Why I love this years NCAA Tournament...
Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:50 pm
This year's NCAA Tournament has been very good because it's allowed me to get things outside of basketball watching accomplished. The games have been unwatchable, almost every one of them. I'll watch a little bit and then go get something done around the house. I can't sit through this garbage. It's been a tournament of epic meltdowns, blowouts, bad reffing, and not very many compelling stories.
The Davidson story is a nice story, I'll give you that. But the fact that Davidson made it this far is part of the reason I am getting bored with the Big Dance. Do people really enjoy seeing 3 point shootouts? That just isn't entertaining to me. Teams like Western Kentucky and Davidson had nice runs, but how's about feeding the post maybe once every 300 or so possessions!!? I've actually begun watching more NBA games than I have since the 1990's. I find it more compelling and just better overall basketball. I like to see inside-out games as opposed to a team only firing up 3's and not even attempting to establish an inside presence. It seems like all you have to do in college hoops anymore is jack up a bunch of 3's all game, hit about 40% of those shots, and play against an uninspired but superior opponent that doesn't bring their "A" game. Stephen Curry is a freakin' stud. He's a lot of fun to watch. I'm not taking anything away from him. But does anyone really doubt the only reason Davidson made it so far is because Georgetown and Wisconsin just flat out melted down? Davidson would be a fun team to watch if they had better bigs. Because then you'd have Curry on the wing and solid bigs down low. Now that would be a team I'd like to watch. But I just can't stand watching teams do nothing but jack up 3's. It bores me. I don't even consider that basketball.
But the games overall have been very lame and teams are meltding down like crazy. It was like that quite a bit last year too. UCONN played uninspiring basketball. That loss to San Diego was an embarrassment to the game of basketball. San Diego made some really nice shots in clutch situations, but that performance was pitiful. If I were the coach of that team I'd cut the scholarships of everyone on that team just because of that game. Western Kentucky's meltdown against Drake was horrible as well......even though they ended up winning- on a fluke shot. Tennessee flat out quit with 8 minutes to play against Louisville. Georgetown blowing an 18 point lead against a mid-major. Clemson blowing an 18 point lead against Villanova. Much like Tennessee, Wisconsin laid down and quit with about 8 minutes to play against Davidson. And I haven't even mentioned all of the blowouts and bad calls.
I will say this....the Final 4 has the potential to be very good. You've got 3 of the most storied programs of all-time, you've got Roy vs Kansas, and you have one of the best coaches to have never won a national title (John Calipari) at a school that's never won a national title. And on top of that it's the first time ever all 4 #1 seeds made it. As for the teams themselves, these are my kind of teams. You've got athletes, you've got shooters, you've got bigs, you've got depth, you've got good ballhandlers, and even a couple of good defensive teams. All 4 teams have an outstanding point guard, all 4 teams have great athleticism, all 4 teams have at least a couple of guys that can consistently knock down a perimeter shot, and all 4 teams have good bigs. No more of this 1 dimensional bullshit we've been seeing in previous rounds.
Lastly, I'd like to say thanks to the participating teams of this years NCAA Tournament for allowing me to get more important things like mowing the lawn, cleaning the house, and working done. This is the first March I have gotten anything accomplished!
The Davidson story is a nice story, I'll give you that. But the fact that Davidson made it this far is part of the reason I am getting bored with the Big Dance. Do people really enjoy seeing 3 point shootouts? That just isn't entertaining to me. Teams like Western Kentucky and Davidson had nice runs, but how's about feeding the post maybe once every 300 or so possessions!!? I've actually begun watching more NBA games than I have since the 1990's. I find it more compelling and just better overall basketball. I like to see inside-out games as opposed to a team only firing up 3's and not even attempting to establish an inside presence. It seems like all you have to do in college hoops anymore is jack up a bunch of 3's all game, hit about 40% of those shots, and play against an uninspired but superior opponent that doesn't bring their "A" game. Stephen Curry is a freakin' stud. He's a lot of fun to watch. I'm not taking anything away from him. But does anyone really doubt the only reason Davidson made it so far is because Georgetown and Wisconsin just flat out melted down? Davidson would be a fun team to watch if they had better bigs. Because then you'd have Curry on the wing and solid bigs down low. Now that would be a team I'd like to watch. But I just can't stand watching teams do nothing but jack up 3's. It bores me. I don't even consider that basketball.
But the games overall have been very lame and teams are meltding down like crazy. It was like that quite a bit last year too. UCONN played uninspiring basketball. That loss to San Diego was an embarrassment to the game of basketball. San Diego made some really nice shots in clutch situations, but that performance was pitiful. If I were the coach of that team I'd cut the scholarships of everyone on that team just because of that game. Western Kentucky's meltdown against Drake was horrible as well......even though they ended up winning- on a fluke shot. Tennessee flat out quit with 8 minutes to play against Louisville. Georgetown blowing an 18 point lead against a mid-major. Clemson blowing an 18 point lead against Villanova. Much like Tennessee, Wisconsin laid down and quit with about 8 minutes to play against Davidson. And I haven't even mentioned all of the blowouts and bad calls.
I will say this....the Final 4 has the potential to be very good. You've got 3 of the most storied programs of all-time, you've got Roy vs Kansas, and you have one of the best coaches to have never won a national title (John Calipari) at a school that's never won a national title. And on top of that it's the first time ever all 4 #1 seeds made it. As for the teams themselves, these are my kind of teams. You've got athletes, you've got shooters, you've got bigs, you've got depth, you've got good ballhandlers, and even a couple of good defensive teams. All 4 teams have an outstanding point guard, all 4 teams have great athleticism, all 4 teams have at least a couple of guys that can consistently knock down a perimeter shot, and all 4 teams have good bigs. No more of this 1 dimensional bullshit we've been seeing in previous rounds.
Lastly, I'd like to say thanks to the participating teams of this years NCAA Tournament for allowing me to get more important things like mowing the lawn, cleaning the house, and working done. This is the first March I have gotten anything accomplished!