayne Simien....Profile of Brown here. Deron Williams here. Pocket history of Weber-at-Illinois here. Celebration of Chicago-bred Illini greats, past and present, here.
Bill Murray on-the-bandwagon coverage here. Plans for on-campus Illini send-off's, celebrations, etc. detailed here.
The Louisville Cardinals held a pep rally in downtown Louisville yesterday and 16,000 people came. Was the crowd even more enthused because Kentucky lost this weekend? Apparently....Profiles of Larry O'Bannon here and here. Profile of Francisco Garcia here....Pat Forde of espn.com looks at the Cards here. Louisville for Dummies here....Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins played both Illinois and Louisville this season and offers up his thoughts here.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Revisiting Michigan State vs. Kentucky
Wonk,
You have a great site. But I think you ought to mention the dead-obvious foul on Patrick Sparks at the end of regulation. Sparks did more on that play than hit a tough three. He juked his defender and deserved to go to the line. Now what would have been an all-time great play will be forgotten. As much as I agree that Michigan State is the better team, they needed a horrible call to win.
Matt N.
Wonk loves Kelvin Torbert to pieces and has blogged accordingly for months now. But the customarily savvy Spartan did indeed come achingly close to recording a foul as Edvard Munch-level stupid and potentially disastrous as that committed by former Indiana great (and new IPFW head coach!) Dane Fife against Duke's Jay Williams in the final seconds of the 2002 regional semifinal. "Dead-obvious"? Not to this blogger's eyes. But close enough to make Wonk squirm mightily when he watched it live, certainly.
(On the other hand, Sparks had just missed a crucial free throw a minute before--and thereafter did his best imitation of Nick Smith moping on the bench--so Wonk's not so sure a foul call would have translated so directly into a Kentucky win.)
May, Augustine, and PPWS
Wonk,
Sean May is having a monster tournament: 86 points in four games, 67% shooting from the floor and 80% from the line. This averages out to be about a 1.43 PPWS.
So I was surprised that James Augustine was atop your PPWS standings and didn't believe you until I looked at the actual stats and realized Augustine's shooting 63% from the floor for the year.
Wow. That's something the press has overlooked, despite them exhausting every possible storyline from Illinois this year.
Thanks for the education.
Brian H.
Thanks, Brian!
¶ 7:05 AM
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Jury duty for Billy Packer. Now.
An open letter....
March 29, 2005
Mecklenburg County Trial Court Administrator's Office
800 E. 4th St.
Room 311
Charlotte, NC 28202
Dear Trial Court Administrator,
I know I speak for tens of thousands of college basketball fans when I say that Mr. Billy Packer, your own fellow Charlotte resident, would be eminently well-suited for jury duty in your Mecklenburg County Civil Court system.
Would it be possible for him to start tomorrow on a months-long high-profile case that will involve immediate 24-hour sequestering of the jury?
Please?
You see, we fans of college hoops have a problem. There's this thing known as the "Final Four." Maybe you've heard of it. It is the single best sporting event of the year, as close to perfection as college football's "championship" is to farce. The Final Four is, in a word, sublime.
Yes, all college "hoops" fans should be excited at this time of year.
But, sadly, we're not. Because we know that your own neighbor, Mr. Packer, will be coming along, too.
You, perhaps, already know Mr. Packer under one of his various pseudonyms:
"Persistent Negatative State"
"Captain Carp"
"Dr. Evil"
"Comfortably Glum"
"C. Montgomery Packer"
"Billy Bringdown and his Buzz-Kills"
"The Scary Old Guy Who Lived Next Door When You Were a Kid and Was Always Yelling at You to 'Get Your Damn Frisbee Off Ma' Yard!'"
Oh, we'll watch this weekend anyway. How can we not? But the Final Four with Billy Packer is like a honeymoon with your in-laws coming along. Like Beethoven's Ninth on a kazoo. Like The Godfather with Ben Stiller as Michael.
Why not address this matter through the appropriate channels, you say? Believe me, I've tried: letters, phone calls, faxes, emails, skywriting, lobbying my congressperson, candlelight vigils outside CBS headquarters in New York...nothing works. (There's even a petition online, started up by like-minded long-suffering souls. Still, no luck.)
No, for whatever reason CBS, in this single narrow yet prominent instance, has proven as impervious to market forces as a garden-variety East German tractor factory circa 1966. And the strange part is: any other analyst would be a vast improvement. My goodness, throw a stick along press row in St. Louis this weekend and you'll hit ten, 20, 50 carbon-based life forms who would be better.
Still, I want it understood that I will continue to "act locally" and do my part. For years now I have maintained a personal boycott on all CBS "Road to the Final Four" advertisers and will continue to do so for as long as Billy Packer holds his current position.
This year that means I will not rent a car from Enterprise to impress women at my high school reunion. I will not dance to KC and the Sunshine Band in front of my neighborhood Blockbuster. I will not celebrate the tournament by following a bouncing basketball to a "March Madness sales event" at my local Chevy dealer. And I will not get an American Express card so I can give homilies through my nose on "being a leader."
And, please understand, this is a great sacrifice for me because in any ordinary week I would do all of those things.
Sadly, my boycott may not yield the desired results before Saturday. And that's where you come in.
This very same Mr. Packer would be a perfect fit as a jury member. His owlish fascination with yellowing decades-old compilations of long-forgotten minutiae and his concomitant dogged refusal to be swayed by "irrational" and "emotional" events in the present-tense (e.g., tremendous basketball games taking place on the court in front of him) would be highly prized in the jury room!
Yes, it's truly a "win-win." We lose a thorn from the most beautiful rose in all of sports. And you gain a crabby old guy whose bafflingly querulous nature is so deep and so constant that he'd doubtless vote to convict a ham sandwich.
Elevate the Final Four at last onto its richly deserved Packer-free pedestal and get criminals off the streets of Charlotte. Not a bad two-fer, that.
Thank you for your consideration.
Blogospherically Yours,
Big Ten Wonk
P.S. Can you send me some free stuff? Maybe a "How the Meck are Ya?" t-shirt? Thanks.
BONUS Final Four edition PPWS
There's no trick to putting up a nice number for points per game (PPG). Just shoot a lot. But who would get the most points from the same number of shots?
To answer that question we turn to the handy stat that not only measures scoring efficiency, it also captures more than just points from the field (unlike, say, points per shot or "PPS"). This stat takes in both FGA's and FTA's. It's points per weighted shot (PPWS), developed cannily by John Hollinger (The Basketball Prospectus) and renamed brazenly by Wonk.
Below are the current PPWS numbers for just about every player you'll conceivably see in the Final Four. As always, these numbers take in all games played to date, from November through this past weekend:
PPWS
1. James Augustine, Illinois (1.36)
2. Alan Anderson, Michigan State (1.36)
3. Dee Brown, Illinois (1.34)
4. Larry O'Bannon, Louisville (1.33)
5. Marvin Williams, North Carolina (1.30)
6. Kelvin Torbert, Michigan State (1.28)
7. Taquan Dean, Louisville (1.28)
8. Jawad Williams, North Carolina (1.27)
9. Sean May, North Carolina (1.25)
10. Maurice Ager, Michigan State (1.25)
11. Roger Powell, Illinois (1.24)
12. Rashad McCants, North Carolina (1.23)
13. Luther Head, Illinois (1.23)
14. Brandon Jenkins, Louisville (1.20)
15. David Noel, North Carolina (1.20)
16. Francisco Garcia, Louisville (1.20)
17. Otis George, Louisville (1.20)
18. Raymond Felton, North Carolina (1.18)
19. Paul Davis, Michigan State (1.17)
20. Chris Hill, Michigan State (1.14)
21. Juan Diego Palacios, Louisville (1.12)
22. Shannon Brown, Michigan State (1.12)
23. Lorenzo Wade, Louisville (1.11)
24. Jackie Manuel, North Carolina (1.10)
25. Ellis Myles, Louisville (1.09)
26. Deron Williams, Illinois (1.09)
27. Melvin Scott, North Carolina (1.07)
28. Jack Ingram, Illinois (1.05)
29. Rich McBride, Illinois (0.97)
30. Drew Neitzel, Michigan State (0.95)
31. Nick Smith, Illinois (0.88)
What it means. Give James Augustine 12 FGA's and six FTA's and he'll likely score about 20 points. Give Nick Smith the same number of shots and he'll likely score about 13.
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Carol Slezak says maybe the Big Ten wasn't down this year, after all. So does Rick Alonzo of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Gregg Doyel of cbs.sportsline looks at the "pivotal moments" faced by each of this year's Final Four teams.
Penn State junior big man Aaron Johnson says he's leaving the Nittany Lions and will use his final year of eligibility at another as-yet undetermined program. At 9.9 boards a game, Johnson was the Big Ten's leading rebounder this season.
Minnesota recruit James Davis will not play for Dan Monson after all--at least not next season. Monson announced yesterday that the seven-footer will not be enrolling in the fall. Davis was arrested in Minneapolis on March 10 and charged with carrying a gun without a permit.
Wisconsin is looking to an Alando Tucker- and Kammron Taylor-led future...An appreciation of the job done by Bo Ryan this year here....Is this a typo or are Madison-area senior-citizens really being herded into detention centers? Actual headline (link quick before they fix it!): "Old with the old, in with the new for Badgers."
(Michigan) State of euphoria!
Resurgent Spartan big man Paul Davis says: "We belong here." Andy Katz of espn.com (yes, the page successfully loaded!) says "Michigan State's upperclassmen making the Final Four after being branded as players who couldn't win the big game is one of the week's best stories."
Lansing State Journal columnist Todd Schulz salutes Tom Izzo: "Four Final Fours in seven years are mind-boggling by any measure."
Dick Vitale says North Carolina is "going to have to play a lot better against Michigan State then they did against Villanova and Wisconsin."...Pete Thamel of the New York Times profiles future Tulsa head coach, current Michigan State assistant coach, and former North Carolina assistant coach Doug Wojcik here.
So it wasn't just the sledgehammer! Seems there was a players-only meeting that fateful Selection Sunday, too, to clear the air....Compare and contrast: Michigan State Spartans; Detroit Pistons. (Well, for one thing, no Spartan comes close to Ben Wallace in the little-discussed but vital 'fro department.)...Two-headed-monster coverage of Shannon Brown and Maurice Ager here....Shiny Happy Spartans Everywhere on-campus coverage here....Final Four ticket snafu coverage here.
Wow, even academic All-Americans mix their metaphors! Senior Chris Hill on his playing career: "This was a four-year road, and we had plenty of potholes and valleys--even black holes--during this journey."
Illinipalooza!
Bruce Weber gives credit for Saturday's incredible win to his players: "The best thing about the comeback was their poise." And now? "'We caught a lucky game. Now let's make the most of it and see if we can go win the thing." Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti says--alongside the likes of Pitino, Izzo, and Williams--Weber will arrive at the Final Four as "The Other Guy."...Why is Weber, even when he's lost his voice, so dang accommodating when it comes to interview requests? "The Final Four is a continuous commercial for your program," he says.
Louisville coach Rick Pitino gushes about the Illini here....Illini-on-a-mission coverage here....The update on the Illini injuries (Luther Head's hamstring; James Augustine's knee) appears to be that there are no injuries to update....Two-headed-monster coverage of former Maywood, Illinois, residents and Proviso East High School teammates Dee Brown and Shannon Brown here....Sun-Times columnist Ron Rapoport grumbles about the Illini not being in Saturday's prime-time game here.
Link of links for the Miracle at Rosemont! One industrious blogger has already compiled what can only be called an anthology of game coverage and links related to Illinois' dramatic comeback win over Arizona Saturday night. And it's outstanding. Link here for access to wall-to-wall goodies, including video downloads of the game action and a nice series of links to what the MSM pundits and the blogosphere (pro-Illinois, pro-Arizona, and pro-great-game) had to say about the memorable events at Allstate Arena. (BONUS truth in advertising! This link contains nice things said about Wonk--but your intrepid blogger would be passing this along even if the content were Wonk-neutral or Wonk-free. It's good stuff.)
Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper says it's time to put the Arizona game in the past. (Tell that to the players: they watched a tape of the game Saturday night on the bus ride from Chicago to Champaign.)
EXCLUSIVE Wonk helpful advice! Good grief, do Big Ten officials really monitor "basketball broadcasts, keeping an ear open for both criticism and praise"? How pathetic. Do something productive with that time--like deleting this 16-month-old article about Kris Humphries from your web site.
BONUS non-Big-Ten note! Yesterday both Utah's Andrew Bogut and Arizona State's Ike Diogu declared their intentions to enter this year's NBA draft. (Bogut has hired an agent, meaning he has definitely played his last college game. Diogu, as yet, has not and as long as he doesn't secure representation he has until June 21 to remove his name from consideration.) How might they fare in the pros? Blogger Ryan of Hawkeye Hoops fame brings his usual impeccable quantitative skills to the question and comes up with some surprising answers--a must-read for all NBA GM's.
FINAL BONUS non-Big-Ten note! It's official: Wisconsin-Milwaukee coach Bruce Pearl has accepted the head job at Tennessee.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Where to draw the line
Yesterday Wonk said the Big Ten's success in March illustrates that it "was a bifurcated league this year...and the dividing line was just south of third-place Wisconsin." Wonk's readers respond!
Wonk,
I'm not so sure this is the case. Surely we have some dogs, and some middleweights, but so do all conferences.
In fact, our middleweights are unusually strong--although the Big Ten's average RPI places us sixth among conferences, our median RPI places us first. We have a pretty solid bench in Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio St., and Indiana.
Of course, the ACC's worst team, Florida State, is arguably better than our bottom four combined, so I don't know how far I'd take this argument. But I think the right assessment is that we have a trio of giants at the top, an unusually strong middle four, and a worthless bottom third. If there's bifurcation, it happens between Indiana and Northwestern, not between Wisconsin and Iowa.
Peter C.
P.S. I've got to add that I've never in my life been more satisfied with a losing performance than the one by my Badgers yesterday. We committed none of the signature mistakes that we do when we lose games and instead showed off arguably the best ball we've played all year. Tucker's moves in the post blew my mind. We were just up against a (slightly) better team that didn't make any mistakes, one that earned their win. Awesome, awesome loss.
A thousand "amen"s to your P.S., Peter!
As far as conference heft, it looks to Wonk as though our positions are not at all contradictory, with the exception of your recommended line between IU and NU. Drawing the line there could still be perfectly compatible with this blogger's premise: Illinois, Michigan State, and Wisconsin were underappreciated because of their conference.
Still, if Wonk had to draw just one line, it'd be between nos. 3 and 4. And, certainly, as an Illinois fan who spent December-February beating up the RPI with the club/evidence of on-court performance, Wonk can't very well switch horses now and beat up on-court performance with the club/evidence of RPI.
Specifically:
Iowa was outclassed by Cincinnati.
Cincinnati was whipped rather soundly by Kentucky.
Kentucky was beaten by Michigan State.
Or:
Minnesota was thumped by Iowa State.
Iowa State was never in the game against Carolina.
Carolina was taken to the limit in a six-point win against Wisconsin.
That's what Wonk calls bifurcation.
¶ 7:35 AM
An open letter....
March 29, 2005
Mecklenburg County Trial Court Administrator's Office
800 E. 4th St.
Room 311
Charlotte, NC 28202
Dear Trial Court Administrator,
I know I speak for tens of thousands of college basketball fans when I say that Mr. Billy Packer, your own fellow Charlotte resident, would be eminently well-suited for jury duty in your Mecklenburg County Civil Court system.
Would it be possible for him to start tomorrow on a months-long high-profile case that will involve immediate 24-hour sequestering of the jury?
Please?
You see, we fans of college hoops have a problem. There's this thing known as the "Final Four." Maybe you've heard of it. It is the single best sporting event of the year, as close to perfection as college football's "championship" is to farce. The Final Four is, in a word, sublime.
Yes, all college "hoops" fans should be excited at this time of year.
But, sadly, we're not. Because we know that your own neighbor, Mr. Packer, will be coming along, too.
You, perhaps, already know Mr. Packer under one of his various pseudonyms:
"Persistent Negatative State"
"Captain Carp"
"Dr. Evil"
"Comfortably Glum"
"C. Montgomery Packer"
"Billy Bringdown and his Buzz-Kills"
"The Scary Old Guy Who Lived Next Door When You Were a Kid and Was Always Yelling at You to 'Get Your Damn Frisbee Off Ma' Yard!'"
Oh, we'll watch this weekend anyway. How can we not? But the Final Four with Billy Packer is like a honeymoon with your in-laws coming along. Like Beethoven's Ninth on a kazoo. Like The Godfather with Ben Stiller as Michael.
Why not address this matter through the appropriate channels, you say? Believe me, I've tried: letters, phone calls, faxes, emails, skywriting, lobbying my congressperson, candlelight vigils outside CBS headquarters in New York...nothing works. (There's even a petition online, started up by like-minded long-suffering souls. Still, no luck.)
No, for whatever reason CBS, in this single narrow yet prominent instance, has proven as impervious to market forces as a garden-variety East German tractor factory circa 1966. And the strange part is: any other analyst would be a vast improvement. My goodness, throw a stick along press row in St. Louis this weekend and you'll hit ten, 20, 50 carbon-based life forms who would be better.
Still, I want it understood that I will continue to "act locally" and do my part. For years now I have maintained a personal boycott on all CBS "Road to the Final Four" advertisers and will continue to do so for as long as Billy Packer holds his current position.
This year that means I will not rent a car from Enterprise to impress women at my high school reunion. I will not dance to KC and the Sunshine Band in front of my neighborhood Blockbuster. I will not celebrate the tournament by following a bouncing basketball to a "March Madness sales event" at my local Chevy dealer. And I will not get an American Express card so I can give homilies through my nose on "being a leader."
And, please understand, this is a great sacrifice for me because in any ordinary week I would do all of those things.
Sadly, my boycott may not yield the desired results before Saturday. And that's where you come in.
This very same Mr. Packer would be a perfect fit as a jury member. His owlish fascination with yellowing decades-old compilations of long-forgotten minutiae and his concomitant dogged refusal to be swayed by "irrational" and "emotional" events in the present-tense (e.g., tremendous basketball games taking place on the court in front of him) would be highly prized in the jury room!
Yes, it's truly a "win-win." We lose a thorn from the most beautiful rose in all of sports. And you gain a crabby old guy whose bafflingly querulous nature is so deep and so constant that he'd doubtless vote to convict a ham sandwich.
Elevate the Final Four at last onto its richly deserved Packer-free pedestal and get criminals off the streets of Charlotte. Not a bad two-fer, that.
Thank you for your consideration.
Blogospherically Yours,
Big Ten Wonk
P.S. Can you send me some free stuff? Maybe a "How the Meck are Ya?" t-shirt? Thanks.
BONUS Final Four edition PPWS
There's no trick to putting up a nice number for points per game (PPG). Just shoot a lot. But who would get the most points from the same number of shots?
To answer that question we turn to the handy stat that not only measures scoring efficiency, it also captures more than just points from the field (unlike, say, points per shot or "PPS"). This stat takes in both FGA's and FTA's. It's points per weighted shot (PPWS), developed cannily by John Hollinger (The Basketball Prospectus) and renamed brazenly by Wonk.
Below are the current PPWS numbers for just about every player you'll conceivably see in the Final Four. As always, these numbers take in all games played to date, from November through this past weekend:
PPWS
1. James Augustine, Illinois (1.36)
2. Alan Anderson, Michigan State (1.36)
3. Dee Brown, Illinois (1.34)
4. Larry O'Bannon, Louisville (1.33)
5. Marvin Williams, North Carolina (1.30)
6. Kelvin Torbert, Michigan State (1.28)
7. Taquan Dean, Louisville (1.28)
8. Jawad Williams, North Carolina (1.27)
9. Sean May, North Carolina (1.25)
10. Maurice Ager, Michigan State (1.25)
11. Roger Powell, Illinois (1.24)
12. Rashad McCants, North Carolina (1.23)
13. Luther Head, Illinois (1.23)
14. Brandon Jenkins, Louisville (1.20)
15. David Noel, North Carolina (1.20)
16. Francisco Garcia, Louisville (1.20)
17. Otis George, Louisville (1.20)
18. Raymond Felton, North Carolina (1.18)
19. Paul Davis, Michigan State (1.17)
20. Chris Hill, Michigan State (1.14)
21. Juan Diego Palacios, Louisville (1.12)
22. Shannon Brown, Michigan State (1.12)
23. Lorenzo Wade, Louisville (1.11)
24. Jackie Manuel, North Carolina (1.10)
25. Ellis Myles, Louisville (1.09)
26. Deron Williams, Illinois (1.09)
27. Melvin Scott, North Carolina (1.07)
28. Jack Ingram, Illinois (1.05)
29. Rich McBride, Illinois (0.97)
30. Drew Neitzel, Michigan State (0.95)
31. Nick Smith, Illinois (0.88)
What it means. Give James Augustine 12 FGA's and six FTA's and he'll likely score about 20 points. Give Nick Smith the same number of shots and he'll likely score about 13.
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Carol Slezak says maybe the Big Ten wasn't down this year, after all. So does Rick Alonzo of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Gregg Doyel of cbs.sportsline looks at the "pivotal moments" faced by each of this year's Final Four teams.
Penn State junior big man Aaron Johnson says he's leaving the Nittany Lions and will use his final year of eligibility at another as-yet undetermined program. At 9.9 boards a game, Johnson was the Big Ten's leading rebounder this season.
Minnesota recruit James Davis will not play for Dan Monson after all--at least not next season. Monson announced yesterday that the seven-footer will not be enrolling in the fall. Davis was arrested in Minneapolis on March 10 and charged with carrying a gun without a permit.
Wisconsin is looking to an Alando Tucker- and Kammron Taylor-led future...An appreciation of the job done by Bo Ryan this year here....Is this a typo or are Madison-area senior-citizens really being herded into detention centers? Actual headline (link quick before they fix it!): "Old with the old, in with the new for Badgers."
(Michigan) State of euphoria!
Resurgent Spartan big man Paul Davis says: "We belong here." Andy Katz of espn.com (yes, the page successfully loaded!) says "Michigan State's upperclassmen making the Final Four after being branded as players who couldn't win the big game is one of the week's best stories."
Lansing State Journal columnist Todd Schulz salutes Tom Izzo: "Four Final Fours in seven years are mind-boggling by any measure."
Dick Vitale says North Carolina is "going to have to play a lot better against Michigan State then they did against Villanova and Wisconsin."...Pete Thamel of the New York Times profiles future Tulsa head coach, current Michigan State assistant coach, and former North Carolina assistant coach Doug Wojcik here.
So it wasn't just the sledgehammer! Seems there was a players-only meeting that fateful Selection Sunday, too, to clear the air....Compare and contrast: Michigan State Spartans; Detroit Pistons. (Well, for one thing, no Spartan comes close to Ben Wallace in the little-discussed but vital 'fro department.)...Two-headed-monster coverage of Shannon Brown and Maurice Ager here....Shiny Happy Spartans Everywhere on-campus coverage here....Final Four ticket snafu coverage here.
Wow, even academic All-Americans mix their metaphors! Senior Chris Hill on his playing career: "This was a four-year road, and we had plenty of potholes and valleys--even black holes--during this journey."
Illinipalooza!
Bruce Weber gives credit for Saturday's incredible win to his players: "The best thing about the comeback was their poise." And now? "'We caught a lucky game. Now let's make the most of it and see if we can go win the thing." Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti says--alongside the likes of Pitino, Izzo, and Williams--Weber will arrive at the Final Four as "The Other Guy."...Why is Weber, even when he's lost his voice, so dang accommodating when it comes to interview requests? "The Final Four is a continuous commercial for your program," he says.
Louisville coach Rick Pitino gushes about the Illini here....Illini-on-a-mission coverage here....The update on the Illini injuries (Luther Head's hamstring; James Augustine's knee) appears to be that there are no injuries to update....Two-headed-monster coverage of former Maywood, Illinois, residents and Proviso East High School teammates Dee Brown and Shannon Brown here....Sun-Times columnist Ron Rapoport grumbles about the Illini not being in Saturday's prime-time game here.
Link of links for the Miracle at Rosemont! One industrious blogger has already compiled what can only be called an anthology of game coverage and links related to Illinois' dramatic comeback win over Arizona Saturday night. And it's outstanding. Link here for access to wall-to-wall goodies, including video downloads of the game action and a nice series of links to what the MSM pundits and the blogosphere (pro-Illinois, pro-Arizona, and pro-great-game) had to say about the memorable events at Allstate Arena. (BONUS truth in advertising! This link contains nice things said about Wonk--but your intrepid blogger would be passing this along even if the content were Wonk-neutral or Wonk-free. It's good stuff.)
Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper says it's time to put the Arizona game in the past. (Tell that to the players: they watched a tape of the game Saturday night on the bus ride from Chicago to Champaign.)
EXCLUSIVE Wonk helpful advice! Good grief, do Big Ten officials really monitor "basketball broadcasts, keeping an ear open for both criticism and praise"? How pathetic. Do something productive with that time--like deleting this 16-month-old article about Kris Humphries from your web site.
BONUS non-Big-Ten note! Yesterday both Utah's Andrew Bogut and Arizona State's Ike Diogu declared their intentions to enter this year's NBA draft. (Bogut has hired an agent, meaning he has definitely played his last college game. Diogu, as yet, has not and as long as he doesn't secure representation he has until June 21 to remove his name from consideration.) How might they fare in the pros? Blogger Ryan of Hawkeye Hoops fame brings his usual impeccable quantitative skills to the question and comes up with some surprising answers--a must-read for all NBA GM's.
FINAL BONUS non-Big-Ten note! It's official: Wisconsin-Milwaukee coach Bruce Pearl has accepted the head job at Tennessee.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Where to draw the line
Yesterday Wonk said the Big Ten's success in March illustrates that it "was a bifurcated league this year...and the dividing line was just south of third-place Wisconsin." Wonk's readers respond!
Wonk,
I'm not so sure this is the case. Surely we have some dogs, and some middleweights, but so do all conferences.
In fact, our middleweights are unusually strong--although the Big Ten's average RPI places us sixth among conferences, our median RPI places us first. We have a pretty solid bench in Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio St., and Indiana.
Of course, the ACC's worst team, Florida State, is arguably better than our bottom four combined, so I don't know how far I'd take this argument. But I think the right assessment is that we have a trio of giants at the top, an unusually strong middle four, and a worthless bottom third. If there's bifurcation, it happens between Indiana and Northwestern, not between Wisconsin and Iowa.
Peter C.
P.S. I've got to add that I've never in my life been more satisfied with a losing performance than the one by my Badgers yesterday. We committed none of the signature mistakes that we do when we lose games and instead showed off arguably the best ball we've played all year. Tucker's moves in the post blew my mind. We were just up against a (slightly) better team that didn't make any mistakes, one that earned their win. Awesome, awesome loss.
A thousand "amen"s to your P.S., Peter!
As far as conference heft, it looks to Wonk as though our positions are not at all contradictory, with the exception of your recommended line between IU and NU. Drawing the line there could still be perfectly compatible with this blogger's premise: Illinois, Michigan State, and Wisconsin were underappreciated because of their conference.
Still, if Wonk had to draw just one line, it'd be between nos. 3 and 4. And, certainly, as an Illinois fan who spent December-February beating up the RPI with the club/evidence of on-court performance, Wonk can't very well switch horses now and beat up on-court performance with the club/evidence of RPI.
Specifically:
Iowa was outclassed by Cincinnati.
Cincinnati was whipped rather soundly by Kentucky.
Kentucky was beaten by Michigan State.
Or:
Minnesota was thumped by Iowa State.
Iowa State was never in the game against Carolina.
Carolina was taken to the limit in a six-point win against Wisconsin.
That's what Wonk calls bifurcation.
¶ 7:35 AM
Monday, March 28, 2005
Big Ten to conventional wisdom: drop dead
(Wonk's waited patiently for months for the opportunity to use a New York Post kind of headline....)
After 61 games of tournament play, the conference whose last name was seemingly "is down this year" (first name: "The Big Ten") has put two teams into the Final Four and posted an 11-3 record. And with three teams in the Elite Eight where no other conference placed more than one, it is time to say it out loud:
The Big Ten has performed better than any other conference in March. So bring on April!
Yes, good fortune was involved. Yes, games were played against Bucknell, Vermont, and Wisconsin-Milwaukee, instead of Kansas, Syracuse, and Boston College.
What of it? Anyone who saw the Jayhawks in the later stages of their season (where they went 3-6 from Valentine's Day through to their Bison-delivered exit) and who saw Wisconsin come within six of North Carolina yesterday knows what the outcome of a Badgers vs. KU game would have been.
Michigan State vs. Syracuse? Well, seeing as the Spartans dispatched with the 1- and 2-seeds in their regional, it's a little tough to work up a retroactive fear of the 4.
And Illinois vs. Boston College? 'Nuff said.
No, the point is not that the Big Ten got a free pass. Nor is this year's edition of the conference mighty beyond past historical or current geographical parallel.
The point is that the Big Ten's best teams were given far less than their due this year because of the conference's most middling teams and its most hapless teams. It was a bifurcated league this year--maybe it has been for three years now--and the dividing line was just south of third-place Wisconsin.
As a normative matter, of course, each of those top three teams has its shortcomings; weak spots that have been chronicled exhaustively in this blog. But as a comparative matter, the material point is this: Michigan State, warts and all, can play with anyone in the country, including and especially Carolina. (Wonk can't wait for the nightcap Saturday.)
And if that's true of the Spartans, what does that say of the Illini?
Preeminent tourney performer Big Ten, Wonk salutes you!
Stately
Michigan State beat Kentucky 94-88 in double-overtime yesterday in Austin, Texas, and watching the second overtime of this game truly brought home just how fortunate the Wildcats were to have come this far, how lucky they were that Patrick Sparks' last-second three-pointer at the end of regulation fell through (and that his toe didn't touch the line). In the final overtime period, Kentucky--whether due to fatigue, youth, or incompetence--did not move at all on offense in their half-court sets.
Literally. Spartan fans with this game on tape or in digits try this experiment: go to the second overtime and, any time the ball's on the UK side of the floor, hit fast-forward. You'll see four still-life's and a drowsily moving ball-handler. Wonk had the feeling that as soon as Tom Izzo's team got out of its own way the game would end. And so it did.
In his latest bit of pioneering work in the field of cognitive dispersion, Wonk is jotting these comments down in advance of reading what anyone else in the world not named Ken Pomeroy has said. Still, this blogger has some hunches about what those others will say. Specifically, Wonk anticipates it will be said that the Spartans won a close one when it mattered most. That they slayed their demons at last. That Alan Anderson, he of the crucial misses at the free throw line in the disastrous loss to Iowa in the Big Ten tournament (again: how did that happen?), made the free throws that iced the game.
Well, Anderson did make the free throws that iced the game and the Spartans, of course, did win a close game. Even so: was this not the least in-doubt double-overtime game you've ever seen? Aside from a bad moment at the opening of the first overtime (when State could not so much as get the ball to half-court in two consecutive tries), none of the allegedly ancient ghosts made so much as a cameo appearance.
And so Wonk moves that we put all that close-game fretting to bed: discursively and otherwise. This team beat Duke and Kentucky this weekend. End of story. They may lose a close game in St. Louis (so too, of course, may North Carolina or Illinois or Louisville) but recent history suggests a higher probability of a close win.
Or two.
EXCLUSIVE Wonk game analysis! (You won't find this level of material anywhere else, folks.) Michigan State shot really well in the second half!
Your intrepid blogger's game notes look like this:
Davis layup
Brown 15-footer
Brown 3
Ager layup
Neitzel 3
Etc., etc. You get the idea. In all Wonk counts 30 second-half possessions, from which the Spartans extracted 42 points. They missed a grand total of seven shots in 20 minutes and turned the ball over just six times in that span.
If Wonk were piecing this all together from a box score he would think State must have been racing up and down the court and getting many layups and dunks. But the impressive part is that, almost without exception, this level of execution came in the half-court against a worthy defensive foe. One sequence stands out for Wonk as representative of this excellence....
With a little less than 11 minutes to go in the second half, the score is tied at 53. When the ball is fed to Paul Davis in the post, Kentucky hesitates for a moment but then doubles down on the big man, in a show of new-found respect for the recently beastly Spartan. As soon as the double-team comes, Kelvin Torbert, stationed at the top of the key, extends his hands in anticipation of a pass. When Davis feeds him, Torbert's covered by Shannon Brown's man--but Torbert doesn't even wait to see this occur. He's predicted it and he delivers a touch pass to Brown who is now wide open on the left wing and drains the three: 56-53. Simple stuff, yes. But simple stuff executed to perfection wins games.
BONUS Billy Packer note! Ah, never mind. The eerily Mr. Burns-like analyst who occupies the most coveted courtside seat in college hoops yet chooses to bury his nose in an NCAA Tournament historical almanac ("Jim, that '54 Siena team beat Clyde Hartsetter and the Hussies in the Garden and went all the way to the quarterfinals in Shibe Park before falling to a very good Hofstra team," etc.) leaves Wonk with far too much material for so little time. More on this tomorrow....
Links. Kentucky fan Ashley Judd explains why she blew off her niece's baptism to attend the game here. Then, if you feel you must read on....
Wow, Wonk should sport a wacky turban and call himself Swami. "In the span of two weeks," writes Stewart Mandel of sportsillustrated.com, "Tom Izzo's crew went from being the team that couldn't win the big one to the team that's now knocked off two huge ones in a row--top seed Duke and second-seeded Kentucky--by making the type of clutch plays down the stretch that had managed to elude them for nearly two full seasons." And Detroit News columnist Bob Wojnowski says: "For pure, redemptive moments, there may never be another like this, as Michigan State stared down a heaping pile of pressure, as Alan Anderson stood at the free-throw line poised to send his team to the Final Four." Still, Dennis Dodd of cbs.sportsline points out, correctly, that some of the abuse heaped on the Spartans the past two years came from within their own camp: "Chronic underachievers, they were called, by their own coach."
Columnist John Clay of the Lexington Herald-Leader says UK's third straight loss in the Elite Eight was "three excruciating hours of a beating chest and a breaking heart."
Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp finds significance in the day this victory occurred: "On a day that celebrated resurrection, Michigan State rose from the ashes of stinging doubt to reach its expectations." (Great minds alert! Lansing State Journal columnist Todd Schulz: "Left for dead after a crippling loss to Iowa little more than two weeks, Michigan State completed its own stunning resurrection on Easter Sunday.") And Free Press columnist Mitch Albom adds: "Say what you will about these Michigan State Spartans, but say it in St. Louis."
"I can't be prouder of this team," says Tom Izzo. Jubilant Spartan Nation coverage from the corner of Albert and Charles in East Lansing here. Two-headed-monster profile of Shannon Brown and Maurice Ager here. Three-headed-monster profile of Brown, Ager and Alan Anderson here. Izzo-as-Gallagher coverage (you know: the sledgehammer, the tapes of the losses, etc.) here.
BONUS Wonk syntactical nit-picking! Patrick Sparks' dramatic game-tying three at the end of regulation is being called "controversial" in some accounts. It wasn't controversial. It was close because his toe was close to the line and because it bounced on the rim for "about 35 minutes" (Chris Hill's estimate). But no one disputed the call. Wonk has watched for a few years now as "controversial" has morphed into a synonym for "close" (particularly, it seems, in football) and, by Godfrey, this blogger has had it! "Controversial" denotes intense disagreement, not razor-thin distinctions.
Did Patrick Sparks really yell "Take that!" at Billy Packer? After sinking that three? That's what it says here.
A time to Heel
North Carolina beat Wisconsin 88-82 in the Carrier Dome in Syracuse yesterday in a game that many Wonk emailers did not think would be this close. The Badgers got the maximum conceivable effort from the likes of Kammron Taylor (18 points), Clayton Hanson (5-of-8 on threes) and Sharif Chambliss (3-of-6) to add to 25 points from Alando Tucker and still it was not enough. But what a team when the backcourt comes to play, no?
Carolina might fairly be said to have out-Wisconsin'ed Wisconsin: just nine turnovers and a plus-6 in the rebounds column. An outstanding effort from the Badgers and poor three-point shooting from the Heels (5-of-16) kept this one competitive. But Sean May made sure "competitive" didn't turn into "loss."
May. What a beast: 13-of-19, 29 points, 12 boards. Put it this way: May, easily, outscored and outrebounded Mike Wilkinson and Zach Morley combined. Wonk has said before that college hoops this year does not have the Emeka Okafor or Carmelo Anthony figure. Maybe not but May comes closer to that level than anyone else.
BONUS aesthetic note! It did Wonk's Big Ten eyes good to see Tucker elevate high over Tar Heel blue for that beautiful alley-oop slam in the final two minutes. If the All-Wonk Team were scheduled for a 5.0 release, Tucker would get serious consideration. (Wisconsin State Journal columnist Tom Oates salutes the same alley-oop here.)
EXCLUSIVE Wonk Pomeroy-parroting! Carolina's performance in Syracuse dropped them to tenth in the nation in defensive efficiency according to Ken Pomeroy's points-per-possession-based ratings. Before this weekend the Tar Heels had ranked fourth. This drop-off confirms what this blogger's eyes were telling him: Carolina's D yesterday was lackluster at best.
Links. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Gary D'Amato says: "Funny, the University of Wisconsin basketball team didn't get this much respect when it was winning." (More: the Tar Heels were "pushed to the limit by a sixth-seeded team that was perceived by many to be one of the weaker teams to reach the Sweet 16.")
Mike Wilkinson says Sean May "was almost unstoppable." Bo Ryan talks about May the way ZZ Top talks about legs: "He knows how to use what he has." And of his own team Ryan says: "I haven't been around a team that's done what this group has done with what they had."
Three-headed-monster coverage of Clayton Hanson, Sharif Chambliss, and Kammron Taylor here. Salute to departing senior Mike Wilkinson here. Future-is-bright-themed salute to sophomore Alando Tucker here. A Greg Stiemsma spotting reported here.
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Kyle Veltrop of The Sporting News says this weekend comprised "the greatest two-day period in college basketball history."
Wisconsin-Milwaukee coach Bruce Pearl appears poised to take the job at Tennessee.
Wall-to-wall Illini day-after-classic coverage!
Lindsey Willhite of the Daily Herald says "one revolution by the earth only has made Saturday’s Chicago regional championship game appear even more otherworldly."
Columnist Mike Downey of the Chicago Tribune casts an early vote on the vital matter of how to refer to this game, one that fairly demands its own label. Downey's vote: the Miracle of Rosemont. (Or should it be the Miracle on Mannheim?)
Wonk's not saying Chicago has wrapped its arms around this team or anything but the Illini's miracle comeback was invoked from the pulpit during at least one Easter mass in the 312 area code yesterday.
Was it really a miracle? Take it from Bruce Weber: "If Jack [Ingram] can get a steal, anything can happen." (Said it before, gonna say it again: Wonk likes Weber.)
Coverage of celebrations for the team bus along I-57 here. Wildcat Nation devastation coverage here. Daily Herald columnist Mike Imrem does penance for saying Illinois would lose to Arizona (and, before that, Illinois would lose to Nevada) here. Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times heaps praise upon Deron Williams here. So does indefatigable Illini beat writer John Supinie, here. Sun-Times columnist Ron Rapoport notices little-noticed big man Jack Ingram here. Copley News Service columnist Mike Nadel suggests the allegedly suddenly snippy-with-the-media Illini brush up on their Dale Carnegie here. View from a typical Illinois-based sports pessimist (Cubs, Bears, etc) here.
Readers Digest-style condensed history of Illinois 2004-05 here.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
(Insert nasal whine here) I've seen the Heels' D and the damage done....
Wonk,
North Carolina's defense made the Wisconsin guards look very good yesterday. If the Tar Heels play that kind of D against Michigan State they'll get run out of the building. Don't even ask me what the Illini would do to that kind of defense. Mothers hide your children....
P.S. Did you see the phantom foul called early in the game on a Rashad McCants cross-over? Nobody even came close to touching him (they showed a replay, but neither Lundquist or Raftery commented on it), the cross-over was of the ankle-breaking variety. But he missed the runner and got two foul shots. No one so much as laid a finger on him!
Anyway, I just thought the first half of that game was called horribly, the only reason Wisconsin could tie it (at 44!) was Carolina's matador D.
How'd this team reach the top 10 in defensive efficiency?
Mike L.
By tiring out their opponents and compiling meaningless but stat-stuffing second halves? Dunno.
Good stuff, Mike--thanks!
Latest update from alert reader and die-hard Illini fan Jason
Wonk,
Ah, normally here at headquarters, we spend the weekend combining the mundane (clothes washing! grocery hunting!) and the relaxing (the remote, a beer, and hoops). This weekend, as it does three times per year, hoops was paramount and the grocery hunting was done in strict accordance with CBS game-time directives, with the added bonus of Easter dinner.
And, boy, what a weekend. Four games, four overtime periods, two furious comebacks, and four great games.
As for the Illinois-Arizona game, I really don't know what to say. I admit I conceded when Arizona went up 15, but I continued to watch because, well, watching Illinois basketball is what I do. (I do this.) I figured: if this is the last five minutes of the season, I'm watching.
We know I was being a bit chicken little but, judging from the Illiniboard, I wasn't alone. All I can say is this: when I woke up Sunday morning, my first thought was, "Sweet mercy, Illinois won last night, and I still don't know how".
This morning we learned, miracle of miracles, Mariotti even praised Illinois. Yes, Mariotti! So we know something so blindingly brilliant happened in Rosemont last night that even the harshest hometown critics jumped the wagon.
Otherwise, the game has been dissected by the MSM and you, among other bloggers, and there's nothing to add.
But this:
Final Four
Big East = 0
Big 12 = 0
Pac 10 = 0
SEC = 0
CUSA = 1
ACC = 1
Big Ten = 2
Hmm, that's gratifying.
Suffering the interminable wait 'til Saturday,
Jason H.
Thanks, Jason!
¶ 7:48 AM
(Wonk's waited patiently for months for the opportunity to use a New York Post kind of headline....)
After 61 games of tournament play, the conference whose last name was seemingly "is down this year" (first name: "The Big Ten") has put two teams into the Final Four and posted an 11-3 record. And with three teams in the Elite Eight where no other conference placed more than one, it is time to say it out loud:
The Big Ten has performed better than any other conference in March. So bring on April!
Yes, good fortune was involved. Yes, games were played against Bucknell, Vermont, and Wisconsin-Milwaukee, instead of Kansas, Syracuse, and Boston College.
What of it? Anyone who saw the Jayhawks in the later stages of their season (where they went 3-6 from Valentine's Day through to their Bison-delivered exit) and who saw Wisconsin come within six of North Carolina yesterday knows what the outcome of a Badgers vs. KU game would have been.
Michigan State vs. Syracuse? Well, seeing as the Spartans dispatched with the 1- and 2-seeds in their regional, it's a little tough to work up a retroactive fear of the 4.
And Illinois vs. Boston College? 'Nuff said.
No, the point is not that the Big Ten got a free pass. Nor is this year's edition of the conference mighty beyond past historical or current geographical parallel.
The point is that the Big Ten's best teams were given far less than their due this year because of the conference's most middling teams and its most hapless teams. It was a bifurcated league this year--maybe it has been for three years now--and the dividing line was just south of third-place Wisconsin.
As a normative matter, of course, each of those top three teams has its shortcomings; weak spots that have been chronicled exhaustively in this blog. But as a comparative matter, the material point is this: Michigan State, warts and all, can play with anyone in the country, including and especially Carolina. (Wonk can't wait for the nightcap Saturday.)
And if that's true of the Spartans, what does that say of the Illini?
Preeminent tourney performer Big Ten, Wonk salutes you!
Stately
Michigan State beat Kentucky 94-88 in double-overtime yesterday in Austin, Texas, and watching the second overtime of this game truly brought home just how fortunate the Wildcats were to have come this far, how lucky they were that Patrick Sparks' last-second three-pointer at the end of regulation fell through (and that his toe didn't touch the line). In the final overtime period, Kentucky--whether due to fatigue, youth, or incompetence--did not move at all on offense in their half-court sets.
Literally. Spartan fans with this game on tape or in digits try this experiment: go to the second overtime and, any time the ball's on the UK side of the floor, hit fast-forward. You'll see four still-life's and a drowsily moving ball-handler. Wonk had the feeling that as soon as Tom Izzo's team got out of its own way the game would end. And so it did.
In his latest bit of pioneering work in the field of cognitive dispersion, Wonk is jotting these comments down in advance of reading what anyone else in the world not named Ken Pomeroy has said. Still, this blogger has some hunches about what those others will say. Specifically, Wonk anticipates it will be said that the Spartans won a close one when it mattered most. That they slayed their demons at last. That Alan Anderson, he of the crucial misses at the free throw line in the disastrous loss to Iowa in the Big Ten tournament (again: how did that happen?), made the free throws that iced the game.
Well, Anderson did make the free throws that iced the game and the Spartans, of course, did win a close game. Even so: was this not the least in-doubt double-overtime game you've ever seen? Aside from a bad moment at the opening of the first overtime (when State could not so much as get the ball to half-court in two consecutive tries), none of the allegedly ancient ghosts made so much as a cameo appearance.
And so Wonk moves that we put all that close-game fretting to bed: discursively and otherwise. This team beat Duke and Kentucky this weekend. End of story. They may lose a close game in St. Louis (so too, of course, may North Carolina or Illinois or Louisville) but recent history suggests a higher probability of a close win.
Or two.
EXCLUSIVE Wonk game analysis! (You won't find this level of material anywhere else, folks.) Michigan State shot really well in the second half!
Your intrepid blogger's game notes look like this:
Davis layup
Brown 15-footer
Brown 3
Ager layup
Neitzel 3
Etc., etc. You get the idea. In all Wonk counts 30 second-half possessions, from which the Spartans extracted 42 points. They missed a grand total of seven shots in 20 minutes and turned the ball over just six times in that span.
If Wonk were piecing this all together from a box score he would think State must have been racing up and down the court and getting many layups and dunks. But the impressive part is that, almost without exception, this level of execution came in the half-court against a worthy defensive foe. One sequence stands out for Wonk as representative of this excellence....
With a little less than 11 minutes to go in the second half, the score is tied at 53. When the ball is fed to Paul Davis in the post, Kentucky hesitates for a moment but then doubles down on the big man, in a show of new-found respect for the recently beastly Spartan. As soon as the double-team comes, Kelvin Torbert, stationed at the top of the key, extends his hands in anticipation of a pass. When Davis feeds him, Torbert's covered by Shannon Brown's man--but Torbert doesn't even wait to see this occur. He's predicted it and he delivers a touch pass to Brown who is now wide open on the left wing and drains the three: 56-53. Simple stuff, yes. But simple stuff executed to perfection wins games.
BONUS Billy Packer note! Ah, never mind. The eerily Mr. Burns-like analyst who occupies the most coveted courtside seat in college hoops yet chooses to bury his nose in an NCAA Tournament historical almanac ("Jim, that '54 Siena team beat Clyde Hartsetter and the Hussies in the Garden and went all the way to the quarterfinals in Shibe Park before falling to a very good Hofstra team," etc.) leaves Wonk with far too much material for so little time. More on this tomorrow....
Links. Kentucky fan Ashley Judd explains why she blew off her niece's baptism to attend the game here. Then, if you feel you must read on....
Wow, Wonk should sport a wacky turban and call himself Swami. "In the span of two weeks," writes Stewart Mandel of sportsillustrated.com, "Tom Izzo's crew went from being the team that couldn't win the big one to the team that's now knocked off two huge ones in a row--top seed Duke and second-seeded Kentucky--by making the type of clutch plays down the stretch that had managed to elude them for nearly two full seasons." And Detroit News columnist Bob Wojnowski says: "For pure, redemptive moments, there may never be another like this, as Michigan State stared down a heaping pile of pressure, as Alan Anderson stood at the free-throw line poised to send his team to the Final Four." Still, Dennis Dodd of cbs.sportsline points out, correctly, that some of the abuse heaped on the Spartans the past two years came from within their own camp: "Chronic underachievers, they were called, by their own coach."
Columnist John Clay of the Lexington Herald-Leader says UK's third straight loss in the Elite Eight was "three excruciating hours of a beating chest and a breaking heart."
Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp finds significance in the day this victory occurred: "On a day that celebrated resurrection, Michigan State rose from the ashes of stinging doubt to reach its expectations." (Great minds alert! Lansing State Journal columnist Todd Schulz: "Left for dead after a crippling loss to Iowa little more than two weeks, Michigan State completed its own stunning resurrection on Easter Sunday.") And Free Press columnist Mitch Albom adds: "Say what you will about these Michigan State Spartans, but say it in St. Louis."
"I can't be prouder of this team," says Tom Izzo. Jubilant Spartan Nation coverage from the corner of Albert and Charles in East Lansing here. Two-headed-monster profile of Shannon Brown and Maurice Ager here. Three-headed-monster profile of Brown, Ager and Alan Anderson here. Izzo-as-Gallagher coverage (you know: the sledgehammer, the tapes of the losses, etc.) here.
BONUS Wonk syntactical nit-picking! Patrick Sparks' dramatic game-tying three at the end of regulation is being called "controversial" in some accounts. It wasn't controversial. It was close because his toe was close to the line and because it bounced on the rim for "about 35 minutes" (Chris Hill's estimate). But no one disputed the call. Wonk has watched for a few years now as "controversial" has morphed into a synonym for "close" (particularly, it seems, in football) and, by Godfrey, this blogger has had it! "Controversial" denotes intense disagreement, not razor-thin distinctions.
Did Patrick Sparks really yell "Take that!" at Billy Packer? After sinking that three? That's what it says here.
A time to Heel
North Carolina beat Wisconsin 88-82 in the Carrier Dome in Syracuse yesterday in a game that many Wonk emailers did not think would be this close. The Badgers got the maximum conceivable effort from the likes of Kammron Taylor (18 points), Clayton Hanson (5-of-8 on threes) and Sharif Chambliss (3-of-6) to add to 25 points from Alando Tucker and still it was not enough. But what a team when the backcourt comes to play, no?
Carolina might fairly be said to have out-Wisconsin'ed Wisconsin: just nine turnovers and a plus-6 in the rebounds column. An outstanding effort from the Badgers and poor three-point shooting from the Heels (5-of-16) kept this one competitive. But Sean May made sure "competitive" didn't turn into "loss."
May. What a beast: 13-of-19, 29 points, 12 boards. Put it this way: May, easily, outscored and outrebounded Mike Wilkinson and Zach Morley combined. Wonk has said before that college hoops this year does not have the Emeka Okafor or Carmelo Anthony figure. Maybe not but May comes closer to that level than anyone else.
BONUS aesthetic note! It did Wonk's Big Ten eyes good to see Tucker elevate high over Tar Heel blue for that beautiful alley-oop slam in the final two minutes. If the All-Wonk Team were scheduled for a 5.0 release, Tucker would get serious consideration. (Wisconsin State Journal columnist Tom Oates salutes the same alley-oop here.)
EXCLUSIVE Wonk Pomeroy-parroting! Carolina's performance in Syracuse dropped them to tenth in the nation in defensive efficiency according to Ken Pomeroy's points-per-possession-based ratings. Before this weekend the Tar Heels had ranked fourth. This drop-off confirms what this blogger's eyes were telling him: Carolina's D yesterday was lackluster at best.
Links. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Gary D'Amato says: "Funny, the University of Wisconsin basketball team didn't get this much respect when it was winning." (More: the Tar Heels were "pushed to the limit by a sixth-seeded team that was perceived by many to be one of the weaker teams to reach the Sweet 16.")
Mike Wilkinson says Sean May "was almost unstoppable." Bo Ryan talks about May the way ZZ Top talks about legs: "He knows how to use what he has." And of his own team Ryan says: "I haven't been around a team that's done what this group has done with what they had."
Three-headed-monster coverage of Clayton Hanson, Sharif Chambliss, and Kammron Taylor here. Salute to departing senior Mike Wilkinson here. Future-is-bright-themed salute to sophomore Alando Tucker here. A Greg Stiemsma spotting reported here.
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Kyle Veltrop of The Sporting News says this weekend comprised "the greatest two-day period in college basketball history."
Wisconsin-Milwaukee coach Bruce Pearl appears poised to take the job at Tennessee.
Wall-to-wall Illini day-after-classic coverage!
Lindsey Willhite of the Daily Herald says "one revolution by the earth only has made Saturday’s Chicago regional championship game appear even more otherworldly."
Columnist Mike Downey of the Chicago Tribune casts an early vote on the vital matter of how to refer to this game, one that fairly demands its own label. Downey's vote: the Miracle of Rosemont. (Or should it be the Miracle on Mannheim?)
Wonk's not saying Chicago has wrapped its arms around this team or anything but the Illini's miracle comeback was invoked from the pulpit during at least one Easter mass in the 312 area code yesterday.
Was it really a miracle? Take it from Bruce Weber: "If Jack [Ingram] can get a steal, anything can happen." (Said it before, gonna say it again: Wonk likes Weber.)
Coverage of celebrations for the team bus along I-57 here. Wildcat Nation devastation coverage here. Daily Herald columnist Mike Imrem does penance for saying Illinois would lose to Arizona (and, before that, Illinois would lose to Nevada) here. Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times heaps praise upon Deron Williams here. So does indefatigable Illini beat writer John Supinie, here. Sun-Times columnist Ron Rapoport notices little-noticed big man Jack Ingram here. Copley News Service columnist Mike Nadel suggests the allegedly suddenly snippy-with-the-media Illini brush up on their Dale Carnegie here. View from a typical Illinois-based sports pessimist (Cubs, Bears, etc) here.
Readers Digest-style condensed history of Illinois 2004-05 here.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
(Insert nasal whine here) I've seen the Heels' D and the damage done....
Wonk,
North Carolina's defense made the Wisconsin guards look very good yesterday. If the Tar Heels play that kind of D against Michigan State they'll get run out of the building. Don't even ask me what the Illini would do to that kind of defense. Mothers hide your children....
P.S. Did you see the phantom foul called early in the game on a Rashad McCants cross-over? Nobody even came close to touching him (they showed a replay, but neither Lundquist or Raftery commented on it), the cross-over was of the ankle-breaking variety. But he missed the runner and got two foul shots. No one so much as laid a finger on him!
Anyway, I just thought the first half of that game was called horribly, the only reason Wisconsin could tie it (at 44!) was Carolina's matador D.
How'd this team reach the top 10 in defensive efficiency?
Mike L.
By tiring out their opponents and compiling meaningless but stat-stuffing second halves? Dunno.
Good stuff, Mike--thanks!
Latest update from alert reader and die-hard Illini fan Jason
Wonk,
Ah, normally here at headquarters, we spend the weekend combining the mundane (clothes washing! grocery hunting!) and the relaxing (the remote, a beer, and hoops). This weekend, as it does three times per year, hoops was paramount and the grocery hunting was done in strict accordance with CBS game-time directives, with the added bonus of Easter dinner.
And, boy, what a weekend. Four games, four overtime periods, two furious comebacks, and four great games.
As for the Illinois-Arizona game, I really don't know what to say. I admit I conceded when Arizona went up 15, but I continued to watch because, well, watching Illinois basketball is what I do. (I do this.) I figured: if this is the last five minutes of the season, I'm watching.
We know I was being a bit chicken little but, judging from the Illiniboard, I wasn't alone. All I can say is this: when I woke up Sunday morning, my first thought was, "Sweet mercy, Illinois won last night, and I still don't know how".
This morning we learned, miracle of miracles, Mariotti even praised Illinois. Yes, Mariotti! So we know something so blindingly brilliant happened in Rosemont last night that even the harshest hometown critics jumped the wagon.
Otherwise, the game has been dissected by the MSM and you, among other bloggers, and there's nothing to add.
But this:
Final Four
Big East = 0
Big 12 = 0
Pac 10 = 0
SEC = 0
CUSA = 1
ACC = 1
Big Ten = 2
Hmm, that's gratifying.
Suffering the interminable wait 'til Saturday,
Jason H.
Thanks, Jason!
¶ 7:48 AM
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Classic
Illinois beat Arizona in OT 90-89 last night to advance to the Final Four in a game that within hours was already being called "the greatest comeback in tournament history"; a game that, if you've found your way to a blog about college basketball, thrilled you down to the deepest hoops-fan core of your being. This was Carlton Fisk-good. Immaculate Reception-good. Yes, Christian Laettner-good.
The Illini trailed 75-60 with four minutes left. A little more than three minutes later, off a steal of an inbounds pass, Deron Williams capped an incredible ending (eight Illinois points in 19 seconds) to an incredible run (20-5) with a three that tied the game at 80 with 38 seconds left. Allstate Arena exploded into delirium. Even the hitherto unfailingly detached and unflappable Jay Bilas forgot himself and became Dick Vitale for a moment, shouting "Ohhhh!" CBS showed Bill Murray in the stands looking like a nine-year-old kid (with his hands to his head in disbelief and joy). And Wonk knew then that the game was over. With the arena about to shake off its foundations, this blogger saw Arizona's Jawann McClellan gesturing angrily to a teammate--Wonk didn't know who McClellan was upset with or why (and still doesn't) but Wonk did know that the Wildcats had come unglued. And indeed, Illinois went on to the one-point win, reaching the Final Four for the first time since 1989.
What a game. What a game....
The beginning
Illinois came out of the gate moving the ball in their best December-February form and this Illini fan thought that a good omen: even when the shots weren't falling throughout a back-and-forth first half, the looks were there. But Wonk was nevertheless extremely impressed with Arizona and particularly with Salim Stoudamire. Yes, Stoudamire had an off night scoring (nine points, 2-for-13 from the field). But for those of us who haven't seen much of the Wildcat guard (even if we've been impressed with him on paper), Stoudamire was something of a revelation: he's not just a shooter. In Wonk's chicken scratches made during the game, your intrepid blogger finds this: "Stoudamire...surprisingly quick, penetrates...has that Deron Williams calm."
Ah, yes, those penetrations. The Illini interior D left something to be desired from the start, a condition that would fairly continue for the entire game. And here the numbers are deceiving. A glance at the box score would suggest the Wildcats were pounding it down low to Channing Frye all game (Frye's line: 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting). Not so. In fact when Arizona did run an isolation in the first half (with Frye, guarded by Roger Powell, in the paint and the other four Wildcats outside the arc), Wonk made a mental note that this was the first time this set had been run.
No, it wasn't post moves. It was drives. Lute Olson has (had) an athletic group that attacks the rim with ferocity. Hassan Adams (21 points, 9-of-13) and Frye, in particular, were lethal.
And yet....
Even in a closely-played first half, Illinois was showing the qualities that would win this game. With eight minutes left Dee Brown fed Powell for a fast-break dunk and it occurred to Wonk:
Illinois plays like a team that goes 11-deep.
Never mind the fact that they only go eight. Someone forgot to tell them the bench is thin because they hustle like a team that's coming at you in waves. On this particular fast-break, Powell started the play under the Arizona basket competing for the rebound, turned, ran the floor, and passed no fewer than four Wildcats to break ahead of the pack for the dunk. And Wonk smacked his fist and said "Yes!" This is what this team does. Illinois led 38-36 at the break.
Even so, things were about to get bleak.
Digging the hole
Maybe what started (or at least foreshadowed) the avalanche was Stoudamire's three at the 15:46 mark to make it 47-41. It was his only three of the game (he went 1-of-7) but, sweet mother of Steve Kerr, what a shot. If you have this game on tape or in digits, please watch this play so you know Wonk is not making this up: Stoudamire shot this ball from the outer fringes of the Blue Demon logo at center court. There was logo paint under his shoes as he launched the ball. Nothing but net on a shot where he'd simply brought the ball up court and fired away from 28 feet. (And this kind of unconscious shooting had Illini fans everywhere thinking: Notre Dame, 2003.)
Yes, Arizona played an incredible first 16 minutes of the second half--but they had a lot of help from Illinois. On the offensive end of the floor the Illini ball movement that Wonk had found to be such a good omen was long gone, replaced, strangely, by way too much dribbling. Suddenly the threes weren't falling. Arizona was getting the rebounds (including one impressive sequence where Stoudamire out-fought Illini big man Jack Ingram for a board). And when Channing Frye made a three with 6:02 left to push the lead to 70-58, it really did seem the stars had aligned for the Cats: Frye was 2-of-16 (.125) on threes this season before that shot.
A couple minutes later CBS did the dreaded pan shot of the Illinois bench: the one the director in the truck orders up when the game is effectively lost and the faces on the bench are long. The iconography of TV was telling us: game over.
Illinois had other thoughts....
For Frye's three, with six minutes left, was Arizona's last field goal in regulation....
The comeback
Illinois trails 75-60 with four minutes left. The crowd is subdued and the Wildcats are feeling comfortable: there's no real resistance to a rather indifferent screen set by Ingram, one that pops Williams open for a three that the crowd greets with a half-hearted cheer: 75-63.
Two free throws by 'Zona freshman McClellan (man, will he be tough): 77-63.
Luther Head runs off a double-screen by Ingram and Powell: and by "double-screen," Wonk means the two are standing literally shoulder-to-shoulder, forming a wall. Head pops free and hits the three. It's 77-66 and the crowd's becoming more interested.
Hassan Adams, harassed by Brown, loses his dribble out of bounds.
Brown grabs an offensive rebound (!) and puts it back: 77-68 with 2:43 left.
But it still looked like too little too late. And when McClellan (again, remember the name) made a spectacular play and blocked Powell's shot down low, the Cats walked the ball up with a nine point lead and 90 seconds to go. They felt they'd dodged the bullet. And some air went out of the crowd. Then....
Bounce pass intercepted by Head, lay-in: 77-70.
Powell fouls McClellan (and earns kudos from Jay Bilas for putting a freshman on the line in this situation) and the Arizona guard makes one of two: 78-70.
Deron Williams senses the Wildcats are in their no-foul mode. He's right: drives all the way to the basket, 78-72.
The Illini foul Mustafa Shakur, who makes both: 80-72. One minute to go and Illinois is about to score eight points in 19 seconds:
McClellan makes a little-noticed but huge (Wonk is tempted to say decisive) freshman mistake. He's guarding Head and when Williams penetrates to the free throw line and feeds his teammate, McClellan, who should be playing conservative with an eight-point lead, goes for the ball. It leaves Head wide open for a deep three: 80-75. Now the crowd is back and Dick Enberg and Bilas are suddenly sincere in their "don't go anywhere"s.
Stoudamire brings the ball to half-court and feeds Shakur, who's quickly caught between Brown and Williams. Brown goes for the ball with his left hand and pokes it clear; Williams picks it up and feeds Brown for the layup: 80-77. Arizona calls timeout with 45 seconds left. With an Illinois full-court press in place, the ensuing inbounds pass is a lob to Frye. But Ingram leaps and taps it to Head. Somehow, on a play that couldn't possibly have been scripted, Ingram has the presence of mind to move into screening position on the opposite wing from the ball. (This team is nothing if not seasoned.) Sure enough, Brown reverses the ball to Williams on the right wing. Williams fakes the shot, dribbles behind Ingram's screen, and lets fly....
80-80.
Arizona had the last shot and it was ugly: McClellan from the left wing. It rimmed out and Dee Brown, strangely, tried to throw the ball long instead of calling timeout with about five seconds left. Brown's pass was tipped and Stoudamire actually had a shot but it was blocked by Head.
Overtime. Game. Final Four.
And when, at last, it was over, Bruce Weber could be seen crying. What a moment. What a coach--a symbol for his team: underappreciated, straight-to-the-point, tenacious, and lion-hearted. This coach and these players...well, they're guys you want in your foxhole.
BONUS look at the Illini playbook! In OT James Augustine had long since fouled out so Roger Powell and Williams ran a play that Williams usually runs with Augustine. Powell is out top and gives the ball to Williams on the right wing, fakes a screen for Williams, and then slips to the basket. It worked: Channing Frye was left in the dust and Powell recorded an ugly pseudo-dunk.
TOKEN salute to Arizona! The Wildcats are the best team Illinois has played, meaning not that they're better than Michigan State but that the 45 minutes that Arizona played last night was the finest performance, by far, turned in by an Illini opponent this year.
BONUS Illini personnel note! Warren Carter has apparently replaced Nick Smith in the Illinois rotation.
Good. Wonk wishes Smith, the lanky Floridian recruited by Lon Krueger, all the best. And this blogger has enjoyed Smith's often acerbic comments to the beat writers. But his defense was frequently indifferent and, speaking empirically, he hurt Illinois materially with every shot he took.
EXCLUSIVE Wonk pre-emptive historical parallel! Before Jim Nantz says it 112 times today (and, believe Wonk, he will) the most applicable precedent here (regional final, huge comeback, heavyweight opponent) is the 1998 regional final between Duke and eventual national champion Kentucky, where the Wildcats trailed by 17 before rallying for the win. Wonk remembers that game primarily as an instance where the now universal custom of calling timeouts to preserve possessions (when trapped or when falling out of bounds) absolutely killed the Blue Devils. They played the last minutes of that game without any timeouts left and were unable to stop the bleeding as Kentucky blew past them.
Links. Think Wonk was effusive in his praise of this game?....
William C. Rhoden of the New York Times says "people will remember this finish for decades to come." (Kudos to alert reader Smith S. for this link.)
Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post says this game is "way up on the short list of Greatest Comebacks Ever, way up on the short list of Greatest Games Ever." Wilbon closes: "And in the bedlam, everybody knew they had seen something not just rare, but admirable, the tournament at its best, March at its absolute Maddest. The band played, the tears flowed. Explanations be damned."
Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey says: "It was one of the greatest comebacks in the history of college basketball."
Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News suggests this just may have been "the greatest comeback in tournament history."
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti says: A team that looks like a champion carries on, having left us all awe-struck."
Copley News Service columnist Mike Nadel says it was "one of the best games any of us ever have seen or ever will see."
David Steele of the Baltimore Sun says Illinois "earned the respect of a skeptical nation, and leaped into the driver's seat for the national championship."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell says this was "one of the greatest games ever played in college basketball history."
Gregg Doyel of cbs.sportsline says "people ought to start wondering if Illinois has the best three guards in college basketball in any season."
And oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper blogs: "Saturday night’s 90-89 overtime victory over Arizona ranks as the best college basketball game I’ve ever covered." (Tupper also says Bruce Weber moved Ingram into position on the key steal, "knowing Arizona would be throwing the ball to Channing Frye. Perfect anticipation." Indeed.) And in his dead-tree space this morning, Tupper calls Illinois "destiny's children." Well, we'll see....
Superlatives not just for pundits! Jack Ingram says: "It is just not the greatest game I have ever played in but the greatest game I have ever watched."
One down, two to go
Wonk says to Michigan State and Wisconsin: let's do this thing Big East 1985-style!
And to the fans of those teams, Wonk asks your indulgence. It's Easter and Wonk's off to spend time with the family. Your intrepid blogger will make it up to you tomorrow with analysis and links on what he trusts will be two more wins.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
From the Wonk archives!
Somehow, in writing of Illinois' extraordinary victory, Wonk thought of words written almost two months ago by a Michigan State fan a few days after the Illini had beaten the Spartans in East Lansing....
I come to you as an Illini convert. Winning ugly is not only a skill, but an absolutely essential skill for champions, and the Illini have got it. My beloved Cleaves-era Spartans had it something fierce, and the upshot is this:
All Illini opponents know that regardless of the score with five minutes remaining, the Illini are almost certainly about to beat them.
True. True.
¶ 8:28 AM
Illinois beat Arizona in OT 90-89 last night to advance to the Final Four in a game that within hours was already being called "the greatest comeback in tournament history"; a game that, if you've found your way to a blog about college basketball, thrilled you down to the deepest hoops-fan core of your being. This was Carlton Fisk-good. Immaculate Reception-good. Yes, Christian Laettner-good.
The Illini trailed 75-60 with four minutes left. A little more than three minutes later, off a steal of an inbounds pass, Deron Williams capped an incredible ending (eight Illinois points in 19 seconds) to an incredible run (20-5) with a three that tied the game at 80 with 38 seconds left. Allstate Arena exploded into delirium. Even the hitherto unfailingly detached and unflappable Jay Bilas forgot himself and became Dick Vitale for a moment, shouting "Ohhhh!" CBS showed Bill Murray in the stands looking like a nine-year-old kid (with his hands to his head in disbelief and joy). And Wonk knew then that the game was over. With the arena about to shake off its foundations, this blogger saw Arizona's Jawann McClellan gesturing angrily to a teammate--Wonk didn't know who McClellan was upset with or why (and still doesn't) but Wonk did know that the Wildcats had come unglued. And indeed, Illinois went on to the one-point win, reaching the Final Four for the first time since 1989.
What a game. What a game....
The beginning
Illinois came out of the gate moving the ball in their best December-February form and this Illini fan thought that a good omen: even when the shots weren't falling throughout a back-and-forth first half, the looks were there. But Wonk was nevertheless extremely impressed with Arizona and particularly with Salim Stoudamire. Yes, Stoudamire had an off night scoring (nine points, 2-for-13 from the field). But for those of us who haven't seen much of the Wildcat guard (even if we've been impressed with him on paper), Stoudamire was something of a revelation: he's not just a shooter. In Wonk's chicken scratches made during the game, your intrepid blogger finds this: "Stoudamire...surprisingly quick, penetrates...has that Deron Williams calm."
Ah, yes, those penetrations. The Illini interior D left something to be desired from the start, a condition that would fairly continue for the entire game. And here the numbers are deceiving. A glance at the box score would suggest the Wildcats were pounding it down low to Channing Frye all game (Frye's line: 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting). Not so. In fact when Arizona did run an isolation in the first half (with Frye, guarded by Roger Powell, in the paint and the other four Wildcats outside the arc), Wonk made a mental note that this was the first time this set had been run.
No, it wasn't post moves. It was drives. Lute Olson has (had) an athletic group that attacks the rim with ferocity. Hassan Adams (21 points, 9-of-13) and Frye, in particular, were lethal.
And yet....
Even in a closely-played first half, Illinois was showing the qualities that would win this game. With eight minutes left Dee Brown fed Powell for a fast-break dunk and it occurred to Wonk:
Illinois plays like a team that goes 11-deep.
Never mind the fact that they only go eight. Someone forgot to tell them the bench is thin because they hustle like a team that's coming at you in waves. On this particular fast-break, Powell started the play under the Arizona basket competing for the rebound, turned, ran the floor, and passed no fewer than four Wildcats to break ahead of the pack for the dunk. And Wonk smacked his fist and said "Yes!" This is what this team does. Illinois led 38-36 at the break.
Even so, things were about to get bleak.
Digging the hole
Maybe what started (or at least foreshadowed) the avalanche was Stoudamire's three at the 15:46 mark to make it 47-41. It was his only three of the game (he went 1-of-7) but, sweet mother of Steve Kerr, what a shot. If you have this game on tape or in digits, please watch this play so you know Wonk is not making this up: Stoudamire shot this ball from the outer fringes of the Blue Demon logo at center court. There was logo paint under his shoes as he launched the ball. Nothing but net on a shot where he'd simply brought the ball up court and fired away from 28 feet. (And this kind of unconscious shooting had Illini fans everywhere thinking: Notre Dame, 2003.)
Yes, Arizona played an incredible first 16 minutes of the second half--but they had a lot of help from Illinois. On the offensive end of the floor the Illini ball movement that Wonk had found to be such a good omen was long gone, replaced, strangely, by way too much dribbling. Suddenly the threes weren't falling. Arizona was getting the rebounds (including one impressive sequence where Stoudamire out-fought Illini big man Jack Ingram for a board). And when Channing Frye made a three with 6:02 left to push the lead to 70-58, it really did seem the stars had aligned for the Cats: Frye was 2-of-16 (.125) on threes this season before that shot.
A couple minutes later CBS did the dreaded pan shot of the Illinois bench: the one the director in the truck orders up when the game is effectively lost and the faces on the bench are long. The iconography of TV was telling us: game over.
Illinois had other thoughts....
For Frye's three, with six minutes left, was Arizona's last field goal in regulation....
The comeback
Illinois trails 75-60 with four minutes left. The crowd is subdued and the Wildcats are feeling comfortable: there's no real resistance to a rather indifferent screen set by Ingram, one that pops Williams open for a three that the crowd greets with a half-hearted cheer: 75-63.
Two free throws by 'Zona freshman McClellan (man, will he be tough): 77-63.
Luther Head runs off a double-screen by Ingram and Powell: and by "double-screen," Wonk means the two are standing literally shoulder-to-shoulder, forming a wall. Head pops free and hits the three. It's 77-66 and the crowd's becoming more interested.
Hassan Adams, harassed by Brown, loses his dribble out of bounds.
Brown grabs an offensive rebound (!) and puts it back: 77-68 with 2:43 left.
But it still looked like too little too late. And when McClellan (again, remember the name) made a spectacular play and blocked Powell's shot down low, the Cats walked the ball up with a nine point lead and 90 seconds to go. They felt they'd dodged the bullet. And some air went out of the crowd. Then....
Bounce pass intercepted by Head, lay-in: 77-70.
Powell fouls McClellan (and earns kudos from Jay Bilas for putting a freshman on the line in this situation) and the Arizona guard makes one of two: 78-70.
Deron Williams senses the Wildcats are in their no-foul mode. He's right: drives all the way to the basket, 78-72.
The Illini foul Mustafa Shakur, who makes both: 80-72. One minute to go and Illinois is about to score eight points in 19 seconds:
McClellan makes a little-noticed but huge (Wonk is tempted to say decisive) freshman mistake. He's guarding Head and when Williams penetrates to the free throw line and feeds his teammate, McClellan, who should be playing conservative with an eight-point lead, goes for the ball. It leaves Head wide open for a deep three: 80-75. Now the crowd is back and Dick Enberg and Bilas are suddenly sincere in their "don't go anywhere"s.
Stoudamire brings the ball to half-court and feeds Shakur, who's quickly caught between Brown and Williams. Brown goes for the ball with his left hand and pokes it clear; Williams picks it up and feeds Brown for the layup: 80-77. Arizona calls timeout with 45 seconds left. With an Illinois full-court press in place, the ensuing inbounds pass is a lob to Frye. But Ingram leaps and taps it to Head. Somehow, on a play that couldn't possibly have been scripted, Ingram has the presence of mind to move into screening position on the opposite wing from the ball. (This team is nothing if not seasoned.) Sure enough, Brown reverses the ball to Williams on the right wing. Williams fakes the shot, dribbles behind Ingram's screen, and lets fly....
80-80.
Arizona had the last shot and it was ugly: McClellan from the left wing. It rimmed out and Dee Brown, strangely, tried to throw the ball long instead of calling timeout with about five seconds left. Brown's pass was tipped and Stoudamire actually had a shot but it was blocked by Head.
Overtime. Game. Final Four.
And when, at last, it was over, Bruce Weber could be seen crying. What a moment. What a coach--a symbol for his team: underappreciated, straight-to-the-point, tenacious, and lion-hearted. This coach and these players...well, they're guys you want in your foxhole.
BONUS look at the Illini playbook! In OT James Augustine had long since fouled out so Roger Powell and Williams ran a play that Williams usually runs with Augustine. Powell is out top and gives the ball to Williams on the right wing, fakes a screen for Williams, and then slips to the basket. It worked: Channing Frye was left in the dust and Powell recorded an ugly pseudo-dunk.
TOKEN salute to Arizona! The Wildcats are the best team Illinois has played, meaning not that they're better than Michigan State but that the 45 minutes that Arizona played last night was the finest performance, by far, turned in by an Illini opponent this year.
BONUS Illini personnel note! Warren Carter has apparently replaced Nick Smith in the Illinois rotation.
Good. Wonk wishes Smith, the lanky Floridian recruited by Lon Krueger, all the best. And this blogger has enjoyed Smith's often acerbic comments to the beat writers. But his defense was frequently indifferent and, speaking empirically, he hurt Illinois materially with every shot he took.
EXCLUSIVE Wonk pre-emptive historical parallel! Before Jim Nantz says it 112 times today (and, believe Wonk, he will) the most applicable precedent here (regional final, huge comeback, heavyweight opponent) is the 1998 regional final between Duke and eventual national champion Kentucky, where the Wildcats trailed by 17 before rallying for the win. Wonk remembers that game primarily as an instance where the now universal custom of calling timeouts to preserve possessions (when trapped or when falling out of bounds) absolutely killed the Blue Devils. They played the last minutes of that game without any timeouts left and were unable to stop the bleeding as Kentucky blew past them.
Links. Think Wonk was effusive in his praise of this game?....
William C. Rhoden of the New York Times says "people will remember this finish for decades to come." (Kudos to alert reader Smith S. for this link.)
Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post says this game is "way up on the short list of Greatest Comebacks Ever, way up on the short list of Greatest Games Ever." Wilbon closes: "And in the bedlam, everybody knew they had seen something not just rare, but admirable, the tournament at its best, March at its absolute Maddest. The band played, the tears flowed. Explanations be damned."
Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey says: "It was one of the greatest comebacks in the history of college basketball."
Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News suggests this just may have been "the greatest comeback in tournament history."
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti says: A team that looks like a champion carries on, having left us all awe-struck."
Copley News Service columnist Mike Nadel says it was "one of the best games any of us ever have seen or ever will see."
David Steele of the Baltimore Sun says Illinois "earned the respect of a skeptical nation, and leaped into the driver's seat for the national championship."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell says this was "one of the greatest games ever played in college basketball history."
Gregg Doyel of cbs.sportsline says "people ought to start wondering if Illinois has the best three guards in college basketball in any season."
And oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper blogs: "Saturday night’s 90-89 overtime victory over Arizona ranks as the best college basketball game I’ve ever covered." (Tupper also says Bruce Weber moved Ingram into position on the key steal, "knowing Arizona would be throwing the ball to Channing Frye. Perfect anticipation." Indeed.) And in his dead-tree space this morning, Tupper calls Illinois "destiny's children." Well, we'll see....
Superlatives not just for pundits! Jack Ingram says: "It is just not the greatest game I have ever played in but the greatest game I have ever watched."
One down, two to go
Wonk says to Michigan State and Wisconsin: let's do this thing Big East 1985-style!
And to the fans of those teams, Wonk asks your indulgence. It's Easter and Wonk's off to spend time with the family. Your intrepid blogger will make it up to you tomorrow with analysis and links on what he trusts will be two more wins.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
From the Wonk archives!
Somehow, in writing of Illinois' extraordinary victory, Wonk thought of words written almost two months ago by a Michigan State fan a few days after the Illini had beaten the Spartans in East Lansing....
I come to you as an Illini convert. Winning ugly is not only a skill, but an absolutely essential skill for champions, and the Illini have got it. My beloved Cleaves-era Spartans had it something fierce, and the upshot is this:
All Illini opponents know that regardless of the score with five minutes remaining, the Illini are almost certainly about to beat them.
True. True.
¶ 8:28 AM
Saturday, March 26, 2005
If this conference is "down," Wonk don't wanna be up!
It literally couldn't have been scripted any better:
1) Three teams in the Elite Eight, the best performance of any conference.
2) A 9-2 record overall, the best performance of any conference.
3) A beautiful, swift, stunning, and unanswerable refutation of the conventional wisdom.
4) Winning the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, as it were, when it really mattered.
What did we learn last night? That the gulf between the Big Ten's "big three" and its fourth-best team (Iowa in November and December, Minnesota in calendar 2005) was far larger than previously thought. It is the gulf between being in the Elite Eight and being physically overmatched by Iowa State. To the conference's "other" eight teams, then, this blogger says: keep working. Wonk is pulling for you.
And to Bruce Weber, Tom Izzo, and Bo Ryan, Wonk says: congratulations. You ignored the words and got it done on the court.
(5) Michigan State 78, (1) Duke 68
Wonk has pretty much been making a pest of himself all season long, insisting that the Spartans are a force to be reckoned with. Your intrepid blogger even went so far as to drag in Spartan beat writers and national hoops pundits for "interviews" in which Wonk harangued them about the wonders of Tom Izzo's team. So, yes, last night was sweet for this spectator.
And speaking of Wonk's previous posts, it is a privilege and a delight for this Big Ten fan to officially remove Paul Davis from Wonk's All-Head-Case Team. Numbers like this in a regional semifinal against Duke will do that: 20 points and 12 boards. Over his last two games, Davis is averaging 15.5 points and 13 boards. State's always had the flyers--now they've got a beast down low. And last night they blitzed a great defensive team for 46 points in a half. And they're playing D.
This team is going to be tough to beat....
Links. Start here: 142 words from Ken Pomeroy are superior to hundreds more from any other hoops pundit. Under a headline reading "The value of a missed shot," Ken says:
Michigan State's missed shots were valuable last night. The Spartans are one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country, and their 16 offensive rebounds were a big reason for their impressive offensive performance against Duke. Because Duke had 22 turnovers, much was made of the Spartans' defense, and rightfully so. But offensively, State scored 78 points in roughly 74 possessions for an offensive efficiency of 105. An impressive total against the nation's second stingiest defense on a points per possession basis.
As for less nourishing but nevertheless apposite MSM goodies....
Mike Krzyzewski gave credit to the Spartans' defense: "There were times where we had people who were open in the first half and we just didn't see him because of [their] pressure on the ball. It was kind of like rushing the quarterback where you don't see a receiver."
Durham Herald Sun columnist Frank Dascenzo says "the Spartans swaggered on defense, took Duke's rhythm, or what there was of it, and stuffed it in the trash." Stewart Mandel of sportsillustrated.com says: "No matter what happens during the rest of the NCAA tournament, these Spartans will finally be able to say they accomplished something not [Mateen] Cleaves, Magic Johnson nor any other modern Michigan State hero can: They beat Duke. And they did it in stunning fashion." (BONUS Wonk consider-the-source warning! Mandel's grasp of college hoops is, apparently, tenuous at best: "This year's Spartans aren't a particularly stellar rebounding group." Right. And Illinois isn't a particularly stellar passing group, and Carolina isn't a particularly stellar scoring group. Mr. Mandel, please use this link, scroll down to "offensive rebounding rate" and "defensive rebounding rate," and then report back to Wonk for slappage of wrists.)
Dennis Dodd of cbs.sportsline says "Coach K's guards were outmuscled all night." Kyle Veltrop of The Sporting News says it was the Dukies that were trying for the upset last night: "This was not a year when a team had to play perfect in order to knock out Duke." (And Andy Katz of espn.com has a write up on the game here, one that refuses to load on Wonk's computer. This happens more than occasionally with espn.com--anyone else having this problem?)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz says "Michigan State sent Duke and ACC worshipers running for cover." And referring to championships not won and banners never unfurled, Lansing State Journal columnist Todd Schulz says: "They'll never raise a banner in the rafters of the Breslin Center to commemorate this win. Then again, they won't have to. It will hang in the memories of MSU fans for years."
Wonk suspects many, many State fans awoke this morning and made a bee-line to Drew Sharp's column in the Detroit Free Press. Sharp has been known to be rather, um, tough on this generation of Spartans. What does he have to say this morning? "Michigan State's senior class of basketball players made a little history Friday night in the NCAA Sweet 16, distinguishing themselves from their immediate predecessors....They have defined themselves as a special group with a resilience that only they could see." And, adds Sharp: "The Spartans were the tougher team."
Free Press columnist Michael Rosenberg says Paul Davis was "the biggest, loudest and best player on the floor--especially in the closing minutes." And Free Press columnist Mitch Albom says Davis "often symbolized this particular MSU group, hailed for his potential but assailed for his results. The postseason has never been his best friend....But Friday night he was electrifying." BONUS Mitch Albom note! Yesterday Albom ran a piece on Mike Krzyzewski that Wonk is tempted to call hagiographic--yet even that doesn't begin to do justice to the depths of cringingly servile sycophancy reached by Albom in an essay that would have been appallingly over-the-top had its subject been St. Francis of Assisi. See blogger and alert Wonk reader Matt May for a jolly good disembowelment of Albom's valentine to Coach K.
BONUS auditory note! Wonk had never heard Paul Davis speak before last night's post-game interview with Jim Nantz. This blogger's reaction? Um, pretty much Edvard Munch-level horror. Man, does Davis sound like Lurch, or what? Gainfully employed broadcasters everywhere slept soundly last night, knowing their jobs are safe from any post-NBA career plans entertained by Mr. Davis.
Last word. Wonk is now prouder than ever to have said that Iowa beating MSU in the Big Ten tournament was every bit as big a shock as Illinois losing at Ohio State.
(6) Wisconsin 65, (10) NC State 56
Forget stats. In fact, Wonk is purposefully writing this sentence before having seen the box score: Alando Tucker won this game for the Badgers, keying a 13-0 run at the start of the second half. After a first half where he and his team were wholly unrecognizable to this spectator (the Badgers went to the locker room at intermission with 11 turnovers and 0 assists), Tucker suddenly became a man among boys. He demanded the ball and made good on his demands, scoring basket after basket. It was beautiful.
NC State, meanwhile, was busily fulfilling every vulgar stereotype about the Princeton offense and its alleged feast-or-famine properties. In the first half, the Wolfpack looked like a threat to win the national championship. In the second half, they had Wonk and everyone in the Carrier Dome wondering how in the world they got a bid.
Links. Tony Mejia of cbs.sportsline says "Wisconsin used great help defense whenever Julius Hodge and Ilian Evtimov ventured into the paint, and Hodge was visibly frustrated with the nagging defense Clayton Hanson, a former walk-on, and reserve Ray Nixon played on him." Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal says: "In outscoring North Carolina State 44-26 [in the second half] the Badgers played Wisconsin basketball as well as they've played it all season." Gary D'Amato of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Badgers "imposed their iron will on the panicking Wolfpack in the second half and pulled away to a surprisingly easy--given the start--65-56 victory."
Alando Tucker says of his second-half run: "I just wanted to stick to attacking the rim and finding guys." Mike Wilkinson favors understatement! Who knew? "He was big for us," Wilkinson says of Tucker....Tale-of-two-halves coverage here. Who-the-heck-is-Jason-Chappell coverage here and here.
Mawkish Badger bathos ("They are farm kids and walk-ons. They are redshirts and transfers. They are blue collar grinders and unselfish role players." etc.) here.
Man, how good is Luther Head? The Illinois guard has eaten Clayton Hanson alive at every opportunity this year, pretty much scoring at will. Last night, conversely, Hanson effectively shut down a guy who'll be in the NBA in a matter of months, Julius Hodge. (OK, Hanson had help. Still...) Wonk did not see that one coming, to say the least.
Thank you, hoops gods. For letting Bill Raftery do this game. With eight minutes left in the contest, Andreas Helmigk was at the free throw line and banked in his first attempt. It took Raf a minute but he heard Wonk ("Say it! Say it!") a thousand miles away: "At the free throw line, with a kiss!"
BONUS Seinfeld reference! Link here for a picture of Bo Ryan's father, Butch Ryan, getting ready to hug Mike Wilkinson after the game last night. Bo and Butch look disarmingly similar in age, conjuring memories for Wonk of the Mandelbaum family and their "crepe money."
40 minutes from St. Louis
(3) Arizona (30-6) vs. (1) Illinois (35-1)
7:05pm (EST)
The numbers say the biggest mismatch in this game is between the Illinois offense (5th in the nation according to Ken Pomeroy's points-per-possession-based ratings) and the Arizona defense (27th). (Interesting: Lute Olson says this is the best defensive team he's ever had.) The match up between the Illini defense (6th) and the Wildcat offense (10th) should be more even. Led by PPWS stud Salim Stoudamire, Arizona shoots threes even better than Illinois does, and that's saying something. The Wildcats rebound a little better than the Illini--they also turn the ball over more (but then almost everyone does).
In advancing past Oklahoma State, Arizona shot .660 from the field (not a typo) which can occasion one of two reactions from Illini fans: fear (they shot .660 from the field) or confidence (they shot .660 from the field and still only won by one--man, their D must be bad).
In other words, it looks like a replay of the Wildcats' game Thursday night against the Cowboys: a close, relatively high-scoring game between two great teams.
Links. Leave it to Bruce Weber to say it all and say it quickly: "How you finish is what people remember."...Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper's forecast sounds a lot like Wonk's: "This is a great, fierce test for the Illini. There are some difficult matchups and the shooting of Salim Stoudamire is a major concern. But Arizona has some tough matchups, too. And if Deron Williams and Dee Brown can shoot the ball like they did Thursday, I like Illinois’ chances." Daily Herald columnist Mike Imrem, on the other hand, is predicting an Arizona win; "I still don’t believe in the Illini. But...I will if they beat Arizona today." Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey says tonight's game is actually the national championship game.
Columnist Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post profiles Salim Stoudamire here. So does St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell. Still more on Stoudamire from Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti here. But Dee Brown gives Stoudamire the ultimate compliment: "That dude, he plays like a video game. He shoots from anyplace."...Arizona coach Lute Olson says his three-guard 1997 national championship team and the 2005 Illini are "so much alike it's unbelievable." Illini's-eye view of Olson here.
Luther Head says he and his hammy are OK for tonight. Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Downey profiles ordained Pentecostal minister Roger Powell, Jr., here....Stop-Channing-Frye coverage here. Oddly unhindered by contradictory stats, John Mullin of the Chicago Tribune frets about Frye and Ivan Radenovic here. (The two combined for 13 rebounds against Oklahoma State, Mullin tells us rather breathlessly. Um, that's about what James Augustine's been doing by himself for the past five games.) ...Still more comparisons between the Illini teams of 1989 and 2005 here.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Latest update from the now-euphoric alert reader and die-hard Spartan fan Shawn
Hi, Wonk,
Obviously, a great game for State and a great night for the Big Ten. The defensive intensity was incredible, and Paul Davis came up huge. As I reflect back on it, I think the most interesting thing about the game was how horribly State shot from the field, particularly in the first half. The stats don't look that bad, but a huge percentage of our made baskets came on breakaways, and we still managed only 44% for the game. If this team can find at least a little of its long-range game again, I think they can handle anyone still in the field.
Regards,
Shawn
P.S. Excellent job in getting out in front of Secretary-of-State-Jesse-White-mania, which has taken all of Chicagoland by storm. My wife and I were lucky enough to see his float pass by in the St. Patrick's Day parade. It was the defining moment of both of our lives.
Thanks, Shawn!
¶ 9:30 AM
It literally couldn't have been scripted any better:
1) Three teams in the Elite Eight, the best performance of any conference.
2) A 9-2 record overall, the best performance of any conference.
3) A beautiful, swift, stunning, and unanswerable refutation of the conventional wisdom.
4) Winning the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, as it were, when it really mattered.
What did we learn last night? That the gulf between the Big Ten's "big three" and its fourth-best team (Iowa in November and December, Minnesota in calendar 2005) was far larger than previously thought. It is the gulf between being in the Elite Eight and being physically overmatched by Iowa State. To the conference's "other" eight teams, then, this blogger says: keep working. Wonk is pulling for you.
And to Bruce Weber, Tom Izzo, and Bo Ryan, Wonk says: congratulations. You ignored the words and got it done on the court.
(5) Michigan State 78, (1) Duke 68
Wonk has pretty much been making a pest of himself all season long, insisting that the Spartans are a force to be reckoned with. Your intrepid blogger even went so far as to drag in Spartan beat writers and national hoops pundits for "interviews" in which Wonk harangued them about the wonders of Tom Izzo's team. So, yes, last night was sweet for this spectator.
And speaking of Wonk's previous posts, it is a privilege and a delight for this Big Ten fan to officially remove Paul Davis from Wonk's All-Head-Case Team. Numbers like this in a regional semifinal against Duke will do that: 20 points and 12 boards. Over his last two games, Davis is averaging 15.5 points and 13 boards. State's always had the flyers--now they've got a beast down low. And last night they blitzed a great defensive team for 46 points in a half. And they're playing D.
This team is going to be tough to beat....
Links. Start here: 142 words from Ken Pomeroy are superior to hundreds more from any other hoops pundit. Under a headline reading "The value of a missed shot," Ken says:
Michigan State's missed shots were valuable last night. The Spartans are one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country, and their 16 offensive rebounds were a big reason for their impressive offensive performance against Duke. Because Duke had 22 turnovers, much was made of the Spartans' defense, and rightfully so. But offensively, State scored 78 points in roughly 74 possessions for an offensive efficiency of 105. An impressive total against the nation's second stingiest defense on a points per possession basis.
As for less nourishing but nevertheless apposite MSM goodies....
Mike Krzyzewski gave credit to the Spartans' defense: "There were times where we had people who were open in the first half and we just didn't see him because of [their] pressure on the ball. It was kind of like rushing the quarterback where you don't see a receiver."
Durham Herald Sun columnist Frank Dascenzo says "the Spartans swaggered on defense, took Duke's rhythm, or what there was of it, and stuffed it in the trash." Stewart Mandel of sportsillustrated.com says: "No matter what happens during the rest of the NCAA tournament, these Spartans will finally be able to say they accomplished something not [Mateen] Cleaves, Magic Johnson nor any other modern Michigan State hero can: They beat Duke. And they did it in stunning fashion." (BONUS Wonk consider-the-source warning! Mandel's grasp of college hoops is, apparently, tenuous at best: "This year's Spartans aren't a particularly stellar rebounding group." Right. And Illinois isn't a particularly stellar passing group, and Carolina isn't a particularly stellar scoring group. Mr. Mandel, please use this link, scroll down to "offensive rebounding rate" and "defensive rebounding rate," and then report back to Wonk for slappage of wrists.)
Dennis Dodd of cbs.sportsline says "Coach K's guards were outmuscled all night." Kyle Veltrop of The Sporting News says it was the Dukies that were trying for the upset last night: "This was not a year when a team had to play perfect in order to knock out Duke." (And Andy Katz of espn.com has a write up on the game here, one that refuses to load on Wonk's computer. This happens more than occasionally with espn.com--anyone else having this problem?)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz says "Michigan State sent Duke and ACC worshipers running for cover." And referring to championships not won and banners never unfurled, Lansing State Journal columnist Todd Schulz says: "They'll never raise a banner in the rafters of the Breslin Center to commemorate this win. Then again, they won't have to. It will hang in the memories of MSU fans for years."
Wonk suspects many, many State fans awoke this morning and made a bee-line to Drew Sharp's column in the Detroit Free Press. Sharp has been known to be rather, um, tough on this generation of Spartans. What does he have to say this morning? "Michigan State's senior class of basketball players made a little history Friday night in the NCAA Sweet 16, distinguishing themselves from their immediate predecessors....They have defined themselves as a special group with a resilience that only they could see." And, adds Sharp: "The Spartans were the tougher team."
Free Press columnist Michael Rosenberg says Paul Davis was "the biggest, loudest and best player on the floor--especially in the closing minutes." And Free Press columnist Mitch Albom says Davis "often symbolized this particular MSU group, hailed for his potential but assailed for his results. The postseason has never been his best friend....But Friday night he was electrifying." BONUS Mitch Albom note! Yesterday Albom ran a piece on Mike Krzyzewski that Wonk is tempted to call hagiographic--yet even that doesn't begin to do justice to the depths of cringingly servile sycophancy reached by Albom in an essay that would have been appallingly over-the-top had its subject been St. Francis of Assisi. See blogger and alert Wonk reader Matt May for a jolly good disembowelment of Albom's valentine to Coach K.
BONUS auditory note! Wonk had never heard Paul Davis speak before last night's post-game interview with Jim Nantz. This blogger's reaction? Um, pretty much Edvard Munch-level horror. Man, does Davis sound like Lurch, or what? Gainfully employed broadcasters everywhere slept soundly last night, knowing their jobs are safe from any post-NBA career plans entertained by Mr. Davis.
Last word. Wonk is now prouder than ever to have said that Iowa beating MSU in the Big Ten tournament was every bit as big a shock as Illinois losing at Ohio State.
(6) Wisconsin 65, (10) NC State 56
Forget stats. In fact, Wonk is purposefully writing this sentence before having seen the box score: Alando Tucker won this game for the Badgers, keying a 13-0 run at the start of the second half. After a first half where he and his team were wholly unrecognizable to this spectator (the Badgers went to the locker room at intermission with 11 turnovers and 0 assists), Tucker suddenly became a man among boys. He demanded the ball and made good on his demands, scoring basket after basket. It was beautiful.
NC State, meanwhile, was busily fulfilling every vulgar stereotype about the Princeton offense and its alleged feast-or-famine properties. In the first half, the Wolfpack looked like a threat to win the national championship. In the second half, they had Wonk and everyone in the Carrier Dome wondering how in the world they got a bid.
Links. Tony Mejia of cbs.sportsline says "Wisconsin used great help defense whenever Julius Hodge and Ilian Evtimov ventured into the paint, and Hodge was visibly frustrated with the nagging defense Clayton Hanson, a former walk-on, and reserve Ray Nixon played on him." Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal says: "In outscoring North Carolina State 44-26 [in the second half] the Badgers played Wisconsin basketball as well as they've played it all season." Gary D'Amato of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Badgers "imposed their iron will on the panicking Wolfpack in the second half and pulled away to a surprisingly easy--given the start--65-56 victory."
Alando Tucker says of his second-half run: "I just wanted to stick to attacking the rim and finding guys." Mike Wilkinson favors understatement! Who knew? "He was big for us," Wilkinson says of Tucker....Tale-of-two-halves coverage here. Who-the-heck-is-Jason-Chappell coverage here and here.
Mawkish Badger bathos ("They are farm kids and walk-ons. They are redshirts and transfers. They are blue collar grinders and unselfish role players." etc.) here.
Man, how good is Luther Head? The Illinois guard has eaten Clayton Hanson alive at every opportunity this year, pretty much scoring at will. Last night, conversely, Hanson effectively shut down a guy who'll be in the NBA in a matter of months, Julius Hodge. (OK, Hanson had help. Still...) Wonk did not see that one coming, to say the least.
Thank you, hoops gods. For letting Bill Raftery do this game. With eight minutes left in the contest, Andreas Helmigk was at the free throw line and banked in his first attempt. It took Raf a minute but he heard Wonk ("Say it! Say it!") a thousand miles away: "At the free throw line, with a kiss!"
BONUS Seinfeld reference! Link here for a picture of Bo Ryan's father, Butch Ryan, getting ready to hug Mike Wilkinson after the game last night. Bo and Butch look disarmingly similar in age, conjuring memories for Wonk of the Mandelbaum family and their "crepe money."
40 minutes from St. Louis
(3) Arizona (30-6) vs. (1) Illinois (35-1)
7:05pm (EST)
The numbers say the biggest mismatch in this game is between the Illinois offense (5th in the nation according to Ken Pomeroy's points-per-possession-based ratings) and the Arizona defense (27th). (Interesting: Lute Olson says this is the best defensive team he's ever had.) The match up between the Illini defense (6th) and the Wildcat offense (10th) should be more even. Led by PPWS stud Salim Stoudamire, Arizona shoots threes even better than Illinois does, and that's saying something. The Wildcats rebound a little better than the Illini--they also turn the ball over more (but then almost everyone does).
In advancing past Oklahoma State, Arizona shot .660 from the field (not a typo) which can occasion one of two reactions from Illini fans: fear (they shot .660 from the field) or confidence (they shot .660 from the field and still only won by one--man, their D must be bad).
In other words, it looks like a replay of the Wildcats' game Thursday night against the Cowboys: a close, relatively high-scoring game between two great teams.
Links. Leave it to Bruce Weber to say it all and say it quickly: "How you finish is what people remember."...Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper's forecast sounds a lot like Wonk's: "This is a great, fierce test for the Illini. There are some difficult matchups and the shooting of Salim Stoudamire is a major concern. But Arizona has some tough matchups, too. And if Deron Williams and Dee Brown can shoot the ball like they did Thursday, I like Illinois’ chances." Daily Herald columnist Mike Imrem, on the other hand, is predicting an Arizona win; "I still don’t believe in the Illini. But...I will if they beat Arizona today." Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey says tonight's game is actually the national championship game.
Columnist Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post profiles Salim Stoudamire here. So does St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell. Still more on Stoudamire from Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti here. But Dee Brown gives Stoudamire the ultimate compliment: "That dude, he plays like a video game. He shoots from anyplace."...Arizona coach Lute Olson says his three-guard 1997 national championship team and the 2005 Illini are "so much alike it's unbelievable." Illini's-eye view of Olson here.
Luther Head says he and his hammy are OK for tonight. Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Downey profiles ordained Pentecostal minister Roger Powell, Jr., here....Stop-Channing-Frye coverage here. Oddly unhindered by contradictory stats, John Mullin of the Chicago Tribune frets about Frye and Ivan Radenovic here. (The two combined for 13 rebounds against Oklahoma State, Mullin tells us rather breathlessly. Um, that's about what James Augustine's been doing by himself for the past five games.) ...Still more comparisons between the Illini teams of 1989 and 2005 here.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Latest update from the now-euphoric alert reader and die-hard Spartan fan Shawn
Hi, Wonk,
Obviously, a great game for State and a great night for the Big Ten. The defensive intensity was incredible, and Paul Davis came up huge. As I reflect back on it, I think the most interesting thing about the game was how horribly State shot from the field, particularly in the first half. The stats don't look that bad, but a huge percentage of our made baskets came on breakaways, and we still managed only 44% for the game. If this team can find at least a little of its long-range game again, I think they can handle anyone still in the field.
Regards,
Shawn
P.S. Excellent job in getting out in front of Secretary-of-State-Jesse-White-mania, which has taken all of Chicagoland by storm. My wife and I were lucky enough to see his float pass by in the St. Patrick's Day parade. It was the defining moment of both of our lives.
Thanks, Shawn!
¶ 9:30 AM
Friday, March 25, 2005
Sweet to Elite
(1) Illinois 77, (12) Wisconsin-Milwaukee 63
Yesterday Wonk said Wisconsin-Milwaukee had made the Sweet 16 "on their own threes and their opponents' turnovers." Your intrepid blogger went on to say that taking away either factor would result in a loss for the Panthers--take away both "and they'll lose badly."
Last night both factors were indeed taken away (UWM shot .241 on their threes; Illinois turned the ball over just nine times) but the Panthers didn't lose badly. For the "pedestrian 14-point" spread so eerily predicted (kind of) by ace blogger (and Wonk interview subject) Chris West, we have two forces of nature to thank: 1) Joah Tucker (32 points from everywhere on the floor except the top of the backboard); and 2) the recent and maddening Illinois insistence on turning every 20-point second-half lead into a 10-point second-half lead, just to keep CBS from switching away.
Tucker had the best game any player has had against Illinois this year--statistically and visually. When the 6-5 Tucker started the game with a bunny-hop to outside the arc and drained a three with the 6-10 James Augustine draped all over him, this Illini fan said a low "uh-oh." Sure enough it was that kind of night for Tucker: 12-for-18. He hit threes, drove to the tin, posted up, and hit mid-range jumpers. It was a stellar performance under the brightest lights by a gutty player.
Fortunately for this Illini fan, Tucker's mates were as ineffective as he was unconscious. Take Tucker out of the mix and the UWM box score inspires Edvard Munch-level horror: 31 points on 10-for-39 shooting (.256). Ed McCants alone was 4-of-17. The Illini deserve some of the credit. ("I usually get a lot of my points late when teams get tired," McCants says. "But Deron Williams and Luther Head did a phenomenal job. I couldn't wear them down like I expected to.") Since losing to Ohio State due to lethargic second-half defense, Illinois' pressure on the ball has been outstanding. Is that a function of Illini mastery or of a series of overmatched opponents (Northwestern, Minnesota, (the struggling backcourt of) Wisconsin, Fairleigh Dickinson, Nevada, and UWM)? We're about to find out: Arizona's next.
Stat line of the year: Williams and Dee Brown each scored 21 points on combined 15-of-24 shooting. Brown was 5-of-8 on his threes. Williams had eight assists. And all Augustine did was the bare minimum for yet another double-double: 11 points, 10 boards.
BONUS Wonk note of puzzlement! Just who is "Chris Pearl," anyway, and did s/he enjoy having his/her name spoken repeatedly (about as many times as Bruce Pearl's, actually) last night by a befuddled Dick Enberg?
Links. Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says "Illinois might very well move on to a national championship for the greater glory of the Big Ten, but the Illini will never forget how the limits of their extraordinary skills were stretched by the pride of the Horizon League." "I thought we could do it," Bruce Pearl says of pulling the upset. "But Illinois is a great team. They have that swagger." Pearl adds: "They had to play well to beat us."...Bruce Weber favors understatement! Of Joah Tucker, Weber says: "He is a tough player." More awe of Tucker here....What happened to the Panther press? Answers here and here....Bruce Pearl says being booed by the Illinois fans was no big deal. "You think this is the first building I've been booed in?" (Dan McGrath of the Chicago Tribune says "maybe only Dave Wannstedt can identify with the volume of boos that greeted Pearl.") Coverage of Pearl's family here.
Copley News Service columnist Mike Nadel says he was seated on press row right behind Pearl: "I had a perfect view of every hissy fit, every confrontation with his own players, every look of disgust upon seeing Deron, Dee and Luther foil the press time after time after time." Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey says: "The original-recipe Illini returned Thursday night, and it was good." Lindsey Willhite of the Daily Herald says story-of-the-game Deron Williams will soon "start billing thousands of dollars per hour for his point-guard services." Daily Herald columnist Mike Imrem salutes Williams here. Two-headed-monster Williams and Dee Brown coverage here. Slump-is-over-for-Brown coverage here and here....How serious is Luther Head's hamstring injury? Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper frets about it in his blog here; in his dead-tree space, Tupper salutes Head's toughness here. "We knew Luther would struggle, and he actually played a gutsy performance," adds Weber.
Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post says the Illini have "so many smart, skilled, resourceful players that a spot in the Final Four and an end to the 100-year championship drought may finally be in order."
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Rick Telander says "it's pretty clear, listening to all the doubters out there, that only a national crown will prove that just maybe the Illini are a terrific team."
Wall-to-wall Sun-Times Bill Murray coverage! Bill Murray was at the game last night. Did Wonk mention Bill Murray was there?
Omigod, omigod, omigaaawwwddd! Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White was there, too! You're not going to believe this but my friend totally talked to him! And he's so nice! My friend got a picture of him with her cell phone and afterward she was just, like, o...my...gaaawwwdddd!
Then Wrigley Field must be an archaeological site. Columnist Bryan Burwell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks about Allstate Arena like it was the Boston Garden--if not Stonehenge. ("The former Rosemont Horizon positively reeks old-school with its moldy scent, its cedar-planked roof and its dark, cozy seats," etc.) Memo to Burwell: the arena was built in 1979.
Who says you have to be smart to get into med school? This cardiologist paid a scalper $1,200 for two seats behind the basket in the top row of the upper level.
ACC-Big Ten Challenge, part 2
Can the Big Ten make up 37.5 percent of the Elite Eight? It can with two wins tonight....
(5) Michigan State (24-6) vs. (1) Duke (27-5)
7:10pm (EST)
Commentators will say the deeper Spartans will look to tire out the Blue Devils. Wonk says: don't believe it. Duke (and every other team playing tonight) is operating on four days' rest and, besides, while you're seeing that Cingular ad with the guy at the pay phone for the 112th time during the extra-long March-variety commercial break, the Dukies will be getting their wind back. Fatigue won't be a factor.
But fouls might be. State, of course, does love to get out in transition and take it to the tin. It's a style of play that can get you fouled and Duke just doesn't have the depth to be doing a lot of that. Keep an eye on the PF's.
Duke shoots threes (.382) better than MSU (.352) but the Spartans shoot from the floor (.498) better than the Blue Devils (.446). Both teams turn the ball over about 13 times a game. And, of course, Tom Izzo's team rebounds much better (+7.5) than Mike Krzyzewski's (+1.8).
Links. Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom says Coach K "has become college basketball's sensei, the master in 'Kung Fu,' Yoda in 'Star Wars,' the unlikely mentor, not very big or tough himself--heck, Mike Krzyzewski fainted on the sidelines this season--but nonetheless, you fear him, you figure he knows something you don't." Tom Izzo says he's always admired Coach K and his program: "Before it was gushing about them because I was dreaming of getting my program in that same area code. Maybe now we're in the same area code, but I'd like to get in the same city limits. Then I'd like to get in the same damn building." Free Press columnist Michael Rosenberg says relax, Coach Izzo, your program is truly elite. (Two-headed-elite-monster profile of Coaches K and Izzo here.)
Free Press columnist Drew Sharp says: "It doesn't get any simpler than this--beat the Blue Devils, and the Spartans' seniors can leave the Frank Ervin Center tonight knowing they finally proved themselves." Detroit News columnist Bob Wojnowski says "Michigan State got what it craved, a rematch tonight with its blue-blooded nemesis."...State big man Paul Davis says: "We need to use our numbers to wear them down. We are going to try to get to the line and try to get some of their guys into foul trouble." (P.S. Davis also says his ankle is fine.)...Dave Dye of the Detroit News says he's standing by his prediction: Michigan State's going to the Final Four....Chris Hill is 0-for-10 on his threes in the postseason (counting both the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments)....Spartan freshman point guard Drew Neitzel was a non-factor in the game at Duke in November--but he's all growed up now!...Profile of Kelvin Torbert here....Delco Rowley injury update here.
Izzo says he blames himself for the loss at Duke: "It wasn't the players' fault, it was my fault. I forgot to tell them to guard [J.J.] Redick when he came into the gym."
(10) NC State (21-13) vs. (6) Wisconsin (24-8)
7:27pm (EST)
When Illinois is patient on offense and moves the ball around it's called basketball the way it was meant to be played. When Wisconsin and North Carolina State are patient on offense and move the ball around it's called boring. Go figure.
NC State shoots a little better (.457) from the floor than the Badgers (.437) but UW shoots the three (.388) better than the Wolfpack (.369). Both teams take care of the ball. Wisconsin should have the rebounding edge. My only concern if I'm a Badger fan is, of course, Julius Hodge: that's a tough match up with any team's defensive personnel, including Wisconsin's.
Links. Mark Stewart of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says: "There might not be another program left in the NCAA tournament that takes more jabs from the national press than the Badgers, who despite reaching the Sweet 16 have been taken to task for their halfcourt style and the supposed arrogance of their coach." Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal says national pundits "seem to think UW has returned to the Dick Bennett years on offense....Even CBS dissed the game, sending it to only seven percent of the nation." (Meaning only seven percent of the nation will see the contractually-mandated 112 reaction shots of Mike Wilkinson's fiancee, Alexis Schrubbe.)...Differences between Princeton and swing (offenses that is) spelled out here....The last time the Badgers made it this far: the 2003 regional semifinal won by Kentucky 63-57. A great game where Devin Harris played with the heart of a champion and where Bo Ryan (somewhat oddly, Wonk thought at the time) left the then-younger Mike Wilkinson alone on a defensive island, trying to guard beastly Marquise Estill one-on-one. That didn't work well.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
A wonk bricolage!
Wonk has posted recently about topics as disparate as: 1) Jay Bilas sounding surprisingly similar to Bill Raftery; and 2) the patented give-and-go run by James Augustine and Deron Williams (Wonk noted it in the game at Wisconsin in January and this past weekend in the tournament game against Nevada). Alert reader and bricoleur par excellence Don G. ties them both together!
Dear Wonk,
Thanks for the blog. Very enjoyable. My brother alerted me to it -- we're from Champaign, though I've since moved to Big East country in Pittsburgh. (Unless you count Penn State, and I'm not sure why you would...)
Anyway, two comments. First, Jay Bilas loves Raftery and has been imitating him for years, especially "the kiss," "man-to-man" and "onions."
Second, that play where Augustine goes to set the pick and breaks to the hole--also ran that against Ohio State. I drove over with a friend and was explaining to him why that was such a great play. If you're playing defense correctly against the pick, the path to the hole is wide open. Hence the defeated look on Mike Wilkinson's face after it happened in Madison.
Best,
Don G.
Thanks, Don!
¶ 7:28 AM
(1) Illinois 77, (12) Wisconsin-Milwaukee 63
Yesterday Wonk said Wisconsin-Milwaukee had made the Sweet 16 "on their own threes and their opponents' turnovers." Your intrepid blogger went on to say that taking away either factor would result in a loss for the Panthers--take away both "and they'll lose badly."
Last night both factors were indeed taken away (UWM shot .241 on their threes; Illinois turned the ball over just nine times) but the Panthers didn't lose badly. For the "pedestrian 14-point" spread so eerily predicted (kind of) by ace blogger (and Wonk interview subject) Chris West, we have two forces of nature to thank: 1) Joah Tucker (32 points from everywhere on the floor except the top of the backboard); and 2) the recent and maddening Illinois insistence on turning every 20-point second-half lead into a 10-point second-half lead, just to keep CBS from switching away.
Tucker had the best game any player has had against Illinois this year--statistically and visually. When the 6-5 Tucker started the game with a bunny-hop to outside the arc and drained a three with the 6-10 James Augustine draped all over him, this Illini fan said a low "uh-oh." Sure enough it was that kind of night for Tucker: 12-for-18. He hit threes, drove to the tin, posted up, and hit mid-range jumpers. It was a stellar performance under the brightest lights by a gutty player.
Fortunately for this Illini fan, Tucker's mates were as ineffective as he was unconscious. Take Tucker out of the mix and the UWM box score inspires Edvard Munch-level horror: 31 points on 10-for-39 shooting (.256). Ed McCants alone was 4-of-17. The Illini deserve some of the credit. ("I usually get a lot of my points late when teams get tired," McCants says. "But Deron Williams and Luther Head did a phenomenal job. I couldn't wear them down like I expected to.") Since losing to Ohio State due to lethargic second-half defense, Illinois' pressure on the ball has been outstanding. Is that a function of Illini mastery or of a series of overmatched opponents (Northwestern, Minnesota, (the struggling backcourt of) Wisconsin, Fairleigh Dickinson, Nevada, and UWM)? We're about to find out: Arizona's next.
Stat line of the year: Williams and Dee Brown each scored 21 points on combined 15-of-24 shooting. Brown was 5-of-8 on his threes. Williams had eight assists. And all Augustine did was the bare minimum for yet another double-double: 11 points, 10 boards.
BONUS Wonk note of puzzlement! Just who is "Chris Pearl," anyway, and did s/he enjoy having his/her name spoken repeatedly (about as many times as Bruce Pearl's, actually) last night by a befuddled Dick Enberg?
Links. Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says "Illinois might very well move on to a national championship for the greater glory of the Big Ten, but the Illini will never forget how the limits of their extraordinary skills were stretched by the pride of the Horizon League." "I thought we could do it," Bruce Pearl says of pulling the upset. "But Illinois is a great team. They have that swagger." Pearl adds: "They had to play well to beat us."...Bruce Weber favors understatement! Of Joah Tucker, Weber says: "He is a tough player." More awe of Tucker here....What happened to the Panther press? Answers here and here....Bruce Pearl says being booed by the Illinois fans was no big deal. "You think this is the first building I've been booed in?" (Dan McGrath of the Chicago Tribune says "maybe only Dave Wannstedt can identify with the volume of boos that greeted Pearl.") Coverage of Pearl's family here.
Copley News Service columnist Mike Nadel says he was seated on press row right behind Pearl: "I had a perfect view of every hissy fit, every confrontation with his own players, every look of disgust upon seeing Deron, Dee and Luther foil the press time after time after time." Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey says: "The original-recipe Illini returned Thursday night, and it was good." Lindsey Willhite of the Daily Herald says story-of-the-game Deron Williams will soon "start billing thousands of dollars per hour for his point-guard services." Daily Herald columnist Mike Imrem salutes Williams here. Two-headed-monster Williams and Dee Brown coverage here. Slump-is-over-for-Brown coverage here and here....How serious is Luther Head's hamstring injury? Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper frets about it in his blog here; in his dead-tree space, Tupper salutes Head's toughness here. "We knew Luther would struggle, and he actually played a gutsy performance," adds Weber.
Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post says the Illini have "so many smart, skilled, resourceful players that a spot in the Final Four and an end to the 100-year championship drought may finally be in order."
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Rick Telander says "it's pretty clear, listening to all the doubters out there, that only a national crown will prove that just maybe the Illini are a terrific team."
Wall-to-wall Sun-Times Bill Murray coverage! Bill Murray was at the game last night. Did Wonk mention Bill Murray was there?
Omigod, omigod, omigaaawwwddd! Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White was there, too! You're not going to believe this but my friend totally talked to him! And he's so nice! My friend got a picture of him with her cell phone and afterward she was just, like, o...my...gaaawwwdddd!
Then Wrigley Field must be an archaeological site. Columnist Bryan Burwell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks about Allstate Arena like it was the Boston Garden--if not Stonehenge. ("The former Rosemont Horizon positively reeks old-school with its moldy scent, its cedar-planked roof and its dark, cozy seats," etc.) Memo to Burwell: the arena was built in 1979.
Who says you have to be smart to get into med school? This cardiologist paid a scalper $1,200 for two seats behind the basket in the top row of the upper level.
ACC-Big Ten Challenge, part 2
Can the Big Ten make up 37.5 percent of the Elite Eight? It can with two wins tonight....
(5) Michigan State (24-6) vs. (1) Duke (27-5)
7:10pm (EST)
Commentators will say the deeper Spartans will look to tire out the Blue Devils. Wonk says: don't believe it. Duke (and every other team playing tonight) is operating on four days' rest and, besides, while you're seeing that Cingular ad with the guy at the pay phone for the 112th time during the extra-long March-variety commercial break, the Dukies will be getting their wind back. Fatigue won't be a factor.
But fouls might be. State, of course, does love to get out in transition and take it to the tin. It's a style of play that can get you fouled and Duke just doesn't have the depth to be doing a lot of that. Keep an eye on the PF's.
Duke shoots threes (.382) better than MSU (.352) but the Spartans shoot from the floor (.498) better than the Blue Devils (.446). Both teams turn the ball over about 13 times a game. And, of course, Tom Izzo's team rebounds much better (+7.5) than Mike Krzyzewski's (+1.8).
Links. Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom says Coach K "has become college basketball's sensei, the master in 'Kung Fu,' Yoda in 'Star Wars,' the unlikely mentor, not very big or tough himself--heck, Mike Krzyzewski fainted on the sidelines this season--but nonetheless, you fear him, you figure he knows something you don't." Tom Izzo says he's always admired Coach K and his program: "Before it was gushing about them because I was dreaming of getting my program in that same area code. Maybe now we're in the same area code, but I'd like to get in the same city limits. Then I'd like to get in the same damn building." Free Press columnist Michael Rosenberg says relax, Coach Izzo, your program is truly elite. (Two-headed-elite-monster profile of Coaches K and Izzo here.)
Free Press columnist Drew Sharp says: "It doesn't get any simpler than this--beat the Blue Devils, and the Spartans' seniors can leave the Frank Ervin Center tonight knowing they finally proved themselves." Detroit News columnist Bob Wojnowski says "Michigan State got what it craved, a rematch tonight with its blue-blooded nemesis."...State big man Paul Davis says: "We need to use our numbers to wear them down. We are going to try to get to the line and try to get some of their guys into foul trouble." (P.S. Davis also says his ankle is fine.)...Dave Dye of the Detroit News says he's standing by his prediction: Michigan State's going to the Final Four....Chris Hill is 0-for-10 on his threes in the postseason (counting both the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments)....Spartan freshman point guard Drew Neitzel was a non-factor in the game at Duke in November--but he's all growed up now!...Profile of Kelvin Torbert here....Delco Rowley injury update here.
Izzo says he blames himself for the loss at Duke: "It wasn't the players' fault, it was my fault. I forgot to tell them to guard [J.J.] Redick when he came into the gym."
(10) NC State (21-13) vs. (6) Wisconsin (24-8)
7:27pm (EST)
When Illinois is patient on offense and moves the ball around it's called basketball the way it was meant to be played. When Wisconsin and North Carolina State are patient on offense and move the ball around it's called boring. Go figure.
NC State shoots a little better (.457) from the floor than the Badgers (.437) but UW shoots the three (.388) better than the Wolfpack (.369). Both teams take care of the ball. Wisconsin should have the rebounding edge. My only concern if I'm a Badger fan is, of course, Julius Hodge: that's a tough match up with any team's defensive personnel, including Wisconsin's.
Links. Mark Stewart of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says: "There might not be another program left in the NCAA tournament that takes more jabs from the national press than the Badgers, who despite reaching the Sweet 16 have been taken to task for their halfcourt style and the supposed arrogance of their coach." Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal says national pundits "seem to think UW has returned to the Dick Bennett years on offense....Even CBS dissed the game, sending it to only seven percent of the nation." (Meaning only seven percent of the nation will see the contractually-mandated 112 reaction shots of Mike Wilkinson's fiancee, Alexis Schrubbe.)...Differences between Princeton and swing (offenses that is) spelled out here....The last time the Badgers made it this far: the 2003 regional semifinal won by Kentucky 63-57. A great game where Devin Harris played with the heart of a champion and where Bo Ryan (somewhat oddly, Wonk thought at the time) left the then-younger Mike Wilkinson alone on a defensive island, trying to guard beastly Marquise Estill one-on-one. That didn't work well.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
A wonk bricolage!
Wonk has posted recently about topics as disparate as: 1) Jay Bilas sounding surprisingly similar to Bill Raftery; and 2) the patented give-and-go run by James Augustine and Deron Williams (Wonk noted it in the game at Wisconsin in January and this past weekend in the tournament game against Nevada). Alert reader and bricoleur par excellence Don G. ties them both together!
Dear Wonk,
Thanks for the blog. Very enjoyable. My brother alerted me to it -- we're from Champaign, though I've since moved to Big East country in Pittsburgh. (Unless you count Penn State, and I'm not sure why you would...)
Anyway, two comments. First, Jay Bilas loves Raftery and has been imitating him for years, especially "the kiss," "man-to-man" and "onions."
Second, that play where Augustine goes to set the pick and breaks to the hole--also ran that against Ohio State. I drove over with a friend and was explaining to him why that was such a great play. If you're playing defense correctly against the pick, the path to the hole is wide open. Hence the defeated look on Mike Wilkinson's face after it happened in Madison.
Best,
Don G.
Thanks, Don!
¶ 7:28 AM
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Hoops. Please.
Tournament action resumes tonight. Thank goodness. Wonk has it on good authority that Congressional leaders in Washington were seriously considering legislation called the No Bruce Pearl Story Left Behind Act of 2005....
(12) Wisconsin-Milwaukee (26-6) vs. (1) Illinois (34-1)
7:27pm (EST)
No one is giving the Panthers a chance in this one. On Sunday Wonk foretold that this would be the case, that everyone would say UWM, with their full-court press, doesn't match up well with a team that has two guards who are second-team All-Americans (and a third who will go higher in the NBA draft than either of the other two). As good as the Illinois guards are, big man James Augustine has been even better the past five games. The game is in Chicago--closer, ironically, to Milwaukee than Champaign but tell that to the UWM players tonight: this is effectively the Illini backyard. Indeed the crowd, far from cheering for a plucky Cinderella, will rain boo's down on Bruce Pearl. Even esteemed fellow bloggers are tagging this one in advance as the Sweet 16's worst game. Yes, nobody gives the Panthers a chance.
Well your intrepid blogger is here to tell you that...everyone's right.
Sorry. Wonk really, really tried to play the iconoclast on this one. It is, after all, Wonk's preferred narrative shtick: to scrutinize the game tape and sift the box scores and come forth with something surprising or at least mildly interesting.
Well, the game tapes tell me that in the tournament so far the Panthers are living on their own threes and their opponents' turnovers, pure and simple.
Over the course of their two tournament wins, a not terribly good-shooting UWM team has ridden suddenly hot outside shooting (.511, a combined 23-of-45 on threes) and, of course, reaped the benefits of the many turnovers they've forced (over 20 a game the first two rounds). Take away either factor and they'll lose. Take away both and they'll lose badly....
For even while they've advanced to the Sweet 16, the Panthers have been beaten on the boards by an average of nine rebounds a game. And they've put their opponents on the line more than 25 times a game (a notably hacky figure considering it's not, of course, inflated by late-game fouling while trying to come from behind).
And that's just in tournament play. Looking at the season as a whole, if anything, gives even less reason for forecasting an upset: Illinois (numbers here) shoots better (both from the field and on threes), gets more boards, and turns the ball over less than UWM (numbers here). According to Ken Pomeroy's points-per-possession based ratings, the Panthers are the least efficient offensive team still playing and 13th out of 16 on D (only West Virginia, NC State, and Washington rank lower).
None of which, of course, is to say Wisconsin-Milwaukee can't win. Here's a scenario where they do: absolutely unconscious three-point shooting (50 percent +), horrendous shooting by the Illini, two fouls for Augustine and for one other Illinois starter by the under-12 timeout in the first half, and a wacky surprise by Bruce Pearl (a la Tommy Amaker in the game Michigan played against the Illini in Ann Arbor) where the Panthers take the air out of the ball and play a D they haven't shown on the tapes (match-up zone?).
But see how far afield Wonk has to go for such a scenario? Sure, the Panthers could win. Heck, Chaminade beat Ralph Sampson and Virginia. NC State beat Houston. Villanova beat Georgetown. Wonk never says never.
But sometimes Wonk says: I don't see it.
BONUS non-Big-Ten hiccup! Louisville is tough, yes, and Wonk himself went on the record in the aftermath of Selection Sunday as saying the Cardinals were under-seeded. That being said, isn't the hype getting just a tad out of hand for a team that really never did shake Louisiana-Lafayette in the first round and that needed Darius Washington to miss two of his free throws to escape with a win against Memphis in the C-USA final?
Offense wins championships (unless your D is really bad)
What a coincidence! According to Ken Pomeroy's points-per-possession-based efficiency ratings, six of the nation's top seven offensive teams are alive and well in the Sweet 16 (North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Washington, Illinois, Michigan State, and Louisville). Among the country's most efficient scoring teams, only Wake Forest is sitting at home this morning.
True, of those six survivors, some are also good on defense (Carolina is fourth-best nationally; Illinois, sixth). But then again, some are not so good (Oklahoma State is 37th; Washington is 64th).
And then there's the cautionary tale of Wake: 81st on D, which perhaps explains their sudden free time.
First new Wonk hypothesis in many a moon! Don't be absolutely Wake-Forest-awful on D but, other things being equal, it's offense that leads to jersey-popping. (Link courtesy of alert San Diego reader Chaitanya S.)
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo is 0-4 lifetime against Duke, a fact of which he is well aware. "I am tired of them beating us," he says. "I'm tired of their program beating our program." Can the Spartans break that pattern and win tomorrow night? (And say, as Izzo, kind of, already has: bring on Kentucky (or Utah)?) "They can," answers columnist Todd Schulz of the Lansing State Journal. "What's more, they probably should. The Spartans are deeper, more balanced offensively and just as talented as Duke." Dave Dye of the Detroit News says State's big men--Paul Davis, Drew Naymick and Matt Trannon--will have to contain Shelden Williams....Detroit News columnist Bob Wojnowski profiles Drew Neitzel here. Profile of Mo Ager here. Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp profiles Alan Anderson here. (Anderson, for one, is not properly respectful of tomorrow night's opponent. When asked if Duke has a "mystique" he replied: "It ain't working on us if they do.")
Wisconsin guard Clayton Hanson says the Badgers are properly respectful of NC State's Julius Hodge: "We'll have our hands full stopping him." (Badgers'-eye view of Hodge here.) Profile of Badger big man Zach Morley here. Profile of Alando Tucker here. Three-headed-no-monsters-here profile of the UW freshmen here.
Illinois' players are sounding properly respectful of tonight's opponent. "If we don't start paying attention to them soon we'll end up just like Alabama and Boston College did," says big man Jack Ingram. "I love the way they play," adds Dee Brown. Bruce Weber says: "we've got to prepare for that special level." And former Illinois great Steve Bardo says Wisconsin-Milwaukee will "play the Illini tough for a while." Still, oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper blogs that he likes the Illini's chances tonight: "Like them a lot."...D'oh! Roger Powell's favorite inspirational metaphor, David vs. Goliath, doesn't work so well for the Illini tonight....Panthers'-eye view of the Illini big men here.
Still more Panther-palooza! Bruce Pearl says UWM is going to stick with the pressing style that's brought them this far: "For us, vanilla won't work." (Seconding Pearl's decision is a strikingly hip-sounding Bruce Weber: "It's their mojo," the Illini coach says of the Panther press. To Gregg Doyel of cbs.sportsline, though, "Pressing the Illini makes no sense.") Pearl also says he's hoping for vocal support from Oklahoma State and Arizona fans: "Do you think they want to play the Fighting Illini in the next game, or the Panthers of Milwaukee, in spite of our vaunted press? I think they'll take us."...It's the pressure, stupid. It's all on the Illini! So says the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel here. Journal Sentinel columnist Michael Hunt agrees and says "UWM has a chance tonight against Illinois."...Panther assistant Jason Shay had "the scout" on the Illini for tonight's game and shares (some of) what he's learned here....Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Downey details the Chicagoland credentials of many of the Panthers here. Profile of Ed McCants here. Two-headed-monster profile of Joah Tucker and PPWS stud Adrian Tigert here.
Geezer Meme blowback! Pundits rise as one, telling Illini Nation: hey, get over it already! UPDATE: So does Lou Henson! Just as Wonk fantasized!...Herb Gould of the Chicago Sun-Times says Bruce Pearl may be "Cinderella in 49 states [but] he's still Public Enemy No. 1 in the Land of Lincoln." Former Iowa head coach Tom Davis weighs in here.
Give this man hazardous-duty pay! Jeff Shelman, erstwhile hoops writer for both the Minneapolis Star Tribune and espn.com, has been reading Illiniboard.com and reports: "As of Wednesday afternoon, the top thread about Pearl has more than 630 posts and has been viewed more than 54,000 times. On it, Pearl has been compared to Satan and Darth Vader." (And those are just the posts that haven't been yanked down.)
Latest gem from Wonk's "actual headline" department! "Pearl's return shouldn't pose security problem."
Etc. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Greg Couch says reports of a kinder, gentler Bob Knight have been greatly exaggerated: "You can't teach an old pit bull new tricks." Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey says "Arizona's Lute Olson and Oklahoma State's Eddie Sutton are the biggest names at the Chicago regional, and that includes players."
BONUS extraneous link! David Haugh of the Tribune has a nice read on how it's the players that make the team but it's the coach that makes the program. Haugh's piece includes this gem from Dean Smith, regretting a key decision in the 1968 national championship game between North Carolina and UCLA:
"I decided to stick to my game plan. I thought maybe we could play [Lew Alcindor] straight up. Except our center [Rusty Clark] was a future thoracic surgeon, and theirs became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Shows you what I knew."
The player then known as Lew Alcindor recorded 34 points and 16 rebounds. UCLA won 78-55.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Illini fan to Wonk: proud to be a geezer
For the past few days Wonk has referred to the whole Illinois-no-likey-Bruce-Pearl kerfuffle as the Geezers' Meme, in honor of the fact that the story's inciting incident took place within a few dozen days of Ronald Reagan leaving office and indeed is now some 16 years in the past. Wonk's readers respond!
Wonk,
First off, your blog rocks.
So although I'm a mere 33 years old, I do suppose I qualify as a "geezer" in an internet time frame. I went to Illinois from '89 to '93 and was a season ticket holder for four years. I don't actually blame Pearl for the investigation and probation. If the NCAA wants you, they're most likely going to get you.
But today before we canonize Pearl for his coaching ability and give him a pass to a major D-I job, I still would like to hear a reasonable answer to one question: "Why would you secretly tape record a 17-year-old kid (sometimes at night)?"
The context of this is greatly disturbing be it adult-minor, teacher-student...It's not an unreasonable question, but he's never given any response beyond a nebulous cover of protecting himself. (From what?)
He was not the target of an NCAA investigation. And spliced tapes are little defense if truly used as evidence. This question bothers my Hawkeye friends as well. Pearl's lack of remorse and "I'd do it again" responses are very troubling in this context.
After all this, Deon Thomas (former teenage NCAA-investigation-target; inner-city player who never was a trouble maker; told by the NCAA that going anywhere but Illinois would make this all go away; postponed his collegiate career) landing on his feet is truly remarkable. What the poor kid--he was a kid at the time--went through was horrible and could have destroyed lesser people. Had his story not had a good ending for Thomas, the Chicago media would be having a field day with Pearl right now and his "I'd do it again" would not be acceptable to anyone. If Thomas were in the NBA right now, how he described Pearl would be WELL publicized. As you know, the word was "evil."
I don't know about that but I hope his judgment doesn't hurt another high school or college student in the future.
Wonk on!
John H.
Denver
Great email, John. Thanks. In response Wonk offers up five easy theses on Bruce Pearl:
1) It's over.
2) Pearl's future job prospects, if any, will be determined not by the quality of his ethics but by his W's and L's.
3) Even granting (1) and (2): Contrary to what Gregg Doyel of cbs.sportsline has written in a strikingly fatuous and muddled piece, Pearl is not to be confused with a profile in courage. To Doyel, Pearl stood up for what was right even though it meant violating a backward code of silence among coaches. To Wonk, Pearl was a recruiter in a competitive fight for a top prospect. When he lost that fight, he made phone calls to a 17-year-old, turned on a tape recorder without informing the young man, and asked him leading questions on a matter in which Pearl himself had a vital personal interest. This may be Doyel's ethical exemplar. It is not Wonk's.
4) Pearl could continue to believe and insist that Illinois wronged him in that battle while still acknowledging that he himself made some questionable choices. Yet he does not: in Pearl's telling even 16 years later his motives were simon-pure, his behavior justified. And precisely to the degree that he sees himself as Doyel sees him (as a courageous idealist brought down by shadowy forces in a corrupt world), Pearl continues to this day to give Wonk the shudders.
5) That being said, Pearl and the shudders he causes are way, way down the list of Wonk's Things to Think About. (See (1).)
¶ 7:20 AM
Tournament action resumes tonight. Thank goodness. Wonk has it on good authority that Congressional leaders in Washington were seriously considering legislation called the No Bruce Pearl Story Left Behind Act of 2005....
(12) Wisconsin-Milwaukee (26-6) vs. (1) Illinois (34-1)
7:27pm (EST)
No one is giving the Panthers a chance in this one. On Sunday Wonk foretold that this would be the case, that everyone would say UWM, with their full-court press, doesn't match up well with a team that has two guards who are second-team All-Americans (and a third who will go higher in the NBA draft than either of the other two). As good as the Illinois guards are, big man James Augustine has been even better the past five games. The game is in Chicago--closer, ironically, to Milwaukee than Champaign but tell that to the UWM players tonight: this is effectively the Illini backyard. Indeed the crowd, far from cheering for a plucky Cinderella, will rain boo's down on Bruce Pearl. Even esteemed fellow bloggers are tagging this one in advance as the Sweet 16's worst game. Yes, nobody gives the Panthers a chance.
Well your intrepid blogger is here to tell you that...everyone's right.
Sorry. Wonk really, really tried to play the iconoclast on this one. It is, after all, Wonk's preferred narrative shtick: to scrutinize the game tape and sift the box scores and come forth with something surprising or at least mildly interesting.
Well, the game tapes tell me that in the tournament so far the Panthers are living on their own threes and their opponents' turnovers, pure and simple.
Over the course of their two tournament wins, a not terribly good-shooting UWM team has ridden suddenly hot outside shooting (.511, a combined 23-of-45 on threes) and, of course, reaped the benefits of the many turnovers they've forced (over 20 a game the first two rounds). Take away either factor and they'll lose. Take away both and they'll lose badly....
For even while they've advanced to the Sweet 16, the Panthers have been beaten on the boards by an average of nine rebounds a game. And they've put their opponents on the line more than 25 times a game (a notably hacky figure considering it's not, of course, inflated by late-game fouling while trying to come from behind).
And that's just in tournament play. Looking at the season as a whole, if anything, gives even less reason for forecasting an upset: Illinois (numbers here) shoots better (both from the field and on threes), gets more boards, and turns the ball over less than UWM (numbers here). According to Ken Pomeroy's points-per-possession based ratings, the Panthers are the least efficient offensive team still playing and 13th out of 16 on D (only West Virginia, NC State, and Washington rank lower).
None of which, of course, is to say Wisconsin-Milwaukee can't win. Here's a scenario where they do: absolutely unconscious three-point shooting (50 percent +), horrendous shooting by the Illini, two fouls for Augustine and for one other Illinois starter by the under-12 timeout in the first half, and a wacky surprise by Bruce Pearl (a la Tommy Amaker in the game Michigan played against the Illini in Ann Arbor) where the Panthers take the air out of the ball and play a D they haven't shown on the tapes (match-up zone?).
But see how far afield Wonk has to go for such a scenario? Sure, the Panthers could win. Heck, Chaminade beat Ralph Sampson and Virginia. NC State beat Houston. Villanova beat Georgetown. Wonk never says never.
But sometimes Wonk says: I don't see it.
BONUS non-Big-Ten hiccup! Louisville is tough, yes, and Wonk himself went on the record in the aftermath of Selection Sunday as saying the Cardinals were under-seeded. That being said, isn't the hype getting just a tad out of hand for a team that really never did shake Louisiana-Lafayette in the first round and that needed Darius Washington to miss two of his free throws to escape with a win against Memphis in the C-USA final?
Offense wins championships (unless your D is really bad)
What a coincidence! According to Ken Pomeroy's points-per-possession-based efficiency ratings, six of the nation's top seven offensive teams are alive and well in the Sweet 16 (North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Washington, Illinois, Michigan State, and Louisville). Among the country's most efficient scoring teams, only Wake Forest is sitting at home this morning.
True, of those six survivors, some are also good on defense (Carolina is fourth-best nationally; Illinois, sixth). But then again, some are not so good (Oklahoma State is 37th; Washington is 64th).
And then there's the cautionary tale of Wake: 81st on D, which perhaps explains their sudden free time.
First new Wonk hypothesis in many a moon! Don't be absolutely Wake-Forest-awful on D but, other things being equal, it's offense that leads to jersey-popping. (Link courtesy of alert San Diego reader Chaitanya S.)
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo is 0-4 lifetime against Duke, a fact of which he is well aware. "I am tired of them beating us," he says. "I'm tired of their program beating our program." Can the Spartans break that pattern and win tomorrow night? (And say, as Izzo, kind of, already has: bring on Kentucky (or Utah)?) "They can," answers columnist Todd Schulz of the Lansing State Journal. "What's more, they probably should. The Spartans are deeper, more balanced offensively and just as talented as Duke." Dave Dye of the Detroit News says State's big men--Paul Davis, Drew Naymick and Matt Trannon--will have to contain Shelden Williams....Detroit News columnist Bob Wojnowski profiles Drew Neitzel here. Profile of Mo Ager here. Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp profiles Alan Anderson here. (Anderson, for one, is not properly respectful of tomorrow night's opponent. When asked if Duke has a "mystique" he replied: "It ain't working on us if they do.")
Wisconsin guard Clayton Hanson says the Badgers are properly respectful of NC State's Julius Hodge: "We'll have our hands full stopping him." (Badgers'-eye view of Hodge here.) Profile of Badger big man Zach Morley here. Profile of Alando Tucker here. Three-headed-no-monsters-here profile of the UW freshmen here.
Illinois' players are sounding properly respectful of tonight's opponent. "If we don't start paying attention to them soon we'll end up just like Alabama and Boston College did," says big man Jack Ingram. "I love the way they play," adds Dee Brown. Bruce Weber says: "we've got to prepare for that special level." And former Illinois great Steve Bardo says Wisconsin-Milwaukee will "play the Illini tough for a while." Still, oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper blogs that he likes the Illini's chances tonight: "Like them a lot."...D'oh! Roger Powell's favorite inspirational metaphor, David vs. Goliath, doesn't work so well for the Illini tonight....Panthers'-eye view of the Illini big men here.
Still more Panther-palooza! Bruce Pearl says UWM is going to stick with the pressing style that's brought them this far: "For us, vanilla won't work." (Seconding Pearl's decision is a strikingly hip-sounding Bruce Weber: "It's their mojo," the Illini coach says of the Panther press. To Gregg Doyel of cbs.sportsline, though, "Pressing the Illini makes no sense.") Pearl also says he's hoping for vocal support from Oklahoma State and Arizona fans: "Do you think they want to play the Fighting Illini in the next game, or the Panthers of Milwaukee, in spite of our vaunted press? I think they'll take us."...It's the pressure, stupid. It's all on the Illini! So says the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel here. Journal Sentinel columnist Michael Hunt agrees and says "UWM has a chance tonight against Illinois."...Panther assistant Jason Shay had "the scout" on the Illini for tonight's game and shares (some of) what he's learned here....Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Downey details the Chicagoland credentials of many of the Panthers here. Profile of Ed McCants here. Two-headed-monster profile of Joah Tucker and PPWS stud Adrian Tigert here.
Geezer Meme blowback! Pundits rise as one, telling Illini Nation: hey, get over it already! UPDATE: So does Lou Henson! Just as Wonk fantasized!...Herb Gould of the Chicago Sun-Times says Bruce Pearl may be "Cinderella in 49 states [but] he's still Public Enemy No. 1 in the Land of Lincoln." Former Iowa head coach Tom Davis weighs in here.
Give this man hazardous-duty pay! Jeff Shelman, erstwhile hoops writer for both the Minneapolis Star Tribune and espn.com, has been reading Illiniboard.com and reports: "As of Wednesday afternoon, the top thread about Pearl has more than 630 posts and has been viewed more than 54,000 times. On it, Pearl has been compared to Satan and Darth Vader." (And those are just the posts that haven't been yanked down.)
Latest gem from Wonk's "actual headline" department! "Pearl's return shouldn't pose security problem."
Etc. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Greg Couch says reports of a kinder, gentler Bob Knight have been greatly exaggerated: "You can't teach an old pit bull new tricks." Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey says "Arizona's Lute Olson and Oklahoma State's Eddie Sutton are the biggest names at the Chicago regional, and that includes players."
BONUS extraneous link! David Haugh of the Tribune has a nice read on how it's the players that make the team but it's the coach that makes the program. Haugh's piece includes this gem from Dean Smith, regretting a key decision in the 1968 national championship game between North Carolina and UCLA:
"I decided to stick to my game plan. I thought maybe we could play [Lew Alcindor] straight up. Except our center [Rusty Clark] was a future thoracic surgeon, and theirs became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Shows you what I knew."
The player then known as Lew Alcindor recorded 34 points and 16 rebounds. UCLA won 78-55.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Illini fan to Wonk: proud to be a geezer
For the past few days Wonk has referred to the whole Illinois-no-likey-Bruce-Pearl kerfuffle as the Geezers' Meme, in honor of the fact that the story's inciting incident took place within a few dozen days of Ronald Reagan leaving office and indeed is now some 16 years in the past. Wonk's readers respond!
Wonk,
First off, your blog rocks.
So although I'm a mere 33 years old, I do suppose I qualify as a "geezer" in an internet time frame. I went to Illinois from '89 to '93 and was a season ticket holder for four years. I don't actually blame Pearl for the investigation and probation. If the NCAA wants you, they're most likely going to get you.
But today before we canonize Pearl for his coaching ability and give him a pass to a major D-I job, I still would like to hear a reasonable answer to one question: "Why would you secretly tape record a 17-year-old kid (sometimes at night)?"
The context of this is greatly disturbing be it adult-minor, teacher-student...It's not an unreasonable question, but he's never given any response beyond a nebulous cover of protecting himself. (From what?)
He was not the target of an NCAA investigation. And spliced tapes are little defense if truly used as evidence. This question bothers my Hawkeye friends as well. Pearl's lack of remorse and "I'd do it again" responses are very troubling in this context.
After all this, Deon Thomas (former teenage NCAA-investigation-target; inner-city player who never was a trouble maker; told by the NCAA that going anywhere but Illinois would make this all go away; postponed his collegiate career) landing on his feet is truly remarkable. What the poor kid--he was a kid at the time--went through was horrible and could have destroyed lesser people. Had his story not had a good ending for Thomas, the Chicago media would be having a field day with Pearl right now and his "I'd do it again" would not be acceptable to anyone. If Thomas were in the NBA right now, how he described Pearl would be WELL publicized. As you know, the word was "evil."
I don't know about that but I hope his judgment doesn't hurt another high school or college student in the future.
Wonk on!
John H.
Denver
Great email, John. Thanks. In response Wonk offers up five easy theses on Bruce Pearl:
1) It's over.
2) Pearl's future job prospects, if any, will be determined not by the quality of his ethics but by his W's and L's.
3) Even granting (1) and (2): Contrary to what Gregg Doyel of cbs.sportsline has written in a strikingly fatuous and muddled piece, Pearl is not to be confused with a profile in courage. To Doyel, Pearl stood up for what was right even though it meant violating a backward code of silence among coaches. To Wonk, Pearl was a recruiter in a competitive fight for a top prospect. When he lost that fight, he made phone calls to a 17-year-old, turned on a tape recorder without informing the young man, and asked him leading questions on a matter in which Pearl himself had a vital personal interest. This may be Doyel's ethical exemplar. It is not Wonk's.
4) Pearl could continue to believe and insist that Illinois wronged him in that battle while still acknowledging that he himself made some questionable choices. Yet he does not: in Pearl's telling even 16 years later his motives were simon-pure, his behavior justified. And precisely to the degree that he sees himself as Doyel sees him (as a courageous idealist brought down by shadowy forces in a corrupt world), Pearl continues to this day to give Wonk the shudders.
5) That being said, Pearl and the shudders he causes are way, way down the list of Wonk's Things to Think About. (See (1).)
¶ 7:20 AM
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
A talk with Chris West
Michigan State fans know all about Duke from the teams' previous meeting on November 30. And Wisconsin fans already know a good deal about North Carolina State through simple ESPN-osmosis (Princeton offense, Julius Hodge, the seemingly perpetually hot-seated Herb Sendek, etc.).
But where's an Illinois fan to turn for current in-depth information on the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers? (As opposed to 15-year-old in-depth information on their coach?) Wonk heartily suggests those fans turn to Chris West, the blogosphere's leading expert on the Panthers.
In addition to being a Milwaukee resident, Wisconsin (Madison) graduate, and creator of one of the finest hoops blogs around (The Chris West Basketball Journal), Chris has followed UWM avidly all season--long before they were this popular (or this noteworthy to Big Ten fans). Wonk chatted with Chris about the Panthers' season, their thrilling tourney run, and tomorrow night's game against the Illini.
Q. Chris, you graduated from Wisconsin in Madison and yet your blog, which I love, is equally devoted to Wisconsin-Milwaukee basketball. How did that come to pass?
A. I grew up in Milwaukee and moved back after finishing school almost two years ago. I was drawn to UWM for a variety of reasons. Mainly, without easy access to Badger tickets (and they are still my favorite team) like when I was a student, I needed a college basketball fix. Marquette and UWM were in town and easy to get to. I actually grew up a Marquette fan, but they’ve been brutal to watch this year.
Plus, I found myself simply having a lot more fun at UWM games this year. They’re almost like a secret here in town and I like being in on it. Marquette and Wisconsin get much more press in Milwaukee.
Q. Not any more, I trust.
A. No, but most of the time no one talks about UWM. Socially, it’s a school made up largely of non-traditional students and commuters. It’s not a place that elicits great loyalty. The Panthers are certainly an underdog in the NCAA tournament but the team (and the school itself) is pretty much an underdog at home every day of the year, as well. It’s tough not to root for that.
And there’s a high nostalgia factor, as the Panthers play home games in the arena that used to be home to Marquette and the Bucks when I was growing up. That’s always fun to see.
Q. For any few remaining fans who haven't seen the Panthers play, how would you describe the team?
A. High energy. The Panthers like to get out and run. Their success is based largely on their ability to force turnovers in their full-court press and knock down three-point shots.
There are only a few guys on the team that I would call particularly skilled players but UWM has athletes that can get up and down the floor. They can wear teams out, though that’s not really their primary goal. Coach Bruce Pearl worked under Tom Davis at Boston College, Stanford and Iowa, and you can see a lot of that influence in his full-court press, which is simple, but intense. Trapping immediately following the inbounds pass is their first order of business. It’s a fun style of basketball to watch, and you won’t be hurting for excitement if you go to a Panther game.
Q. Yes, Wonk remembers being a wee lad and watching the 1-2-1-1 press run by Tom Davis at Iowa, keyed by tall geeky Brad Lohaus harassing the inbounds passer off of made baskets....
Now, walk us through the Panther starting five, if you will. What can we expect to see tomorrow night?
A. Chris Hill: Quick point guard from Chicago. At the beginning of the year, he lost his starting job for a bit to Boo Davis, but Hill's back in the starting line-up more often than not, as UWM now tends to start the game with a quick three-guard lineup. More than anything, Hill's another guy to have running around disrupting people in UWM's trademark full-court press. He's adequate with the ball and can penetrate but he won't be the guy to stop for the Panthers. As long as he runs like a madman on defense and doesn't turn the ball over, no one will be upset.
Ed McCants: The superstar. A transfer from Northwestern, McCants is the Horizon League player of the year and the team's go-to guy. He can do a bit of everything, but is most dangerous when he starts shooting the ball well. I was in attendance when he knocked down nine three-pointers against Detroit earlier this season.
Q. Yikes.
A. The guy can be nearly unstoppable when he's on. Against a team like Illinois, UWM's chances will be greatly diminished if he doesn't get into a rhythm. He'll pull up for shots pretty much whenever he feels like it, so sometimes he doesn't take the best shots in the world. That's OK, though. If I may use a stereotypical Wisconsin analogy--he's like a basketball version of Brett Favre--sometimes he'll toss the ball up in an ill-conceived manner, but if he's not doing that, he's also not doing the thing that makes him win games for his team.
Q. Wow, the ultimate Wisconsin praise. How about the guy espn.com refers to as "Ronald (Boo) Davis"?
A. Boo Davis: The athlete. Davis is the bald guy wearing the headband. He's a juco transfer, playing in his first year following an injury. Of everyone on the team, he's probably the most athletic. He's 6-3, but plays bigger than that, since he can leap out of the gym. Davis was in contention for the starting point guard spot at the beginning of the year. However, Hill has worked his way back into the lineup, and given Hill's more traditional point-guard skills, Davis has shifted over to one of the other guard spots in the three-guard lineup. He does everything well, but nothing spectacular. He's perhaps the most likely person to grab a steal and do some damage in the open court. Davis is far from the top offensive option on the team, but is capable of getting the job done when called upon.
Joah Tucker: Second in command. Tucker's a transfer from Bradley who went to high school in the Milwaukee area. I remember when he was still going by the more workman-like name "Joe." McCants may be the Horizon League Player of the Year, but Tucker isn't too far behind him as the Panthers' best player. I wouldn't be totally stunned next year if Tucker became UW-Milwaukee's third consecutive conference player of the year.
At 6-5, Tucker is a small forward who has some definite bulk to him. He is a decent enough three-point shooter but is better at slashing and taking the ball to the hoop. If McCants isn't finding his shot, Tucker's the guy that the Panthers will go to in order to get back on track.
Perhaps the best quote of the year regarding Joah Tucker came from Air Force guard Antoine Hood, who, after his team lost to Marquette and UW-Milwaukee, remarked to a Milwaukee reporter "I would say Tucker is a larger, blacker version of (Travis) Diener." Indeed, both Tucker and Diener had huge offensive outbursts against Air Force but that's pretty much where the comparison stops. Diener and Tucker don't really play the same type of game (or even the same position), but you have to love that quote.
Q. Yesterday in the blog I posted the PPWS numbers for every player in the Sweet 16 and UWM's Adrian Tigert showed up as number 2 out of 114 players, second only to Salim Stoudamire. What's Tigert's story?
A. Adrian Tigert: The consistent one. Tigert was recruited to UW-Milwaukee out of Oshkosh, Wisconsin back when Bo Ryan was still leading the Panthers--and it shows, since he's exactly the type of fundamentally sound big man that Ryan prefers.
Tigert's the only real post presence that will start for UW-Milwaukee. That being said, he's not a traditional big man, and has an inside-outside game, having hit clutch threes during both of UW-Milwaukee's games in the tournament. You're not going to see too many games where Tigert doesn't grab at least a half-dozen rebounds. He's one of the best defenders on the team, which is good, given his status as the only post player that starts.
Recently I heard Rick Majerus comment that Tigert is really the unsung hero of the UW-Milwaukee team, doing plenty of things that don't always garner notice. I couldn't agree more. And it should also be noted that Tigert's game has noticeably changed and improved this year after he dropped 30 pounds in the offseason.
Q. Anybody coming off the bench we should know about?
A. James Wright is the sixth man and probably my favorite Panther player. He actually committed to play at Oklahoma but never became a Sooner, deciding he wanted to stay home and play for a smaller school. He's only 6-6, but he's muscular and generally looks intimidating. UW-Milwaukee's style of play and his own aggressiveness usually ensure that he'll have four fouls at some point in the game. He's also a horrid foul shooter--under 50 percent--with a shooting motion that resembles Shaq's. So he won't wow you in the stat column but the truth is he's one heck of a sixth man.
Mark Pancratz is basically a walking stereotype: the scrappy white kid who runs around looking to take charges while giving his teammates a rest. And while I have no information on this next point, I theorize that he was the person that provided the champagne for the ill-conceived Panther locker room celebration following the Horizon League championship game.
Jason McCoy is tall, skinny and long. Given the upcoming Illinois matchup, the best explanation that I can give of McCoy's bulk is that if he ever ends up standing next to Nick Smith, Smith will be the one that resembles the Incredible Hulk.
Q. Again: yikes.
A. During the last UW-Milwaukee game I attended, my friend Dez noted that the only reason that McCoy was given a scholarship (he's a transfer from Rutgers) is probably so that he could guard the inbounds pass on the full court press.
Q. I have to be honest. Before these last two games, the only time I saw UW-Milwaukee play this season was the game they played against Wisconsin--and the Panthers looked (or were made to look) really bad. How did a team that struggled so against the Badgers take care of Alabama and BC?
A. Of all the UWM games I've seen this year, BC was probably the best game that UWM has played all year, and Wisconsin the worst, so you’ve definitely seen the two extremes.
Again, the Panthers like to run, shoot threes, and disrupt their opponents with their full-court press. It’s a system that can bury teams when shots are falling and the press can be set up, but it can also lead to lead to painful collapses when no one can find the bottom of the net. The first half of the Boston College game is a textbook example of the system working. UWM was shooting well, BC couldn’t handle the traps being set on the press and, consequently, began running around wildly to try to get the ball over the half-court line. So the Panthers consistently forced turnovers and looked as good as they have all year.
Conversely, UWM came out flat against Wisconsin and shot very, very poorly. They couldn’t set up their press and on the occasions that they could, they were defending a well-coached Wisconsin team that didn’t panic. The key to keeping UWM down is not panicking. They may hit some shots, and they may get a steal or two, but if you run with them or lose your poise when they’re pressing you, that’s when they get dangerous.
Q. What's your read on tomorrow night's game?
A. First off, there’s a lot that will make this game an interesting story. There's the whole Bruce Pearl-Illinois saga, of course....
Q. (Confused, flipping open a note pad) Really? What is that, exactly?....
A. And then Bruce Weber is a UWM grad. Plus James Augustine’s uncle, Jerry Augustine, is the coach of the UWM baseball team.
As for the game itself, I wish I could add a more profound analysis, but I’m sticking with the popular take on this game: It’s a bad match-up for UWM. As I’ve noted, UWM relies heavily on the full-court press, but I think Illinois will be ready for that. The guards for Illinois are very mature but I think something bigger than that will propel the Illini to victory.
I’m a huge fan of Bruce Weber and I know he’s not taking UWM lightly. Weber won’t let his team lose its poise like BC did. He'll have the entire team, not just the guards (though having three ridiculously good guards can't hurt), getting to the right spots and working to break the press. Basically, I really like a Weber team when he has a week to let them know what to do. Once the pressure gets broken (and this, of course, assumes that UWM’s red-hot shooting will continue and allow them to set up the press), I think Illinois will be stronger in the half-court game.
Really, the only semi-positive that I could come up with for UWM in this whole scenario is that Illinois has a short bench, and any foul or fatigue problems could severely hurt the Illini. The Panthers can’t put too much stock in that, though, since Illinois has played up-tempo ball all season and they’ve managed to avoid fouls and fatigue remarkably well. I don’t see why that would change on Thursday.
Of course, I also thought Alabama was a terrible match-up for UWM, so read my opinion at your own risk.
Oh, and if you’re looking for something in particular to watch tomorrow night, I’m going to be very interested to see how Ed McCants will get shots off with Dee Brown following him around all night. McCants hasn’t seen a defender like that all year, and believe it or not, Brown probably hasn’t seen a ton of guards with McCants’ combination of talent and a scorer’s mentality.
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
AP's All-America Team was announced yesterday: Andrew Bogut, Wayne Simien, Hakim Warrick, J.J. Redick, and Chris Paul comprised the first team. Second team: Dee Brown, Luther Head, Sean May, Salim Stoudamire, and Ike Diogu.
It's official: Indiana coach Mike Davis will return for the 2005-06 season. Now he has to fulfill some high expectations.
Wisconsin (and former Wisconsin-Milwaukee) coach Bo Ryan is profiled here by columnist Dale Hofmann of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. (Ryan will make an appearance on ESPN2's "Cold Pizza" this morning.)...Profile of Mike Wilkinson here....Mark Stewart of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says "it's not likely that the Wisconsin-North Carolina State game Friday will lead your favorite sports highlight show." Badgers'-eye views of the Wolfpack here and here....What if Devin Harris had stayed? Boastful speculation here.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo says he goes deep into his bench for a reason: "This time of year, some (teams) have only six players playing and it feels like only six are involved. Everybody in (MSU's) practice knows they're involved with this team. I think it's made for better chemistry for our team, on the court and off the court."...Izzo is 0-4 lifetime against Duke....Profile of Shannon Brown here.
Illinois guard Dee Brown has been named national player of the year by The Sporting News. Bruce Weber took national coach of the year honors....Brown was dee-hydrated (har!) and suffered cramping in his legs and stomach during the win over Nevada Saturday. Bruce Weber vows that the training staff will assure it won't happen again....Wonk's not saying the Illini's working press is confident that the season will extend past this weekend or anything but here's part one of what is promised to be "a week-long series" on assistant coach Wayne McClain. (Wow. Wonk doesn't even want to think of the karma implications.)...Will-this-really-help-recruiting? pondered here.
The Chicago Sun-Times' Herb Gould isn't looking past Wisconsin-Milwaukee, mind you, but he still can't help contemplating a potential Elite Eight match up between the Illini and Arizona. The notion inspires Gould to recall the three games these teams played in 2000-01, culminating in an Elite Eight victory for the Wildcats over the Illini. But Wonk's favorite memory from those three games was the hilarious moment, nicely detailed by Gould, in the United Center in December 2000 when inveterate scrum creator Lucas Johnson got into a typically Johnson-esque tangle with oh-so-NBA-bound Richard Jefferson, resulting not only in a whistle but also in Lute Olson running onto the court, pointing to his own head, and screaming (with reference to Johnson) "He's nuts!" (Just writing this passage makes Wonk resolve to watch that on tape tonight.)
Panther-palooza! Gregg Doyel of cbs.sportsline ensures that his email will be filled to overflowing for the next 30 years by saying Wisconsin-Milwaukee coach Bruce Pearl "absolutely" did the right thing in 1989 by taping a phone conversation with high school recruit Deon Thomas and turning the tape over to the NCAA. Wisconsin State Journal columnist Tom Oates says it's too bad that all the fuss over the Pearl-Illinois bad blood (known 'round these parts as the Geezer Meme; known elsewhere as "soap opera for guys") is taking away from what should be a euphoric time for the Wisconsin-Milwaukee program....James Augustine's uncle, Jerry Augustine, says he wishes his nephew well but he'll be pulling for Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is, after all, UWM's baseball coach....Panthers'-eye view of the Illini and their rabid fans here....Milwaukee-inflected profile of Milwaukee native and UWM grad Bruce Weber here. Profile of Bruce Pearl here. Profile of UWM guard and Northwestern transfer Ed McCants here. Two-headed monster profile of McCants and Joah Tucker here. Profile of scrappy Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panther and Schaumburg, IL, native Mark Pancratz here. Profile of sixth man James Wright here.
BONUS mostly-David edition of Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Joey Graham and PPWS
Wonk,
I was interested to see your Sweet 16 PPWS rankings today. It was great to see Adrian Tigert of UW-Milwaukee up at number 2, obviously a major reason his team is still alive.
My first thought on seeing the rankings was "I wonder how low Joey Graham is." Every time a pundit has talked about Oklahoma State in the past few days, they've mentioned that Graham has played "poorly," only scoring 15 points over two games, and that Ivan McFarlin has played lights-out. Not having actually seen either game, I had assumed they were right. Imagine my surprise when I saw:
15. Joey Graham, Oklahoma State (1.28)
16. Ivan McFarlin, Oklahoma State (1.28)
Thanks for shedding light on the fact that despite Graham's low scoring totals, he's not hurting his team by jacking up a ton of missed shots. It looks like what has happened is more along the lines of McFarlin simply being more assertive on the offensive end and using up possessions that might otherwise be reserved for Graham.
Informative as always. Go Illinois (at least until the final against UNC).
David H.
Thanks, David! Keep in mind, though, that the numbers take in the entire year. So Graham could indeed go on a Bracey Wright-esque spree of egregious bricklaying and it would show up as a dip of but .03 or so. (On the plus side, the media would then promptly select Graham as first-team all-Big-Ten. Missing a ridiculous number of shots apparently impresses the writers.)
(P.S. Whaddya mean "until the final'?)
If Wonk were a Hoosier....
Dear Wonk,
If you were an Indiana diehard, what would you have wanted to see done at IU this past week?
Would you have wanted to abandon ship on Mike Davis and go after Bruce Pearl or would you have stuck with Davis, thinking that Pearl is likely gone if Davis doesn't pan out?
Would you have wanted neither Pearl nor Davis and, if this is the case, then who would you have liked to see take over IU, given its rich tradition and history?
Thanks,
David B.
Bloomington, IN
If I were a Hoosier fan I think I would have gritted my teeth and barely--barely--netted out on the side of Davis staying. I think I would be telling myself that if Davis had had the schedule that Dan Monson had this year, then IU would have been dancing.
But if I were going to go after a new coach I'd go after Rick Majerus. He may say no but my instinct is healthy: this is Indiana. I don't have to bother with the Bruce Pearls. There are very few coaches in the country that shouldn't be interested in at least talking.
(Nor does Wonk buy into the meme that says 17-year-old recruits "nowadays" don't care about tradition and lore. That's doubtless literally true in particular instances but as a general rule it's quite a coincidence, to say the least, how tradition and lore seem to so often accompany steady streams of talent.)
(P.S. As long as I'm a Hoosier, I'd also knock down that dreary oblong Cabinet of Dr. Caligari-esque monstrosity known as Assembly Hall, second only to Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor as the conference's worst venue.)
In defense of the Badgers, day 2
Yesterday Wonk posted a spirited rebuttal (from alert reader Sandon K.) to cbs.sportsline's Dennis Dodd, who had called Wisconsin "stultifying on and off the court."
So when yesterday afternoon rolled around and your intrepid blogger saw still another piece with no love for Wisconsin (this time from espn.com's Pat Forde, who says the Badgers winning the national championship would be "the worst thing that could happen to the tournament"), Wonk simply sifted through the resulting avalanche of emails to find the one that, in keeping with today's theme, came from a David....
Wonk,
Finally, the eternal hatred of the Badgers (for that 2000 run) by sportswriters nationwide finally comes to the fore, now that they have a great shot at getting to the Elite Eight.
I've been waiting on pins and needles for it to start up again. The world is finally back in synch. Will the Houston Chronicle have another "On Wisconsin and Don't Come Back" column? We can only hope.
And my fellow Badger fans thought Dodd was irritatingly rough on the team. HA! Forde hits it out of the park. Way to go!
Nice how he doesn't have a problem with Duke scoring less than Wisconsin in the tournament.
Best Regards,
David P.
Thanks, David!
BONUS token non-David email!
Always room for a jolly good skewering of CBS Sports' answer to Mr. Burns....
Wonk,
I'd like to piggyback on Jeromie W.'s comments regarding Billy Packer. Haven't Packer and CBS violated some sort of Geneva Convention torture clause over the years? The end of yesterday's Duke-Mississippi State game provided a couple of prime examples of PACCer's defense of the ACC.
The first was when Duke was whistled for what could be generously described as a questionable foul. Packer blurted "People say Duke gets all the calls, but not today." Now, does that mean Packer also believes Duke gets all the calls (which they do) and the Mississippi State game was an exception to the rule? Or does he mean that Duke is unnecessarily criticized in general for receiving favor from the zebras? As always, he did not elaborate.
Secondly, when Mississippi State crossed halfcourt before calling a timeout, Daniel Ewing saw what was happening and attempted to make a steal. The guy from whom he stole the ball did not call the time out before Ewing got his hands in, but Miss State's coach did. Jim Nantz correctly said that Miss State got the time out. Packer yelled - yelled - "NO SIR!" Packer must not be aware that a coach - not just the players - can call time out and receive it. That's exactly what happened. This was another case of Packer not seeing what was plainly in front of him in his zeal for "Duke University."
Thankfully, that was all the Detroit affiliate showed of the Duke game Sunday, though we will most likely have to listen to Packer when the Spartans take on the Devils. This household will have the mute button glued down, however.
I'm imploring all like-minded Wonk fans to e-mail or call CBS Sports and demand that Bill Raftery is accorded his rightful spot in the color analyst's chair next season in Indy. Packer's terrible performances and shoddy predictions and calls necessitate his removal. We may be saved, though: If Carolina and Duke square off in the Final Four, Packer might hyperventilate from the excitement, and Raf would be called in from the bullpen. To paraphrase your fellow Springfielder, "Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this scourge of broadcasting may speedily go away."
Matt M.
Thanks, Matt!
¶ 6:44 AM
Michigan State fans know all about Duke from the teams' previous meeting on November 30. And Wisconsin fans already know a good deal about North Carolina State through simple ESPN-osmosis (Princeton offense, Julius Hodge, the seemingly perpetually hot-seated Herb Sendek, etc.).
But where's an Illinois fan to turn for current in-depth information on the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers? (As opposed to 15-year-old in-depth information on their coach?) Wonk heartily suggests those fans turn to Chris West, the blogosphere's leading expert on the Panthers.
In addition to being a Milwaukee resident, Wisconsin (Madison) graduate, and creator of one of the finest hoops blogs around (The Chris West Basketball Journal), Chris has followed UWM avidly all season--long before they were this popular (or this noteworthy to Big Ten fans). Wonk chatted with Chris about the Panthers' season, their thrilling tourney run, and tomorrow night's game against the Illini.
Q. Chris, you graduated from Wisconsin in Madison and yet your blog, which I love, is equally devoted to Wisconsin-Milwaukee basketball. How did that come to pass?
A. I grew up in Milwaukee and moved back after finishing school almost two years ago. I was drawn to UWM for a variety of reasons. Mainly, without easy access to Badger tickets (and they are still my favorite team) like when I was a student, I needed a college basketball fix. Marquette and UWM were in town and easy to get to. I actually grew up a Marquette fan, but they’ve been brutal to watch this year.
Plus, I found myself simply having a lot more fun at UWM games this year. They’re almost like a secret here in town and I like being in on it. Marquette and Wisconsin get much more press in Milwaukee.
Q. Not any more, I trust.
A. No, but most of the time no one talks about UWM. Socially, it’s a school made up largely of non-traditional students and commuters. It’s not a place that elicits great loyalty. The Panthers are certainly an underdog in the NCAA tournament but the team (and the school itself) is pretty much an underdog at home every day of the year, as well. It’s tough not to root for that.
And there’s a high nostalgia factor, as the Panthers play home games in the arena that used to be home to Marquette and the Bucks when I was growing up. That’s always fun to see.
Q. For any few remaining fans who haven't seen the Panthers play, how would you describe the team?
A. High energy. The Panthers like to get out and run. Their success is based largely on their ability to force turnovers in their full-court press and knock down three-point shots.
There are only a few guys on the team that I would call particularly skilled players but UWM has athletes that can get up and down the floor. They can wear teams out, though that’s not really their primary goal. Coach Bruce Pearl worked under Tom Davis at Boston College, Stanford and Iowa, and you can see a lot of that influence in his full-court press, which is simple, but intense. Trapping immediately following the inbounds pass is their first order of business. It’s a fun style of basketball to watch, and you won’t be hurting for excitement if you go to a Panther game.
Q. Yes, Wonk remembers being a wee lad and watching the 1-2-1-1 press run by Tom Davis at Iowa, keyed by tall geeky Brad Lohaus harassing the inbounds passer off of made baskets....
Now, walk us through the Panther starting five, if you will. What can we expect to see tomorrow night?
A. Chris Hill: Quick point guard from Chicago. At the beginning of the year, he lost his starting job for a bit to Boo Davis, but Hill's back in the starting line-up more often than not, as UWM now tends to start the game with a quick three-guard lineup. More than anything, Hill's another guy to have running around disrupting people in UWM's trademark full-court press. He's adequate with the ball and can penetrate but he won't be the guy to stop for the Panthers. As long as he runs like a madman on defense and doesn't turn the ball over, no one will be upset.
Ed McCants: The superstar. A transfer from Northwestern, McCants is the Horizon League player of the year and the team's go-to guy. He can do a bit of everything, but is most dangerous when he starts shooting the ball well. I was in attendance when he knocked down nine three-pointers against Detroit earlier this season.
Q. Yikes.
A. The guy can be nearly unstoppable when he's on. Against a team like Illinois, UWM's chances will be greatly diminished if he doesn't get into a rhythm. He'll pull up for shots pretty much whenever he feels like it, so sometimes he doesn't take the best shots in the world. That's OK, though. If I may use a stereotypical Wisconsin analogy--he's like a basketball version of Brett Favre--sometimes he'll toss the ball up in an ill-conceived manner, but if he's not doing that, he's also not doing the thing that makes him win games for his team.
Q. Wow, the ultimate Wisconsin praise. How about the guy espn.com refers to as "Ronald (Boo) Davis"?
A. Boo Davis: The athlete. Davis is the bald guy wearing the headband. He's a juco transfer, playing in his first year following an injury. Of everyone on the team, he's probably the most athletic. He's 6-3, but plays bigger than that, since he can leap out of the gym. Davis was in contention for the starting point guard spot at the beginning of the year. However, Hill has worked his way back into the lineup, and given Hill's more traditional point-guard skills, Davis has shifted over to one of the other guard spots in the three-guard lineup. He does everything well, but nothing spectacular. He's perhaps the most likely person to grab a steal and do some damage in the open court. Davis is far from the top offensive option on the team, but is capable of getting the job done when called upon.
Joah Tucker: Second in command. Tucker's a transfer from Bradley who went to high school in the Milwaukee area. I remember when he was still going by the more workman-like name "Joe." McCants may be the Horizon League Player of the Year, but Tucker isn't too far behind him as the Panthers' best player. I wouldn't be totally stunned next year if Tucker became UW-Milwaukee's third consecutive conference player of the year.
At 6-5, Tucker is a small forward who has some definite bulk to him. He is a decent enough three-point shooter but is better at slashing and taking the ball to the hoop. If McCants isn't finding his shot, Tucker's the guy that the Panthers will go to in order to get back on track.
Perhaps the best quote of the year regarding Joah Tucker came from Air Force guard Antoine Hood, who, after his team lost to Marquette and UW-Milwaukee, remarked to a Milwaukee reporter "I would say Tucker is a larger, blacker version of (Travis) Diener." Indeed, both Tucker and Diener had huge offensive outbursts against Air Force but that's pretty much where the comparison stops. Diener and Tucker don't really play the same type of game (or even the same position), but you have to love that quote.
Q. Yesterday in the blog I posted the PPWS numbers for every player in the Sweet 16 and UWM's Adrian Tigert showed up as number 2 out of 114 players, second only to Salim Stoudamire. What's Tigert's story?
A. Adrian Tigert: The consistent one. Tigert was recruited to UW-Milwaukee out of Oshkosh, Wisconsin back when Bo Ryan was still leading the Panthers--and it shows, since he's exactly the type of fundamentally sound big man that Ryan prefers.
Tigert's the only real post presence that will start for UW-Milwaukee. That being said, he's not a traditional big man, and has an inside-outside game, having hit clutch threes during both of UW-Milwaukee's games in the tournament. You're not going to see too many games where Tigert doesn't grab at least a half-dozen rebounds. He's one of the best defenders on the team, which is good, given his status as the only post player that starts.
Recently I heard Rick Majerus comment that Tigert is really the unsung hero of the UW-Milwaukee team, doing plenty of things that don't always garner notice. I couldn't agree more. And it should also be noted that Tigert's game has noticeably changed and improved this year after he dropped 30 pounds in the offseason.
Q. Anybody coming off the bench we should know about?
A. James Wright is the sixth man and probably my favorite Panther player. He actually committed to play at Oklahoma but never became a Sooner, deciding he wanted to stay home and play for a smaller school. He's only 6-6, but he's muscular and generally looks intimidating. UW-Milwaukee's style of play and his own aggressiveness usually ensure that he'll have four fouls at some point in the game. He's also a horrid foul shooter--under 50 percent--with a shooting motion that resembles Shaq's. So he won't wow you in the stat column but the truth is he's one heck of a sixth man.
Mark Pancratz is basically a walking stereotype: the scrappy white kid who runs around looking to take charges while giving his teammates a rest. And while I have no information on this next point, I theorize that he was the person that provided the champagne for the ill-conceived Panther locker room celebration following the Horizon League championship game.
Jason McCoy is tall, skinny and long. Given the upcoming Illinois matchup, the best explanation that I can give of McCoy's bulk is that if he ever ends up standing next to Nick Smith, Smith will be the one that resembles the Incredible Hulk.
Q. Again: yikes.
A. During the last UW-Milwaukee game I attended, my friend Dez noted that the only reason that McCoy was given a scholarship (he's a transfer from Rutgers) is probably so that he could guard the inbounds pass on the full court press.
Q. I have to be honest. Before these last two games, the only time I saw UW-Milwaukee play this season was the game they played against Wisconsin--and the Panthers looked (or were made to look) really bad. How did a team that struggled so against the Badgers take care of Alabama and BC?
A. Of all the UWM games I've seen this year, BC was probably the best game that UWM has played all year, and Wisconsin the worst, so you’ve definitely seen the two extremes.
Again, the Panthers like to run, shoot threes, and disrupt their opponents with their full-court press. It’s a system that can bury teams when shots are falling and the press can be set up, but it can also lead to lead to painful collapses when no one can find the bottom of the net. The first half of the Boston College game is a textbook example of the system working. UWM was shooting well, BC couldn’t handle the traps being set on the press and, consequently, began running around wildly to try to get the ball over the half-court line. So the Panthers consistently forced turnovers and looked as good as they have all year.
Conversely, UWM came out flat against Wisconsin and shot very, very poorly. They couldn’t set up their press and on the occasions that they could, they were defending a well-coached Wisconsin team that didn’t panic. The key to keeping UWM down is not panicking. They may hit some shots, and they may get a steal or two, but if you run with them or lose your poise when they’re pressing you, that’s when they get dangerous.
Q. What's your read on tomorrow night's game?
A. First off, there’s a lot that will make this game an interesting story. There's the whole Bruce Pearl-Illinois saga, of course....
Q. (Confused, flipping open a note pad) Really? What is that, exactly?....
A. And then Bruce Weber is a UWM grad. Plus James Augustine’s uncle, Jerry Augustine, is the coach of the UWM baseball team.
As for the game itself, I wish I could add a more profound analysis, but I’m sticking with the popular take on this game: It’s a bad match-up for UWM. As I’ve noted, UWM relies heavily on the full-court press, but I think Illinois will be ready for that. The guards for Illinois are very mature but I think something bigger than that will propel the Illini to victory.
I’m a huge fan of Bruce Weber and I know he’s not taking UWM lightly. Weber won’t let his team lose its poise like BC did. He'll have the entire team, not just the guards (though having three ridiculously good guards can't hurt), getting to the right spots and working to break the press. Basically, I really like a Weber team when he has a week to let them know what to do. Once the pressure gets broken (and this, of course, assumes that UWM’s red-hot shooting will continue and allow them to set up the press), I think Illinois will be stronger in the half-court game.
Really, the only semi-positive that I could come up with for UWM in this whole scenario is that Illinois has a short bench, and any foul or fatigue problems could severely hurt the Illini. The Panthers can’t put too much stock in that, though, since Illinois has played up-tempo ball all season and they’ve managed to avoid fouls and fatigue remarkably well. I don’t see why that would change on Thursday.
Of course, I also thought Alabama was a terrible match-up for UWM, so read my opinion at your own risk.
Oh, and if you’re looking for something in particular to watch tomorrow night, I’m going to be very interested to see how Ed McCants will get shots off with Dee Brown following him around all night. McCants hasn’t seen a defender like that all year, and believe it or not, Brown probably hasn’t seen a ton of guards with McCants’ combination of talent and a scorer’s mentality.
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
AP's All-America Team was announced yesterday: Andrew Bogut, Wayne Simien, Hakim Warrick, J.J. Redick, and Chris Paul comprised the first team. Second team: Dee Brown, Luther Head, Sean May, Salim Stoudamire, and Ike Diogu.
It's official: Indiana coach Mike Davis will return for the 2005-06 season. Now he has to fulfill some high expectations.
Wisconsin (and former Wisconsin-Milwaukee) coach Bo Ryan is profiled here by columnist Dale Hofmann of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. (Ryan will make an appearance on ESPN2's "Cold Pizza" this morning.)...Profile of Mike Wilkinson here....Mark Stewart of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says "it's not likely that the Wisconsin-North Carolina State game Friday will lead your favorite sports highlight show." Badgers'-eye views of the Wolfpack here and here....What if Devin Harris had stayed? Boastful speculation here.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo says he goes deep into his bench for a reason: "This time of year, some (teams) have only six players playing and it feels like only six are involved. Everybody in (MSU's) practice knows they're involved with this team. I think it's made for better chemistry for our team, on the court and off the court."...Izzo is 0-4 lifetime against Duke....Profile of Shannon Brown here.
Illinois guard Dee Brown has been named national player of the year by The Sporting News. Bruce Weber took national coach of the year honors....Brown was dee-hydrated (har!) and suffered cramping in his legs and stomach during the win over Nevada Saturday. Bruce Weber vows that the training staff will assure it won't happen again....Wonk's not saying the Illini's working press is confident that the season will extend past this weekend or anything but here's part one of what is promised to be "a week-long series" on assistant coach Wayne McClain. (Wow. Wonk doesn't even want to think of the karma implications.)...Will-this-really-help-recruiting? pondered here.
The Chicago Sun-Times' Herb Gould isn't looking past Wisconsin-Milwaukee, mind you, but he still can't help contemplating a potential Elite Eight match up between the Illini and Arizona. The notion inspires Gould to recall the three games these teams played in 2000-01, culminating in an Elite Eight victory for the Wildcats over the Illini. But Wonk's favorite memory from those three games was the hilarious moment, nicely detailed by Gould, in the United Center in December 2000 when inveterate scrum creator Lucas Johnson got into a typically Johnson-esque tangle with oh-so-NBA-bound Richard Jefferson, resulting not only in a whistle but also in Lute Olson running onto the court, pointing to his own head, and screaming (with reference to Johnson) "He's nuts!" (Just writing this passage makes Wonk resolve to watch that on tape tonight.)
Panther-palooza! Gregg Doyel of cbs.sportsline ensures that his email will be filled to overflowing for the next 30 years by saying Wisconsin-Milwaukee coach Bruce Pearl "absolutely" did the right thing in 1989 by taping a phone conversation with high school recruit Deon Thomas and turning the tape over to the NCAA. Wisconsin State Journal columnist Tom Oates says it's too bad that all the fuss over the Pearl-Illinois bad blood (known 'round these parts as the Geezer Meme; known elsewhere as "soap opera for guys") is taking away from what should be a euphoric time for the Wisconsin-Milwaukee program....James Augustine's uncle, Jerry Augustine, says he wishes his nephew well but he'll be pulling for Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is, after all, UWM's baseball coach....Panthers'-eye view of the Illini and their rabid fans here....Milwaukee-inflected profile of Milwaukee native and UWM grad Bruce Weber here. Profile of Bruce Pearl here. Profile of UWM guard and Northwestern transfer Ed McCants here. Two-headed monster profile of McCants and Joah Tucker here. Profile of scrappy Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panther and Schaumburg, IL, native Mark Pancratz here. Profile of sixth man James Wright here.
BONUS mostly-David edition of Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Joey Graham and PPWS
Wonk,
I was interested to see your Sweet 16 PPWS rankings today. It was great to see Adrian Tigert of UW-Milwaukee up at number 2, obviously a major reason his team is still alive.
My first thought on seeing the rankings was "I wonder how low Joey Graham is." Every time a pundit has talked about Oklahoma State in the past few days, they've mentioned that Graham has played "poorly," only scoring 15 points over two games, and that Ivan McFarlin has played lights-out. Not having actually seen either game, I had assumed they were right. Imagine my surprise when I saw:
15. Joey Graham, Oklahoma State (1.28)
16. Ivan McFarlin, Oklahoma State (1.28)
Thanks for shedding light on the fact that despite Graham's low scoring totals, he's not hurting his team by jacking up a ton of missed shots. It looks like what has happened is more along the lines of McFarlin simply being more assertive on the offensive end and using up possessions that might otherwise be reserved for Graham.
Informative as always. Go Illinois (at least until the final against UNC).
David H.
Thanks, David! Keep in mind, though, that the numbers take in the entire year. So Graham could indeed go on a Bracey Wright-esque spree of egregious bricklaying and it would show up as a dip of but .03 or so. (On the plus side, the media would then promptly select Graham as first-team all-Big-Ten. Missing a ridiculous number of shots apparently impresses the writers.)
(P.S. Whaddya mean "until the final'?)
If Wonk were a Hoosier....
Dear Wonk,
If you were an Indiana diehard, what would you have wanted to see done at IU this past week?
Would you have wanted to abandon ship on Mike Davis and go after Bruce Pearl or would you have stuck with Davis, thinking that Pearl is likely gone if Davis doesn't pan out?
Would you have wanted neither Pearl nor Davis and, if this is the case, then who would you have liked to see take over IU, given its rich tradition and history?
Thanks,
David B.
Bloomington, IN
If I were a Hoosier fan I think I would have gritted my teeth and barely--barely--netted out on the side of Davis staying. I think I would be telling myself that if Davis had had the schedule that Dan Monson had this year, then IU would have been dancing.
But if I were going to go after a new coach I'd go after Rick Majerus. He may say no but my instinct is healthy: this is Indiana. I don't have to bother with the Bruce Pearls. There are very few coaches in the country that shouldn't be interested in at least talking.
(Nor does Wonk buy into the meme that says 17-year-old recruits "nowadays" don't care about tradition and lore. That's doubtless literally true in particular instances but as a general rule it's quite a coincidence, to say the least, how tradition and lore seem to so often accompany steady streams of talent.)
(P.S. As long as I'm a Hoosier, I'd also knock down that dreary oblong Cabinet of Dr. Caligari-esque monstrosity known as Assembly Hall, second only to Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor as the conference's worst venue.)
In defense of the Badgers, day 2
Yesterday Wonk posted a spirited rebuttal (from alert reader Sandon K.) to cbs.sportsline's Dennis Dodd, who had called Wisconsin "stultifying on and off the court."
So when yesterday afternoon rolled around and your intrepid blogger saw still another piece with no love for Wisconsin (this time from espn.com's Pat Forde, who says the Badgers winning the national championship would be "the worst thing that could happen to the tournament"), Wonk simply sifted through the resulting avalanche of emails to find the one that, in keeping with today's theme, came from a David....
Wonk,
Finally, the eternal hatred of the Badgers (for that 2000 run) by sportswriters nationwide finally comes to the fore, now that they have a great shot at getting to the Elite Eight.
I've been waiting on pins and needles for it to start up again. The world is finally back in synch. Will the Houston Chronicle have another "On Wisconsin and Don't Come Back" column? We can only hope.
And my fellow Badger fans thought Dodd was irritatingly rough on the team. HA! Forde hits it out of the park. Way to go!
Nice how he doesn't have a problem with Duke scoring less than Wisconsin in the tournament.
Best Regards,
David P.
Thanks, David!
BONUS token non-David email!
Always room for a jolly good skewering of CBS Sports' answer to Mr. Burns....
Wonk,
I'd like to piggyback on Jeromie W.'s comments regarding Billy Packer. Haven't Packer and CBS violated some sort of Geneva Convention torture clause over the years? The end of yesterday's Duke-Mississippi State game provided a couple of prime examples of PACCer's defense of the ACC.
The first was when Duke was whistled for what could be generously described as a questionable foul. Packer blurted "People say Duke gets all the calls, but not today." Now, does that mean Packer also believes Duke gets all the calls (which they do) and the Mississippi State game was an exception to the rule? Or does he mean that Duke is unnecessarily criticized in general for receiving favor from the zebras? As always, he did not elaborate.
Secondly, when Mississippi State crossed halfcourt before calling a timeout, Daniel Ewing saw what was happening and attempted to make a steal. The guy from whom he stole the ball did not call the time out before Ewing got his hands in, but Miss State's coach did. Jim Nantz correctly said that Miss State got the time out. Packer yelled - yelled - "NO SIR!" Packer must not be aware that a coach - not just the players - can call time out and receive it. That's exactly what happened. This was another case of Packer not seeing what was plainly in front of him in his zeal for "Duke University."
Thankfully, that was all the Detroit affiliate showed of the Duke game Sunday, though we will most likely have to listen to Packer when the Spartans take on the Devils. This household will have the mute button glued down, however.
I'm imploring all like-minded Wonk fans to e-mail or call CBS Sports and demand that Bill Raftery is accorded his rightful spot in the color analyst's chair next season in Indy. Packer's terrible performances and shoddy predictions and calls necessitate his removal. We may be saved, though: If Carolina and Duke square off in the Final Four, Packer might hyperventilate from the excitement, and Raf would be called in from the bullpen. To paraphrase your fellow Springfielder, "Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this scourge of broadcasting may speedily go away."
Matt M.
Thanks, Matt!
¶ 6:44 AM
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
BONUS Sweet-16-edition PPWS
There's no trick to putting up a nice number for points per game (PPG). Just shoot a lot. But who would get the most points from the same number of shots?
To answer that question we turn to the handy stat that not only measures scoring efficiency, it also captures more than just points from the field (unlike, say, points per shot or "PPS"). This stat takes in both FGA's and FTA's. It's points per weighted shot (PPWS), developed cannily by John Hollinger (The Basketball Prospectus) and renamed brazenly by Wonk.
Here are the current PPWS numbers for the Sweet 16:
(And, yes, there really are two Chris Hill's still playing....)
PPWS
1. Salim Stoudamire, Arizona (1.41)
2. Adrian Tigert, Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1.37)
3. James Augustine, Illinois (1.36)
4. Alan Anderson, Michigan State (1.36)
5. Marc Jackson, Utah (1.35)
6. Dee Brown, Illinois (1.34)
7. Andrew Bogut, Utah (1.33)
8. Larry O'Bannon, Louisville (1.32)
9. Jason Fraser, Villanova (1.32)
10. Jawad Williams, North Carolina (1.31)
11. Kelvin Torbert, Michigan State (1.30)
12. Marvin Williams, North Carolina (1.29)
13. Joel Smith, Washington (1.29)
14. Sean Dockery, Duke (1.28)
15. Joey Graham, Oklahoma State (1.28)
16. Ivan McFarlin, Oklahoma State (1.28)
17. Taquan Dean, Louisville (1.28)
18. D'or Fischer, West Virginia (1.26)
19. Maurice Ager, Michigan State (1.26)
20. Luther Head, Illinois (1.26)
21. Bryant Markson, Utah (1.25)
22. Brandon Jenkins, Louisville (1.25)
23. Roger Powell, Illinois (1.24)
24. J.J. Redick, Duke (1.24)
25. Brandon Roy, Washington (1.24)
26. Shelden Williams, Duke (1.23)
27. Rashad McCants, North Carolina (1.23)
28. David Noel, North Carolina (1.23)
29. Sean May, North Carolina (1.23)
30. Jordan Collins, NC State (1.22)
31. Andrew Brackman, NC State (1.22)
32. Elian Evtimov, NC State (1.22)
33. Channing Frye, Arizona (1.21)
34. Ravi Moss, Kentucky (1.21)
35. John Lucas, Oklahoma State (1.21)
36. Chris Hill, Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1.20)
37. Ronald Ross, Texas Tech (1.20)
38. Cameron Bennerman, NC State (1.20)
39. Nate Robinson, Washington (1.20)
40. JamesOn Curry, Oklahoma State (1.20)
41. Raymond Felton, North Carolina (1.20)
42. Bobby Jones, Washington (1.19)
43. Tyrone Sally, West Virginia (1.19)
44. Paul Davis, Michigan State (1.19)
45. Daniel Bobik, Oklahoma State (1.18)
46. Francisco Garcia, Louisville (1.18)
47. Stephen Graham, Oklahoma State (1.17)
48. Kevin Pittsnogle, West Virginia (1.17)
49. Tre Simmons, Washington (1.17)
50. Clayton Hanson, Wisconsin (1.17)
51. Chris Hill, Michigan State (1.17)
52. Mike Gansey, West Virginia (1.17)
53. Mike Wilkinson, Wisconsin (1.17)
54. Kelenna Azubuike, Kentucky (1.17)
55. Jawann McClellan, Arizona (1.17)
56. Jarrius Jackson, Texas Tech (1.17)
57. Zach Morley, Wisconsin (1.16)
58. Jamaal Williams, Washington (1.15)
59. Terrence Crawford, Oklahoma State (1.15)
60. Richard Chaney, Utah (1.15)
61. Allan Ray, Villanova (1.15)
62. Julius Hodge, NC State (1.14)
63. Alando Tucker, Wisconsin (1.14)
64. Lee Melchionni, Duke (1.13)
65. Randolph Morris, Kentucky (1.13)
66. Rajon Rondo, Kentucky (1.13)
67. Will Conroy, Washington (1.12)
68. Tim Drisdom, Utah (1.12)
69. Ed McCants, Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1.12)
70. Juan Diego Palacios, Louisville (1.11)
71. Boo Davis, Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1.11)
72. Devonne Giles, Texas Tech (1.11)
73. Engin Atsur, NC State (1.11)
74. Johnannes Herber, West Virginia (1.10)
75. Will Sheridan, Villanova (1.10)
76. Hakeem Rollins, Washington (1.10)
77. Chuck Hayes, Kentucky (1.10)
78. Patrick Sparks, Kentucky (1.10)
79. Ellis Myles, Louisville (1.10)
80. Jackie Manuel, North Carolina (1.09)
81. Lorenzo Wade, Louisville (1.09)
82. Shannon Brown, Michigan State (1.09)
83. James Wright, Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1.08)
84. Patrick Beilein, West Virginia (1.08)
85. Darryl Dora, Texas Tech (1.08)
86. Daniel Ewing, Duke (1.07)
87. Martin Zeno, Texas Tech (1.07)
88. Jack Ingram, Illinois (1.07)
89. Joah Tucker, Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1.07)
90. Deron Williams, Illinois (1.06)
91. Justin Hawkins, Utah (1.06)
92. Curtis Marshall, Texas Tech (1.06)
93. Jonas Langvad, Utah (1.05)
94. Mike Jensen, Washington (1.04)
95. Mustafa Shakur, Arizona (1.04)
96. Hassan Adams, Arizona (1.04)
97. Randy Foye, Villanova (1.03)
98. Kammron Taylor, Wisconsin (1.03)
99. Melvin Scott, North Carolina (1.03)
100. Ivan Radenovic, Arizona (1.02)
101. Sharif Chambliss, Wisconsin (1.01)
102. Ramel Bradley, Kentucky (1.00)
103. Brian Butch, Wisconsin (1.00)
104. Chris Rodgers, Arizona (0.99)
105. Rich McBride, Illinois (0.97)
106. Drew Neitzel, Michigan State (0.97)
107. Jarmon Durisseau-Collins, West Virginia (0.96)
108. Mike Nardi, Villanova (0.96)
109. DeMarcus Nelson, Duke (0.95)
110. Kyle Lowry, Villanova (0.94)
111. Bobby Perry, Kentucky (0.91)
112. Andreas Helmigk, Wisconsin (0.89)
113. Shavlik Randolph, Duke (0.89)
114. Nick Smith, Illinois (0.88)
What it means. Give Salim Stoudamire 12 FGA's and six FTA's and he'll likely score about 21 points. Give Nick Smith the same number of shots and he'll likely score about 13. Prodigious and efficient scorer Salim Stoudamire, Wonk salutes you!
COMING tomorrow....
A talk with Chris West, the blogosphere's leading expert on the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers. In addition to being a Milwaukee resident, Wisconsin (Madison) graduate, and creator of one of the finest hoops blogs around (The Chris West Basketball Journal), Chris has followed UWM avidly since long before they were this popular--or this noteworthy to Big Ten fans. Wonk will chat with Chris about the Panthers' season, their thrilling tourney run, and Thursday's game against Illinois. Tune in tomorrow!
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Indiana coach Mike Davis will return for the 2005-06 season, reports Terry Hutchens of the Indianapolis Star. An official announcement is expected today. Reaction of Hoosier fans? Mixed. For his part, Indy Star columnist Bob Kravitz says now "it's up to Davis and the players he believes can make IU a contender." (Kravitz also credits Indiana AD Rick Greenspan for not simply taking "the easiest path imaginable to ingratiate himself to IU's multitudes, firing Davis and spending the next week standing outside the locker room door of Bruce Pearl and Wisconsin-Milwaukee.") And Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti says former IU coach Bob Knight (he of yesterday's I-would-have-fired-Mike-Davis fame) has proven "conclusively [that] he is a brilliant basketball coach first and an evil S.O.B. second."
Purdue recruiting update here.
Gregg Doyel of cbs.sportsline says Wisconsin "takes the least impressive tournament resume into the Sweet 16, having beaten Northern Iowa 57-52 and Bucknell 71-62." Bo Ryan says statements like that roll off his back: "I'm a between-the-lines guy."...Praise for the Badger bench here. Praise for tournament "rookies" Kammron Taylor, Sharif Chambliss, and Michael Flowers here.
Michigan State doesn't just have "a" monkey on its back--the Spartans are apparently carting around multiple monkeys, at least according to Kelvin Torbert: "If we can get over the hurdle of beating Duke, that would be getting another monkey off our back."...Tom Izzo says in the tournament's first two games Drew Neitzel "did a tremendous job running our team, taking care of the ball and getting us into our sets." But Izzo also says the weekend left his team with "two negatives to work on--our rebounding and our perimeter shooting." Vermont notched 23 offensive rebounds (!) against State....Chris Hill says J.J. Redick is a threat from anywhere on the floor: "He has no conscience. There's no consequence with the shots he takes. He can take an awful shot and not think much about it. There's such a different mindset." Izzo notes that when the Spartans lost to the Blue Devils 81-74 in Durham on November 30, Redick and Daniel Ewing has 29 points apiece on combined 10-of-16 shooting outside the arc. "I'm not sure those two guards could ever shoot that good again--at least I hope not."
Only Wonk can give you a link that mentions Bruce Weber and Golda Meir! Pocket history of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee here.
Illinois coach and Wisconsin-Milwaukee alum Bruce Weber says he was known as "Dirt" in his college days because he was the catcher on the baseball team....Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper says Illinois is preparing for the Panthers' full-court pressure by having the offense practice against six or even seven defensive players. "That's the best way to simulate it," Weber says. UWM coach Bruce Pearl says there's some risk in pressing the guard-heavy Illini: "I don't know how effective it's going to be. If we press them and make them go faster, they might beat us by 20 instead of 10. We may have to find other ways to be effective."...Chicago Sun-Times columnist Ron Rapoport says he's "looking forward to seeing how the Illini do against players who don't come out on the court scared to death....Maybe Oklahoma State."....Profile of James Augustine here.
Great minds alert! Stewart Mandel of si.com says: "All season long, North Carolina and Illinois have been considered the teams to beat, and four days of tournament action have done little to change that." And Detroit Free Press columnist Michael Rosenberg says: "More than ever, I want to see Illinois and North Carolina in the final. And more than ever, I believe we will."
From the Geezer Meme archives! Set your time-travel dials to November 7, 1990, and see the text of the NCAA's "Public Infraction Report" on the recruiting of Deon Thomas by Illinois here. Andy Katz of espn.com wonders whether "Illini fans really will taunt Pearl–or is this story finally over?" Weber's take on the whole matter is this: "The Bruce Pearl thing, I appreciate the former players and fans. We’ve had tons of calls and e-mails. Guys want to suit up again. And I understand that and I’m not downplaying it, but at the same time, we need to beat them to advance."
Mark Tupper's take on the whole matter is this: "I've always felt it was the NCAA that acted most outrageously in this matter, cutting a deal with [Bruce] Pearl, telling Thomas he could attend any school but Illinois, and refusing to investigate any of the allegations against Pearl and Iowa. Making the matter worse was the presence of Pearl's Boston College buddy, Rich Hilliard, as a member of the NCAA's enforcement team. Records indicated that Pearl phoned the NCAA frequently and they worked as a team to gather incriminating information on Illinois. The arrogance of the NCAA came to a head when sanctions were announced. Chuck Smrt, the NCAA director of enforcement, was asked how the NCAA could justify such harsh sanctions when the organization ruled 'not guilty' on all major allegations. His comment still rings with absurd arrogance and convoluted logic. 'We believe the Committee (of Infractions) did not say the allegations were false, but they did not find that they were true.'"
More wall-to-wall Geezers' Meme coverage here, here, and here.
BONUS supersized March Madness edition of Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
In defense of the Badgers...and the Big Ten
Dennis Dodd of cbs.sportsline watched Wisconsin beat Bucknell in Oklahoma City on Sunday and reported: "The Badgers are truly stultifying on and off the court." Wonk's readers respond!
Wonk,
It's official, though it's been suspected for quite some time. The national media have zero appreciation for the Wisconsin Badgers, and little more than that for any Big Ten team not ranked number 1 in the nation.
Dennis Dodd whines about a dreary and boring day of being paid to witness NCAA tournament games. Guess what Dennis? We're bored with unimaginative, disinterested writing which displays not the slightest hint that any effort was expended to write anything different than the "Wisconsin is no fun" boilerplate in circulation for the past ten years.
Meanwhile: ESPN laments the disposal of Vermont at the hands of the Spartans; continues to mischaracterize exactly what it is the Badgers do; and searches eagerly, almost longingly, for an exploitable weakness in Illinois.
Sure, the local Wisconsin media "get it" when it comes to Bo Ryan's squad--but they can be dismissed as homers and quacks, right? Dodd whines about not having a good story to write but Dale Hoffman seemed to find a way. He wrote the story about how this year's edition has achieved despite the loss of Devin Harris. Despite the loss of Boo Wade. Despite nagging injuries to Tucker and Wilkinson and Morley throughout the year. About how half of the team's losses were road losses to teams still playing in the NCAA tournament. About how two of the others came while breaking in a new point guard rotation to replace the same Devin Harris that much of the media didn't really pay attention to until after he decided to leave.
The funny thing is it's only us fans who really get wound up about stuff like this. As I noted above, the nearly twenty percent of the Sweet 16 from the Big Ten still has bigger fish to fry. And I don't think Weber or Izzo or Ryan would have it any other way.
Sandon K.
Colby, WI
Thanks, Sandon!
Still more Big Ten chest-thumping!
Hey, Wonk,
Just wanted to know what you thought about the Big East now. So many people argued that is was the best league top to bottom, but that's hard to say now. The top three teams got bounced early. Now they have Villanova and WVU, both good teams, but it's a joke to say the Big East is so great.
Jeremy B.
Jeremy, I think, is referring to this interview from last week where your intrepid blogger said the Big Ten was beloved by yours truly (duh--200,000 words and counting) but nevertheless inferior, when viewed whole, to the ACC and Big East this year, thanks primarily to unusually weak performers in the conference's bottom two slots.
Wonk can only say: I am very, very happy to have three teams in the Sweet 16.
...And I still think Connecticut alone has more future NBA players than 75 percent of that Sweet 16 combined.
Hawkeye to Illini: Your team is 34-1. Stop complaining.
Wonk,
First, let me start by saying that your blog (along with Hawkeye Hoops) is a daily "must read" for me. I am a die-hard Iowa fan but I enjoy reading about the entire Big Ten (I am loving the fact that the conference has more teams in the 16 than the Big East, Pac-10, SEC, etc.), so thank you for your article postings and objective, insightful analysis.
Anyway, since you are an Illinois fan, I am wondering if you could comment on the bizarre, angst-ridden state of Illini Nation. Is it me, or does it seem like a sizeable contingent of Illinois fans are never happy during this amazing season? After listening to them obsess about the perceived "lack of respect" all year, I now have to listen to the whole Bruce Pearl saga again this week. Not to mention the whole Bill Self thing. I realize that many fans are enjoying this season but it seems like an alarming number are not.
Is this state of unhappiness simply a media creation, or is it constrained to the Chicagoland area (where I live) with tortured fans that also root for the Cubs, White Sox, and Bears? Can't they just enjoy the ride?
I know if Iowa had this type of season, I wouldn't spend it complaining about Lute Olson (who left and actually won a national title, unlike Self) or Dick Vitale. I realize that fans are fans no matter what the school/team, but Illinois seems a little different in this regard--like they have the proverbial chip (or boulder) on their shoulder.
Your thoughts?
Best,
Tom T.
Thanks, Tom! (Love your Lute Olson simile!)
Wonk can only speak for this Illini fan: I am savoring every second of this year. The lacunae in my links tell you correctly that I don't care one whit what Dick Vitale says (though I enjoy him as camp par excellence) or where Illinois ranks in ESPN's "Power 16." (Surely the ultimate absurdity: a ranking of 16 teams who are about to play a single-elimination tournament to determine the true and final ranking of the 16 teams.)
And I wish undisputed recruiting monster and dyed-in-the-wool Big 12 boy Bill Self all the best. The very fact that Self is reviled by the canned-food-storing portion of Illini Nation is actually the highest compliment. Put it this way: no Michigan fan obsesses over what Brian Ellerbee is doing right now.
COMING soon in Wonk back!
Continued: Is Jay Bilas slowly becoming Bill Raftery? Can someone please put Billy Packer on jury duty for the next two weeks? Wonk's readers respond!
¶ 7:50 AM
There's no trick to putting up a nice number for points per game (PPG). Just shoot a lot. But who would get the most points from the same number of shots?
To answer that question we turn to the handy stat that not only measures scoring efficiency, it also captures more than just points from the field (unlike, say, points per shot or "PPS"). This stat takes in both FGA's and FTA's. It's points per weighted shot (PPWS), developed cannily by John Hollinger (The Basketball Prospectus) and renamed brazenly by Wonk.
Here are the current PPWS numbers for the Sweet 16:
(And, yes, there really are two Chris Hill's still playing....)
PPWS
1. Salim Stoudamire, Arizona (1.41)
2. Adrian Tigert, Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1.37)
3. James Augustine, Illinois (1.36)
4. Alan Anderson, Michigan State (1.36)
5. Marc Jackson, Utah (1.35)
6. Dee Brown, Illinois (1.34)
7. Andrew Bogut, Utah (1.33)
8. Larry O'Bannon, Louisville (1.32)
9. Jason Fraser, Villanova (1.32)
10. Jawad Williams, North Carolina (1.31)
11. Kelvin Torbert, Michigan State (1.30)
12. Marvin Williams, North Carolina (1.29)
13. Joel Smith, Washington (1.29)
14. Sean Dockery, Duke (1.28)
15. Joey Graham, Oklahoma State (1.28)
16. Ivan McFarlin, Oklahoma State (1.28)
17. Taquan Dean, Louisville (1.28)
18. D'or Fischer, West Virginia (1.26)
19. Maurice Ager, Michigan State (1.26)
20. Luther Head, Illinois (1.26)
21. Bryant Markson, Utah (1.25)
22. Brandon Jenkins, Louisville (1.25)
23. Roger Powell, Illinois (1.24)
24. J.J. Redick, Duke (1.24)
25. Brandon Roy, Washington (1.24)
26. Shelden Williams, Duke (1.23)
27. Rashad McCants, North Carolina (1.23)
28. David Noel, North Carolina (1.23)
29. Sean May, North Carolina (1.23)
30. Jordan Collins, NC State (1.22)
31. Andrew Brackman, NC State (1.22)
32. Elian Evtimov, NC State (1.22)
33. Channing Frye, Arizona (1.21)
34. Ravi Moss, Kentucky (1.21)
35. John Lucas, Oklahoma State (1.21)
36. Chris Hill, Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1.20)
37. Ronald Ross, Texas Tech (1.20)
38. Cameron Bennerman, NC State (1.20)
39. Nate Robinson, Washington (1.20)
40. JamesOn Curry, Oklahoma State (1.20)
41. Raymond Felton, North Carolina (1.20)
42. Bobby Jones, Washington (1.19)
43. Tyrone Sally, West Virginia (1.19)
44. Paul Davis, Michigan State (1.19)
45. Daniel Bobik, Oklahoma State (1.18)
46. Francisco Garcia, Louisville (1.18)
47. Stephen Graham, Oklahoma State (1.17)
48. Kevin Pittsnogle, West Virginia (1.17)
49. Tre Simmons, Washington (1.17)
50. Clayton Hanson, Wisconsin (1.17)
51. Chris Hill, Michigan State (1.17)
52. Mike Gansey, West Virginia (1.17)
53. Mike Wilkinson, Wisconsin (1.17)
54. Kelenna Azubuike, Kentucky (1.17)
55. Jawann McClellan, Arizona (1.17)
56. Jarrius Jackson, Texas Tech (1.17)
57. Zach Morley, Wisconsin (1.16)
58. Jamaal Williams, Washington (1.15)
59. Terrence Crawford, Oklahoma State (1.15)
60. Richard Chaney, Utah (1.15)
61. Allan Ray, Villanova (1.15)
62. Julius Hodge, NC State (1.14)
63. Alando Tucker, Wisconsin (1.14)
64. Lee Melchionni, Duke (1.13)
65. Randolph Morris, Kentucky (1.13)
66. Rajon Rondo, Kentucky (1.13)
67. Will Conroy, Washington (1.12)
68. Tim Drisdom, Utah (1.12)
69. Ed McCants, Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1.12)
70. Juan Diego Palacios, Louisville (1.11)
71. Boo Davis, Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1.11)
72. Devonne Giles, Texas Tech (1.11)
73. Engin Atsur, NC State (1.11)
74. Johnannes Herber, West Virginia (1.10)
75. Will Sheridan, Villanova (1.10)
76. Hakeem Rollins, Washington (1.10)
77. Chuck Hayes, Kentucky (1.10)
78. Patrick Sparks, Kentucky (1.10)
79. Ellis Myles, Louisville (1.10)
80. Jackie Manuel, North Carolina (1.09)
81. Lorenzo Wade, Louisville (1.09)
82. Shannon Brown, Michigan State (1.09)
83. James Wright, Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1.08)
84. Patrick Beilein, West Virginia (1.08)
85. Darryl Dora, Texas Tech (1.08)
86. Daniel Ewing, Duke (1.07)
87. Martin Zeno, Texas Tech (1.07)
88. Jack Ingram, Illinois (1.07)
89. Joah Tucker, Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1.07)
90. Deron Williams, Illinois (1.06)
91. Justin Hawkins, Utah (1.06)
92. Curtis Marshall, Texas Tech (1.06)
93. Jonas Langvad, Utah (1.05)
94. Mike Jensen, Washington (1.04)
95. Mustafa Shakur, Arizona (1.04)
96. Hassan Adams, Arizona (1.04)
97. Randy Foye, Villanova (1.03)
98. Kammron Taylor, Wisconsin (1.03)
99. Melvin Scott, North Carolina (1.03)
100. Ivan Radenovic, Arizona (1.02)
101. Sharif Chambliss, Wisconsin (1.01)
102. Ramel Bradley, Kentucky (1.00)
103. Brian Butch, Wisconsin (1.00)
104. Chris Rodgers, Arizona (0.99)
105. Rich McBride, Illinois (0.97)
106. Drew Neitzel, Michigan State (0.97)
107. Jarmon Durisseau-Collins, West Virginia (0.96)
108. Mike Nardi, Villanova (0.96)
109. DeMarcus Nelson, Duke (0.95)
110. Kyle Lowry, Villanova (0.94)
111. Bobby Perry, Kentucky (0.91)
112. Andreas Helmigk, Wisconsin (0.89)
113. Shavlik Randolph, Duke (0.89)
114. Nick Smith, Illinois (0.88)
What it means. Give Salim Stoudamire 12 FGA's and six FTA's and he'll likely score about 21 points. Give Nick Smith the same number of shots and he'll likely score about 13. Prodigious and efficient scorer Salim Stoudamire, Wonk salutes you!
COMING tomorrow....
A talk with Chris West, the blogosphere's leading expert on the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers. In addition to being a Milwaukee resident, Wisconsin (Madison) graduate, and creator of one of the finest hoops blogs around (The Chris West Basketball Journal), Chris has followed UWM avidly since long before they were this popular--or this noteworthy to Big Ten fans. Wonk will chat with Chris about the Panthers' season, their thrilling tourney run, and Thursday's game against Illinois. Tune in tomorrow!
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Indiana coach Mike Davis will return for the 2005-06 season, reports Terry Hutchens of the Indianapolis Star. An official announcement is expected today. Reaction of Hoosier fans? Mixed. For his part, Indy Star columnist Bob Kravitz says now "it's up to Davis and the players he believes can make IU a contender." (Kravitz also credits Indiana AD Rick Greenspan for not simply taking "the easiest path imaginable to ingratiate himself to IU's multitudes, firing Davis and spending the next week standing outside the locker room door of Bruce Pearl and Wisconsin-Milwaukee.") And Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti says former IU coach Bob Knight (he of yesterday's I-would-have-fired-Mike-Davis fame) has proven "conclusively [that] he is a brilliant basketball coach first and an evil S.O.B. second."
Purdue recruiting update here.
Gregg Doyel of cbs.sportsline says Wisconsin "takes the least impressive tournament resume into the Sweet 16, having beaten Northern Iowa 57-52 and Bucknell 71-62." Bo Ryan says statements like that roll off his back: "I'm a between-the-lines guy."...Praise for the Badger bench here. Praise for tournament "rookies" Kammron Taylor, Sharif Chambliss, and Michael Flowers here.
Michigan State doesn't just have "a" monkey on its back--the Spartans are apparently carting around multiple monkeys, at least according to Kelvin Torbert: "If we can get over the hurdle of beating Duke, that would be getting another monkey off our back."...Tom Izzo says in the tournament's first two games Drew Neitzel "did a tremendous job running our team, taking care of the ball and getting us into our sets." But Izzo also says the weekend left his team with "two negatives to work on--our rebounding and our perimeter shooting." Vermont notched 23 offensive rebounds (!) against State....Chris Hill says J.J. Redick is a threat from anywhere on the floor: "He has no conscience. There's no consequence with the shots he takes. He can take an awful shot and not think much about it. There's such a different mindset." Izzo notes that when the Spartans lost to the Blue Devils 81-74 in Durham on November 30, Redick and Daniel Ewing has 29 points apiece on combined 10-of-16 shooting outside the arc. "I'm not sure those two guards could ever shoot that good again--at least I hope not."
Only Wonk can give you a link that mentions Bruce Weber and Golda Meir! Pocket history of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee here.
Illinois coach and Wisconsin-Milwaukee alum Bruce Weber says he was known as "Dirt" in his college days because he was the catcher on the baseball team....Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper says Illinois is preparing for the Panthers' full-court pressure by having the offense practice against six or even seven defensive players. "That's the best way to simulate it," Weber says. UWM coach Bruce Pearl says there's some risk in pressing the guard-heavy Illini: "I don't know how effective it's going to be. If we press them and make them go faster, they might beat us by 20 instead of 10. We may have to find other ways to be effective."...Chicago Sun-Times columnist Ron Rapoport says he's "looking forward to seeing how the Illini do against players who don't come out on the court scared to death....Maybe Oklahoma State."....Profile of James Augustine here.
Great minds alert! Stewart Mandel of si.com says: "All season long, North Carolina and Illinois have been considered the teams to beat, and four days of tournament action have done little to change that." And Detroit Free Press columnist Michael Rosenberg says: "More than ever, I want to see Illinois and North Carolina in the final. And more than ever, I believe we will."
From the Geezer Meme archives! Set your time-travel dials to November 7, 1990, and see the text of the NCAA's "Public Infraction Report" on the recruiting of Deon Thomas by Illinois here. Andy Katz of espn.com wonders whether "Illini fans really will taunt Pearl–or is this story finally over?" Weber's take on the whole matter is this: "The Bruce Pearl thing, I appreciate the former players and fans. We’ve had tons of calls and e-mails. Guys want to suit up again. And I understand that and I’m not downplaying it, but at the same time, we need to beat them to advance."
Mark Tupper's take on the whole matter is this: "I've always felt it was the NCAA that acted most outrageously in this matter, cutting a deal with [Bruce] Pearl, telling Thomas he could attend any school but Illinois, and refusing to investigate any of the allegations against Pearl and Iowa. Making the matter worse was the presence of Pearl's Boston College buddy, Rich Hilliard, as a member of the NCAA's enforcement team. Records indicated that Pearl phoned the NCAA frequently and they worked as a team to gather incriminating information on Illinois. The arrogance of the NCAA came to a head when sanctions were announced. Chuck Smrt, the NCAA director of enforcement, was asked how the NCAA could justify such harsh sanctions when the organization ruled 'not guilty' on all major allegations. His comment still rings with absurd arrogance and convoluted logic. 'We believe the Committee (of Infractions) did not say the allegations were false, but they did not find that they were true.'"
More wall-to-wall Geezers' Meme coverage here, here, and here.
BONUS supersized March Madness edition of Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
In defense of the Badgers...and the Big Ten
Dennis Dodd of cbs.sportsline watched Wisconsin beat Bucknell in Oklahoma City on Sunday and reported: "The Badgers are truly stultifying on and off the court." Wonk's readers respond!
Wonk,
It's official, though it's been suspected for quite some time. The national media have zero appreciation for the Wisconsin Badgers, and little more than that for any Big Ten team not ranked number 1 in the nation.
Dennis Dodd whines about a dreary and boring day of being paid to witness NCAA tournament games. Guess what Dennis? We're bored with unimaginative, disinterested writing which displays not the slightest hint that any effort was expended to write anything different than the "Wisconsin is no fun" boilerplate in circulation for the past ten years.
Meanwhile: ESPN laments the disposal of Vermont at the hands of the Spartans; continues to mischaracterize exactly what it is the Badgers do; and searches eagerly, almost longingly, for an exploitable weakness in Illinois.
Sure, the local Wisconsin media "get it" when it comes to Bo Ryan's squad--but they can be dismissed as homers and quacks, right? Dodd whines about not having a good story to write but Dale Hoffman seemed to find a way. He wrote the story about how this year's edition has achieved despite the loss of Devin Harris. Despite the loss of Boo Wade. Despite nagging injuries to Tucker and Wilkinson and Morley throughout the year. About how half of the team's losses were road losses to teams still playing in the NCAA tournament. About how two of the others came while breaking in a new point guard rotation to replace the same Devin Harris that much of the media didn't really pay attention to until after he decided to leave.
The funny thing is it's only us fans who really get wound up about stuff like this. As I noted above, the nearly twenty percent of the Sweet 16 from the Big Ten still has bigger fish to fry. And I don't think Weber or Izzo or Ryan would have it any other way.
Sandon K.
Colby, WI
Thanks, Sandon!
Still more Big Ten chest-thumping!
Hey, Wonk,
Just wanted to know what you thought about the Big East now. So many people argued that is was the best league top to bottom, but that's hard to say now. The top three teams got bounced early. Now they have Villanova and WVU, both good teams, but it's a joke to say the Big East is so great.
Jeremy B.
Jeremy, I think, is referring to this interview from last week where your intrepid blogger said the Big Ten was beloved by yours truly (duh--200,000 words and counting) but nevertheless inferior, when viewed whole, to the ACC and Big East this year, thanks primarily to unusually weak performers in the conference's bottom two slots.
Wonk can only say: I am very, very happy to have three teams in the Sweet 16.
...And I still think Connecticut alone has more future NBA players than 75 percent of that Sweet 16 combined.
Hawkeye to Illini: Your team is 34-1. Stop complaining.
Wonk,
First, let me start by saying that your blog (along with Hawkeye Hoops) is a daily "must read" for me. I am a die-hard Iowa fan but I enjoy reading about the entire Big Ten (I am loving the fact that the conference has more teams in the 16 than the Big East, Pac-10, SEC, etc.), so thank you for your article postings and objective, insightful analysis.
Anyway, since you are an Illinois fan, I am wondering if you could comment on the bizarre, angst-ridden state of Illini Nation. Is it me, or does it seem like a sizeable contingent of Illinois fans are never happy during this amazing season? After listening to them obsess about the perceived "lack of respect" all year, I now have to listen to the whole Bruce Pearl saga again this week. Not to mention the whole Bill Self thing. I realize that many fans are enjoying this season but it seems like an alarming number are not.
Is this state of unhappiness simply a media creation, or is it constrained to the Chicagoland area (where I live) with tortured fans that also root for the Cubs, White Sox, and Bears? Can't they just enjoy the ride?
I know if Iowa had this type of season, I wouldn't spend it complaining about Lute Olson (who left and actually won a national title, unlike Self) or Dick Vitale. I realize that fans are fans no matter what the school/team, but Illinois seems a little different in this regard--like they have the proverbial chip (or boulder) on their shoulder.
Your thoughts?
Best,
Tom T.
Thanks, Tom! (Love your Lute Olson simile!)
Wonk can only speak for this Illini fan: I am savoring every second of this year. The lacunae in my links tell you correctly that I don't care one whit what Dick Vitale says (though I enjoy him as camp par excellence) or where Illinois ranks in ESPN's "Power 16." (Surely the ultimate absurdity: a ranking of 16 teams who are about to play a single-elimination tournament to determine the true and final ranking of the 16 teams.)
And I wish undisputed recruiting monster and dyed-in-the-wool Big 12 boy Bill Self all the best. The very fact that Self is reviled by the canned-food-storing portion of Illini Nation is actually the highest compliment. Put it this way: no Michigan fan obsesses over what Brian Ellerbee is doing right now.
COMING soon in Wonk back!
Continued: Is Jay Bilas slowly becoming Bill Raftery? Can someone please put Billy Packer on jury duty for the next two weeks? Wonk's readers respond!
¶ 7:50 AM
Monday, March 21, 2005
Sweeter
The Sweet 16 is set:
(all times EST)
Albuquerque--Thursday
7:10pm: (4) Louisville (31-4) vs. (1) Washington (29-5)
9:40pm: (7) West Virginia (23-10) vs. (6) Texas Tech (22-10)
Chicago--Thursday
7:27pm: (12) Wisconsin-Milwaukee (26-6) vs. (1) Illinois (34-1)
9:57pm: (3) Arizona (29-6) vs. (2) Oklahoma State (26-6)
Austin--Friday
7:10pm: (5) Michigan State (24-6) vs. (1) Duke (27-5)
9:40pm: (6) Utah (29-5) vs. (2) Kentucky (27-5)
Syracuse--Friday
7:27pm: (10) NC State (21-13) vs. (6) Wisconsin (24-8)
9:57pm: (5) Villanova (24-7) vs. (1) North Carolina (29-4)
For those of us keeping score, that's three teams each from the Big Ten and ACC; two each from the Pac-10, Big East, and Big 12.
In yesterday's action, two Big Ten teams joined the club by knocking out beloved underdogs....
(5) Michigan State 72, (13) Vermont 61
The Spartans were actually outrebounded in this game by the "overachieving cult heroes" from the Green Mountains and the turnovers were even so why was this such a (relatively) comfortable win? Defense. State held the Catamounts to woeful .314 shooting from the floor: 22-of-70. (Take it from Tom Izzo: "Today our defense, if you ask me, at times was as good as it's ever been in my career here.") Yes, T.J. Sorrentine had 26 points for the Catamounts but he needed no fewer than 23 shots to get there (giving him an abysmal PPWS of 1.09 for the game). Meanwhile Mo Ager answered critics who say he comes up big in small games and vice versa: 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting (PPWS 1.29) in the biggest game of the year for MSU. And big kudos to Paul Davis for an outing that in late March 2005 can only be called Augustinian: 14 boards and 11 points. (Not that Taylor Coppenrath wasn't equally Jamesian: 14 boards and 16 points--though he, like his teammate, needed 23 shots to get there.)
Watching this game Wonk was reminded of the night in January when Michigan State went on the road to play another plucky underdog on a roll, Dan Monson's Minnesota Golden Gophers. In both games the Spartans never allowed their opponent to get into any kind of offensive rhythm. In both games the score was deceptively close. In both games the opponent looked overmatched.
Links. Goodness! "The Spartans took the glass slipper and smashed it." Elsewhere, in today's less hostile write-ups....Lansing State Journal columnist Todd Schulz says Tom Izzo's men were "quicker, longer, deeper and stronger than Vermont." Great minds alert! MSU was "stronger, faster and better." And Boston Globe columnist Jackie MacMullan says "Vermont didn't have the depth, the legs, or the stamina to withstand a workman-like performance by the Spartans, who simply refused to be caught up in the emotion of New England's favorite team." (Sorrentine agrees: "It seemed like they were always fresh.") Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp says: "It's not the Spartans' fault their path to Austin, Texas, was paved with Nos. 12 and 13 seeds, but they shouldn't get a lot of credit for manhandling the respective bests of the Colonial Athletic Association and America East Conference, quality that doesn't even measure up to mid-major competition."
Sharp's fellow columnist at the Free Press, Mitch Albom, says winning this game was "harder than you'd think....Vermont had nothing to lose and the world to win over. It had four seniors, a beloved, departing coach, a cute team name, a devoted fan base, a cheering, packed arena and the karma of the national media looking for a good story." Detroit News columnist Bob Wojnowski adds: "It's not that MSU Coach Tom Izzo and his players don't like a good story. It's just that, well, they think they're capable of fashioning one themselves." Detroit News Spartan beat writer Dave Dye says this State team is beginning to look like the Final Four teams of 1999-2001 in that it's "taking away an opponent's strength on a regular basis."
Andy Katz of espn.com says reaching the Sweet 16 "should dampen criticism that this team has not excelled."
Quote o' the day! Tom Izzo praised Kelvin Torbert thusly: "He's not as demonstrative [as Alan Anderson], but when you've got muscles on your earlobes you don't have to be as demonstrative. I'd listen to him."
Next up for the Spartans: a rematch with Duke.
BONUS obsequious pander to ACC interlopers! Wonk still isn't ready to support J.J. Redick as a Naismith finalist but I will say this: Duke has now made eight consecutive Sweet 16s, a run of sustained excellence that is little short of staggering. (Ask Kansas and Wake Forest how easy it is not to make the second weekend.)
(6) Wisconsin 71, (14) Bucknell 62
This game was won at the free throw line, where the Badgers outscored the Bison by 11. Alando Tucker alone had 18 FTA's. Repeat: Alando Tucker shot 18 free throws (and made 15: a career-high, we are told--well, duh). Other than that the two teams were even in shooting (both teams shot about .460), rebounding (Badgers +1), and turnovers (Badgers -3; yesterday marked the fifth straight game where Wisconsin's turned the ball over fewer than ten times). Bucknell tried to do to Wisconsin what Northern Iowa did: take the inside away. This time it didn't go so well--Mike Wilkinson had 23 and free-throw machine Tucker scored 17. The Badger backcourt, while stout on defense, was again underwhelming on offense (5-of-17) but, in their defense, they were never needed yesterday. And Bucknell's Chris McNaughton wins today's D.J. White award: the Bison big man put up 23 points but only four boards.
Links. Alando Tucker says on offense the Badgers liked the match-up in the paint between Wilkinson and McNaughton: "We just kept running the same play to get it to [Wilkinson]." "He worked the angles in the post about as well as I've seen," Bo Ryan said of Wilkinson. Wisconsin State Journal columnist Tom Oates says "UW did what Kansas couldn't do, which is why the Badgers will keep playing." Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel columnist Dale Hoffman says: "If Bucknell was the Little Engine that Could on Sunday, Wisconsin was an east-bound freight."
With two teams (Wisconsin and Wisconsin-Milwaukee) in the Sweet 16, the state of Wisconsin is feeling like North Carolina west (and, um, north).
Bucknell coach Pat Flannery, who, like Bo Ryan, has put in many years at the Division III level, says the last time he walked off the court in defeat after a Division I tournament game was in 1986 when he was at Drexel and the Dragons lost to eventual national champion Louisville. Good omen for this year's Badgers? (Insert Kent Brockman voice here:) Only time will tell.
BONUS Wonk puzzlement: Let me get this straight....The Oklahoma State band "adopted" Bucknell and played and cheered for them. OK, but where did they get all those "BUCKNELL" t-shirts? Did the Bison bring them with?
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
The passage of time has not changed how Texas Tech coach Bob Knight feels about his departure at Indiana: "I stayed at Indiana six years too long because of the administration. The administration handled a lot of things poorly. I was working for an athletic director [former IU AD Clarence Doninger] that didn't know his [expletive] from third base. I ended up staying because of the kids that I liked and the people I did like rather than focusing on the real negatives there." Nor does Knight think much of Mike Davis: "The guy that's coaching there [Mike Davis] is a guy that I told Pat [Knight, his son and assistant coach] we were going to replace at the end of the season. There's no way that I would have kept the guy any longer than that. [But] That's their [Indiana] problem."...Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz congratulates Knight on reaching the Sweet 16 but says "it would be a mistake to argue that Knight should have remained in Bloomington."
Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse says Minnesota coach Dan Monson "will not have full credibility as the right guy for the Gophers until he has a program that relishes only victories, not moral victories."
Illinois coach Bruce Weber says he's not looking past Wisconsin-Milwaukee (it is, after all, his alma mater). "Was I surprised by Boston College [losing]? No, they had one day to prepare. If you've never faced it, you have no idea. Even though you might have a better, more talented team, they can screw you up--get you going too fast, get you flying around when you shouldn't be." But Weber also says he knows he'll get a "very good scouting report" on Oklahoma State from Southern Illinois coach Chris Lowery, a former Weber assistant. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti says the Cowboys have "the athletes, defensive formula, trademark toughness and venerable coach (Eddie Sutton) to scare the tattoos off the Illinois players."...Sun-Times columnist Greg Couch says: "Today's North Carolina team is much better than today's Illinois team."...Profile of Fred Nkemdi here....Wall-to-wall Geezers' Meme! Links here, here, and here. (Wonk has openly hoped for a get-over-it statement on this front from former Illini coach Lou Henson--no such luck...yet.)
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Continued: Is Jay Bilas slowly becoming Bill Raftery?
Yesterday your intrepid blogger remarked that during Saturday's Illinois-Nevada and Kentucky-Cincinnati telecasts, Jay Bilas was, to these ears, suddenly sounding downright Bill Raftery-esque (in an enthusiastic growly way). Wonk's readers respond!
Wonk,
No, it's not just you. In fact this is roughly the same internal commentary that I had running through my head watching the Thursday night games in Indianapolis. The growl is not only there: it is most evident during Raftery-esque exclamations after big plays. I actually heard Bilas growl about a player knocking in a shot off the backboard "with a kiss"!
Is this the outcome of some career advice or something? After hearing Bilas on espn for a while now the extra zeal seemed a little manufactured (which is why I suppose we both noticed it). But I was thinking not too long ago about how much his profile has been pushed as of late by his home network. After all, Vitale can't last forever (can he?) and who will replace him as espn's big-game go-to guy?
And speaking of Raftery, we need to get this guy to the Final Four before his career is over. After another weekend of listening to the least likeable self-professed know-it-all in all of sports television, I am already getting myself mentally prepared for the endless barrage of egotistic negativity sure to be launched once this tournament finds its way to St. Louis. I used to be in the minority on this one, but as the years go on I get the feeling that my anti-Packer campaign is gaining steam. Unfortunately I think that he is firmly ensconced as part of the CBS "tradition" at the Final Four.
Jeromie W.
Thanks, Jeromie!
Wonk likes Bilas. But then Wonk would like anyone with such a colorful resume:
Former Duke great.
Attorney.
College hoops analyst for ESPN.
Starred as "The Good Alien" in the 1990 movie, I Come in Peace, starring Dolph Lundgren.
Guest-starred on the early 1980s TV show, "The White Shadow." Bilas says: "I was only 16 when I was on the show, and was a guy named Larsen. I was the best player on an all white team that a guy named Reese transferred to. All of the guys on the show seemed to be my age, but all were about 30, which seemed ancient at the time."
Litigator, hoops practitioner, able thespian, and hoops pundit Jay Bilas, Wonk salutes you!
¶ 7:33 AM
The Sweet 16 is set:
(all times EST)
Albuquerque--Thursday
7:10pm: (4) Louisville (31-4) vs. (1) Washington (29-5)
9:40pm: (7) West Virginia (23-10) vs. (6) Texas Tech (22-10)
Chicago--Thursday
7:27pm: (12) Wisconsin-Milwaukee (26-6) vs. (1) Illinois (34-1)
9:57pm: (3) Arizona (29-6) vs. (2) Oklahoma State (26-6)
Austin--Friday
7:10pm: (5) Michigan State (24-6) vs. (1) Duke (27-5)
9:40pm: (6) Utah (29-5) vs. (2) Kentucky (27-5)
Syracuse--Friday
7:27pm: (10) NC State (21-13) vs. (6) Wisconsin (24-8)
9:57pm: (5) Villanova (24-7) vs. (1) North Carolina (29-4)
For those of us keeping score, that's three teams each from the Big Ten and ACC; two each from the Pac-10, Big East, and Big 12.
In yesterday's action, two Big Ten teams joined the club by knocking out beloved underdogs....
(5) Michigan State 72, (13) Vermont 61
The Spartans were actually outrebounded in this game by the "overachieving cult heroes" from the Green Mountains and the turnovers were even so why was this such a (relatively) comfortable win? Defense. State held the Catamounts to woeful .314 shooting from the floor: 22-of-70. (Take it from Tom Izzo: "Today our defense, if you ask me, at times was as good as it's ever been in my career here.") Yes, T.J. Sorrentine had 26 points for the Catamounts but he needed no fewer than 23 shots to get there (giving him an abysmal PPWS of 1.09 for the game). Meanwhile Mo Ager answered critics who say he comes up big in small games and vice versa: 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting (PPWS 1.29) in the biggest game of the year for MSU. And big kudos to Paul Davis for an outing that in late March 2005 can only be called Augustinian: 14 boards and 11 points. (Not that Taylor Coppenrath wasn't equally Jamesian: 14 boards and 16 points--though he, like his teammate, needed 23 shots to get there.)
Watching this game Wonk was reminded of the night in January when Michigan State went on the road to play another plucky underdog on a roll, Dan Monson's Minnesota Golden Gophers. In both games the Spartans never allowed their opponent to get into any kind of offensive rhythm. In both games the score was deceptively close. In both games the opponent looked overmatched.
Links. Goodness! "The Spartans took the glass slipper and smashed it." Elsewhere, in today's less hostile write-ups....Lansing State Journal columnist Todd Schulz says Tom Izzo's men were "quicker, longer, deeper and stronger than Vermont." Great minds alert! MSU was "stronger, faster and better." And Boston Globe columnist Jackie MacMullan says "Vermont didn't have the depth, the legs, or the stamina to withstand a workman-like performance by the Spartans, who simply refused to be caught up in the emotion of New England's favorite team." (Sorrentine agrees: "It seemed like they were always fresh.") Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp says: "It's not the Spartans' fault their path to Austin, Texas, was paved with Nos. 12 and 13 seeds, but they shouldn't get a lot of credit for manhandling the respective bests of the Colonial Athletic Association and America East Conference, quality that doesn't even measure up to mid-major competition."
Sharp's fellow columnist at the Free Press, Mitch Albom, says winning this game was "harder than you'd think....Vermont had nothing to lose and the world to win over. It had four seniors, a beloved, departing coach, a cute team name, a devoted fan base, a cheering, packed arena and the karma of the national media looking for a good story." Detroit News columnist Bob Wojnowski adds: "It's not that MSU Coach Tom Izzo and his players don't like a good story. It's just that, well, they think they're capable of fashioning one themselves." Detroit News Spartan beat writer Dave Dye says this State team is beginning to look like the Final Four teams of 1999-2001 in that it's "taking away an opponent's strength on a regular basis."
Andy Katz of espn.com says reaching the Sweet 16 "should dampen criticism that this team has not excelled."
Quote o' the day! Tom Izzo praised Kelvin Torbert thusly: "He's not as demonstrative [as Alan Anderson], but when you've got muscles on your earlobes you don't have to be as demonstrative. I'd listen to him."
Next up for the Spartans: a rematch with Duke.
BONUS obsequious pander to ACC interlopers! Wonk still isn't ready to support J.J. Redick as a Naismith finalist but I will say this: Duke has now made eight consecutive Sweet 16s, a run of sustained excellence that is little short of staggering. (Ask Kansas and Wake Forest how easy it is not to make the second weekend.)
(6) Wisconsin 71, (14) Bucknell 62
This game was won at the free throw line, where the Badgers outscored the Bison by 11. Alando Tucker alone had 18 FTA's. Repeat: Alando Tucker shot 18 free throws (and made 15: a career-high, we are told--well, duh). Other than that the two teams were even in shooting (both teams shot about .460), rebounding (Badgers +1), and turnovers (Badgers -3; yesterday marked the fifth straight game where Wisconsin's turned the ball over fewer than ten times). Bucknell tried to do to Wisconsin what Northern Iowa did: take the inside away. This time it didn't go so well--Mike Wilkinson had 23 and free-throw machine Tucker scored 17. The Badger backcourt, while stout on defense, was again underwhelming on offense (5-of-17) but, in their defense, they were never needed yesterday. And Bucknell's Chris McNaughton wins today's D.J. White award: the Bison big man put up 23 points but only four boards.
Links. Alando Tucker says on offense the Badgers liked the match-up in the paint between Wilkinson and McNaughton: "We just kept running the same play to get it to [Wilkinson]." "He worked the angles in the post about as well as I've seen," Bo Ryan said of Wilkinson. Wisconsin State Journal columnist Tom Oates says "UW did what Kansas couldn't do, which is why the Badgers will keep playing." Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel columnist Dale Hoffman says: "If Bucknell was the Little Engine that Could on Sunday, Wisconsin was an east-bound freight."
With two teams (Wisconsin and Wisconsin-Milwaukee) in the Sweet 16, the state of Wisconsin is feeling like North Carolina west (and, um, north).
Bucknell coach Pat Flannery, who, like Bo Ryan, has put in many years at the Division III level, says the last time he walked off the court in defeat after a Division I tournament game was in 1986 when he was at Drexel and the Dragons lost to eventual national champion Louisville. Good omen for this year's Badgers? (Insert Kent Brockman voice here:) Only time will tell.
BONUS Wonk puzzlement: Let me get this straight....The Oklahoma State band "adopted" Bucknell and played and cheered for them. OK, but where did they get all those "BUCKNELL" t-shirts? Did the Bison bring them with?
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
The passage of time has not changed how Texas Tech coach Bob Knight feels about his departure at Indiana: "I stayed at Indiana six years too long because of the administration. The administration handled a lot of things poorly. I was working for an athletic director [former IU AD Clarence Doninger] that didn't know his [expletive] from third base. I ended up staying because of the kids that I liked and the people I did like rather than focusing on the real negatives there." Nor does Knight think much of Mike Davis: "The guy that's coaching there [Mike Davis] is a guy that I told Pat [Knight, his son and assistant coach] we were going to replace at the end of the season. There's no way that I would have kept the guy any longer than that. [But] That's their [Indiana] problem."...Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz congratulates Knight on reaching the Sweet 16 but says "it would be a mistake to argue that Knight should have remained in Bloomington."
Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse says Minnesota coach Dan Monson "will not have full credibility as the right guy for the Gophers until he has a program that relishes only victories, not moral victories."
Illinois coach Bruce Weber says he's not looking past Wisconsin-Milwaukee (it is, after all, his alma mater). "Was I surprised by Boston College [losing]? No, they had one day to prepare. If you've never faced it, you have no idea. Even though you might have a better, more talented team, they can screw you up--get you going too fast, get you flying around when you shouldn't be." But Weber also says he knows he'll get a "very good scouting report" on Oklahoma State from Southern Illinois coach Chris Lowery, a former Weber assistant. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti says the Cowboys have "the athletes, defensive formula, trademark toughness and venerable coach (Eddie Sutton) to scare the tattoos off the Illinois players."...Sun-Times columnist Greg Couch says: "Today's North Carolina team is much better than today's Illinois team."...Profile of Fred Nkemdi here....Wall-to-wall Geezers' Meme! Links here, here, and here. (Wonk has openly hoped for a get-over-it statement on this front from former Illini coach Lou Henson--no such luck...yet.)
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Continued: Is Jay Bilas slowly becoming Bill Raftery?
Yesterday your intrepid blogger remarked that during Saturday's Illinois-Nevada and Kentucky-Cincinnati telecasts, Jay Bilas was, to these ears, suddenly sounding downright Bill Raftery-esque (in an enthusiastic growly way). Wonk's readers respond!
Wonk,
No, it's not just you. In fact this is roughly the same internal commentary that I had running through my head watching the Thursday night games in Indianapolis. The growl is not only there: it is most evident during Raftery-esque exclamations after big plays. I actually heard Bilas growl about a player knocking in a shot off the backboard "with a kiss"!
Is this the outcome of some career advice or something? After hearing Bilas on espn for a while now the extra zeal seemed a little manufactured (which is why I suppose we both noticed it). But I was thinking not too long ago about how much his profile has been pushed as of late by his home network. After all, Vitale can't last forever (can he?) and who will replace him as espn's big-game go-to guy?
And speaking of Raftery, we need to get this guy to the Final Four before his career is over. After another weekend of listening to the least likeable self-professed know-it-all in all of sports television, I am already getting myself mentally prepared for the endless barrage of egotistic negativity sure to be launched once this tournament finds its way to St. Louis. I used to be in the minority on this one, but as the years go on I get the feeling that my anti-Packer campaign is gaining steam. Unfortunately I think that he is firmly ensconced as part of the CBS "tradition" at the Final Four.
Jeromie W.
Thanks, Jeromie!
Wonk likes Bilas. But then Wonk would like anyone with such a colorful resume:
Former Duke great.
Attorney.
College hoops analyst for ESPN.
Starred as "The Good Alien" in the 1990 movie, I Come in Peace, starring Dolph Lundgren.
Guest-starred on the early 1980s TV show, "The White Shadow." Bilas says: "I was only 16 when I was on the show, and was a guy named Larsen. I was the best player on an all white team that a guy named Reese transferred to. All of the guys on the show seemed to be my age, but all were about 30, which seemed ancient at the time."
Litigator, hoops practitioner, able thespian, and hoops pundit Jay Bilas, Wonk salutes you!
¶ 7:33 AM
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Sweet
The Big Ten put its first team into the Sweet 16 yesterday. The conference will try to send two more teams to the second weekend today....
(1) Illinois 71, (9) Nevada 59
Bruce Weber has it exactly right: "Deron [Williams] just took over the game." Indeed, with the Illini leading 34-29 in the opening moments of the second half, Williams embarked on an extended run of excellence in driving and either: a) finishing; b) drawing the foul; or c) dishing. By the time Williams was done (he either scored or recorded an assist on every play during a 14-7 run) CBS was sure enough of the result to switch us to another game.
BONUS glimpse at the Illini playbook! (UW-Milwaukee take note!) The play that pushed the score to 48-34 and convinced the network that the outcome was no longer in doubt was that same play from the final minutes of the Wisconsin game (the one that put the Illini up 67-64 in Madison with about three minutes left): on the right wing (again, as in Madison), Williams receives a pass from James Augustine out top. Augustine then moves toward Williams, gesturing for the guard to come upcourt on the screen Augustine's about to set. But at the last instant Augustine veers off, darts toward the basket and receives a feed from Williams. Dunk. Plays like that led to .531 shooting for the game from the Illini.
Augustine put up a career-high 23 points, 17 of them in the first half when the Illini backcourt was struggling offensively. Wonk already saluted Augustine in Friday's post but, what the heck, here's some more love: his transition from overlooked excellence to prominent brilliance over the past five games (11.2 boards and 14.4 points a game on .714 shooting) surely gives Illinois opponents pause. Your intrepid blogger stands by his Friday statement: Augustine at the moment is quite literally the Illini's most valuable player simply because no one else does what he does: there's a three-headed monster in the backcourt but only a one-headed monster in the paint.
BONUS Wonk musing: Is it just this blogger or is Jay Bilas adopting a Bill Raftery-esque growl in his voice?
EXCLUSIVE two-part meme forecast! The Illini move on to the round of 16, where they will face surprising Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The 12th-seeded Panthers defeated 5th-seeded Alabama Thursday and 4th-seeded Boston College yesterday to make it to the second weekend.
Meme 1: UWM is coached by Bruce Pearl and the Illini, it will be said ad nauseum this week, have an ancient (i.e., about 15 years old) blood feud with Pearl dating from his days as an assistant at Iowa on Tom Davis's staff. Deon Thomas! Taped phone call! NCAA investigation! Etc., etc. Your intrepid blogger is on the record as noting this all means far more to Illinois boosters of a certain age ("geezer Illini fans" your always sensitive blogger termed them) than it does to the current players or Bruce Weber (or Wonk). Who knows, maybe it still means something to Lou Henson. Still, Wonk holds out hope for a statement this week from Henson along the lines of William Shatner on "SNL," telling dwelling-in-their-parents'-basement Trekkies to get over it and get a life already. Such a statement would certainly be most welcome. Until then, this shall be known as the Geezers' Meme.
Meme 2: The Panthers love to press opponents into turnovers and so it will be said that Bruce Pearl's team does not "match up well" with the guard-heavy Illini. The way Illinois has been turning the ball over of late, however, Wonk's not so sanguine (see: 16 turnovers yesterday).
Links. Columnist Steve Sneddon of the Reno Gazette-Journal says Nevada was simply "outgunned and outnumbered" in a "game that wasn’t as close as the score at the RCA Dome indicated."
Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper sings James Augustine's praises here and officially gets the ball rolling on the Geezers' Meme here.
(Let's get this out of the way: more on the Geezers' Meme here, here, and here. The always-pithy Nick Smith has this to say on the subject: "It's not a big deal to us. But it could help us in that the fans will be booing the hell out of Bruce Pearl when he walks into the Allstate Arena.'')
Deron Williams says of Augustine: "He was killing them. No one on that team could stop and contain him. We just had to keep going to him." St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell says Nick Fazekas "may one day end up being an NBA lottery pick, but on this one day, James Augustine exposed Fazekas' flaws and in the process elevated his status as one of the best big men in college hoops." Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Downey says Augustine carried Illinois on his shoulders. Downey's fellow columnist at the Tribune, Rick Morrissey, says: "Finally, the Illini played the way the Illini play." Copley News Service columnist Mike Nadel speaks to the Illini in the second-person and says: "It took Thursday's pathetic performance against Fairleigh Dickinson, a team you should have beaten by four touchdowns, to point you in the right direction."
Dee Brown says he feels bad for former coach Bill Self, whose Kansas team lost in the first round to Bucknell Friday night....Who'll-play-in-the-NBA? musing here.
Can 18.75 percent of the Sweet 16 come from the Big Ten?
It can with two wins today....
(5) Michigan State (23-6) vs. (13) Vermont (25-6)
Worcester, MA (2:40pm EST)
Tom Izzo compares playing lovable Vermont to the time his Spartans took on another sentimental favorite: "I remember when we played Gonzaga and they were America's team, I felt like the guy that shot Bambi." (Izzo adds: "If I wasn't playing them, I'd probably be cheering for them myself.") Lansing State Journal columnist Todd Schulz says the Catamounts' win over Syracuse "wasn't, well, all that surprising, especially in this age of parity. In fact, the most impressive part is that Vermont actually fulfilled the destiny so many fans and media had preordained." Schulz's colleague at the LSJ, Joe Rexrode, says the crowd in Worcester will favor Vermont but the action on the floor should favor the deeper Spartans: all five starters for the Catamounts played over 40 minutes in Friday night's win in OT against the Orangemen.
By the way, a "catamount" is a mountain cat. Who knew?
(6) Wisconsin (23-8) vs. (14) Bucknell (23-9)
Oklahoma City (4:50pm EST)
Badgers'-eye view of the Bucknell Bison here. Wisconsin State Journal columnist Tom Oates says Bo Ryan and Bucknell coach Pat Flannery are cut from the same (Division III) cloth. Profiles of Racine native, Penn State transfer, and non-scholarship athlete Sharif Chambliss here and here. Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel columnist Dale Hoffman says Badger guard Clayton Hanson "is a testimonial to patience and a jump shot." Nostalgic remembrance of the 2000 Wisconsin Final Four team here.
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
West Virginia 111, Wake Forest 105 (2OT). Wow. The second overtime was sloppy, granted, but the last minutes of regulation and the entirety of the first overtime provided some of the most thrilling basketball Wonk has seen in a long while. Entire games have been played without any plays as spectacular as the two that took place within one second at the close of the first OT: the Mountaineers' beautiful back-cut and Eric Williams' stunning block. Superb.
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Big Ten Wonk: where you, the reader, select the preferred grammar!
Wonk,
As a loyal UConn and Big East fan, I want to say that I really enjoy your blog. That's impressive since I don't care much about the Big Ten (or twelve or however many).
However, I have to beg you for something. Could you please write "threes" instead of "three's"? I really feel like I'm nitpicking, which of course I am, but you use the possessive consistently and it drives me a little nuts.
Reluctant-Grammar-Nazi'ly,
Bill M.
Rarely does Wonk get a chance to stop driving someone nuts with so little effort on my part (effort-minimization being a passion of mine). Consider it done, Bill.
¶ 9:07 AM
The Big Ten put its first team into the Sweet 16 yesterday. The conference will try to send two more teams to the second weekend today....
(1) Illinois 71, (9) Nevada 59
Bruce Weber has it exactly right: "Deron [Williams] just took over the game." Indeed, with the Illini leading 34-29 in the opening moments of the second half, Williams embarked on an extended run of excellence in driving and either: a) finishing; b) drawing the foul; or c) dishing. By the time Williams was done (he either scored or recorded an assist on every play during a 14-7 run) CBS was sure enough of the result to switch us to another game.
BONUS glimpse at the Illini playbook! (UW-Milwaukee take note!) The play that pushed the score to 48-34 and convinced the network that the outcome was no longer in doubt was that same play from the final minutes of the Wisconsin game (the one that put the Illini up 67-64 in Madison with about three minutes left): on the right wing (again, as in Madison), Williams receives a pass from James Augustine out top. Augustine then moves toward Williams, gesturing for the guard to come upcourt on the screen Augustine's about to set. But at the last instant Augustine veers off, darts toward the basket and receives a feed from Williams. Dunk. Plays like that led to .531 shooting for the game from the Illini.
Augustine put up a career-high 23 points, 17 of them in the first half when the Illini backcourt was struggling offensively. Wonk already saluted Augustine in Friday's post but, what the heck, here's some more love: his transition from overlooked excellence to prominent brilliance over the past five games (11.2 boards and 14.4 points a game on .714 shooting) surely gives Illinois opponents pause. Your intrepid blogger stands by his Friday statement: Augustine at the moment is quite literally the Illini's most valuable player simply because no one else does what he does: there's a three-headed monster in the backcourt but only a one-headed monster in the paint.
BONUS Wonk musing: Is it just this blogger or is Jay Bilas adopting a Bill Raftery-esque growl in his voice?
EXCLUSIVE two-part meme forecast! The Illini move on to the round of 16, where they will face surprising Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The 12th-seeded Panthers defeated 5th-seeded Alabama Thursday and 4th-seeded Boston College yesterday to make it to the second weekend.
Meme 1: UWM is coached by Bruce Pearl and the Illini, it will be said ad nauseum this week, have an ancient (i.e., about 15 years old) blood feud with Pearl dating from his days as an assistant at Iowa on Tom Davis's staff. Deon Thomas! Taped phone call! NCAA investigation! Etc., etc. Your intrepid blogger is on the record as noting this all means far more to Illinois boosters of a certain age ("geezer Illini fans" your always sensitive blogger termed them) than it does to the current players or Bruce Weber (or Wonk). Who knows, maybe it still means something to Lou Henson. Still, Wonk holds out hope for a statement this week from Henson along the lines of William Shatner on "SNL," telling dwelling-in-their-parents'-basement Trekkies to get over it and get a life already. Such a statement would certainly be most welcome. Until then, this shall be known as the Geezers' Meme.
Meme 2: The Panthers love to press opponents into turnovers and so it will be said that Bruce Pearl's team does not "match up well" with the guard-heavy Illini. The way Illinois has been turning the ball over of late, however, Wonk's not so sanguine (see: 16 turnovers yesterday).
Links. Columnist Steve Sneddon of the Reno Gazette-Journal says Nevada was simply "outgunned and outnumbered" in a "game that wasn’t as close as the score at the RCA Dome indicated."
Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper sings James Augustine's praises here and officially gets the ball rolling on the Geezers' Meme here.
(Let's get this out of the way: more on the Geezers' Meme here, here, and here. The always-pithy Nick Smith has this to say on the subject: "It's not a big deal to us. But it could help us in that the fans will be booing the hell out of Bruce Pearl when he walks into the Allstate Arena.'')
Deron Williams says of Augustine: "He was killing them. No one on that team could stop and contain him. We just had to keep going to him." St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell says Nick Fazekas "may one day end up being an NBA lottery pick, but on this one day, James Augustine exposed Fazekas' flaws and in the process elevated his status as one of the best big men in college hoops." Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Downey says Augustine carried Illinois on his shoulders. Downey's fellow columnist at the Tribune, Rick Morrissey, says: "Finally, the Illini played the way the Illini play." Copley News Service columnist Mike Nadel speaks to the Illini in the second-person and says: "It took Thursday's pathetic performance against Fairleigh Dickinson, a team you should have beaten by four touchdowns, to point you in the right direction."
Dee Brown says he feels bad for former coach Bill Self, whose Kansas team lost in the first round to Bucknell Friday night....Who'll-play-in-the-NBA? musing here.
Can 18.75 percent of the Sweet 16 come from the Big Ten?
It can with two wins today....
(5) Michigan State (23-6) vs. (13) Vermont (25-6)
Worcester, MA (2:40pm EST)
Tom Izzo compares playing lovable Vermont to the time his Spartans took on another sentimental favorite: "I remember when we played Gonzaga and they were America's team, I felt like the guy that shot Bambi." (Izzo adds: "If I wasn't playing them, I'd probably be cheering for them myself.") Lansing State Journal columnist Todd Schulz says the Catamounts' win over Syracuse "wasn't, well, all that surprising, especially in this age of parity. In fact, the most impressive part is that Vermont actually fulfilled the destiny so many fans and media had preordained." Schulz's colleague at the LSJ, Joe Rexrode, says the crowd in Worcester will favor Vermont but the action on the floor should favor the deeper Spartans: all five starters for the Catamounts played over 40 minutes in Friday night's win in OT against the Orangemen.
By the way, a "catamount" is a mountain cat. Who knew?
(6) Wisconsin (23-8) vs. (14) Bucknell (23-9)
Oklahoma City (4:50pm EST)
Badgers'-eye view of the Bucknell Bison here. Wisconsin State Journal columnist Tom Oates says Bo Ryan and Bucknell coach Pat Flannery are cut from the same (Division III) cloth. Profiles of Racine native, Penn State transfer, and non-scholarship athlete Sharif Chambliss here and here. Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel columnist Dale Hoffman says Badger guard Clayton Hanson "is a testimonial to patience and a jump shot." Nostalgic remembrance of the 2000 Wisconsin Final Four team here.
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
West Virginia 111, Wake Forest 105 (2OT). Wow. The second overtime was sloppy, granted, but the last minutes of regulation and the entirety of the first overtime provided some of the most thrilling basketball Wonk has seen in a long while. Entire games have been played without any plays as spectacular as the two that took place within one second at the close of the first OT: the Mountaineers' beautiful back-cut and Eric Williams' stunning block. Superb.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Big Ten Wonk: where you, the reader, select the preferred grammar!
Wonk,
As a loyal UConn and Big East fan, I want to say that I really enjoy your blog. That's impressive since I don't care much about the Big Ten (or twelve or however many).
However, I have to beg you for something. Could you please write "threes" instead of "three's"? I really feel like I'm nitpicking, which of course I am, but you use the possessive consistently and it drives me a little nuts.
Reluctant-Grammar-Nazi'ly,
Bill M.
Rarely does Wonk get a chance to stop driving someone nuts with so little effort on my part (effort-minimization being a passion of mine). Consider it done, Bill.
¶ 9:07 AM
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Madness!
(Fans of Bridge on the River Kwai, feel free to repeat: "Madness! Madness!")
After a relatively quiet first day (higher seeds: 13-3), all heck fairly broke loose yesterday and, especially, last night (higher seeds: 11-5). Most notably:
Vermont, a 13-seed, beat 4-seed Syracuse in OT, 60-57. (Ken Pomeroy has some interesting game notes on this one.)
And in what ranks as an even bigger upset, 14-seed Bucknell beat 3-seed Kansas, 64-63.
Next up for both Cinderellas: Big Ten opponents. In their games yesterday and last night, every Big Ten team was wearing the home whites of the higher seed. They went 2-1, bringing the Big Ten to 3-2 heading into the second round. The three surviving teams are the proverbial same old "top three": Illinois, Michigan State, and Wisconsin....
(9) Iowa State 64, (8) Minnesota 53
The surprising thing is the Gophers only lost by 11: they shot .333 from the floor, .217 on their three's, made only six free throws, and turned the ball over 17 times.
As shown beyond all question or doubt by Ken Pomeroy's points-per-possession-based efficiency ratings, Minnesota's been an exemplary defensive team all year long. But when Vincent Grier is struggling (7-for-21), the Gophers can look static on offense. (Truth be known even when Grier is on his game the Gophers can still look static: "spotting up" is what they would call what they do when Grier penetrates. Others might call it "standing around and watching.") The intriguing what-if with this edition of Dan Monson's team will always be how far they could have gone with a healthy Adam Boone in the backcourt. Boone, the Twin Cities native and North Carolina transfer, missed the entire year with an injured right arm. When it became clear, before the start of the year, that Boone wasn't going to play, it seemed merely one more bad omen for a team projected for ninth or worse in the Big Ten. In retrospect, however, Boone may well have been the missing ingredient on offense (ball handling and an outside threat) for a team that already had a terrific slasher and a surprisingly effective and resilient old-school presence in the paint named Jeff Hagen. Alas.
Still, congratulations to Dan Monson and the entire Gopher team on a year that went much further than Wonk or anyone else expected.
Links. Yesterday marked the final game in the college careers of Gopher seniors Hagen, Brent Lawson, and Aaron Robinson: "All of a sudden, the horn goes off and you think 'Wow, my career's over.'" Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan salutes Hagen and Lawson as "two guys who started their careers as walk-ons and wound up leaders, two roommates who elevated a program while rarely touching the rim." Dan Monson agrees with Wonk! The Minnesota coach says he knew his team was in for a tough game when he saw the brackets and "Iowa State" flashed on the screen: "Two things offensively that have been tough for us all year were shooting from the perimeter and taking care of the basketball."
(6) Wisconsin 57, (11) Northern Iowa 52
The Panthers whittled a 16-point Badger lead down to just three points in the second half but somehow Wonk just never felt like this game was truly in jeopardy for Bo Ryan's team. Northern Iowa was packing the paint on defense, daring someone besides Mike Wilkinson or Alando Tucker to beat them. (This is of course the standard MO for any Badger opponent but you never would have known it from listening to the CBS suit who was doing analysis and whose name Wonk refuses on principle to google. This particular gentleman was fairly thunderstruck by the stratagem and by the manifest brilliance of Panther coach Greg McDermott for adopting it.) The perimeter shots fell early for Wisconsin and they built a big lead. In the second half when their three's slowed to a trickle (and Northern Iowa, conversely, started hitting theirs), the Badgers finally got some things going in the interior. It proved to be the difference.
Wisconsin advances to play Bucknell tomorrow.
BONUS obsequious pander to stat geeks! In an otherwise remarkably even game stat-wise (Wisconsin shot .417 from the floor, Northern Iowa shot .415; both teams had eight turnovers; the Panthers outrebounded the Badgers 32-28) Wisconsin outscored Northern Iowa on three's 33-12.
Links. Wisconsin State Journal columnist Tom Oates notes the prevalence of prognosticators that had Wisconsin losing this game and says "If UW gets its usual amount of respect...Bucknell will probably be the trendy pick to advance." Panther coach Greg McDermott says "You have to tip your hat to Wisconsin. Their plan is to get it inside and we took that away and to their credit, they made (five) 3s in the first 10 minutes of the game." For his part, Badger guard Sharif Chambliss (15 points on five three's) was stoic in victory: "Shots went down, that's all I can really say about it."
(5) Michigan State 89, (12) Old Dominion 81
Again, a close game and one in which Tom Izzo's team trailed by as much as seven in the second half but one that, to Wonk (and to alert reader Shawn M.--see "Wonk back!" below), didn't feel truly in doubt down the stretch. Here is how you know the Spartans are doing what they want to do: State shot .569 from the floor, which is impressive enough in and of itself. But add to that the fact that Izzo's team was just 3-of-14 on their three's and you get a 2-point FG percentage of .703.
Translation: State ran. And ran and ran and ran. (And dunked and dunked and dunked. One count put the fast-break advantage at 20-4 in favor of MSU.)
Next up for the Spartans: Vermont.
Links. Ironically, Michigan State's players seem enthusiastic about the victory being by a relatively narrow margin: "It lets us know we can win big, close games," says Alan Anderson. Tom Izzo agrees: "It felt good to execute well down the stretch and win this one." (Wonk is glad Anderson and Izzo are enthused because the late-night crowd in the DCU Center in Worcester, MA, most decidedly was not.) Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp, however, is less impressed (it's true!), saying the Spartans did just enough "to sneak past a 12th seed."
This is what happens when you interview an academic All-American: "Extreme disappointment, frustration, and agony." That is how Spartan guard Chris Hill (he of the 3.75 GPA in finance) described his feelings when he sat on the bench for the last six minutes of State's loss to Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament last Friday night. (Wonk, conversely, would have said something more along the lines of: "Me bad feel.")
BONUS visual aid! Link here for a great shot of an alley-oop dunk by Kelvin Torbert so thunderous that play was actually stopped to wait for the backboard to stop wobbling.
Aiming for the Sweet 16
(1) Illinois (33-1) vs. (9) Nevada (25-6)
RCA Dome, Indianapolis (5:40pm EST)
Nevada coach Mark Fox says Illinois is "way, way overrated" and that he and his team are "pretty much already looking ahead to UW-Milwaukee." No, just kidding! The Wolf Pack coach sounds the traditional note of respect: "Trying to prepare for Illinois is like trying to learn how to climb up Mount Everest overnight."...Nevada big man Nick Fazekas compares himself to Marquette's Steve Novak here. (He also says: "I think anyone has a chance in the whole field.")...Deron Williams says: "Our offense isn't moving the way it's supposed to." St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell says: "The Illini have had this whole March to the Arch laid out perfectly before them, and they can't afford to blow it with sleep-walking disinterest just because they aren't familiar with where these early-round Cinderellas dwell on the big map of the college basketball world." Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey agrees: "Illinois needs to find itself very, very quickly."...Daily Herald columnist Mike Imrem points out that if Illinois makes it to the national championship game they will have played in no fewer than 39 contests--and that's just too dang many!...Profile of James Augustine (who almost went to Purdue) here....Profile of Dee Brown's mom here....Thoughts from former Illini big man Brian Cook, in town with the Lakers to play the Pacers, here.
Gaining the Tupper hand! Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper blogs that "Illinois is going to have to make rebounding a huge point of emphasis" in today's game. (Tupper also gets in a zinger that has doubtless set hearts aflutter in Illini chat rooms: "The Fairleigh Dickinson players dissed Dee Brown after the game Thursday night, saying they were disappointed in his play and that he didn’t measure up to the hype. That’s fine. That will give them something to talk about all the way back to New Jersey." UPDATE! The FDU players appear to have enraged the Illinois beat writers more than the Illinois players. Herb Gould of the Chicago Sun-Times calls the Knights' statements "ridiculous.") And in his dead-tree space this morning, Tupper says Illinois is trying to "punch its way out of a five-game slump that has them clawing to keep winning ugly."
BONUS Louis Farrakhan-esque numerology note! No 1-seed has ever lost to an 8 or a 9 in an odd-numbered year since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Dick Vitale will be absent from our screens for the next few days. He is scheduled to undergo hernia surgery today.
From Wonk's "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is Still Dead" Desk
Wonk speaks today of what is not in this morning's papers....
Yesterday your intrepid blogger's email box fairly filled up like the proverbial hole in the water with alerts from alert readers informing me that Indiana coach Mike Davis was about to resign. Further investigation revealed the source of the buzz to be a Hoosier chat room (Peegs).
Harbinger of future headlines or groundless rumor? We'll see.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Mid-major mania!
Hey, Wonk,
The lower seeds are playing like crazy, man. Look at these statistics of games between the following seeds (2-15,3-14, 4-13, 5-12, 6-11):
Average halftime score of higher seed - average halftime score of lower seed ~ 4, that's right 4 measly points
Average final score of higher seed - average final score of lower seed ~ 7 points.
These are supposed to be easy games for the higher seeds. Could mid-majors (which make up most of the lower seeds in this group) really be better that what they are given credit for?
Amit S.
The far-sighted and modest Wonk is proud that the four games he picked on Tuesday as the "first-round games worth noticing" were all won by teams from so-called non-power conferences: UW-Milwaukee, Pacific, Vermont, and Bucknell. (And, um, never mind the subsequent blather in that same post about what a great game LSU-Arizona's going to be.)
Latest update from alert reader and die-hard Spartan fan Shawn
Hi, Wonk,
I'm sure some Spartan fans have been made uneasy by tonight's close call, but don't count me among them. I thought it was an odd, sloppy game, but not one that we were ever lined up to lose, despite the tight score.
A number of guys made great contributions: Kelvin Torbert was all over the court, showing what he can do when he tries to play Mo Ager's game rather than Chris Hill's, and Shannon Brown was equally energized, giving us what was certainly the best slow-motion celebratory profanity of the tourney thus far. In an odd coincidence, Shannon and I both celebrated his play by screaming exactly the same phrase, although I don't think he knocked a glass of water onto his couch while doing so.
Anyway, I'm completely exhausted by the interweaving (and uniformly negative) narratives that have been whirling around this team at a fevered pitch: Davis is mercurial and needs to be assertive, the seniors are a disappointment, there is no point guard, they'll fail in the clutch, etc. Here's hoping this win and a few others like it can disrupt the talking points, at least for a while.
Regards,
Shawn M.
Thanks, Shawn!
¶ 8:57 AM
(Fans of Bridge on the River Kwai, feel free to repeat: "Madness! Madness!")
After a relatively quiet first day (higher seeds: 13-3), all heck fairly broke loose yesterday and, especially, last night (higher seeds: 11-5). Most notably:
Vermont, a 13-seed, beat 4-seed Syracuse in OT, 60-57. (Ken Pomeroy has some interesting game notes on this one.)
And in what ranks as an even bigger upset, 14-seed Bucknell beat 3-seed Kansas, 64-63.
Next up for both Cinderellas: Big Ten opponents. In their games yesterday and last night, every Big Ten team was wearing the home whites of the higher seed. They went 2-1, bringing the Big Ten to 3-2 heading into the second round. The three surviving teams are the proverbial same old "top three": Illinois, Michigan State, and Wisconsin....
(9) Iowa State 64, (8) Minnesota 53
The surprising thing is the Gophers only lost by 11: they shot .333 from the floor, .217 on their three's, made only six free throws, and turned the ball over 17 times.
As shown beyond all question or doubt by Ken Pomeroy's points-per-possession-based efficiency ratings, Minnesota's been an exemplary defensive team all year long. But when Vincent Grier is struggling (7-for-21), the Gophers can look static on offense. (Truth be known even when Grier is on his game the Gophers can still look static: "spotting up" is what they would call what they do when Grier penetrates. Others might call it "standing around and watching.") The intriguing what-if with this edition of Dan Monson's team will always be how far they could have gone with a healthy Adam Boone in the backcourt. Boone, the Twin Cities native and North Carolina transfer, missed the entire year with an injured right arm. When it became clear, before the start of the year, that Boone wasn't going to play, it seemed merely one more bad omen for a team projected for ninth or worse in the Big Ten. In retrospect, however, Boone may well have been the missing ingredient on offense (ball handling and an outside threat) for a team that already had a terrific slasher and a surprisingly effective and resilient old-school presence in the paint named Jeff Hagen. Alas.
Still, congratulations to Dan Monson and the entire Gopher team on a year that went much further than Wonk or anyone else expected.
Links. Yesterday marked the final game in the college careers of Gopher seniors Hagen, Brent Lawson, and Aaron Robinson: "All of a sudden, the horn goes off and you think 'Wow, my career's over.'" Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan salutes Hagen and Lawson as "two guys who started their careers as walk-ons and wound up leaders, two roommates who elevated a program while rarely touching the rim." Dan Monson agrees with Wonk! The Minnesota coach says he knew his team was in for a tough game when he saw the brackets and "Iowa State" flashed on the screen: "Two things offensively that have been tough for us all year were shooting from the perimeter and taking care of the basketball."
(6) Wisconsin 57, (11) Northern Iowa 52
The Panthers whittled a 16-point Badger lead down to just three points in the second half but somehow Wonk just never felt like this game was truly in jeopardy for Bo Ryan's team. Northern Iowa was packing the paint on defense, daring someone besides Mike Wilkinson or Alando Tucker to beat them. (This is of course the standard MO for any Badger opponent but you never would have known it from listening to the CBS suit who was doing analysis and whose name Wonk refuses on principle to google. This particular gentleman was fairly thunderstruck by the stratagem and by the manifest brilliance of Panther coach Greg McDermott for adopting it.) The perimeter shots fell early for Wisconsin and they built a big lead. In the second half when their three's slowed to a trickle (and Northern Iowa, conversely, started hitting theirs), the Badgers finally got some things going in the interior. It proved to be the difference.
Wisconsin advances to play Bucknell tomorrow.
BONUS obsequious pander to stat geeks! In an otherwise remarkably even game stat-wise (Wisconsin shot .417 from the floor, Northern Iowa shot .415; both teams had eight turnovers; the Panthers outrebounded the Badgers 32-28) Wisconsin outscored Northern Iowa on three's 33-12.
Links. Wisconsin State Journal columnist Tom Oates notes the prevalence of prognosticators that had Wisconsin losing this game and says "If UW gets its usual amount of respect...Bucknell will probably be the trendy pick to advance." Panther coach Greg McDermott says "You have to tip your hat to Wisconsin. Their plan is to get it inside and we took that away and to their credit, they made (five) 3s in the first 10 minutes of the game." For his part, Badger guard Sharif Chambliss (15 points on five three's) was stoic in victory: "Shots went down, that's all I can really say about it."
(5) Michigan State 89, (12) Old Dominion 81
Again, a close game and one in which Tom Izzo's team trailed by as much as seven in the second half but one that, to Wonk (and to alert reader Shawn M.--see "Wonk back!" below), didn't feel truly in doubt down the stretch. Here is how you know the Spartans are doing what they want to do: State shot .569 from the floor, which is impressive enough in and of itself. But add to that the fact that Izzo's team was just 3-of-14 on their three's and you get a 2-point FG percentage of .703.
Translation: State ran. And ran and ran and ran. (And dunked and dunked and dunked. One count put the fast-break advantage at 20-4 in favor of MSU.)
Next up for the Spartans: Vermont.
Links. Ironically, Michigan State's players seem enthusiastic about the victory being by a relatively narrow margin: "It lets us know we can win big, close games," says Alan Anderson. Tom Izzo agrees: "It felt good to execute well down the stretch and win this one." (Wonk is glad Anderson and Izzo are enthused because the late-night crowd in the DCU Center in Worcester, MA, most decidedly was not.) Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp, however, is less impressed (it's true!), saying the Spartans did just enough "to sneak past a 12th seed."
This is what happens when you interview an academic All-American: "Extreme disappointment, frustration, and agony." That is how Spartan guard Chris Hill (he of the 3.75 GPA in finance) described his feelings when he sat on the bench for the last six minutes of State's loss to Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament last Friday night. (Wonk, conversely, would have said something more along the lines of: "Me bad feel.")
BONUS visual aid! Link here for a great shot of an alley-oop dunk by Kelvin Torbert so thunderous that play was actually stopped to wait for the backboard to stop wobbling.
Aiming for the Sweet 16
(1) Illinois (33-1) vs. (9) Nevada (25-6)
RCA Dome, Indianapolis (5:40pm EST)
Nevada coach Mark Fox says Illinois is "way, way overrated" and that he and his team are "pretty much already looking ahead to UW-Milwaukee." No, just kidding! The Wolf Pack coach sounds the traditional note of respect: "Trying to prepare for Illinois is like trying to learn how to climb up Mount Everest overnight."...Nevada big man Nick Fazekas compares himself to Marquette's Steve Novak here. (He also says: "I think anyone has a chance in the whole field.")...Deron Williams says: "Our offense isn't moving the way it's supposed to." St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell says: "The Illini have had this whole March to the Arch laid out perfectly before them, and they can't afford to blow it with sleep-walking disinterest just because they aren't familiar with where these early-round Cinderellas dwell on the big map of the college basketball world." Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey agrees: "Illinois needs to find itself very, very quickly."...Daily Herald columnist Mike Imrem points out that if Illinois makes it to the national championship game they will have played in no fewer than 39 contests--and that's just too dang many!...Profile of James Augustine (who almost went to Purdue) here....Profile of Dee Brown's mom here....Thoughts from former Illini big man Brian Cook, in town with the Lakers to play the Pacers, here.
Gaining the Tupper hand! Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper blogs that "Illinois is going to have to make rebounding a huge point of emphasis" in today's game. (Tupper also gets in a zinger that has doubtless set hearts aflutter in Illini chat rooms: "The Fairleigh Dickinson players dissed Dee Brown after the game Thursday night, saying they were disappointed in his play and that he didn’t measure up to the hype. That’s fine. That will give them something to talk about all the way back to New Jersey." UPDATE! The FDU players appear to have enraged the Illinois beat writers more than the Illinois players. Herb Gould of the Chicago Sun-Times calls the Knights' statements "ridiculous.") And in his dead-tree space this morning, Tupper says Illinois is trying to "punch its way out of a five-game slump that has them clawing to keep winning ugly."
BONUS Louis Farrakhan-esque numerology note! No 1-seed has ever lost to an 8 or a 9 in an odd-numbered year since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Dick Vitale will be absent from our screens for the next few days. He is scheduled to undergo hernia surgery today.
From Wonk's "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is Still Dead" Desk
Wonk speaks today of what is not in this morning's papers....
Yesterday your intrepid blogger's email box fairly filled up like the proverbial hole in the water with alerts from alert readers informing me that Indiana coach Mike Davis was about to resign. Further investigation revealed the source of the buzz to be a Hoosier chat room (Peegs).
Harbinger of future headlines or groundless rumor? We'll see.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Mid-major mania!
Hey, Wonk,
The lower seeds are playing like crazy, man. Look at these statistics of games between the following seeds (2-15,3-14, 4-13, 5-12, 6-11):
Average halftime score of higher seed - average halftime score of lower seed ~ 4, that's right 4 measly points
Average final score of higher seed - average final score of lower seed ~ 7 points.
These are supposed to be easy games for the higher seeds. Could mid-majors (which make up most of the lower seeds in this group) really be better that what they are given credit for?
Amit S.
The far-sighted and modest Wonk is proud that the four games he picked on Tuesday as the "first-round games worth noticing" were all won by teams from so-called non-power conferences: UW-Milwaukee, Pacific, Vermont, and Bucknell. (And, um, never mind the subsequent blather in that same post about what a great game LSU-Arizona's going to be.)
Latest update from alert reader and die-hard Spartan fan Shawn
Hi, Wonk,
I'm sure some Spartan fans have been made uneasy by tonight's close call, but don't count me among them. I thought it was an odd, sloppy game, but not one that we were ever lined up to lose, despite the tight score.
A number of guys made great contributions: Kelvin Torbert was all over the court, showing what he can do when he tries to play Mo Ager's game rather than Chris Hill's, and Shannon Brown was equally energized, giving us what was certainly the best slow-motion celebratory profanity of the tourney thus far. In an odd coincidence, Shannon and I both celebrated his play by screaming exactly the same phrase, although I don't think he knocked a glass of water onto his couch while doing so.
Anyway, I'm completely exhausted by the interweaving (and uniformly negative) narratives that have been whirling around this team at a fevered pitch: Davis is mercurial and needs to be assertive, the seniors are a disappointment, there is no point guard, they'll fail in the clutch, etc. Here's hoping this win and a few others like it can disrupt the talking points, at least for a while.
Regards,
Shawn M.
Thanks, Shawn!
¶ 8:57 AM
Friday, March 18, 2005
March mildness
The Big Ten went 1-1 yesterday as the conference reflected the overall trend of the tournament's first day: by and large the brackets went according to form, with the higher seeds going 13-3 yesterday. Congratulations to Cinderellas UW-Milwaukee (83-73 winners over Alabama, the 12-seed Panthers were tapped by the far-sighted and modest Wonk as the underdog to watch in the Chicago region in this interview Tuesday!) and UAB (so maligned by so many for receiving a bid, the 11-seed Blazers cruised easily past LSU, 82-68).
(As for 9-seed Nevada, well, Wonk doesn't consider a team that beat Michigan State and Gonzaga in the tournament last year much of a Cinderella this year; nor was their win over 8-seed Texas much of an "upset.")
Yesterday's Big Ten action was in Indianapolis, where two games produced one survivor:
(7) Cincinnati 76, (10) Iowa 64
Ken Pomeroy has put it most succinctly: "Iowa scored five points in their first 19 possessions and lost to Cincinnati by 12." Indeed, this game was lost in the opening minutes. Rebounding, such a point of emphasis in pregame remarks by Steve Alford (and Wonk), was not a factor: the Hawkeyes just couldn't make any shots, particularly at the start of the game when they went 1-of-14 and fell behind 21-5. Iowa managed to pull within three at 35-32 two minutes into the second half but that was as close as the Hawkeyes could get. Jason Maxiell led the Bearcats with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting and six blocks.
Cincy-Iowa link o' the day! Don Doxsie of the Quad-City Times offers this in-game vignette from press row:
One observer in press row just couldn’t hold his tongue any longer.
“The Big Ten must really suck,’’ he said to the man seated next to him. “These guys don’t match up physically at any spot on the floor. And Cincinnati’s not a great basketball team.’’
He was wrong about only one thing: The Big Ten didn’t really suck this year. It’s just that he was watching Cincinnati play against the Big Ten’s seventh-place team, a club that went 7-9 in conference play and which, in retrospect, might have been better off playing in the NIT.
More Cincy-Iowa links! Iowa guard Jeff Horner gave Cincinnati credit for taking the Hawkeyes out of their game: "They got into us pretty good, and they got into us deep on our offensive end of the floor. They played us so tight that there were times that it seems like we were running around 100 miles an hour just trying to get open. We haven't played teams like that." ("You could tell everybody was really nervous," Horner added.) Des Moines Register columnist Sean Keeler says "Adam Haluska had the look in his eyes of a deer caught in headlights." (Wonk says: Haluska always looks like that. Seriously, that's his facial expression even when he's playing well.) Steve Alford says the Bearcats' length bothered his team: "They had a 6-foot-7 guy (James White) on Jeff, and I’m not sure he’s had to deal with anything like that all year." Cincinnati now faces Kentucky in the second round and Gregg Doyel of cbs.sportsline likes the Bearcats' chances against the 2-seed Wildcats.
(1) Illinois 67, (16) Fairleigh Dickinson 55
Fairleigh Dickinson led this game 20-19 and trailed by just one at the half. The strangely listless Illini (take it from Dee Brown: "We didn't come out with a lot of energy") were outrebounded by the Knights 39-27, not surprising when you consider that, aside from James Augustine's beastly 15 boards, no other Illinois player had more than three. On the plus side, the Illini recorded 16 assists and just eight turnovers. Brown led Illinois with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting. The Illini now move on to play Nevada on Sunday afternoon. The Wolf Pack overcame .371 shooting and defeated Texas yesterday 61-57. ("We win ugly," Nevada coach Mark Fox said afterward. "This is a typical game for us. They're just not pretty.")
BONUS mitigating factor! Wonk has never seen as many really bad misses in his life as those put up by FDU in the first half of last night's game. The wild ricochets seemed invariably to fall into eager Knight hands in non-traditional rebounding spots on the floor. (Granted, Nick Smith's first-half miss on a would-be baby hook from the lane set new standards for the term "bad miss.")
Little-noticed Illini big man James Augustine, Wonk salutes you! In his last four games, Augustine is averaging a double-double: 12.2 points (on .667 shooting) and 11.5 boards. Moreover he has become arguably the single most important Illinois player simply because no one else does what he does--there is no Illini three-headed monster in the paint. Maligned for his lack of size by national pundits, Augustine rebounds like an animal, sets the team's best picks, and uses his quickness to move without the ball like a traditional small forward: he seems to record at least two dunks a game where he's lost his defender completely with a cut to the tin.
Links. Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper says Brown pumped "life, confidence and energy into a team caught up in an unexpected fist fight." (In his blog, Tupper frets about the cold shooting of Luther Head (4-of-15) and Deron Williams (3-of-9).)...Lindsey Willhite of the Daily Herald leads with a parallel that Wonk thought would be much more ubiquitous in the recaps this morning: the 1989 Final Four Illinois team also played a lousy first-round game against a 16-seed (McNeese State) in this very same Indianapolis venue (then known as the Hoosier Dome). "Today we did play in spurts," says Augustine. Roger Powell praised Gordon Klaiber, who scored 24 points for the Knights: "He played big-time." Bruce Weber offered this thumbnail description of his team: "We rely on Deron for running the show. We rely on Dee for having great energy. James is the guy dominating in the paint." And all of his players, according to Weber, "know we have to play better if we're going to continue to advance."...For his part, FDU guard Mensah Peterson was unimpressed with Brown: "He's very quick but not as quick as everybody says." Teammate Tamien Trent agreed: "I guess with all the hype, we expected more."...Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey says that after a dismal first half Illinois came out in the second half and played "angry." Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti says "the Illini did just enough wrong in their 67-55 win to suggest they remain vulnerable later in the brackets." And the usually on-point Copley News Service columnist Mike Nadel picks a very odd time to devote a column to redshirt Brian Randle.
Three who would see Sunday
Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan State play today as the Big Ten tries to send multiple teams deep into the tournament for the first time since 2001.
(8) Minnesota (21-10) vs. (9) Iowa State (18-11)
Charlotte (12:30pm EST)
EXCLUSIVE Wonk forecast! Many, many turnovers: both teams force opponents into coughing the ball up over 17 times a game. And the Gophers themselves give the ball away very nearly as often....Iowa State coach Wayne Morgan says having faced Keith Langford of Kansas has helped his team prepare for Minnesota's Vincent Grier. Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan talks to coach Dan Monson, who says the fact that the Gophers missed out on postseason play last year actually helped them land juco transfer Grier. This time a year ago the talented slasher from Charlotte was also being recruited by Arizona and Oklahoma. Last March, while the Wildcats and Sooners were in the tournament, Grier visited Minnesota and Monson secured the young man's commitment that very weekend. "If he went to those places," Monson reflects, "he probably wasn't coming here."...Profile of Gopher big man Jeff Hagen here. Gopher backcourt vs. Cyclone backcourt analysis here.
(6) Wisconsin (22-8) vs. (11) Northern Iowa (20-10)
Oklahoma City (7:20pm EST)
Northern Iowa coach Greg McDermott says he likes Badger big man Mike Wilkinson: "Mike is a farm boy and that's where I came from. I just appreciate his work ethic and his expression very seldom changes regardless if he just made a crazy turnover or made a game-saving play. He just competes and he plays the game the way it's supposed to be played."...Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel columnist Dale Hoffman says Northern Iowa is a worthy foe. Wisconsin State Journal columnist Tom Oates says Wisconsin's "immediate future depends largely on the play of its guards, who have struggled at various times this season with excessive turnovers, poor shooting and just getting UW's swing offense to run with its usual efficiency."...Badger forward Alando Tucker has been practicing with a taped left wrist since injuring it in the Illinois game on Sunday. Joint Tucker-Wilkinson profile here. Connection between Northern Iowa AD Rick Hartzell and Wisconsin (and Indiana, one might add) discussed with unusual breathlessness (as if we hadn't known about this) here.
(5) Michigan State (22-6) vs. (12) Old Dominion (28-5)
Worcester, MA (9:40pm EST)
Tom Izzo says of Old Dominion: "Everybody shoots the three." Like the Spartans, the Monarchs have nine players who average double-figures in minutes....MSU guard Chris Hill says the tournament is the "absolute final test." Very good "dissection" of the Spartan fast break here. Lansing State Journal columnist Todd Schulz says Izzo has "made peace with the lofty expectations he created in East Lansing--and the pain of not fulfilling them." Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom says never mind the hype pinned on Kelvin Torbert coming out of high school: the Spartan wing is a true success story. Albom's fellow columnist at the Free Press, Drew Sharp, profiles Tim Bograkos here.
Detroit News columnist Bob Wojnowski reports this morning on the "round-the-clock" Sunday-to-Tuesday access he was given to the Spartans. What did he learn? That Izzo worries about the same things State's fans worry about. "THIS IS A JOKE!" he shouted at his players at a team meeting on Sunday. "We've got to stop listening to the media, the fans and all the people who say you guys crack. You worry about the pressure at the end, but every play at the beginning counts, too!" (Izzo also does a good Gallagher impression, sledge-hammer and all.)
BONUS story Wonk had never heard before! On the night of September 11, 2001, Izzo was scheduled to board a flight to Boston to recruit Worcester Academy point guard Jarrett Jack. Izzo was thus delayed in getting to Worcester by a few days and never did make it to Washington, DC, to talk to Jack's mother. The rest is history: "I've never been a Bin Laden fan, but I like him even less considering basketball. I'm telling you we were right in the hunt. Whether we could have gotten him or not, who knows? But it kind of ended our chances."
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Latest update from alert reader and die-hard Illini fan Jason
Last night's game was interesting, and I'm not sure what to make of it. Dee was much better than he had been since the Purdue game, and Augie continued to prove he's a necessary (and stellar) component of the team. But overall, Illinois' performance was listless, uninspired. Another performance or two like that, and they won't cut down any nets in St. Louis, or Chicago for that matter.
Enjoy Day 2 of the annual four day smorgasbord!
Jason H.
Thanks, Jason!
Kentucky and first-round Thursday mornings
Yesterday your intrepid blogger wondered aloud whether it was just him or does not Kentucky play in the very first (non-play-in) game of the tournament every year? Wonk's readers respond!
Wonk,
You are right on with the call about the NCAA’s penchant for sending Kentucky out of the gate early. UK did play the Thursday opener in 2000 against the Bonnies (winning in 2 OTs), then again in 2001 (narrowly edging Holy Cross) and one more time in 2002 (beating Valpo by 15).
David G.
Thanks, David!
¶ 7:19 AM
The Big Ten went 1-1 yesterday as the conference reflected the overall trend of the tournament's first day: by and large the brackets went according to form, with the higher seeds going 13-3 yesterday. Congratulations to Cinderellas UW-Milwaukee (83-73 winners over Alabama, the 12-seed Panthers were tapped by the far-sighted and modest Wonk as the underdog to watch in the Chicago region in this interview Tuesday!) and UAB (so maligned by so many for receiving a bid, the 11-seed Blazers cruised easily past LSU, 82-68).
(As for 9-seed Nevada, well, Wonk doesn't consider a team that beat Michigan State and Gonzaga in the tournament last year much of a Cinderella this year; nor was their win over 8-seed Texas much of an "upset.")
Yesterday's Big Ten action was in Indianapolis, where two games produced one survivor:
(7) Cincinnati 76, (10) Iowa 64
Ken Pomeroy has put it most succinctly: "Iowa scored five points in their first 19 possessions and lost to Cincinnati by 12." Indeed, this game was lost in the opening minutes. Rebounding, such a point of emphasis in pregame remarks by Steve Alford (and Wonk), was not a factor: the Hawkeyes just couldn't make any shots, particularly at the start of the game when they went 1-of-14 and fell behind 21-5. Iowa managed to pull within three at 35-32 two minutes into the second half but that was as close as the Hawkeyes could get. Jason Maxiell led the Bearcats with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting and six blocks.
Cincy-Iowa link o' the day! Don Doxsie of the Quad-City Times offers this in-game vignette from press row:
One observer in press row just couldn’t hold his tongue any longer.
“The Big Ten must really suck,’’ he said to the man seated next to him. “These guys don’t match up physically at any spot on the floor. And Cincinnati’s not a great basketball team.’’
He was wrong about only one thing: The Big Ten didn’t really suck this year. It’s just that he was watching Cincinnati play against the Big Ten’s seventh-place team, a club that went 7-9 in conference play and which, in retrospect, might have been better off playing in the NIT.
More Cincy-Iowa links! Iowa guard Jeff Horner gave Cincinnati credit for taking the Hawkeyes out of their game: "They got into us pretty good, and they got into us deep on our offensive end of the floor. They played us so tight that there were times that it seems like we were running around 100 miles an hour just trying to get open. We haven't played teams like that." ("You could tell everybody was really nervous," Horner added.) Des Moines Register columnist Sean Keeler says "Adam Haluska had the look in his eyes of a deer caught in headlights." (Wonk says: Haluska always looks like that. Seriously, that's his facial expression even when he's playing well.) Steve Alford says the Bearcats' length bothered his team: "They had a 6-foot-7 guy (James White) on Jeff, and I’m not sure he’s had to deal with anything like that all year." Cincinnati now faces Kentucky in the second round and Gregg Doyel of cbs.sportsline likes the Bearcats' chances against the 2-seed Wildcats.
(1) Illinois 67, (16) Fairleigh Dickinson 55
Fairleigh Dickinson led this game 20-19 and trailed by just one at the half. The strangely listless Illini (take it from Dee Brown: "We didn't come out with a lot of energy") were outrebounded by the Knights 39-27, not surprising when you consider that, aside from James Augustine's beastly 15 boards, no other Illinois player had more than three. On the plus side, the Illini recorded 16 assists and just eight turnovers. Brown led Illinois with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting. The Illini now move on to play Nevada on Sunday afternoon. The Wolf Pack overcame .371 shooting and defeated Texas yesterday 61-57. ("We win ugly," Nevada coach Mark Fox said afterward. "This is a typical game for us. They're just not pretty.")
BONUS mitigating factor! Wonk has never seen as many really bad misses in his life as those put up by FDU in the first half of last night's game. The wild ricochets seemed invariably to fall into eager Knight hands in non-traditional rebounding spots on the floor. (Granted, Nick Smith's first-half miss on a would-be baby hook from the lane set new standards for the term "bad miss.")
Little-noticed Illini big man James Augustine, Wonk salutes you! In his last four games, Augustine is averaging a double-double: 12.2 points (on .667 shooting) and 11.5 boards. Moreover he has become arguably the single most important Illinois player simply because no one else does what he does--there is no Illini three-headed monster in the paint. Maligned for his lack of size by national pundits, Augustine rebounds like an animal, sets the team's best picks, and uses his quickness to move without the ball like a traditional small forward: he seems to record at least two dunks a game where he's lost his defender completely with a cut to the tin.
Links. Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper says Brown pumped "life, confidence and energy into a team caught up in an unexpected fist fight." (In his blog, Tupper frets about the cold shooting of Luther Head (4-of-15) and Deron Williams (3-of-9).)...Lindsey Willhite of the Daily Herald leads with a parallel that Wonk thought would be much more ubiquitous in the recaps this morning: the 1989 Final Four Illinois team also played a lousy first-round game against a 16-seed (McNeese State) in this very same Indianapolis venue (then known as the Hoosier Dome). "Today we did play in spurts," says Augustine. Roger Powell praised Gordon Klaiber, who scored 24 points for the Knights: "He played big-time." Bruce Weber offered this thumbnail description of his team: "We rely on Deron for running the show. We rely on Dee for having great energy. James is the guy dominating in the paint." And all of his players, according to Weber, "know we have to play better if we're going to continue to advance."...For his part, FDU guard Mensah Peterson was unimpressed with Brown: "He's very quick but not as quick as everybody says." Teammate Tamien Trent agreed: "I guess with all the hype, we expected more."...Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey says that after a dismal first half Illinois came out in the second half and played "angry." Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti says "the Illini did just enough wrong in their 67-55 win to suggest they remain vulnerable later in the brackets." And the usually on-point Copley News Service columnist Mike Nadel picks a very odd time to devote a column to redshirt Brian Randle.
Three who would see Sunday
Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan State play today as the Big Ten tries to send multiple teams deep into the tournament for the first time since 2001.
(8) Minnesota (21-10) vs. (9) Iowa State (18-11)
Charlotte (12:30pm EST)
EXCLUSIVE Wonk forecast! Many, many turnovers: both teams force opponents into coughing the ball up over 17 times a game. And the Gophers themselves give the ball away very nearly as often....Iowa State coach Wayne Morgan says having faced Keith Langford of Kansas has helped his team prepare for Minnesota's Vincent Grier. Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan talks to coach Dan Monson, who says the fact that the Gophers missed out on postseason play last year actually helped them land juco transfer Grier. This time a year ago the talented slasher from Charlotte was also being recruited by Arizona and Oklahoma. Last March, while the Wildcats and Sooners were in the tournament, Grier visited Minnesota and Monson secured the young man's commitment that very weekend. "If he went to those places," Monson reflects, "he probably wasn't coming here."...Profile of Gopher big man Jeff Hagen here. Gopher backcourt vs. Cyclone backcourt analysis here.
(6) Wisconsin (22-8) vs. (11) Northern Iowa (20-10)
Oklahoma City (7:20pm EST)
Northern Iowa coach Greg McDermott says he likes Badger big man Mike Wilkinson: "Mike is a farm boy and that's where I came from. I just appreciate his work ethic and his expression very seldom changes regardless if he just made a crazy turnover or made a game-saving play. He just competes and he plays the game the way it's supposed to be played."...Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel columnist Dale Hoffman says Northern Iowa is a worthy foe. Wisconsin State Journal columnist Tom Oates says Wisconsin's "immediate future depends largely on the play of its guards, who have struggled at various times this season with excessive turnovers, poor shooting and just getting UW's swing offense to run with its usual efficiency."...Badger forward Alando Tucker has been practicing with a taped left wrist since injuring it in the Illinois game on Sunday. Joint Tucker-Wilkinson profile here. Connection between Northern Iowa AD Rick Hartzell and Wisconsin (and Indiana, one might add) discussed with unusual breathlessness (as if we hadn't known about this) here.
(5) Michigan State (22-6) vs. (12) Old Dominion (28-5)
Worcester, MA (9:40pm EST)
Tom Izzo says of Old Dominion: "Everybody shoots the three." Like the Spartans, the Monarchs have nine players who average double-figures in minutes....MSU guard Chris Hill says the tournament is the "absolute final test." Very good "dissection" of the Spartan fast break here. Lansing State Journal columnist Todd Schulz says Izzo has "made peace with the lofty expectations he created in East Lansing--and the pain of not fulfilling them." Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom says never mind the hype pinned on Kelvin Torbert coming out of high school: the Spartan wing is a true success story. Albom's fellow columnist at the Free Press, Drew Sharp, profiles Tim Bograkos here.
Detroit News columnist Bob Wojnowski reports this morning on the "round-the-clock" Sunday-to-Tuesday access he was given to the Spartans. What did he learn? That Izzo worries about the same things State's fans worry about. "THIS IS A JOKE!" he shouted at his players at a team meeting on Sunday. "We've got to stop listening to the media, the fans and all the people who say you guys crack. You worry about the pressure at the end, but every play at the beginning counts, too!" (Izzo also does a good Gallagher impression, sledge-hammer and all.)
BONUS story Wonk had never heard before! On the night of September 11, 2001, Izzo was scheduled to board a flight to Boston to recruit Worcester Academy point guard Jarrett Jack. Izzo was thus delayed in getting to Worcester by a few days and never did make it to Washington, DC, to talk to Jack's mother. The rest is history: "I've never been a Bin Laden fan, but I like him even less considering basketball. I'm telling you we were right in the hunt. Whether we could have gotten him or not, who knows? But it kind of ended our chances."
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Latest update from alert reader and die-hard Illini fan Jason
Last night's game was interesting, and I'm not sure what to make of it. Dee was much better than he had been since the Purdue game, and Augie continued to prove he's a necessary (and stellar) component of the team. But overall, Illinois' performance was listless, uninspired. Another performance or two like that, and they won't cut down any nets in St. Louis, or Chicago for that matter.
Enjoy Day 2 of the annual four day smorgasbord!
Jason H.
Thanks, Jason!
Kentucky and first-round Thursday mornings
Yesterday your intrepid blogger wondered aloud whether it was just him or does not Kentucky play in the very first (non-play-in) game of the tournament every year? Wonk's readers respond!
Wonk,
You are right on with the call about the NCAA’s penchant for sending Kentucky out of the gate early. UK did play the Thursday opener in 2000 against the Bonnies (winning in 2 OTs), then again in 2001 (narrowly edging Holy Cross) and one more time in 2002 (beating Valpo by 15).
David G.
Thanks, David!
¶ 7:19 AM
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Drama, magnitude and finality
The tournament starts in earnest today when Kentucky tips off against Eastern Kentucky in the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.
And so at 12:20 EST begins the best sporting event of the year. By far....
Every November, when college football is noisily twisting itself into bewildering BCS knots trying to determine who will play for the national championship, Wonk thanks the bracket gods for giving us such a beautifully Euclidean way of determining who will play for the national championship.
Every May and June, when the NBA inflicts upon us "playoffs" that occupy about as much time as the Crimean War (Wonk especially appreciates the four-day pauses between first-round games, drawing out the suspense of that tense San Antonio vs. Denver series), this blogger thanks the bracket gods for giving us such a tidy three-week method of going from 300+ to 65 to 1.
Every January-February, when the NFL presents a Super Bowl that feels so oddly disconnected from and unrelated to an actual football game, Wonk thanks the bracket gods for giving us tournament games that are the very epitome of college hoops (Laettner, Drew, et. al.)
Every October when baseball gives us its best games in indigestible four-hour slabs in the dark of late-night in game-altering 30-degree weather, Wonk thanks the bracket gods for selecting their champion in two-hour installments in precisely the right game-enhancing venues (neutral floors, opposing fans, opposing bands).
And every October 15, this blogger thanks the bracket gods for starting the cycle anew.
"Drama, magnitude and finality"? It's lifted from those erstwhile wordsmiths at the Supreme Court, ruling against President Truman some 53 years ago. Wonk thinks the Supremes of a half-century ago would happily concede that theirs is a better description of March Madness than of what they thought they were describing (the presidency).
Starting today, each game is the most important game of the year. Each game eliminates one more team. And there is one fewer game than there are teams.
As of this morning, it's all still in front of us. Nice moment, this.
BONUS first-round Thursday quizzical musing! Why does Kentucky so often play in the tournament's first non-play-in game? Does Wonk's memory deceive him or was not their close scrape against St. Bonaventure in 2000 also the first Thursday game?
(7) Cincinnati (24-7) vs. (10) Iowa (21-11)
RCA Dome, Indianapolis (2:40pm EST)
There is quite little to be added to the customarily outstanding game previews (here and here) posted by blogger Ryan at Hawkeye Hoops. For those alert readers too sedentary to reach all the way over to that mouse way over there and link, here's Ryan's take in a nutshell:
The Bearcats' strength is their rebounding and they do not rely solely on Jason Maxiell for their boards. Far from it. One key for the Hawkeyes will therefore be keeping the newly-bald rebounding machine known as Greg Brunner on the floor and out of foul trouble (and, just as important, keeping the unbald no-rebound machine known as Erek Hansen firmly on the bench)--no small task since Maxiell, Brunner's likely assignment on D, is very good at getting fouled.
Wonk would only add a couple after-dinner mints to Ryan's hearty fare: Iowa guard Mike Henderson, after a season of making this blogger scratch his head and wonder why Steve Alford was giving him PT, has recently shown some flashes of good things to come. And Adam Haluska and Jeff Horner can decrease the centrality of the Hawkeyes' efforts on the offensive boards, of course, by draining their shots. With Haluska of late this has not been a concern but Horner has been more streaky. (Horner is a bit of an odd duck. Sometimes he looks like a stolid dependable point guard: numerous assists, hitting the open looks, running the show. Other times he looks for all the world like the dear departed Pierre Pierce: driving head-down without a plan.)
Links. Profile of reputed "odd duck" Jeff Horner here. Des Moines Register columnist Sean Keeler looks at the relationship between Horner and coach Steve Alford and says "Alford is tough on his junior point guard" but it's tough love....Will the locals in Indy be cheering on (kind of) local boy Alford and his team? One writer says: yup!...Alford now echoing the Hawkeye Hoops blog! Earlier in the season Wonk complained repeatedly that the Hawkeye coach was parroting this blog's every word. (And he was.) Now, apparently, Alford has taken to reading Hawkeye Hoops: when asked what his team needs to do to win today the first verb out of the coach's mouth was: "Rebound."...The label lingers but the facts change: UC coach Bob Huggins says: "We're not as athletic as we used to be." (And the coach is finding that his DUI incident is, after just nine months, already ancient history as far as the media hordes in Indy are concerned.)
Don Doxsie of the Quad-City Times, "as of today," is a blogger.
(1) Illinois (32-1) vs. (16) Fairleigh Dickinson (20-12)
RCA Dome, Indianapolis (9:40pm EST)
Sure, maybe a "star" like Dee Brown was on the "cover" of some "magazine" called Sports Illustrated. But can he say, as indeed the Knights' Gordon Klaiber and Tamien Trent can, that he's been the subject of his own cartoon? Wonk thinks not. (Link, of course, courtesy of Kyle Whelliston, defining state of the art in non-Yoni/Ken-national blogs since 2004.)
That being said, Klaiber and Trent may well want to clip and save that cartoon, for tonight will likely be supplying little in the way of similarly fond remembrances. The Illini, after grinding out a 54-43 win over Wisconsin in their last game, should enjoy more open looks against FDU, a team that allowed 110 points in a 40-minute loss to St. Francis (NY) on February 21.
The aforementioned Brown will of course be watched like the love-child of Robert Blake and Martha Stewart by hundreds of media looking to see if his shooting slump is over. Wonk says: if making shots against Fairleigh Dickinson should not inspire slump-is-over trumpeting (which of course it shouldn't but which of course it will), then misses (within reason) should not occasion despondency.
Everyone was quick to make fun of Billy Packer's comments to Brown after the Wisconsin game (roughly: don't worry, Dee, your shots will fall) but the historically anti-Packer Wonk is in this instance in the odd and indeed unprecedented position of agreeing whole-heartedly with the eerily Mr.-Burns-like CBS analyst. He was exactly right: Brown's shots will start falling and Wonk has the stats to prove it.
No, the real agenda for Bruce Weber for tonight is: stay healthy, limit the starters' minutes, get the W, and get to bed.
Links. Forget his dental drama, is there something wrong with Dee Brown's foot? Fret here....In his dead-tree space this morning, oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper says: "If this team fails to reach the Final Four, in many people's eyes it will fall short of accomplishing all it needs to be remembered...as Illini basketball royalty." Meanwhile in his blog Tupper waxes somewhat less Teutonic: "I think this team is ready."...St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell says under "normal circumstances, it's rational to say that Illinois has nothing to worry about. But these aren't normal circumstances."...Dick Enberg says Al McGuire, wherever he is, is rooting for the Illini....Daily Herald columnist Mike Imrem, he of "Illinois will lose in the second round to Nevada" fame, wonders if maybe his fretting about the Illini is due to "post-traumatic Cubs stress syndrome." Copley News Service columnist Mike Nadel out-Imrem's Imrem and worries openly about tonight's game. Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Downey, meanwhile, Imrems in a different direction and says Texas poses the real second-round threat to Illinois. But Downey's fellow Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey chooses to pull an anti-Imrem: "Illinois is going to win the national championship." ...Iowa's players talk about how to beat Illinois here. Wonk must have missed the game won by the Hawkeyes....Other memes on the loose: the time is now! Taking the first step! It's a fan and media frenzy! It's a fan and media frenzy (part 2)! Fairleigh Dickinson guard Mensah Peterson calls the attention received by the Illini "amazing"!
Watch the games on this very computer!
CSTV.com offers live video streams of the CBS feeds for all tournament games through the Sweet 16 for $19.95. To save five bucks and get the package for just $14.95, link here.
Wonk actually already mentioned this nifty service in the blog back in January. But now the good people at CSTV have been kind enough to send Wonk a free subscription, apparently thinking this will induce your intrepid blogger to mention their product.
Well, mission accomplished! And, unlike some bloggers who say bourgeois pre-postmodern things like "I would have written about [CSTV] without the free subscription" (snort!), Wonk wants it to be perfectly clear that in fact I would not have written about CSTV (again) without the free stuff.
And if that's not plain enough, let Wonk be even more transparently shallow:
Send me free stuff and I will blog about you.
Securing and maintaining my own personal line on free stuff actually constitutes the sole reason why I started this blog. I'm just happy someone finally realized that fact.
Once again, the main points of today's post:
Give me free stuff.
Now.
Stop reading this blog in the middle of this sentence right here and get up and send me free stuff.
UPDATE! As of tomorrow this blog will be known as "Depend Undergarment Wonk."
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo says: "I'd like to think this team can get to a Final Four. Any team we play, we're capable of beating. The unfortunate thing is, any team we play is capable of beating us."...Equal opportunity men's and women's State hoops coverage here. Spartan's-eye view of first-round opponent Old Dominion here. Profile of Spartan guard and college basketball Academic All-American of the Year (3.75 GPA in Finance) Chris Hill here.
Wisconsin big man Zach Morley says "the important thing is to come out aggressive" in tomorrow's game against Northern Iowa. (Wow, this guy was taping that interview, too!)...Wonk's not saying Mike Wilkinson is beloved in Madison or anything but check out the Abe-Lincoln-in-Illinois-esque reportage here, delivered under a Blue Mound, Wisconsin, dateline (Wilkinson's hometown).
Minnesota returnee Moe Hargrow says, after a short-lived transfer to Arkansas that has left him ineligible for the season, he's back where he belongs. Meanwhile, Hargrow's mates on the court say their tournament bid is the beginning of better days in Minneapolis.
CBS says they will display real-time scores of other games in banner form across the top of the screen instead of the revolving dissolves in the upper right-hand corner of years past.
Vanderbilt beat Indiana 67-60 in Bloomington last night in first-round NIT action. Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz says if "IU athletic director Rick Greenspan walks into next week's big postseason meeting with [Mike] Davis and decides to make a change, it's a decision that cannot possibly be criticized."
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
The last day: players we don't want to see bald
Welcome to the final day of Wonk's EXCLUSIVE coverage of Big Ten Players We Don't Want to See Bald! Longtime readers will recall an idyllic bygone era known as Monday, when your intrepid blogger noted that Iowa rebounding machine Greg Brunner has shaved his head in honor of a pledge he had made to do so if the Hawkeyes made the tournament. This made Wonk speculate aloud that: a) this probably won't be a good look for Brunner (indeed, it's not); and b) there are likely many other players in the conference we don't want to see bald.
And how! Judging from the reaction of the alert readers, the very idea of some Big Ten stalwarts sporting reflective lids fills Wonk's readers with Edvard Munch-level horror!
Wonk,
It probably goes without saying that the coach of this team would be Gene Keady. There can only be one reason he keeps the comb over--he knows how he looks bald.
As for players, Andrew Ford completely shiny might be the closest to winning a "Scream" look-alike. And it would be apt since that is the pose most Boilermaker fans adopted whenever he handled the basketball.
Non-West Lafayette nominees would include Vedran Vukusic from Northwestern. His odd visage would not be helped with a clear pate.
Matt M.
Thanks, Matt!
¶ 7:52 AM
The tournament starts in earnest today when Kentucky tips off against Eastern Kentucky in the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.
And so at 12:20 EST begins the best sporting event of the year. By far....
Every November, when college football is noisily twisting itself into bewildering BCS knots trying to determine who will play for the national championship, Wonk thanks the bracket gods for giving us such a beautifully Euclidean way of determining who will play for the national championship.
Every May and June, when the NBA inflicts upon us "playoffs" that occupy about as much time as the Crimean War (Wonk especially appreciates the four-day pauses between first-round games, drawing out the suspense of that tense San Antonio vs. Denver series), this blogger thanks the bracket gods for giving us such a tidy three-week method of going from 300+ to 65 to 1.
Every January-February, when the NFL presents a Super Bowl that feels so oddly disconnected from and unrelated to an actual football game, Wonk thanks the bracket gods for giving us tournament games that are the very epitome of college hoops (Laettner, Drew, et. al.)
Every October when baseball gives us its best games in indigestible four-hour slabs in the dark of late-night in game-altering 30-degree weather, Wonk thanks the bracket gods for selecting their champion in two-hour installments in precisely the right game-enhancing venues (neutral floors, opposing fans, opposing bands).
And every October 15, this blogger thanks the bracket gods for starting the cycle anew.
"Drama, magnitude and finality"? It's lifted from those erstwhile wordsmiths at the Supreme Court, ruling against President Truman some 53 years ago. Wonk thinks the Supremes of a half-century ago would happily concede that theirs is a better description of March Madness than of what they thought they were describing (the presidency).
Starting today, each game is the most important game of the year. Each game eliminates one more team. And there is one fewer game than there are teams.
As of this morning, it's all still in front of us. Nice moment, this.
BONUS first-round Thursday quizzical musing! Why does Kentucky so often play in the tournament's first non-play-in game? Does Wonk's memory deceive him or was not their close scrape against St. Bonaventure in 2000 also the first Thursday game?
(7) Cincinnati (24-7) vs. (10) Iowa (21-11)
RCA Dome, Indianapolis (2:40pm EST)
There is quite little to be added to the customarily outstanding game previews (here and here) posted by blogger Ryan at Hawkeye Hoops. For those alert readers too sedentary to reach all the way over to that mouse way over there and link, here's Ryan's take in a nutshell:
The Bearcats' strength is their rebounding and they do not rely solely on Jason Maxiell for their boards. Far from it. One key for the Hawkeyes will therefore be keeping the newly-bald rebounding machine known as Greg Brunner on the floor and out of foul trouble (and, just as important, keeping the unbald no-rebound machine known as Erek Hansen firmly on the bench)--no small task since Maxiell, Brunner's likely assignment on D, is very good at getting fouled.
Wonk would only add a couple after-dinner mints to Ryan's hearty fare: Iowa guard Mike Henderson, after a season of making this blogger scratch his head and wonder why Steve Alford was giving him PT, has recently shown some flashes of good things to come. And Adam Haluska and Jeff Horner can decrease the centrality of the Hawkeyes' efforts on the offensive boards, of course, by draining their shots. With Haluska of late this has not been a concern but Horner has been more streaky. (Horner is a bit of an odd duck. Sometimes he looks like a stolid dependable point guard: numerous assists, hitting the open looks, running the show. Other times he looks for all the world like the dear departed Pierre Pierce: driving head-down without a plan.)
Links. Profile of reputed "odd duck" Jeff Horner here. Des Moines Register columnist Sean Keeler looks at the relationship between Horner and coach Steve Alford and says "Alford is tough on his junior point guard" but it's tough love....Will the locals in Indy be cheering on (kind of) local boy Alford and his team? One writer says: yup!...Alford now echoing the Hawkeye Hoops blog! Earlier in the season Wonk complained repeatedly that the Hawkeye coach was parroting this blog's every word. (And he was.) Now, apparently, Alford has taken to reading Hawkeye Hoops: when asked what his team needs to do to win today the first verb out of the coach's mouth was: "Rebound."...The label lingers but the facts change: UC coach Bob Huggins says: "We're not as athletic as we used to be." (And the coach is finding that his DUI incident is, after just nine months, already ancient history as far as the media hordes in Indy are concerned.)
Don Doxsie of the Quad-City Times, "as of today," is a blogger.
(1) Illinois (32-1) vs. (16) Fairleigh Dickinson (20-12)
RCA Dome, Indianapolis (9:40pm EST)
Sure, maybe a "star" like Dee Brown was on the "cover" of some "magazine" called Sports Illustrated. But can he say, as indeed the Knights' Gordon Klaiber and Tamien Trent can, that he's been the subject of his own cartoon? Wonk thinks not. (Link, of course, courtesy of Kyle Whelliston, defining state of the art in non-Yoni/Ken-national blogs since 2004.)
That being said, Klaiber and Trent may well want to clip and save that cartoon, for tonight will likely be supplying little in the way of similarly fond remembrances. The Illini, after grinding out a 54-43 win over Wisconsin in their last game, should enjoy more open looks against FDU, a team that allowed 110 points in a 40-minute loss to St. Francis (NY) on February 21.
The aforementioned Brown will of course be watched like the love-child of Robert Blake and Martha Stewart by hundreds of media looking to see if his shooting slump is over. Wonk says: if making shots against Fairleigh Dickinson should not inspire slump-is-over trumpeting (which of course it shouldn't but which of course it will), then misses (within reason) should not occasion despondency.
Everyone was quick to make fun of Billy Packer's comments to Brown after the Wisconsin game (roughly: don't worry, Dee, your shots will fall) but the historically anti-Packer Wonk is in this instance in the odd and indeed unprecedented position of agreeing whole-heartedly with the eerily Mr.-Burns-like CBS analyst. He was exactly right: Brown's shots will start falling and Wonk has the stats to prove it.
No, the real agenda for Bruce Weber for tonight is: stay healthy, limit the starters' minutes, get the W, and get to bed.
Links. Forget his dental drama, is there something wrong with Dee Brown's foot? Fret here....In his dead-tree space this morning, oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper says: "If this team fails to reach the Final Four, in many people's eyes it will fall short of accomplishing all it needs to be remembered...as Illini basketball royalty." Meanwhile in his blog Tupper waxes somewhat less Teutonic: "I think this team is ready."...St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell says under "normal circumstances, it's rational to say that Illinois has nothing to worry about. But these aren't normal circumstances."...Dick Enberg says Al McGuire, wherever he is, is rooting for the Illini....Daily Herald columnist Mike Imrem, he of "Illinois will lose in the second round to Nevada" fame, wonders if maybe his fretting about the Illini is due to "post-traumatic Cubs stress syndrome." Copley News Service columnist Mike Nadel out-Imrem's Imrem and worries openly about tonight's game. Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Downey, meanwhile, Imrems in a different direction and says Texas poses the real second-round threat to Illinois. But Downey's fellow Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey chooses to pull an anti-Imrem: "Illinois is going to win the national championship." ...Iowa's players talk about how to beat Illinois here. Wonk must have missed the game won by the Hawkeyes....Other memes on the loose: the time is now! Taking the first step! It's a fan and media frenzy! It's a fan and media frenzy (part 2)! Fairleigh Dickinson guard Mensah Peterson calls the attention received by the Illini "amazing"!
Watch the games on this very computer!
CSTV.com offers live video streams of the CBS feeds for all tournament games through the Sweet 16 for $19.95. To save five bucks and get the package for just $14.95, link here.
Wonk actually already mentioned this nifty service in the blog back in January. But now the good people at CSTV have been kind enough to send Wonk a free subscription, apparently thinking this will induce your intrepid blogger to mention their product.
Well, mission accomplished! And, unlike some bloggers who say bourgeois pre-postmodern things like "I would have written about [CSTV] without the free subscription" (snort!), Wonk wants it to be perfectly clear that in fact I would not have written about CSTV (again) without the free stuff.
And if that's not plain enough, let Wonk be even more transparently shallow:
Send me free stuff and I will blog about you.
Securing and maintaining my own personal line on free stuff actually constitutes the sole reason why I started this blog. I'm just happy someone finally realized that fact.
Once again, the main points of today's post:
Give me free stuff.
Now.
Stop reading this blog in the middle of this sentence right here and get up and send me free stuff.
UPDATE! As of tomorrow this blog will be known as "Depend Undergarment Wonk."
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo says: "I'd like to think this team can get to a Final Four. Any team we play, we're capable of beating. The unfortunate thing is, any team we play is capable of beating us."...Equal opportunity men's and women's State hoops coverage here. Spartan's-eye view of first-round opponent Old Dominion here. Profile of Spartan guard and college basketball Academic All-American of the Year (3.75 GPA in Finance) Chris Hill here.
Wisconsin big man Zach Morley says "the important thing is to come out aggressive" in tomorrow's game against Northern Iowa. (Wow, this guy was taping that interview, too!)...Wonk's not saying Mike Wilkinson is beloved in Madison or anything but check out the Abe-Lincoln-in-Illinois-esque reportage here, delivered under a Blue Mound, Wisconsin, dateline (Wilkinson's hometown).
Minnesota returnee Moe Hargrow says, after a short-lived transfer to Arkansas that has left him ineligible for the season, he's back where he belongs. Meanwhile, Hargrow's mates on the court say their tournament bid is the beginning of better days in Minneapolis.
CBS says they will display real-time scores of other games in banner form across the top of the screen instead of the revolving dissolves in the upper right-hand corner of years past.
Vanderbilt beat Indiana 67-60 in Bloomington last night in first-round NIT action. Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz says if "IU athletic director Rick Greenspan walks into next week's big postseason meeting with [Mike] Davis and decides to make a change, it's a decision that cannot possibly be criticized."
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
The last day: players we don't want to see bald
Welcome to the final day of Wonk's EXCLUSIVE coverage of Big Ten Players We Don't Want to See Bald! Longtime readers will recall an idyllic bygone era known as Monday, when your intrepid blogger noted that Iowa rebounding machine Greg Brunner has shaved his head in honor of a pledge he had made to do so if the Hawkeyes made the tournament. This made Wonk speculate aloud that: a) this probably won't be a good look for Brunner (indeed, it's not); and b) there are likely many other players in the conference we don't want to see bald.
And how! Judging from the reaction of the alert readers, the very idea of some Big Ten stalwarts sporting reflective lids fills Wonk's readers with Edvard Munch-level horror!
Wonk,
It probably goes without saying that the coach of this team would be Gene Keady. There can only be one reason he keeps the comb over--he knows how he looks bald.
As for players, Andrew Ford completely shiny might be the closest to winning a "Scream" look-alike. And it would be apt since that is the pose most Boilermaker fans adopted whenever he handled the basketball.
Non-West Lafayette nominees would include Vedran Vukusic from Northwestern. His odd visage would not be helped with a clear pate.
Matt M.
Thanks, Matt!
¶ 7:52 AM
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
BONUS March-Madness-edition PPWS
There's no trick to putting up a nice number for points per game (PPG). Just shoot a lot. But who would get the most points from the same number of shots?
To answer that question we turn to the handy stat that not only measures scoring efficiency, it also captures more than just points from the field (unlike, say, points per shot or "PPS"). This stat takes in both FGA's and FTA's. It's points per weighted shot (PPWS), developed cannily by John Hollinger (The Basketball Prospectus) and renamed brazenly by Wonk.
Here are the current numbers for the top 16 seeds:
PPWS
1. Salim Stoudamire, Arizona (1.42)
2. J.P. Batista, Gonzaga (1.39)
3. James Augustine, Illinois (1.35)
4. Dee Brown, Illinois (1.34)
5. Derek Ravio, Gonzaga (1.33)
6. Larry O'Bannon, Louisville (1.32)
7. Chris Ellis, Wake Forest (1.31)
8. Jawad Williams, North Carolina (1.31)
9. Joel Smith, Washington (1.31)
10. Marvin Williams, North Carolina (1.29)
11. Matt Walsh, Florida (1.29)
12. Joey Graham, Oklahoma State (1.29)
13. Taron Downey, Wake Forest (1.28)
14. Taquan Dean, Louisville (1.28)
15. Josh Boone, Connecticut (1.27)
16. Luther Head, Illinois (1.27)
17. Sean Dockery, Duke (1.27)
18. Eric Williams, Wake Forest (1.27)
19. J.J. Redick, Duke (1.26)
20. Aaron Miles, Kansas (1.26)
21. Roger Powell, Illinois (1.26)
22. Anthony Roberson, Florida (1.25)
23. Brandon Jenkins, Louisville (1.25)
24. Wayne Simien, Kansas (1.24)
25. Shelden Williams, Duke (1.24)
26. Ivan McFarlin, Oklahoma State (1.24)
27. Rashad McCants, North Carolina (1.23)
28. Chris Paul, Wake Forest (1.23)
29. David Noel, North Carolina (1.23)
30. Sean May, North Carolina (1.23)
31. Kyle Visser, Wake Forest (1.22)
32. Hakim Warrick, Syracuse (1.22)
33. Brandon Roy, Washington (1.21)
34. Channing Frye, Arizona (1.21)
35. Ravi Moss, Kentucky (1.21)
36. Kevin Bookout, Oklahoma (1.21)
37. Taj Gray, Oklahoma (1.20)
38. Raymond Felton, North Carolina (1.20)
39. Lawrence McKenzie, Oklahoma (1.19)
40. Jermaine Watson, Boston College (1.19)
41. Nate Robinson, Washington (1.19)
42. Bobby Jones, Washington (1.19)
43. Terence Roberts, Syracuse (1.18)
44. Justin Gray, Wake Forest (1.18)
45. Stephen Graham, Oklahoma State (1.18)
46. Francisco Garcia, Louisville (1.18)
47. Christian Moody, Kansas (1.18)
48. Sean Mallon, Gonzaga (1.18)
49. Daniel Bobik, Oklahoma State (1.17)
50. Tre Simmons, Washington (1.17)
51. Ronny Turiaf, Gonzaga (1.17)
52. Jared Dudley, Boston College (1.17)
53. JamesOn Curry, Oklahoma State (1.16)
54. Kelenna Azubuike, Kentucky (1.16)
55. Jamaal Williams, Washington (1.15)
56. Adam Morrison, Gonzaga (1.15)
57. Corey Brewer, Florida (1.15)
58. Lee Melchionni, Duke (1.15)
59. David Lee, Florida (1.15)
60. Terrell Everett, Oklahoma (1.15)
61. Josh Pace, Syracuse (1.14)
62. Alex Galindo, Kansas (1.14)
63. Charlie Villanueva, Connecticut (1.13)
64. Vytas Danelius, Wake Forest (1.13)
65. Randolph Morris, Kentucky (1.13)
66. Craig Forth, Syracuse (1.13)
67. Jaison Williams, Oklahoma (1.13)
68. Gerry McNamara, Syracuse (1.12)
69. Will Conroy, Washington (1.12)
70. Lee Humprhey, Florida (1.12)
71. Juan Diego Palacios, Louisville (1.11)
72. Trent Strickland, Wake Forest (1.11)
73. Rudy Gay, Connecticut (1.10)
74. Chuck Hayes, Kentucky (1.10)
75. Craig Smith, Boston College (1.10)
76. Hakeem Rollins, Washington (1.10)
77. Patrick Sparks, Kentucky (1.10)
78. Ellis Myles, Louisville (1.10)
79. Jackie Manuel, North Carolina (1.09)
80. Lorenzo Wade, Louisville (1.09)
81. Denham Brown, Connecticut (1.09)
82. Keith Langford, Kansas (1.09)
83. Michael Lee, Kansas (1.09)
84. Rajon Rondo, Kentucky (1.08)
85. Sean Marshall, Boston College (1.08)
86. Hilton Armstrong, Connecticut (1.08)
87. J.R. Giddens, Kansas (1.08)
88. Al Horford, Florida (1.07)
89. Drew Lavender, Oklahoma (1.06)
90. Deron Williams, Illinois (1.06)
91. Erroll Knight, Gonzaga (1.06)
92. Daniel Ewing, Duke (1.05)
93. Mustafa Shakur, Arizona (1.04)
94. Jamaal Levy, Wake Forest (1.04)
95. Hassan Adams, Arizona (1.04)
96. Rashad Anderson, Connecticut (1.03)
97. Jack Ingram, Illinois (1.03)
98. Mike Jensen, Washington (1.03)
99. Melvin Scott, North Carolina (1.03)
100. Ivan Radenovic, Arizona (1.02)
101. Ramel Bradley, Kentucky (1.01)
102. Marcus Williams, Connecticut (1.01)
103. Rich McBride, Illinois (0.99)
104. Chris Rodgers, Arizona (0.97)
105. John Lucas, Oklahoma State (0.97)
106. Louis Hinnant, Boston College (0.95)
107. DeMarcus Nelson, Duke (0.94)
108. Bobby Perry, Kentucky (0.93)
109. Louie McCroskey, Syracuse (0.91)
110. Shavlik Randolph, Duke (0.91)
111. Nate Doornekamp, Boston College (0.91)
112. Nick Smith, Illinois (0.90)
What it means. Give Salim Stoudamire 12 FGA's and six FTA's and he'll likely score about 21 points. Give Nick Smith the same number of shots and he'll likely score about 13. Prodigious and efficient scorer Salim Stoudamire, Wonk salutes you!
Finally: an interview with Wonk you can actually read!
Last week Wonk noted he'd been interviewed by the good people at the Moline Dispatch--but, um, no one outside the Quad Cities could read it because the Dispatch is a paid site. Well, good news! Your intrepid blogger was interviewed by the indefatigable Scott Long of The Juice Blog and this time you can actually read it (a key benefit). Here it is! Scott also interviewed the indispensable Ken Pomeroy, who revealed that he has entered his office pool. Wonk says: Ken Pomeroy entering an office pool is a little like Meryl Streep saying she's going to audition for the local community theater group. Ken's office mates might as well just hand him their money now.
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Iowa will face Cincinnati tomorrow in Indianapolis, a game that marks a homecoming for Hawkeye coach Steve Alford. As for Bob Huggins' team, can the Bearcats bounce back from their woeful first-round C-USA tournament loss to South Florida? Get your pondering here....If there's one question Wonk gets more than any other from the alert readers it's this: "Wonk, how does Bob Hansen feel about Iowa making the tournament?" Link here and all will be answered! (Is it just Wonk or does the Iowa City Press-Citizen have an unerring knack for the most boring and extraneous note that can be struck in any given news cycle? "SPACE ALIENS LAND IN IOWA CITY, CONQUER EARTH--Seth Gorney's aunt said to be 'mildly surprised.'")
Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan says Northern Iowa coach Greg McDermott "knows us better than 90 percent of the coaches out there. He knows what we do. It's a tough match up for us." McDermott's former grad assistant, Saul Phillips, is on the staff at Wisconsin....Glass-is-half-full award! Mark Stewart of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel professes to see "improved guard play" from the Badger backcourt. This after Wisconsin's guards went 7-of-24 from the field against Illinois....Profile of Clayton Hanson here.
Minnesota players Moe Hargrow and Adam Boone are missing out on the NCAA tournament. Hargrow is sitting out a year after an aborted transfer to Arkansas. Boone has missed the entire season while recovering from an injured right arm.....Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune devotes this morning's column to a profile of Gopher guard Aaron Robinson.
Dave Dye of the Detroit News reminds the nay-sayers that this is the same Michigan State team that went to the Elite Eight two years ago. Well, yes. The problem, though, it that it's also the same team that lost in the first round to Nevada one year ago....Meme of the Decade award-winner! Good grief, yet another article (Wonk is not making this up) on State looking for greater consistency from Paul Davis....The Spartans say they respect and will be ready for Old Dominion's Alex Loughton.
Illinois coach Bruce Weber says he's not worried about his team's recent shooting woes because they're playing their best defense of the season....Three-headed monster profile here. Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News says Dee Brown, Luther Head, and Deron Williams comprise "the greatest three-man backcourt in NCAA basketball history, surpassing the trio that claimed the 1997 championship for Arizona (Mike Bibby, Michael Dickerson and Miles Simon)."...Profile of ordained Pentecostal minister Roger Powell here.
Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper says Illinois is nothing less than...(cue John Facenda!) America's Team.
Chicago Tribune columnist Skip Myslenski looks at the history of upsets that have taken place in 5-12 tournament games over the years.
Indiana fans are looking to next year and talking big. Very, very big.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Players we don't want to see bald--Day 3
Welcome to Day 3 of Wonk's EXCLUSIVE coverage of Big Ten Players We Don't Want to See Bald!
Longtime readers will recall an idyllic bygone era known as Monday, when your intrepid blogger noted that Iowa rebounding machine Greg Brunner has shaved his head in honor of a pledge he had made to do so if the Hawkeyes made the tournament. This made Wonk speculate aloud that: a) this probably won't be a good look for Brunner (indeed, it's not); and b) there are likely many other players in the conference we don't want to see bald. And how! Judging from the reaction of the alert readers, the very idea of some Big Ten stalwarts sporting reflective lids fills Wonk's readers with Edvard Munch-level horror!
Yesterday alert reader Doug K. compared a hypothetically bald Nick Smith to "the vulture in the old Bugs Bunny cartoon. You know, the one who had to bring home something for dinner for his mother." This inspires one alert reader to add the following....
Wonk,
I was going to photoshop a bald Nick Smith and place him next to the Looney Toons buzzard, but I simply didn't have the time last night.
Regards,
Drew S.
Hopefully Drew can get some free time tonight!
Meantime, Wonk offers his own nomination: Deron Williams. For some reason Wonk envisions a hypothetically bald Williams as looking much too much like Orson Welles in the last reel of Citizen Kane: rich, bald, a tad pudgy, overseeing a global empire of newspapers and radio stations--the parallels are eerie!
Keep those nominations coming!
¶ 7:18 AM
There's no trick to putting up a nice number for points per game (PPG). Just shoot a lot. But who would get the most points from the same number of shots?
To answer that question we turn to the handy stat that not only measures scoring efficiency, it also captures more than just points from the field (unlike, say, points per shot or "PPS"). This stat takes in both FGA's and FTA's. It's points per weighted shot (PPWS), developed cannily by John Hollinger (The Basketball Prospectus) and renamed brazenly by Wonk.
Here are the current numbers for the top 16 seeds:
PPWS
1. Salim Stoudamire, Arizona (1.42)
2. J.P. Batista, Gonzaga (1.39)
3. James Augustine, Illinois (1.35)
4. Dee Brown, Illinois (1.34)
5. Derek Ravio, Gonzaga (1.33)
6. Larry O'Bannon, Louisville (1.32)
7. Chris Ellis, Wake Forest (1.31)
8. Jawad Williams, North Carolina (1.31)
9. Joel Smith, Washington (1.31)
10. Marvin Williams, North Carolina (1.29)
11. Matt Walsh, Florida (1.29)
12. Joey Graham, Oklahoma State (1.29)
13. Taron Downey, Wake Forest (1.28)
14. Taquan Dean, Louisville (1.28)
15. Josh Boone, Connecticut (1.27)
16. Luther Head, Illinois (1.27)
17. Sean Dockery, Duke (1.27)
18. Eric Williams, Wake Forest (1.27)
19. J.J. Redick, Duke (1.26)
20. Aaron Miles, Kansas (1.26)
21. Roger Powell, Illinois (1.26)
22. Anthony Roberson, Florida (1.25)
23. Brandon Jenkins, Louisville (1.25)
24. Wayne Simien, Kansas (1.24)
25. Shelden Williams, Duke (1.24)
26. Ivan McFarlin, Oklahoma State (1.24)
27. Rashad McCants, North Carolina (1.23)
28. Chris Paul, Wake Forest (1.23)
29. David Noel, North Carolina (1.23)
30. Sean May, North Carolina (1.23)
31. Kyle Visser, Wake Forest (1.22)
32. Hakim Warrick, Syracuse (1.22)
33. Brandon Roy, Washington (1.21)
34. Channing Frye, Arizona (1.21)
35. Ravi Moss, Kentucky (1.21)
36. Kevin Bookout, Oklahoma (1.21)
37. Taj Gray, Oklahoma (1.20)
38. Raymond Felton, North Carolina (1.20)
39. Lawrence McKenzie, Oklahoma (1.19)
40. Jermaine Watson, Boston College (1.19)
41. Nate Robinson, Washington (1.19)
42. Bobby Jones, Washington (1.19)
43. Terence Roberts, Syracuse (1.18)
44. Justin Gray, Wake Forest (1.18)
45. Stephen Graham, Oklahoma State (1.18)
46. Francisco Garcia, Louisville (1.18)
47. Christian Moody, Kansas (1.18)
48. Sean Mallon, Gonzaga (1.18)
49. Daniel Bobik, Oklahoma State (1.17)
50. Tre Simmons, Washington (1.17)
51. Ronny Turiaf, Gonzaga (1.17)
52. Jared Dudley, Boston College (1.17)
53. JamesOn Curry, Oklahoma State (1.16)
54. Kelenna Azubuike, Kentucky (1.16)
55. Jamaal Williams, Washington (1.15)
56. Adam Morrison, Gonzaga (1.15)
57. Corey Brewer, Florida (1.15)
58. Lee Melchionni, Duke (1.15)
59. David Lee, Florida (1.15)
60. Terrell Everett, Oklahoma (1.15)
61. Josh Pace, Syracuse (1.14)
62. Alex Galindo, Kansas (1.14)
63. Charlie Villanueva, Connecticut (1.13)
64. Vytas Danelius, Wake Forest (1.13)
65. Randolph Morris, Kentucky (1.13)
66. Craig Forth, Syracuse (1.13)
67. Jaison Williams, Oklahoma (1.13)
68. Gerry McNamara, Syracuse (1.12)
69. Will Conroy, Washington (1.12)
70. Lee Humprhey, Florida (1.12)
71. Juan Diego Palacios, Louisville (1.11)
72. Trent Strickland, Wake Forest (1.11)
73. Rudy Gay, Connecticut (1.10)
74. Chuck Hayes, Kentucky (1.10)
75. Craig Smith, Boston College (1.10)
76. Hakeem Rollins, Washington (1.10)
77. Patrick Sparks, Kentucky (1.10)
78. Ellis Myles, Louisville (1.10)
79. Jackie Manuel, North Carolina (1.09)
80. Lorenzo Wade, Louisville (1.09)
81. Denham Brown, Connecticut (1.09)
82. Keith Langford, Kansas (1.09)
83. Michael Lee, Kansas (1.09)
84. Rajon Rondo, Kentucky (1.08)
85. Sean Marshall, Boston College (1.08)
86. Hilton Armstrong, Connecticut (1.08)
87. J.R. Giddens, Kansas (1.08)
88. Al Horford, Florida (1.07)
89. Drew Lavender, Oklahoma (1.06)
90. Deron Williams, Illinois (1.06)
91. Erroll Knight, Gonzaga (1.06)
92. Daniel Ewing, Duke (1.05)
93. Mustafa Shakur, Arizona (1.04)
94. Jamaal Levy, Wake Forest (1.04)
95. Hassan Adams, Arizona (1.04)
96. Rashad Anderson, Connecticut (1.03)
97. Jack Ingram, Illinois (1.03)
98. Mike Jensen, Washington (1.03)
99. Melvin Scott, North Carolina (1.03)
100. Ivan Radenovic, Arizona (1.02)
101. Ramel Bradley, Kentucky (1.01)
102. Marcus Williams, Connecticut (1.01)
103. Rich McBride, Illinois (0.99)
104. Chris Rodgers, Arizona (0.97)
105. John Lucas, Oklahoma State (0.97)
106. Louis Hinnant, Boston College (0.95)
107. DeMarcus Nelson, Duke (0.94)
108. Bobby Perry, Kentucky (0.93)
109. Louie McCroskey, Syracuse (0.91)
110. Shavlik Randolph, Duke (0.91)
111. Nate Doornekamp, Boston College (0.91)
112. Nick Smith, Illinois (0.90)
What it means. Give Salim Stoudamire 12 FGA's and six FTA's and he'll likely score about 21 points. Give Nick Smith the same number of shots and he'll likely score about 13. Prodigious and efficient scorer Salim Stoudamire, Wonk salutes you!
Finally: an interview with Wonk you can actually read!
Last week Wonk noted he'd been interviewed by the good people at the Moline Dispatch--but, um, no one outside the Quad Cities could read it because the Dispatch is a paid site. Well, good news! Your intrepid blogger was interviewed by the indefatigable Scott Long of The Juice Blog and this time you can actually read it (a key benefit). Here it is! Scott also interviewed the indispensable Ken Pomeroy, who revealed that he has entered his office pool. Wonk says: Ken Pomeroy entering an office pool is a little like Meryl Streep saying she's going to audition for the local community theater group. Ken's office mates might as well just hand him their money now.
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Iowa will face Cincinnati tomorrow in Indianapolis, a game that marks a homecoming for Hawkeye coach Steve Alford. As for Bob Huggins' team, can the Bearcats bounce back from their woeful first-round C-USA tournament loss to South Florida? Get your pondering here....If there's one question Wonk gets more than any other from the alert readers it's this: "Wonk, how does Bob Hansen feel about Iowa making the tournament?" Link here and all will be answered! (Is it just Wonk or does the Iowa City Press-Citizen have an unerring knack for the most boring and extraneous note that can be struck in any given news cycle? "SPACE ALIENS LAND IN IOWA CITY, CONQUER EARTH--Seth Gorney's aunt said to be 'mildly surprised.'")
Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan says Northern Iowa coach Greg McDermott "knows us better than 90 percent of the coaches out there. He knows what we do. It's a tough match up for us." McDermott's former grad assistant, Saul Phillips, is on the staff at Wisconsin....Glass-is-half-full award! Mark Stewart of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel professes to see "improved guard play" from the Badger backcourt. This after Wisconsin's guards went 7-of-24 from the field against Illinois....Profile of Clayton Hanson here.
Minnesota players Moe Hargrow and Adam Boone are missing out on the NCAA tournament. Hargrow is sitting out a year after an aborted transfer to Arkansas. Boone has missed the entire season while recovering from an injured right arm.....Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune devotes this morning's column to a profile of Gopher guard Aaron Robinson.
Dave Dye of the Detroit News reminds the nay-sayers that this is the same Michigan State team that went to the Elite Eight two years ago. Well, yes. The problem, though, it that it's also the same team that lost in the first round to Nevada one year ago....Meme of the Decade award-winner! Good grief, yet another article (Wonk is not making this up) on State looking for greater consistency from Paul Davis....The Spartans say they respect and will be ready for Old Dominion's Alex Loughton.
Illinois coach Bruce Weber says he's not worried about his team's recent shooting woes because they're playing their best defense of the season....Three-headed monster profile here. Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News says Dee Brown, Luther Head, and Deron Williams comprise "the greatest three-man backcourt in NCAA basketball history, surpassing the trio that claimed the 1997 championship for Arizona (Mike Bibby, Michael Dickerson and Miles Simon)."...Profile of ordained Pentecostal minister Roger Powell here.
Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper says Illinois is nothing less than...(cue John Facenda!) America's Team.
Chicago Tribune columnist Skip Myslenski looks at the history of upsets that have taken place in 5-12 tournament games over the years.
Indiana fans are looking to next year and talking big. Very, very big.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Players we don't want to see bald--Day 3
Welcome to Day 3 of Wonk's EXCLUSIVE coverage of Big Ten Players We Don't Want to See Bald!
Longtime readers will recall an idyllic bygone era known as Monday, when your intrepid blogger noted that Iowa rebounding machine Greg Brunner has shaved his head in honor of a pledge he had made to do so if the Hawkeyes made the tournament. This made Wonk speculate aloud that: a) this probably won't be a good look for Brunner (indeed, it's not); and b) there are likely many other players in the conference we don't want to see bald. And how! Judging from the reaction of the alert readers, the very idea of some Big Ten stalwarts sporting reflective lids fills Wonk's readers with Edvard Munch-level horror!
Yesterday alert reader Doug K. compared a hypothetically bald Nick Smith to "the vulture in the old Bugs Bunny cartoon. You know, the one who had to bring home something for dinner for his mother." This inspires one alert reader to add the following....
Wonk,
I was going to photoshop a bald Nick Smith and place him next to the Looney Toons buzzard, but I simply didn't have the time last night.
Regards,
Drew S.
Hopefully Drew can get some free time tonight!
Meantime, Wonk offers his own nomination: Deron Williams. For some reason Wonk envisions a hypothetically bald Williams as looking much too much like Orson Welles in the last reel of Citizen Kane: rich, bald, a tad pudgy, overseeing a global empire of newspapers and radio stations--the parallels are eerie!
Keep those nominations coming!
¶ 7:18 AM
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Wonk's "49 games, one couch" project
After a day of digesting the brackets and engaging in profound contemplation, here's how Wonk sees the first weekend....
Best first-round game
Syracuse vs. Vermont, Hakim Warrick vs. Taylor Coppenrath.
Other first-round games worth noticing
Kansas vs. Bucknell (remember: Bucknell won at Pittsburgh--and their karma is in order because they played in the first game of the year!)
Pacific vs. Pittsburgh ("UOP," we who're familiar with Stockton, CA, call Pacific--Pitt is actually the lower seed in this 8-9 game)
Alabama vs. UW-Milwaukee (see always-excellent blogger Chris West for in-depth coverage of the Panthers--more here)
Best potential second-round games
LSU vs. Arizona (Baby Shaq vs. Salim Stoudamire and Channing Frye)
Washington vs. Pacific-Pitt winner (neither team will be intimidated by the 1-seeded Huskies)
Villanova vs. Florida (two teams who finished as strong as anyone...except Louisville)
Utah vs. Oklahoma (Andrew Bogut vs. Kevin Bookout and Taj Gray)
Head to Indy! Or Worcester or Oklahoma City or Charlotte....
Yesterday Wonk urged every Big Ten fan who has the opportunity to set off for Indianapolis, where on Thursday you'll be able to see both Iowa vs. Cincinnati (2:50pm, local time) and Illinois vs. Fairleigh Dickinson (9:40pm). (The other teams in Indy are Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky, Texas, and Nevada.) Your intrepid blogger repeats the suggestion: get thee to Indy! All-session tickets (good for four games Thursday and two Saturday) are $150 for the lower level and $90 for the upper. For whatever reason the Ticketmaster link doesn't appear to be operable as of this morning but longtime readers may recall an appliance known as the "telephone." Call (317) 239-5151 (Ticketmaster) or (317) 262-3389 (RCA Dome) and go!
OFFICIAL bracket of Big Ten Wonk fans!
Indefatigable college hoops blogger Yoni Cohen has a spiffy NCAA Tournament Bloggers Bracket that any self-respecting Wonk fan will want to call home for the next three weeks. (You'll love the Genie!) It's up and running so link right now and tell Yoni Wonk sent you!
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Iowa blogger Ryan of Hawkeye Hoops fame, take a bow! The conventional wisdom has at last come around to what you were saying six long weeks ago: the Hawkeyes really are better without Pierre Pierce....More on Iowa's first-round opponent, Cincinnati, here and here.
Michigan State assistant coach Doug Wojcik will be the next head coach at Tulsa. Tom Izzo says his team can make some noise in March: "I think we're a dangerous team because I don't know who's going to be our leading scorer so I sure as heck know they (the opponents) don't know."
Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan says he's glad his team is in a Friday-Sunday bracket and gets an extra day of rest after going to the finals of the Big Ten tournament....Fretting about the Badger guards here.
Minnesota coach Dan Monson says Iowa State guards Curtis Stinson and Will Blalock compare favorably to the more renowned Illinois guards....The Gophers' journey to Charlotte for first- and, potentially, second-round play marks a homecoming for Vincent Grier....St. Paul Pioneer Press columnist Bob Sansevere says, unlike past squads in Minneapolis, this is "coach Dan Monson's kind of team, a bunch of scrappy young men who will do anything they're told."
Illinois coach Bruce Weber was named the winner of the Henry Iba Award from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association yesterday. He is the first Illini coach ever to win the award. Meanwhile, Weber says coping with the death of his mother while preparing his team for postseason play has left him "punch drunk." (Lindsey Willhite of the Daily Herald compares Weber to an "exhausted marathoner.")...Fairleigh Dickinson coach Tom Green says he and his team are "quite frankly terrified" of the Illini and indeed may not even come out of the locker room Thursday night. "We may just forfeit," Green said before curling up into a ball with a stuffed knight and sobbing profusely in front of a room full of stunned reporters. No, just kidding: Green voices predictably plucky underdog speak here and here. Fairleigh Dickinson will play in front of more people in the RCA Dome Thursday night than in all the rest of their home games combined. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Ron Rapoport notes that FDU is only 63 years old. (Update! Wonk says: so what? At just 49 years of age, Wisconsin-Milwaukee is younger than some Wonk Cousins!) Fellow Sun-Times columnist Carol Slezak says: "out of all the No. 1 seeds, it looks to me like Illinois has the easiest road to the Final Four."...Former NC State great Derek Whittenburg, now coach of Fordham, talks about Illinois and the history and current prevalence of the three-guard lineup....Dee Brown dental coverage (har!) here and here. BONUS reach! For his part, Wonk takes mouth-related maladies as a good omen for the Illini. In the 1989 regional final in Minneapolis, Kendall Gill took a Syracuse elbow to the mouth and bled all over the place. (In that kindler, gentler era, he stayed in the game and play continued). And that team went to the Final Four. Cause-and-effect or post hoc ergo propter hoc? You make the call!
BONUS fun fact! Only four of the nation's top ten teams in three-point shooting are in the tournament. But all ten of the nation's top ten teams in rebounding have been invited to the dance.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
So many players we don't want to see bald
Welcome to Day 2 of Wonk's EXCLUSIVE coverage of Big Ten Players We Don't Want to See Bald!
Longtime readers will recall an idyllic bygone era known as yesterday, when your intrepid blogger noted that Iowa rebounding machine Greg Brunner has shaved his head in honor of a pledge he had made to do so if the Hawkeyes made the tournament. This made Wonk speculate aloud that: a) this probably won't be a good look for Brunner (UPDATE: it's not); and b) there are likely many other players in the conference we don't want to see bald.
And how! Judging from the reaction of the alert readers, the very idea of some Big Ten stalwarts sporting reflective lids fills Wonk's readers with Edvard Munch-level horror! So without further ado....
Early leaders: players we don't want to see bald
Zach Morley, Wisconsin
Nick Smith, Illinois
Alert reader Doug K. says of a hypothetically bald Smith: "He would look like the vulture in the old Bugs Bunny cartoon. You know, the one who had to bring home something for dinner for his mother."
Keep those nominations coming!
¶ 7:32 AM
After a day of digesting the brackets and engaging in profound contemplation, here's how Wonk sees the first weekend....
Best first-round game
Syracuse vs. Vermont, Hakim Warrick vs. Taylor Coppenrath.
Other first-round games worth noticing
Kansas vs. Bucknell (remember: Bucknell won at Pittsburgh--and their karma is in order because they played in the first game of the year!)
Pacific vs. Pittsburgh ("UOP," we who're familiar with Stockton, CA, call Pacific--Pitt is actually the lower seed in this 8-9 game)
Alabama vs. UW-Milwaukee (see always-excellent blogger Chris West for in-depth coverage of the Panthers--more here)
Best potential second-round games
LSU vs. Arizona (Baby Shaq vs. Salim Stoudamire and Channing Frye)
Washington vs. Pacific-Pitt winner (neither team will be intimidated by the 1-seeded Huskies)
Villanova vs. Florida (two teams who finished as strong as anyone...except Louisville)
Utah vs. Oklahoma (Andrew Bogut vs. Kevin Bookout and Taj Gray)
Head to Indy! Or Worcester or Oklahoma City or Charlotte....
Yesterday Wonk urged every Big Ten fan who has the opportunity to set off for Indianapolis, where on Thursday you'll be able to see both Iowa vs. Cincinnati (2:50pm, local time) and Illinois vs. Fairleigh Dickinson (9:40pm). (The other teams in Indy are Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky, Texas, and Nevada.) Your intrepid blogger repeats the suggestion: get thee to Indy! All-session tickets (good for four games Thursday and two Saturday) are $150 for the lower level and $90 for the upper. For whatever reason the Ticketmaster link doesn't appear to be operable as of this morning but longtime readers may recall an appliance known as the "telephone." Call (317) 239-5151 (Ticketmaster) or (317) 262-3389 (RCA Dome) and go!
OFFICIAL bracket of Big Ten Wonk fans!
Indefatigable college hoops blogger Yoni Cohen has a spiffy NCAA Tournament Bloggers Bracket that any self-respecting Wonk fan will want to call home for the next three weeks. (You'll love the Genie!) It's up and running so link right now and tell Yoni Wonk sent you!
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Iowa blogger Ryan of Hawkeye Hoops fame, take a bow! The conventional wisdom has at last come around to what you were saying six long weeks ago: the Hawkeyes really are better without Pierre Pierce....More on Iowa's first-round opponent, Cincinnati, here and here.
Michigan State assistant coach Doug Wojcik will be the next head coach at Tulsa. Tom Izzo says his team can make some noise in March: "I think we're a dangerous team because I don't know who's going to be our leading scorer so I sure as heck know they (the opponents) don't know."
Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan says he's glad his team is in a Friday-Sunday bracket and gets an extra day of rest after going to the finals of the Big Ten tournament....Fretting about the Badger guards here.
Minnesota coach Dan Monson says Iowa State guards Curtis Stinson and Will Blalock compare favorably to the more renowned Illinois guards....The Gophers' journey to Charlotte for first- and, potentially, second-round play marks a homecoming for Vincent Grier....St. Paul Pioneer Press columnist Bob Sansevere says, unlike past squads in Minneapolis, this is "coach Dan Monson's kind of team, a bunch of scrappy young men who will do anything they're told."
Illinois coach Bruce Weber was named the winner of the Henry Iba Award from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association yesterday. He is the first Illini coach ever to win the award. Meanwhile, Weber says coping with the death of his mother while preparing his team for postseason play has left him "punch drunk." (Lindsey Willhite of the Daily Herald compares Weber to an "exhausted marathoner.")...Fairleigh Dickinson coach Tom Green says he and his team are "quite frankly terrified" of the Illini and indeed may not even come out of the locker room Thursday night. "We may just forfeit," Green said before curling up into a ball with a stuffed knight and sobbing profusely in front of a room full of stunned reporters. No, just kidding: Green voices predictably plucky underdog speak here and here. Fairleigh Dickinson will play in front of more people in the RCA Dome Thursday night than in all the rest of their home games combined. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Ron Rapoport notes that FDU is only 63 years old. (Update! Wonk says: so what? At just 49 years of age, Wisconsin-Milwaukee is younger than some Wonk Cousins!) Fellow Sun-Times columnist Carol Slezak says: "out of all the No. 1 seeds, it looks to me like Illinois has the easiest road to the Final Four."...Former NC State great Derek Whittenburg, now coach of Fordham, talks about Illinois and the history and current prevalence of the three-guard lineup....Dee Brown dental coverage (har!) here and here. BONUS reach! For his part, Wonk takes mouth-related maladies as a good omen for the Illini. In the 1989 regional final in Minneapolis, Kendall Gill took a Syracuse elbow to the mouth and bled all over the place. (In that kindler, gentler era, he stayed in the game and play continued). And that team went to the Final Four. Cause-and-effect or post hoc ergo propter hoc? You make the call!
BONUS fun fact! Only four of the nation's top ten teams in three-point shooting are in the tournament. But all ten of the nation's top ten teams in rebounding have been invited to the dance.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
So many players we don't want to see bald
Welcome to Day 2 of Wonk's EXCLUSIVE coverage of Big Ten Players We Don't Want to See Bald!
Longtime readers will recall an idyllic bygone era known as yesterday, when your intrepid blogger noted that Iowa rebounding machine Greg Brunner has shaved his head in honor of a pledge he had made to do so if the Hawkeyes made the tournament. This made Wonk speculate aloud that: a) this probably won't be a good look for Brunner (UPDATE: it's not); and b) there are likely many other players in the conference we don't want to see bald.
And how! Judging from the reaction of the alert readers, the very idea of some Big Ten stalwarts sporting reflective lids fills Wonk's readers with Edvard Munch-level horror! So without further ado....
Early leaders: players we don't want to see bald
Zach Morley, Wisconsin
Nick Smith, Illinois
Alert reader Doug K. says of a hypothetically bald Smith: "He would look like the vulture in the old Bugs Bunny cartoon. You know, the one who had to bring home something for dinner for his mother."
Keep those nominations coming!
¶ 7:32 AM
Monday, March 14, 2005
Taking the fifth
Wonk has to be honest: this blogger was worried for Iowa when, after Illinois had been announced as the overall number 1-seed and the Chicago regional had been revealed, that second (Albuquerque) regional was announced and there wasn't a Big Ten team anywhere in it. "They'll never put four Big Ten teams into just two regionals," Wonk thought.
But that's precisely what the selection committee did....
Illinois (1-seed, Chicago Regional)
First-round opponent: (16) Fairleigh Dickinson (Thursday, Indianapolis)
Michigan State (5-seed, Austin Regional)
First-round opponent: (12) Old Dominion (Friday, Worcester, MA)
Wisconsin (6-seed, Syracuse Regional)
First-round opponent: (11) Northern Iowa (Friday, Oklahoma City)
Minnesota (8-seed, Syracuse Regional)
First-round opponent: (9) Iowa State (Friday, Charlotte, NC)
Iowa (10-seed, Austin Regional)
First-round opponent: (7) Cincinnati (Thursday, Indianapolis)
(Note that fans going to Indianapolis can see both Illinois and Iowa in action on Thursday. Wonk wishes he could join you.)
This blogger is very, very happy that the Big Ten put five teams into the dance. Five is so much more than last year's three and, for supplying that margin of difference, fulsome thanks go out to the Minnesota Golden Gophers (who'd-a-thunk in November?) and the Iowa Hawkeyes (who'd-a-thunk in February?).
Now the question becomes: how much damage can those five teams do? It's going to be tough, of course. Four of the five are seeded with an expectation that they'll be gone come midnight this Sunday night. Here's Wonk's look at the road ahead for these five teams....
Illinois (32-1, 1-seed, Chicago Regional)
This is a kind bracket for the Illini. The 2-3-4-seeds are Oklahoma State, Arizona, and Boston College. Worthy foes all, certainly (especially those first two), and yet the regional is bereft of any of the teams most highly respected, shall we say, by Illini Nation (principally Georgia Tech as a possible first-weekend opponent and Connecticut and Kansas as potential Sweet 16/Elite Eight foes--plus Carolina, of course, but no one thought the Heels were going anywhere but a 1-seed).
On Thursday the Illini face Tamien Trent, Gordon Klaiber, and the Northeast Conference tournament champs Fairleigh Dickinson Knights. BONUS grammatical issue! Hyphen or no hyphen? "Fairleigh-Dickinson" or "Fairleigh Dickinson"? The MSM seems to say yes to the hyphen but Kyle Whelliston says no. And, what do you know, Kyle's right! (Man, first the MSM screws up the RPI and now this--not a good week for the media giants.) Anyway, the Knights have played a couple of "power conference" opponents: on December 4 they lost at California 80-66. Two days later they lost at Arizona State by the very respectable score of 89-81. And on December 22 they lost at Rutgers 88-57. So assuming Illinois wins Thursday and keeps the mother of all winning streaks going (since the tournament was expanded to 64 teams in 1985 1-seeds are 80-0 against 16-seeds--not that Princeton didn't get Georgetown's attention in 1989), Bruce Weber's team will meet the winner of Texas vs. Nevada on Saturday. The Longhorns are worthy of respect, certainly. They won at Oklahoma State a week ago--but then lost by 12 to not-very-scary Colorado in the Big 12 Tournament. And you'll doubtless remember Nevada from their run to last year's Sweet 16. (Michigan State and Gonzaga certainly do.) They lost Kirk Snyder to the NBA and coach Trent Johnson to Stanford but they still have Nick Fazekas, all 6-11, 21.5 points and 9.4 rebounds of him.
Michigan State (22-6, 5-seed, Austin Regional)
The Spartans face Old Dominion on Friday in one of those dreaded 5-12 games that seem to screw up office pools so frequently. With a gaudy 28-5 record and a Colonial Athletic Association tournament title, the Monarchs are led by Aussie Alex Loughton, a 6-9 forward who put up 28 points and 11 boards in the CAA final. And they have some impressive wins, most notably Kent State, St. Joseph's, TCU and Drexel. Should the Spartans prevail there they will face the winner of Syracuse vs. Vermont (sure to be one of the most-watched first-round games: Hakim Warrick vs. Taylor Coppenrath). Either of those two teams would give State a game--and vice versa.
The 1-2-3 seeds in the Austin Regional are Duke, Kentucky, and Oklahoma.
Wisconsin (22-7, 6-seed, Syracuse Regional)
One of the most controversial selections of the tournament, Northern Iowa, looms for the Badgers on Friday. Last night's instanalysis centered around the Panthers (who seemed doomed after losing in the quarters of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament) and UAB receiving invites while Notre Dame and Miami of Ohio were left out. Be that as it may, Northern Iowa's in at 21-10, with a win over Southern Illinois to their credit. If the Badgers win that game they move on to the winner of Kansas vs. Bucknell. If KU were to win that first-round game, Jayhawk coach Bill Self is, of course, very familiar with Bo Ryan and his sets--that would be an interesting game.
In addition to Kansas, the other top seeds in the Syracuse Regional are impressive, to say the least: North Carolina, Connecticut, and Florida.
Minnesota (21-10, 8-seed, Syracuse Regional)
The Gophers will play Iowa State Friday. The Cyclones caught the attention of the hoops world with their win at Kansas on February 19, a game in which Curtis Stinson fairly put his team on his back and led them to a stunner in venerable Allen Fieldhouse. If Minnesota manages to advance they will play the winner of North Carolina vs. Team X (the winner of tomorrow night's play-in game between Alabama A&M and Oakland). Wonk thinks the Gophers can give the Heels a game, even in Charlotte--if they don't turn the ball over.
Iowa (21-11, 10-seed, Austin Regional)
Bob Huggins' Cincinnati Bearcats will take on the Hawkeyes Thursday in Indianapolis. Led by Jason Maxiell on both offense (15.3 points) and defense (only Kenyon Martin has more career blocks at UC), the Bearcats are talented as always but lacking in quality wins. Should Iowa prevail they will face the winner of Kentucky vs. Eastern Kentucky.
OFFICIAL bracket of Big Ten Wonk fans!
Indefatigable college hoops blogger Yoni Cohen has a spiffy NCAA Tournament Bloggers Bracket that any self-respecting Wonk fan will want to call home for the next three weeks. (You'll love the Genie!) It's up and running so link right now and tell Yoni Wonk sent you!
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Illinois beat Wisconsin 54-43 to win the Big Ten Tournament title yesterday. James Augustine was named tournament MVP after averaging a double-double (12.7 points, 10.3 boards) over the three games. Meanwhile Dee Brown's shooting woes continued--the junior guard went 0-for-8 from the field. (Recaps here and here. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Dale Hoffman says: "It's hard to shoot when you can't breathe, and Illinois' collapsing defense made sandwiches of Wisconsin's big men while daring the guards to make them pay from the perimeter." Wisconsin State Journal columnist Tom Oates says the Illini are a team that can beat the Badgers "anywhere, anytime, playing at any speed.")
Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey looks at Brown's recent struggles and says "deep down, no one is sure when Brown's offense will return." Copley News Service columnist Mike Nadel says never mind Brown's shooting, "Illinois' side of the bracket is incredibly favorable." Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper blogs that "no team is perfect," not even the other 1-seeds. St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell says the Illini are embarking "on the final steps of its fantasy voyage season." Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti is already looking ahead to a potential regional final between the Illini and Oklahoma State. Mariotti's fellow columnist at the Sun-Times, Rick Telander, is already looking ahead to a potential national championship game between the Illini and Duke. On the other hand, Telander's fellow columnist at the Sun-Times, Ron Rapoport, says Illinois certainly isn't playing like the best team in the country. And Daily Herald columnist Mike Imrem says he's been telling people "for weeks" that Illinois is going to lose in the second round to Nevada.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo says the tournament is an opportunity for his players "to prove something to themselves." (He also says "it's been the hardest year I've had in a lot of ways.") Senior guard Chris Hill says he and his teammates will "go out Friday and lay it on the line."
Minnesota forward J'son Stamper knows Iowa State's Curtis Stinson: the two grew up within 20 minutes of each other in the Bronx: "He's my boy from back home." Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan says this was a special day for the Gopher seniors. St. Paul Pioneer Press columnist Tom Powers says this was a special day for coach Dan Monson. And Minnesota's athletic director calls the bid "huge."
Iowa rebounding machine Greg Brunner is now bald: "I made a bet with the team that if we go to tournament I would shave my head, and I am a man of my word." (Wonk hasn't seen the pictures and is no expert on such matters but the betting here is that this will not be a good look for the young man. BONUS reader-involvement gimmick! Wonk is now taking nominations for Players You Don't Want to See Bald. Send in your vote today!) Coach Steve Alford says his team is "excited."
Indiana coach Mike Davis couldn't be reached for comment last night after his Hoosiers were left out of the tournament. They will play Vanderbilt in the first round of the NIT Wednesday night in Bloomington. Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz says, with zero in-state teams going to the dance, basketball in the state of Indiana has officially reached "rock bottom."
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
March speculation on April coaching changes....
Wonk,
I've been reading your blog for most of the season--thank Grant Wahl at SI.com for pointing it out as one of the best Big Ten blogs out there. I'd have to agree personally.
But now, I have a real question (which you are allowed to wait until after Selection Sunday to answer). Which current Big Ten coaches will not return for the 2005-2006 season? And Gene Keady does not count as an answer!
In my mind, there are three coaches that might get the axe: Davis, Alford, and Amaker. Amaker has fallen short of expectations the past two years (especially after the dream season of 13 consecutive wins in '02-'03, and the Wolverines were as bad as they've ever been this past year (sob). Plus there have been rumors that he might bolt for the Virginia job if offered. But it would be tough for Bill Martin to let him go already so I think he'll get one more year (but no more than that).
A week ago, I would've said Alford was the leader of this pack, but Iowa's come on strong--an NCAA bid would ensure him job security. Now, I have to say that Davis is the front-runner. He started by going to the national championship game, then delivered IU's first losing season in a long, long time. As of today (Saturday, March 12) I don't see how the Hoosiers will be in the NCAA tournament. What are your thoughts on this?
And, if you feel up to it, who's gonna replace the coaches that you think will not return?
Keep up the good blogging.
Dave W.
Thanks, Dave! (Nice prediction on the Virginia vacancy!) As for my learned speculation: all of the above will be back next year. It's interesting to ponder, though, what might have become of Alford had Alan Anderson made those two free throws on Friday night....
¶ 7:16 AM
Wonk has to be honest: this blogger was worried for Iowa when, after Illinois had been announced as the overall number 1-seed and the Chicago regional had been revealed, that second (Albuquerque) regional was announced and there wasn't a Big Ten team anywhere in it. "They'll never put four Big Ten teams into just two regionals," Wonk thought.
But that's precisely what the selection committee did....
Illinois (1-seed, Chicago Regional)
First-round opponent: (16) Fairleigh Dickinson (Thursday, Indianapolis)
Michigan State (5-seed, Austin Regional)
First-round opponent: (12) Old Dominion (Friday, Worcester, MA)
Wisconsin (6-seed, Syracuse Regional)
First-round opponent: (11) Northern Iowa (Friday, Oklahoma City)
Minnesota (8-seed, Syracuse Regional)
First-round opponent: (9) Iowa State (Friday, Charlotte, NC)
Iowa (10-seed, Austin Regional)
First-round opponent: (7) Cincinnati (Thursday, Indianapolis)
(Note that fans going to Indianapolis can see both Illinois and Iowa in action on Thursday. Wonk wishes he could join you.)
This blogger is very, very happy that the Big Ten put five teams into the dance. Five is so much more than last year's three and, for supplying that margin of difference, fulsome thanks go out to the Minnesota Golden Gophers (who'd-a-thunk in November?) and the Iowa Hawkeyes (who'd-a-thunk in February?).
Now the question becomes: how much damage can those five teams do? It's going to be tough, of course. Four of the five are seeded with an expectation that they'll be gone come midnight this Sunday night. Here's Wonk's look at the road ahead for these five teams....
Illinois (32-1, 1-seed, Chicago Regional)
This is a kind bracket for the Illini. The 2-3-4-seeds are Oklahoma State, Arizona, and Boston College. Worthy foes all, certainly (especially those first two), and yet the regional is bereft of any of the teams most highly respected, shall we say, by Illini Nation (principally Georgia Tech as a possible first-weekend opponent and Connecticut and Kansas as potential Sweet 16/Elite Eight foes--plus Carolina, of course, but no one thought the Heels were going anywhere but a 1-seed).
On Thursday the Illini face Tamien Trent, Gordon Klaiber, and the Northeast Conference tournament champs Fairleigh Dickinson Knights. BONUS grammatical issue! Hyphen or no hyphen? "Fairleigh-Dickinson" or "Fairleigh Dickinson"? The MSM seems to say yes to the hyphen but Kyle Whelliston says no. And, what do you know, Kyle's right! (Man, first the MSM screws up the RPI and now this--not a good week for the media giants.) Anyway, the Knights have played a couple of "power conference" opponents: on December 4 they lost at California 80-66. Two days later they lost at Arizona State by the very respectable score of 89-81. And on December 22 they lost at Rutgers 88-57. So assuming Illinois wins Thursday and keeps the mother of all winning streaks going (since the tournament was expanded to 64 teams in 1985 1-seeds are 80-0 against 16-seeds--not that Princeton didn't get Georgetown's attention in 1989), Bruce Weber's team will meet the winner of Texas vs. Nevada on Saturday. The Longhorns are worthy of respect, certainly. They won at Oklahoma State a week ago--but then lost by 12 to not-very-scary Colorado in the Big 12 Tournament. And you'll doubtless remember Nevada from their run to last year's Sweet 16. (Michigan State and Gonzaga certainly do.) They lost Kirk Snyder to the NBA and coach Trent Johnson to Stanford but they still have Nick Fazekas, all 6-11, 21.5 points and 9.4 rebounds of him.
Michigan State (22-6, 5-seed, Austin Regional)
The Spartans face Old Dominion on Friday in one of those dreaded 5-12 games that seem to screw up office pools so frequently. With a gaudy 28-5 record and a Colonial Athletic Association tournament title, the Monarchs are led by Aussie Alex Loughton, a 6-9 forward who put up 28 points and 11 boards in the CAA final. And they have some impressive wins, most notably Kent State, St. Joseph's, TCU and Drexel. Should the Spartans prevail there they will face the winner of Syracuse vs. Vermont (sure to be one of the most-watched first-round games: Hakim Warrick vs. Taylor Coppenrath). Either of those two teams would give State a game--and vice versa.
The 1-2-3 seeds in the Austin Regional are Duke, Kentucky, and Oklahoma.
Wisconsin (22-7, 6-seed, Syracuse Regional)
One of the most controversial selections of the tournament, Northern Iowa, looms for the Badgers on Friday. Last night's instanalysis centered around the Panthers (who seemed doomed after losing in the quarters of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament) and UAB receiving invites while Notre Dame and Miami of Ohio were left out. Be that as it may, Northern Iowa's in at 21-10, with a win over Southern Illinois to their credit. If the Badgers win that game they move on to the winner of Kansas vs. Bucknell. If KU were to win that first-round game, Jayhawk coach Bill Self is, of course, very familiar with Bo Ryan and his sets--that would be an interesting game.
In addition to Kansas, the other top seeds in the Syracuse Regional are impressive, to say the least: North Carolina, Connecticut, and Florida.
Minnesota (21-10, 8-seed, Syracuse Regional)
The Gophers will play Iowa State Friday. The Cyclones caught the attention of the hoops world with their win at Kansas on February 19, a game in which Curtis Stinson fairly put his team on his back and led them to a stunner in venerable Allen Fieldhouse. If Minnesota manages to advance they will play the winner of North Carolina vs. Team X (the winner of tomorrow night's play-in game between Alabama A&M and Oakland). Wonk thinks the Gophers can give the Heels a game, even in Charlotte--if they don't turn the ball over.
Iowa (21-11, 10-seed, Austin Regional)
Bob Huggins' Cincinnati Bearcats will take on the Hawkeyes Thursday in Indianapolis. Led by Jason Maxiell on both offense (15.3 points) and defense (only Kenyon Martin has more career blocks at UC), the Bearcats are talented as always but lacking in quality wins. Should Iowa prevail they will face the winner of Kentucky vs. Eastern Kentucky.
OFFICIAL bracket of Big Ten Wonk fans!
Indefatigable college hoops blogger Yoni Cohen has a spiffy NCAA Tournament Bloggers Bracket that any self-respecting Wonk fan will want to call home for the next three weeks. (You'll love the Genie!) It's up and running so link right now and tell Yoni Wonk sent you!
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Illinois beat Wisconsin 54-43 to win the Big Ten Tournament title yesterday. James Augustine was named tournament MVP after averaging a double-double (12.7 points, 10.3 boards) over the three games. Meanwhile Dee Brown's shooting woes continued--the junior guard went 0-for-8 from the field. (Recaps here and here. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Dale Hoffman says: "It's hard to shoot when you can't breathe, and Illinois' collapsing defense made sandwiches of Wisconsin's big men while daring the guards to make them pay from the perimeter." Wisconsin State Journal columnist Tom Oates says the Illini are a team that can beat the Badgers "anywhere, anytime, playing at any speed.")
Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey looks at Brown's recent struggles and says "deep down, no one is sure when Brown's offense will return." Copley News Service columnist Mike Nadel says never mind Brown's shooting, "Illinois' side of the bracket is incredibly favorable." Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper blogs that "no team is perfect," not even the other 1-seeds. St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell says the Illini are embarking "on the final steps of its fantasy voyage season." Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti is already looking ahead to a potential regional final between the Illini and Oklahoma State. Mariotti's fellow columnist at the Sun-Times, Rick Telander, is already looking ahead to a potential national championship game between the Illini and Duke. On the other hand, Telander's fellow columnist at the Sun-Times, Ron Rapoport, says Illinois certainly isn't playing like the best team in the country. And Daily Herald columnist Mike Imrem says he's been telling people "for weeks" that Illinois is going to lose in the second round to Nevada.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo says the tournament is an opportunity for his players "to prove something to themselves." (He also says "it's been the hardest year I've had in a lot of ways.") Senior guard Chris Hill says he and his teammates will "go out Friday and lay it on the line."
Minnesota forward J'son Stamper knows Iowa State's Curtis Stinson: the two grew up within 20 minutes of each other in the Bronx: "He's my boy from back home." Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan says this was a special day for the Gopher seniors. St. Paul Pioneer Press columnist Tom Powers says this was a special day for coach Dan Monson. And Minnesota's athletic director calls the bid "huge."
Iowa rebounding machine Greg Brunner is now bald: "I made a bet with the team that if we go to tournament I would shave my head, and I am a man of my word." (Wonk hasn't seen the pictures and is no expert on such matters but the betting here is that this will not be a good look for the young man. BONUS reader-involvement gimmick! Wonk is now taking nominations for Players You Don't Want to See Bald. Send in your vote today!) Coach Steve Alford says his team is "excited."
Indiana coach Mike Davis couldn't be reached for comment last night after his Hoosiers were left out of the tournament. They will play Vanderbilt in the first round of the NIT Wednesday night in Bloomington. Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz says, with zero in-state teams going to the dance, basketball in the state of Indiana has officially reached "rock bottom."
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
March speculation on April coaching changes....
Wonk,
I've been reading your blog for most of the season--thank Grant Wahl at SI.com for pointing it out as one of the best Big Ten blogs out there. I'd have to agree personally.
But now, I have a real question (which you are allowed to wait until after Selection Sunday to answer). Which current Big Ten coaches will not return for the 2005-2006 season? And Gene Keady does not count as an answer!
In my mind, there are three coaches that might get the axe: Davis, Alford, and Amaker. Amaker has fallen short of expectations the past two years (especially after the dream season of 13 consecutive wins in '02-'03, and the Wolverines were as bad as they've ever been this past year (sob). Plus there have been rumors that he might bolt for the Virginia job if offered. But it would be tough for Bill Martin to let him go already so I think he'll get one more year (but no more than that).
A week ago, I would've said Alford was the leader of this pack, but Iowa's come on strong--an NCAA bid would ensure him job security. Now, I have to say that Davis is the front-runner. He started by going to the national championship game, then delivered IU's first losing season in a long, long time. As of today (Saturday, March 12) I don't see how the Hoosiers will be in the NCAA tournament. What are your thoughts on this?
And, if you feel up to it, who's gonna replace the coaches that you think will not return?
Keep up the good blogging.
Dave W.
Thanks, Dave! (Nice prediction on the Virginia vacancy!) As for my learned speculation: all of the above will be back next year. It's interesting to ponder, though, what might have become of Alford had Alan Anderson made those two free throws on Friday night....
¶ 7:16 AM
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Glass act
For the second consecutive year, the teams in the Big Ten Tournament final are:
(3) Wisconsin vs. (1) Illinois (CBS, 2:30pm CST)
Here's how it came to pass....
Wisconsin 59, Iowa 56
The Badgers beat the Hawkeyes yesterday on a last-second three off the glass by Alando Tucker, launched after he'd dribbled the length of the floor with 3.7 seconds left on the clock. Officials viewed a replay to confirm that the ball left Tucker's hands before time expired. Wisconsin's win was impressive inasmuch as they did it almost entirely without the aid of Mike Wilkinson, limited to a double-single (nine points, six boards) and relegated to the bench for much of the second half with four fouls.
BONUS glimpse at the Hawkeye playbook. Down 56-54 in the game's closing moments, Iowa tied the game on a put-back by Greg Brunner. The rebound was set up by a play in which Jeff Horner drove toward the right baseline and then, just before going out of bounds, whipped a pass under the basket all the way out to the left wing, where Adam Haluska was spotted up outside the arc. Haluska's shot was off but Brunner got the board and tied the game.
Wonk has seen this play from the Hawkeyes before and it is, to say the least, unorthodox. Future opponents guarding Horner in this situation will want to follow him out of bounds and deny the pass.
Links. Wisconsin State Journal columnist Tom Oates says today's final will be worth watching because the Badgers are a "worthy opponent for the Illini." Wonk disagrees! Wisconsin is indisputably a worthy foe but today's game will be meaningless for both teams because, for better or worse, they're both seeded already. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Dale Hoffman agrees with Wonk: "Other than notoriety, upending the Illini won't do a thing for Wisconsin if the selection committee ignores the result the way it did last year.") What's worse, neither team will have any legs after two games in two days. (Notice how ugly both second halves were yesterday?) Thank goodness, in a weird way, that Illinois is no longer undefeated and that their quest for perfection was never subjected to the mercy of an artificial made-for-TV contrivance like today's game. Wonk will tune in primarily to hear Billy Packer bloviate.
Oates also says Badger big man Zach Morley is "undoubtedly the tournament's MVP so far." Longtime readers of this blog may recall that Wonk's crack staff of software development engineers have perfected a Big-Ten-hoops-savvy program called HoopCheck. When this blogger typed the words "Zach Morley" and "undoubtedly the tournament MVP," HoopCheck repeatedly highlighted the sentence with a green squiggly line. When Wonk right-clicks he gets the following "suggested change":
"Undoubtedly the player who looks most like Mickey Dolenz of the Monkeys."
Bo Ryan's optometrist needs to "step up." "You can’t tell me that team playing out there tonight in the dark uniforms wasn’t a team that can play in the tournament," Ryan said of the Hawkeyes and their tournament hopes. Iowa was wearing their gold uniforms....Ryan says last-second shots are "something we've done a thousand times (in practice). We didn't make that shot a thousand times--understand that. That was a break. But as far as the catch, getting it up the floor and trying to get the shot off, that's what you need to do." This is Tucker's second game-winning shot in the past couple weeks, having made one on March 1 against Indiana....Iowa coach Steve Alford sounded a philosophical note: "Last night we got the breaks; tonight Wisconsin got them." (Though Alford did refer to Tucker's game-winner, somewhat derisively, as "a fadeaway, double-clutch bank shot.") Hawkeye rebounding fool Greg Brunner says his team deserves an NCAA bid: "Our entire season we haven't had one game where we haven't shown up." Columnist Pat Harty of the Iowa City Press-Citizen says: "It would be a bummer if Alando Tucker's 25-foot running bank shot at the buzzer proved to be the difference in Iowa making the NCAA tournament for just the second time in six seasons." Columnist Sean Keeler of the Des Moines Register weighs Iowa's chances for a tournament bid and in the process cites Ken Pomeroy's "excellent" blog. Welcome to the fan club, Sean!
Illinois 64, Minnesota 56
The Illini reached a new low by notching a season-high 23 turnovers. Was it poor play by Illinois or feisty ball-hawking D from those pesky Gophers? Mostly the former. There were some outright steals (most notably when Vincent Grier picked Rich McBride's pocket beautifully and then blew the dunk) but Illinois recorded many more traveling violations, offensive fouls, and passes to empty spots on the floor. And they shot just .357 from the field. And won by eight.
Good board work did the trick for the Illini. Bruce Weber's team pounded the Gophers to a pulp on the glass, 45-33.
Vincent Grier led the way for Minnesota with 24 points.
Links. Gopher coach Dan Monson sounded content in defeat: "One of the things we felt in the locker room is we slugged it out toe to toe, and they were better than us today. But the margin is narrowing for us." Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan says Vincent Grier gave the Illini's vaunted guards all they could handle. Now Minnesota's thoughts turn to the big dance and Gopher big man Jeff Hagen says they're not satisfied with just an invitation: "We're excited, but we feel we can go in there and do some damage."
Pat Forde of espn.com says Bruce Weber showed courage by coaching this game within hours of the death of his mother (and after having missed his first team meeting in his two years as coach). Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper, posting to his blog, agrees. By one writer's lights, "the normally indefatigable Weber appeared wan and worn by his family's ordeal." Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti says of Weber: "Even amid tragedy, he coaches." Daily Herald columnist Mike Imrem says "Illini emotions translated into early mistakes and missed shots." Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Downey says: "Illinois—the basketball team, like the state—looks a little flat." Why are the Illini winning so ugly? Musing here.
Wonk abhors predictions. So here's one.
In a few hours your intrepid blogger will be (where else?) at a party watching the selection show. As you know, Wonk usually avoids predictions entirely (finds he looks smarter that way) but in this instance I think it's only fair to give some additional grounds for mockery of Wonk come tomorrow. So here's what I think we'll see as far as Big Ten teams.
Illinois (1-seed)
Michigan State (5-seed)
Wisconsin (5-seed)
Minnesota (9-seed)
Iowa (11-seed)
Wonk sees some brackets out there in pundit land with some higher numbers, particularly for Minnesota and Iowa. But cruel experience the last two years (in 2003 some poor souls actually thought top-10-ranked Illinois would be a 2-seed--they were given a 4) has taught this blogger to hedge his bets where seeds are concerned.
Could the Hawkeyes be left out entirely? Surely. We'll wait and see....
OFFICIAL bracket of Big Ten Wonk fans!
Indefatigable college hoops blogger Yoni Cohen has a spiffy NCAA Tournament Bloggers Bracket that any self-respecting Wonk fan will want to call home for the next three weeks. (You'll love the Genie!) It's up and running so link right now and tell Yoni Wonk sent you!
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Ah, that heartiest of perennials! A modest proposal to expand the NCAA tournament field to 256 teams.
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Carol Slezak looks at Gene Keady and life after basketball.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Reporting from peace-torn East Lansing
In the aftermath of Michigan State's loss Friday night to Iowa, Wonk expected to hear from the reliable chorus of Spartan fans who regularly email after big games, win or lose. Alas, whether because of the tough loss or because of the weekend, no such emails were forthcoming. But this morning a ringer steps in to fill the void in reportage from Izzo-land....
Wonk,
I just wanted to say that your coverage of all things Big Ten basketball-related is AWESOME.
Don’t be confused by the msu.edu email address, either. I’m a die-hard Illini fan/graduate now pursuing another degree here in East Lansing, a city still reeling from the shock of last night’s game. If the undergrads weren’t all still drunk in Cancun on spring break, my forecast for mid-Michigan last night would have been for mostly-smoky skies from the burning couches with a 60-70 percent chance of outright rioting in the streets.
Keep up the great work!
Nora G.
Thanks, Nora!
¶ 8:53 AM
For the second consecutive year, the teams in the Big Ten Tournament final are:
(3) Wisconsin vs. (1) Illinois (CBS, 2:30pm CST)
Here's how it came to pass....
Wisconsin 59, Iowa 56
The Badgers beat the Hawkeyes yesterday on a last-second three off the glass by Alando Tucker, launched after he'd dribbled the length of the floor with 3.7 seconds left on the clock. Officials viewed a replay to confirm that the ball left Tucker's hands before time expired. Wisconsin's win was impressive inasmuch as they did it almost entirely without the aid of Mike Wilkinson, limited to a double-single (nine points, six boards) and relegated to the bench for much of the second half with four fouls.
BONUS glimpse at the Hawkeye playbook. Down 56-54 in the game's closing moments, Iowa tied the game on a put-back by Greg Brunner. The rebound was set up by a play in which Jeff Horner drove toward the right baseline and then, just before going out of bounds, whipped a pass under the basket all the way out to the left wing, where Adam Haluska was spotted up outside the arc. Haluska's shot was off but Brunner got the board and tied the game.
Wonk has seen this play from the Hawkeyes before and it is, to say the least, unorthodox. Future opponents guarding Horner in this situation will want to follow him out of bounds and deny the pass.
Links. Wisconsin State Journal columnist Tom Oates says today's final will be worth watching because the Badgers are a "worthy opponent for the Illini." Wonk disagrees! Wisconsin is indisputably a worthy foe but today's game will be meaningless for both teams because, for better or worse, they're both seeded already. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Dale Hoffman agrees with Wonk: "Other than notoriety, upending the Illini won't do a thing for Wisconsin if the selection committee ignores the result the way it did last year.") What's worse, neither team will have any legs after two games in two days. (Notice how ugly both second halves were yesterday?) Thank goodness, in a weird way, that Illinois is no longer undefeated and that their quest for perfection was never subjected to the mercy of an artificial made-for-TV contrivance like today's game. Wonk will tune in primarily to hear Billy Packer bloviate.
Oates also says Badger big man Zach Morley is "undoubtedly the tournament's MVP so far." Longtime readers of this blog may recall that Wonk's crack staff of software development engineers have perfected a Big-Ten-hoops-savvy program called HoopCheck. When this blogger typed the words "Zach Morley" and "undoubtedly the tournament MVP," HoopCheck repeatedly highlighted the sentence with a green squiggly line. When Wonk right-clicks he gets the following "suggested change":
"Undoubtedly the player who looks most like Mickey Dolenz of the Monkeys."
Bo Ryan's optometrist needs to "step up." "You can’t tell me that team playing out there tonight in the dark uniforms wasn’t a team that can play in the tournament," Ryan said of the Hawkeyes and their tournament hopes. Iowa was wearing their gold uniforms....Ryan says last-second shots are "something we've done a thousand times (in practice). We didn't make that shot a thousand times--understand that. That was a break. But as far as the catch, getting it up the floor and trying to get the shot off, that's what you need to do." This is Tucker's second game-winning shot in the past couple weeks, having made one on March 1 against Indiana....Iowa coach Steve Alford sounded a philosophical note: "Last night we got the breaks; tonight Wisconsin got them." (Though Alford did refer to Tucker's game-winner, somewhat derisively, as "a fadeaway, double-clutch bank shot.") Hawkeye rebounding fool Greg Brunner says his team deserves an NCAA bid: "Our entire season we haven't had one game where we haven't shown up." Columnist Pat Harty of the Iowa City Press-Citizen says: "It would be a bummer if Alando Tucker's 25-foot running bank shot at the buzzer proved to be the difference in Iowa making the NCAA tournament for just the second time in six seasons." Columnist Sean Keeler of the Des Moines Register weighs Iowa's chances for a tournament bid and in the process cites Ken Pomeroy's "excellent" blog. Welcome to the fan club, Sean!
Illinois 64, Minnesota 56
The Illini reached a new low by notching a season-high 23 turnovers. Was it poor play by Illinois or feisty ball-hawking D from those pesky Gophers? Mostly the former. There were some outright steals (most notably when Vincent Grier picked Rich McBride's pocket beautifully and then blew the dunk) but Illinois recorded many more traveling violations, offensive fouls, and passes to empty spots on the floor. And they shot just .357 from the field. And won by eight.
Good board work did the trick for the Illini. Bruce Weber's team pounded the Gophers to a pulp on the glass, 45-33.
Vincent Grier led the way for Minnesota with 24 points.
Links. Gopher coach Dan Monson sounded content in defeat: "One of the things we felt in the locker room is we slugged it out toe to toe, and they were better than us today. But the margin is narrowing for us." Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan says Vincent Grier gave the Illini's vaunted guards all they could handle. Now Minnesota's thoughts turn to the big dance and Gopher big man Jeff Hagen says they're not satisfied with just an invitation: "We're excited, but we feel we can go in there and do some damage."
Pat Forde of espn.com says Bruce Weber showed courage by coaching this game within hours of the death of his mother (and after having missed his first team meeting in his two years as coach). Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper, posting to his blog, agrees. By one writer's lights, "the normally indefatigable Weber appeared wan and worn by his family's ordeal." Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti says of Weber: "Even amid tragedy, he coaches." Daily Herald columnist Mike Imrem says "Illini emotions translated into early mistakes and missed shots." Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Downey says: "Illinois—the basketball team, like the state—looks a little flat." Why are the Illini winning so ugly? Musing here.
Wonk abhors predictions. So here's one.
In a few hours your intrepid blogger will be (where else?) at a party watching the selection show. As you know, Wonk usually avoids predictions entirely (finds he looks smarter that way) but in this instance I think it's only fair to give some additional grounds for mockery of Wonk come tomorrow. So here's what I think we'll see as far as Big Ten teams.
Illinois (1-seed)
Michigan State (5-seed)
Wisconsin (5-seed)
Minnesota (9-seed)
Iowa (11-seed)
Wonk sees some brackets out there in pundit land with some higher numbers, particularly for Minnesota and Iowa. But cruel experience the last two years (in 2003 some poor souls actually thought top-10-ranked Illinois would be a 2-seed--they were given a 4) has taught this blogger to hedge his bets where seeds are concerned.
Could the Hawkeyes be left out entirely? Surely. We'll wait and see....
OFFICIAL bracket of Big Ten Wonk fans!
Indefatigable college hoops blogger Yoni Cohen has a spiffy NCAA Tournament Bloggers Bracket that any self-respecting Wonk fan will want to call home for the next three weeks. (You'll love the Genie!) It's up and running so link right now and tell Yoni Wonk sent you!
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
Ah, that heartiest of perennials! A modest proposal to expand the NCAA tournament field to 256 teams.
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Carol Slezak looks at Gene Keady and life after basketball.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Reporting from peace-torn East Lansing
In the aftermath of Michigan State's loss Friday night to Iowa, Wonk expected to hear from the reliable chorus of Spartan fans who regularly email after big games, win or lose. Alas, whether because of the tough loss or because of the weekend, no such emails were forthcoming. But this morning a ringer steps in to fill the void in reportage from Izzo-land....
Wonk,
I just wanted to say that your coverage of all things Big Ten basketball-related is AWESOME.
Don’t be confused by the msu.edu email address, either. I’m a die-hard Illini fan/graduate now pursuing another degree here in East Lansing, a city still reeling from the shock of last night’s game. If the undergrads weren’t all still drunk in Cancun on spring break, my forecast for mid-Michigan last night would have been for mostly-smoky skies from the burning couches with a 60-70 percent chance of outright rioting in the streets.
Keep up the great work!
Nora G.
Thanks, Nora!
¶ 8:53 AM
Saturday, March 12, 2005
"Upset city!" East Lansing edition
Iowa's win over Michigan State on a neutral floor last night was, to this blogger's eyes, as big an upset as Ohio State beating Illinois in Columbus on Sunday. Certainly as big a surprise. The 7-seed's dismissal of the 2 leaves today's Big Ten semi's looking like this (all times Central):
(1) Illinois vs. (5) Minnesota (12:40pm, CBS)
(7) Iowa vs. (3) Wisconsin (3:05pm, CBS)
How did we get here?
Iowa 71, Michigan State 69
Not only would the Spartans have won this game if they'd shot free throws the way they had all season (.791), Tom Izzo's team would have won this game if they'd shot free throws like an average Big Ten team (.696). Instead, as we all now know, State shot .500 (15 of 30) and lost. And, make no mistake, that was the difference. (Although the Hawkeyes did surprisingly well on the boards, outrebounding Michigan State by one.) Shooting .696 from the line would have given the Spartans five more points: the final would have been MSU 74, Iowa 71, and Wonk would be posting this morning about how Tom Izzo's team was inherently superior, too deep, too fast, etc.
Not that Iowa didn't do its level best to give the game away. In the game's final minute with the Hawkeyes nursing a seemingly comfortable five-point lead, Adam Haluska fouled Kelvin Torbert on a made three and gave the Spartans an opportunity for a four-point play. (Haluska fouled out on the play and at that moment there was fear in Iowa's eyes. They were thinking: Evanston. But it turned out it didn't matter. Torbert missed the free throw.) And Mike Henderson gave State the ball with about 20 seconds left when, with no Spartan within 15 feet of him, he simply failed to catch a pass.
And so with six seconds left in the game and the Spartans down by a point, Alan Anderson missed two free throws. For the game he was 5-of-10 from the line. Prior to last night's game, Anderson, the best free-throw shooter in the Big Ten in conference play (.927), had missed four free throws during the entire conference season.
Wonk is writing this before reading the write-ups on the game and, frankly, this blogger shudders to think what will be said of the Spartans in some quarters after this loss. It does indeed feel like we've seen this movie before: the loss at home to Wisconsin last year (the forever-furled banner game), the loss at Wisconsin this year, and now this. All hinging on free throws in the final minutes. All losses.
Other random notes....
Jeff Horner paid tribute to absent comrade Pierre Pierce by becoming Pierce. Good grief, that wild shot (it went in) flung over the defender just before he went out of bounds on the baseline? Somewhere Pierce--eyes closed, fingers to his temples--was chanting: "Shoot, Jeff. Shoot. Again. Again. And again. Now turn the ball over."....
The blow-by and subsequent two-handed dunk that Alan Anderson inflicted upon Greg Brunner with a little more than four minutes left in the game made Wonk jump up and, much to the bewilderment of the Wonk Wife, say: "Yes, exactly!" Because this opportunity is there all-game every game for anyone playing against Brunner, even players not as quick as Anderson. To the Wisconsin Badgers, this blogger says: read up on your Wonk! (Starting here.)...
BONUS griping about the refs! Your intrepid blogger is on the record as declaring that complaints about officials comprise a singularly unpromising and invariably dull topic for blogging. So, without further ado, allow me to complain about the officials!
Wonk hated the way this game was called. It was called consistently, mind you, but consistency in hyperactive over-whistling is no virtue. There was a whistle every time one player's shadow crossed another. The players, naturally, drew the logical conclusion and set about calling for the ball and then grimly flinging themselves into the nearest defender. Whistle! Foul! Free throws! Never mind that the offensive player's creating the contact.
Just to spice things up with a little variety, one such whistle actually went against the man with the ball, one Greg Brunner. Driving the baseline, he'd just done a pretty fair imitation of a fullback at the goal line. When he realized the call was actually against him his look of o-the-humanity! shock and dismay was priceless.
Are they in? Yesterday Wonk breezily offered that a win against Michigan State would indeed make Iowa a true bubble team, worthy of study as a possible NCAA invitee. And so they are. Put it this way: it will be tough--not impossible, mind you, but tough--to keep them out. And so we may well be presented with the odd spectacle of a team (Indiana) being left out of the tournament even though they finished three games ahead of a team that got a bid. Incredible.
And on such things as multiple free-throw misses by .927 shooters, coaches' jobs ride.
Links. Start with the briskly efficient game recap at Hawkeye Hoops, defining state of the art in team blogs since 2004. As for MSM goodies....Iowa City Press-Citizen columnist Pat Harty says Mike Henderson (17 points) came up big "on both ends of the court." Jeff Horner, conversely, thinks Alan Anderson's misses at the free-throw line had more to do with the outcome: "Thank God he did that." The Des Moines Register notes that little-used Iowa guard Jack Brownlee made the second of two free throws with 1.2 seconds left but does not point out that Brownlee, rightly, was in fact trying to miss that free throw....Are the Hawkeyes going to the big dance? Steve Alford makes his case here....Tom Izzo heaped praise upon the Hawkeyes: "They played like this was the most important thing in the world to them." Columnist Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press, conversely, heaps I-told-you-so's upon the Spartans: "A legacy of championship failure remains the 800-pound gorilla that drags down the Spartans in decisive late-game moments." (Even the Freep's headline-writer gets in on the act, terming last night's loss State's "latest collapse.") Lansing State Journal columnist Todd Schulz says there is a "mysterious, maddening force that takes over the collective mind of the MSU basketball team when the score gets tight." Dave Dye of the Detroit News says Michigan State "has developed a reputation as a team that struggles in tight games, and it did nothing to change that against the Hawkeyes." And Joe Rexrode of the Lansing State Journal calls this team "the incredibly repetitive Michigan State Spartans."...Izzo says he benched both Chris Hill and Drew Neitzel in the final minutes in an attempt to improve his defense: "We just felt like we had to get a better defensive team in there because Chris and Drew were struggling a little bit."
Minnesota 71, Indiana 55
The Gophers are now officially tournament locks after this surprisingly convincing win over the previously hot Hoosiers. Congratulations to Dan Monson (this was his 100th win at Minnesota), a man who's been through a lot in a short time in Minneapolis.
This will be known as the shaved-head game: Many of Indiana's players--Bracey Wright excepted--sported new-look lids for this important game but change in this instance was not a good idea. In an otherwise statistically even game, cold shooting killed Indiana: .333 for the game and just .258 in the second half, where IU was outscored 37-27.
Links. When told no team with fewer than 16 wins has won an at-large bid since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, Mike Davis, he of the 15-13 Hoosiers, responded: "Somebody has to be the first in history to do it, and there's no reason it can't be us." (He also, however, praised the victors, saying of Minnesota: "They came in here and played like they have been here before.") Columnist Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star says: "The Hoosiers are going to the NIT because that's where they belong."...Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan says the Gophers have come a long way: "This is a team that, a few months ago, was thought to be dreading Lipscomb; now it's taking on No. 1 Illinois." Souhan's colleague at the Star Tribune, Jeff Shelman, says this game "epitomized the Gophers' season. The Gophers got balanced scoring and played stifling defense, and guard Vincent Grier provided key baskets."
Wisconsin 60, Ohio State 49
The Buckeyes ended the game that ended their season looking like a tired team. This was a two-point contest with a little more than four minutes left but Wisconsin closed the night on a 12-3 run.
Wonk is thinking of going to Vegas or buying a lottery ticket or something: after ominously waggling a finger yesterday and warning that OSU's Tony Stockman was taking entirely too many shots (never mind that it worked out against Penn State), the Clemson transfer posted an 0-for-8 on his three's and the Buckeyes as a team shot just 2-for-20 from outside the arc. Thad Matta's team attempted only six free throws. Meanwhile, the Badgers got 23 points and seven boards from Zach Morley.
Links. Columnist Dale Hoffman of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says conference tournaments are made for "pluggers" and Morley fits that bill. Columnist Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal wonders if Morley just might be the long-awaited Third Man (cue the zither!) to complement overburdened scorers Mike Wilkinson and Alando Tucker. Bo Ryan says he doesn't care what the final score says: "That was a tight game."...Referring to Morley, Thad Matta said: "We had no answers." (Wonk has done a quick Lexis search and is pretty sure that's the first time those words were ever uttered with reference to Zach Morley.) Matt Sylvester says poor three-point shooting did in his team: "It's sad, because we've hit our threes all year."
Illinois 68, Northwestern 51
Despite poor three-point shooting and frequent turnovers, the Illini easily moved past the overmatched Wildcats--a victory that was immediately overshadowed by the news that Bruce Weber's mother had died suddenly. (After suffering chest pains outside the United Center before the game, Dawn Weber had been rushed to the hospital with a ruptured aorta.) Last night Weber announced that he will coach the game today against Minnesota.
Links. Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper blogs about the day's strange and ultimately sad events here. Daily Herald columnist Mike Imrem points out that Weber's brother Dave, coach of Glenbard North High School, was also coaching yesterday when he received the news. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti says the Illinois players will rally around Weber. More from Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Downey, from St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell, and from Peoria Journal Star sports editor Bill Liesse. Game recaps here, here, here, here, and here. A look at the Wildcats' future here.
Wonk's streak of consecutive posts without a pun on Bill Self's name continues! The United Center crowd booed loudly yesterday when Bill Self's name was announced over the PA as the answer to a trivia question (best winning percentage in the Big Ten Tournament).
What's Steve Lavin's term for that area again? In the first half, Dee Brown saved a ball from going out of bounds by diving and throwing the ball blindly back in play, where it hit what this writer decorously terms T.J. Parker's "lower abdomen." (Steve Lavin, of a somewhat more Chaucerian bent, terms them "the onions.") Brown immediately tried to apologize but Parker would have none of it. The Illini guard was still trying to apologize at the beginning of the second half when he was admonished by referee Ed Hightower to stop talking.
OFFICIAL bracket of all TRUE Big Ten Wonk fans!
Indefatigable college hoops blogger Yoni Cohen has a spiffy NCAA Tournament Bloggers Bracket that any self-respecting Wonk fan will want to call home for the next three weeks. (You'll love the Genie!) It's up and running so link right now and tell Yoni Wonk sent you!
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
The Chicago Tribune's Neil Milbert looks at today's semifinal games here.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Meaningful games? Never on a Sunday?
What's up, Wonk,
OK, I'll be quick. I'm biased towards Wisconsin but why don't these conference championship games mean anything? Last year, Wisconsin WON the Big Ten tourney and it didn't affect their seeding at all. In fact, they were stuck playing one of the top teams in the nation, Pitt, in the second round. To go to the Final Four, the Badgers would have had to beat three top ten teams, while they themselves were #12, if I remember correctly.
Name another team that highly-ranked that had that tough of a road to the Final Four. Never. Then the selection committee said that the Sunday games actually meant nothing. Their bracket was already filled out. What a waste!
So why weren't changes made for this year? Teams are penalized for losing in the first round in the big tourneys(Maryland, you're going to the NIT, deal with it) so why not reward teams for doing well? Or shifting those tournaments up a day... or moving the selection show back two hours? Is this that hard?
Thanks,
Brent S.
Thanks, Brent! As
Iowa's win over Michigan State on a neutral floor last night was, to this blogger's eyes, as big an upset as Ohio State beating Illinois in Columbus on Sunday. Certainly as big a surprise. The 7-seed's dismissal of the 2 leaves today's Big Ten semi's looking like this (all times Central):
(1) Illinois vs. (5) Minnesota (12:40pm, CBS)
(7) Iowa vs. (3) Wisconsin (3:05pm, CBS)
How did we get here?
Iowa 71, Michigan State 69
Not only would the Spartans have won this game if they'd shot free throws the way they had all season (.791), Tom Izzo's team would have won this game if they'd shot free throws like an average Big Ten team (.696). Instead, as we all now know, State shot .500 (15 of 30) and lost. And, make no mistake, that was the difference. (Although the Hawkeyes did surprisingly well on the boards, outrebounding Michigan State by one.) Shooting .696 from the line would have given the Spartans five more points: the final would have been MSU 74, Iowa 71, and Wonk would be posting this morning about how Tom Izzo's team was inherently superior, too deep, too fast, etc.
Not that Iowa didn't do its level best to give the game away. In the game's final minute with the Hawkeyes nursing a seemingly comfortable five-point lead, Adam Haluska fouled Kelvin Torbert on a made three and gave the Spartans an opportunity for a four-point play. (Haluska fouled out on the play and at that moment there was fear in Iowa's eyes. They were thinking: Evanston. But it turned out it didn't matter. Torbert missed the free throw.) And Mike Henderson gave State the ball with about 20 seconds left when, with no Spartan within 15 feet of him, he simply failed to catch a pass.
And so with six seconds left in the game and the Spartans down by a point, Alan Anderson missed two free throws. For the game he was 5-of-10 from the line. Prior to last night's game, Anderson, the best free-throw shooter in the Big Ten in conference play (.927), had missed four free throws during the entire conference season.
Wonk is writing this before reading the write-ups on the game and, frankly, this blogger shudders to think what will be said of the Spartans in some quarters after this loss. It does indeed feel like we've seen this movie before: the loss at home to Wisconsin last year (the forever-furled banner game), the loss at Wisconsin this year, and now this. All hinging on free throws in the final minutes. All losses.
Other random notes....
Jeff Horner paid tribute to absent comrade Pierre Pierce by becoming Pierce. Good grief, that wild shot (it went in) flung over the defender just before he went out of bounds on the baseline? Somewhere Pierce--eyes closed, fingers to his temples--was chanting: "Shoot, Jeff. Shoot. Again. Again. And again. Now turn the ball over."....
The blow-by and subsequent two-handed dunk that Alan Anderson inflicted upon Greg Brunner with a little more than four minutes left in the game made Wonk jump up and, much to the bewilderment of the Wonk Wife, say: "Yes, exactly!" Because this opportunity is there all-game every game for anyone playing against Brunner, even players not as quick as Anderson. To the Wisconsin Badgers, this blogger says: read up on your Wonk! (Starting here.)...
BONUS griping about the refs! Your intrepid blogger is on the record as declaring that complaints about officials comprise a singularly unpromising and invariably dull topic for blogging. So, without further ado, allow me to complain about the officials!
Wonk hated the way this game was called. It was called consistently, mind you, but consistency in hyperactive over-whistling is no virtue. There was a whistle every time one player's shadow crossed another. The players, naturally, drew the logical conclusion and set about calling for the ball and then grimly flinging themselves into the nearest defender. Whistle! Foul! Free throws! Never mind that the offensive player's creating the contact.
Just to spice things up with a little variety, one such whistle actually went against the man with the ball, one Greg Brunner. Driving the baseline, he'd just done a pretty fair imitation of a fullback at the goal line. When he realized the call was actually against him his look of o-the-humanity! shock and dismay was priceless.
Are they in? Yesterday Wonk breezily offered that a win against Michigan State would indeed make Iowa a true bubble team, worthy of study as a possible NCAA invitee. And so they are. Put it this way: it will be tough--not impossible, mind you, but tough--to keep them out. And so we may well be presented with the odd spectacle of a team (Indiana) being left out of the tournament even though they finished three games ahead of a team that got a bid. Incredible.
And on such things as multiple free-throw misses by .927 shooters, coaches' jobs ride.
Links. Start with the briskly efficient game recap at Hawkeye Hoops, defining state of the art in team blogs since 2004. As for MSM goodies....Iowa City Press-Citizen columnist Pat Harty says Mike Henderson (17 points) came up big "on both ends of the court." Jeff Horner, conversely, thinks Alan Anderson's misses at the free-throw line had more to do with the outcome: "Thank God he did that." The Des Moines Register notes that little-used Iowa guard Jack Brownlee made the second of two free throws with 1.2 seconds left but does not point out that Brownlee, rightly, was in fact trying to miss that free throw....Are the Hawkeyes going to the big dance? Steve Alford makes his case here....Tom Izzo heaped praise upon the Hawkeyes: "They played like this was the most important thing in the world to them." Columnist Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press, conversely, heaps I-told-you-so's upon the Spartans: "A legacy of championship failure remains the 800-pound gorilla that drags down the Spartans in decisive late-game moments." (Even the Freep's headline-writer gets in on the act, terming last night's loss State's "latest collapse.") Lansing State Journal columnist Todd Schulz says there is a "mysterious, maddening force that takes over the collective mind of the MSU basketball team when the score gets tight." Dave Dye of the Detroit News says Michigan State "has developed a reputation as a team that struggles in tight games, and it did nothing to change that against the Hawkeyes." And Joe Rexrode of the Lansing State Journal calls this team "the incredibly repetitive Michigan State Spartans."...Izzo says he benched both Chris Hill and Drew Neitzel in the final minutes in an attempt to improve his defense: "We just felt like we had to get a better defensive team in there because Chris and Drew were struggling a little bit."
Minnesota 71, Indiana 55
The Gophers are now officially tournament locks after this surprisingly convincing win over the previously hot Hoosiers. Congratulations to Dan Monson (this was his 100th win at Minnesota), a man who's been through a lot in a short time in Minneapolis.
This will be known as the shaved-head game: Many of Indiana's players--Bracey Wright excepted--sported new-look lids for this important game but change in this instance was not a good idea. In an otherwise statistically even game, cold shooting killed Indiana: .333 for the game and just .258 in the second half, where IU was outscored 37-27.
Links. When told no team with fewer than 16 wins has won an at-large bid since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, Mike Davis, he of the 15-13 Hoosiers, responded: "Somebody has to be the first in history to do it, and there's no reason it can't be us." (He also, however, praised the victors, saying of Minnesota: "They came in here and played like they have been here before.") Columnist Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star says: "The Hoosiers are going to the NIT because that's where they belong."...Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan says the Gophers have come a long way: "This is a team that, a few months ago, was thought to be dreading Lipscomb; now it's taking on No. 1 Illinois." Souhan's colleague at the Star Tribune, Jeff Shelman, says this game "epitomized the Gophers' season. The Gophers got balanced scoring and played stifling defense, and guard Vincent Grier provided key baskets."
Wisconsin 60, Ohio State 49
The Buckeyes ended the game that ended their season looking like a tired team. This was a two-point contest with a little more than four minutes left but Wisconsin closed the night on a 12-3 run.
Wonk is thinking of going to Vegas or buying a lottery ticket or something: after ominously waggling a finger yesterday and warning that OSU's Tony Stockman was taking entirely too many shots (never mind that it worked out against Penn State), the Clemson transfer posted an 0-for-8 on his three's and the Buckeyes as a team shot just 2-for-20 from outside the arc. Thad Matta's team attempted only six free throws. Meanwhile, the Badgers got 23 points and seven boards from Zach Morley.
Links. Columnist Dale Hoffman of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says conference tournaments are made for "pluggers" and Morley fits that bill. Columnist Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal wonders if Morley just might be the long-awaited Third Man (cue the zither!) to complement overburdened scorers Mike Wilkinson and Alando Tucker. Bo Ryan says he doesn't care what the final score says: "That was a tight game."...Referring to Morley, Thad Matta said: "We had no answers." (Wonk has done a quick Lexis search and is pretty sure that's the first time those words were ever uttered with reference to Zach Morley.) Matt Sylvester says poor three-point shooting did in his team: "It's sad, because we've hit our threes all year."
Illinois 68, Northwestern 51
Despite poor three-point shooting and frequent turnovers, the Illini easily moved past the overmatched Wildcats--a victory that was immediately overshadowed by the news that Bruce Weber's mother had died suddenly. (After suffering chest pains outside the United Center before the game, Dawn Weber had been rushed to the hospital with a ruptured aorta.) Last night Weber announced that he will coach the game today against Minnesota.
Links. Oracular Illini observer Mark Tupper blogs about the day's strange and ultimately sad events here. Daily Herald columnist Mike Imrem points out that Weber's brother Dave, coach of Glenbard North High School, was also coaching yesterday when he received the news. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti says the Illinois players will rally around Weber. More from Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Downey, from St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell, and from Peoria Journal Star sports editor Bill Liesse. Game recaps here, here, here, here, and here. A look at the Wildcats' future here.
Wonk's streak of consecutive posts without a pun on Bill Self's name continues! The United Center crowd booed loudly yesterday when Bill Self's name was announced over the PA as the answer to a trivia question (best winning percentage in the Big Ten Tournament).
What's Steve Lavin's term for that area again? In the first half, Dee Brown saved a ball from going out of bounds by diving and throwing the ball blindly back in play, where it hit what this writer decorously terms T.J. Parker's "lower abdomen." (Steve Lavin, of a somewhat more Chaucerian bent, terms them "the onions.") Brown immediately tried to apologize but Parker would have none of it. The Illini guard was still trying to apologize at the beginning of the second half when he was admonished by referee Ed Hightower to stop talking.
OFFICIAL bracket of all TRUE Big Ten Wonk fans!
Indefatigable college hoops blogger Yoni Cohen has a spiffy NCAA Tournament Bloggers Bracket that any self-respecting Wonk fan will want to call home for the next three weeks. (You'll love the Genie!) It's up and running so link right now and tell Yoni Wonk sent you!
In today's less Wonk-ish venues....
The Chicago Tribune's Neil Milbert looks at today's semifinal games here.
Wonk back!
Don't just mutter ineffectually; email me!
Meaningful games? Never on a Sunday?
What's up, Wonk,
OK, I'll be quick. I'm biased towards Wisconsin but why don't these conference championship games mean anything? Last year, Wisconsin WON the Big Ten tourney and it didn't affect their seeding at all. In fact, they were stuck playing one of the top teams in the nation, Pitt, in the second round. To go to the Final Four, the Badgers would have had to beat three top ten teams, while they themselves were #12, if I remember correctly.
Name another team that highly-ranked that had that tough of a road to the Final Four. Never. Then the selection committee said that the Sunday games actually meant nothing. Their bracket was already filled out. What a waste!
So why weren't changes made for this year? Teams are penalized for losing in the first round in the big tourneys(Maryland, you're going to the NIT, deal with it) so why not reward teams for doing well? Or shifting those tournaments up a day... or moving the selection show back two hours? Is this that hard?
Thanks,
Brent S.
Thanks, Brent! As