Wisconsin vs. Michigan State: I'm Upset Enough to Write About This One

While I’ve made no official comment about it, I think my silence generally has been a pretty good indicator that I’ve abandoned blogging about basketball this year (I’m pleased to note that I’m still seeing plenty of games, though). However, last night’s Wisconsin-Michigan State game got me fired up enough to briefly come out of retirement to jot down a few thoughts. It was an upsetting night (particularly after watching the Badger football team lose by just barely running out of time the night prior), but I think in times like these it is important to clarify who and what you’re upset with. With that in mind, here’s who I’m upset with over last night’s game, and who I’m not upset with.

Those Who I’m Not Upset With:

The Officials: Much as it hurts to say, every indication is that they got the call right. Moreover, they actually deserve some praise for the way that they handled things. First off, while I expect my referees to have a thorough understanding of the rules of basketball, I wouldn’t be offended if I saw a team of refs baffled by what to do when there are two game clocks in the arena that are out of sync. That’s not exactly the same as not knowing what a double dribble is. The fact that last night’s refs made the correct ruling on that issue was impressive. Second, that’s a tough call to make against the home team. There is a school of thought that would say that things were so close, and the video so inconclusive (if one didn’t know the correct rule on the clock issue), you just stick with the call on the floor and let the teams keep playing. And making such a call probably would have saved the referee crew from a lot of verbal abuse last night at the Kohl Center. But as we know now, it would have been the wrong call. So kudos to the refs not only for knowing their stuff, but for having the guts to stand behind the rule book in a tough situation.

Bo Ryan: Bo Ryan went on an expletive-laden tirade after the referees waved off the final basket last night. I’m certain to read tons of internet comments today from people complaining about Ryan’s lack of class, and the poor sportsmanship that he displayed. I couldn’t disagree with those people more. As a fan, I’d be disturbed if my team had a coach that didn’t completely lose it after a moment like that. I pretty much lost it in my living room after they waved the basket off, and I don’t have a full-time job that’s impacted by the outcome of the game. Show me a division one coach that wouldn’t have at least a mini-meltdown over something like that and I’ll show you a terribly uninspiring coach. And sure, Bo Ryan swore a bit during his meltdown. I’m not a particularly big fan of swearing, but your filter kind of disintegrates when you’re in a blind rage, so I can forgive some coarse language. Furthermore, Bo Ryan is far from standing alone in letting some filthy words come out of his mouth on a basketball court.

What also goes unnoticed by those that would criticize Ryan is that once the moment was done, he pulled himself together. He shook hands with the Michigan State team. And if you took the time to watch SportsCenter and see his remarks during the post-game press conference, you wouldn’t have seen a guy ranting about how his team got screwed. To the contrary, Ryan indicated that he’d have to watch the tape later and noted that one of his teams had won a big game in a similar manner at Michigan State a few years back, so this is the sort of thing that can go both ways. He even jokingly ended his comments by stating “What are you going to do? Violence is out of the question.” That’s pretty much exactly what I want from my coach. A guy that won’t hold back in the heat of passion, but can find some perspective once the situation has cooled down. So, major kudos to Bo Ryan for his handling of the controversy last night.

Those Who Angered Me Beyond Belief:

Kohl Center Facilities Management: It’s remarkably embarrassing when your home arena’s game clocks aren’t synced up. Now, I’ll grant you that two-tenths of a second isn’t a difference that would be noticed all that frequently, even if you were specifically checking it. But I’ll make this observation to fellow Badger fans–if this game had been played at the Breslin Center, and Michigan State had won in exactly the same manner, wouldn’t we all be screaming about the incompetence of Michigan State due to their inability to maintain accurate clocks? And wouldn’t we be irrationally speculating about them trying to gain an unfair advantage? I know I would be, so I feel like I should be holding my home facility to the same standard. It was embarrassing enough a few years back before the Kohl Center floor was replaced and television broadcasts kept pointing out that the old floor no longer fit together properly, leading to slightly jagged free-throw lines. But not having all of the clocks set to exactly the same time is pathetic. Let’s hope the Kohl Center pulls it together and gets this (and any other issues that haven’t yet been exposed) fixed by the end of the year.

Fans Who Left the Game Early: I commented to my friend Jesse just before the end of the game that I wanted to see a comeback not so much because I wanted to see a Badger win, but because I wanted all of the fans that started streaming out of the Kohl Center with 50 seconds to go to miss one of the greatest endings of all time. Despite Wisconsin losing, it was a remarkably exciting ending and I feel like that wish came true. I’m very pleased that the Badgers stuck it to some of their worst fans.

Don’t misread my anger here–I’m not one of those uptight people that feels you’re a bad fan if you leave any game early. Wisconsin’s up or down 25 points and you’ve got a big meeting the next morning? Sure, take off with 4 minutes to go–I’ve done it plenty of times myself. I have a life, and don’t always want to waste another 15 minutes on a lost cause. But when fans started bolting to the exits in a two possession game with 50 seconds to go, I was embarrassed. Sure, the outlook at that point is bleak, but a comeback wasn’t inconceivable by any means. You’re saving what–five minutes if you beat the crowd out of the arena and to your car? If you’re going to leave early from a game that’s not totally out of reach because you need to get home at 8:37pm instead of 8:42pm, then perhaps you shouldn’t have gone to the game to begin with. Anyone who left that game at the 50 second mark and didn’t have a medical emergency got what they deserved when they found themselves listening to the game in the car.


So at the end of the night, it was a soul-crushing loss. I’m not exactly excited for the Badgers upcoming road games at Michigan and Purdue, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the best. After all, stranger things have happened than Wisconsin coming back from losing their first two home games of the Big Ten season.

See you when I’m feeling moved enough to write again...

Worst. Bracket. Ever.

It’s fun to tout your successes when you’re right, but I can take equal glee in recounting those times when I’m astoundingly wrong about things. At the moment, it’s a good thing that I can laugh at myself, because if you read my NCAA picks last week, you know how horrifically wrong I got things. Most people have been shaking their heads at how awful their brackets look after the first weekend, but I truly mean it when I talk about how embarrassing my effort was. Both of the teams that I had in the finals are gone, and it’s safe to say that this was my worst attempt ever at predicting the tournament. With that in mind, I’d like to recount the top ten bad calls that I made in my predictions from last week. Enjoy the carnage:

10) Michigan State in the Sweet Sixteen: Apparently you can bet against Tom Izzo in March. Particularly when he has his most disjointed team in years.

9) Belmont over Wisconsin: To be fair, in my comments I did note that this was a calculated risk, as Wisconsin would be blessed with the most amenable bracket possible were they to hold off everyone’s upset darling (which, given my horrific track record on predictions this year, probably means that Butler will give the Badgers a monumental beatdown tonight). On the bright side, my bracket was so horrible this year that I was able to simply sit back and enjoy the win without worrying about my picks (yes, I was already getting crushed on Thursday). And now I get one more weekend of the Badgers.

8) UNLV over Illinois: Picking an 8-seed over a 9-seed is nothing that shocking, but my reasoning for the pick was essentially a total lack of faith in Illinois. Well, if you watched this game, you’d know that Illinois completely dominated the Runnin’ Rebels. My apologies to Mike Tisdale–my lack of faith in you and your teammates was misguided.

7) Xavier over Marquette: Credit to Marquette for getting off to a hot start and knocking off two higher seeded teams on the first weekend of the tournament. I didn’t think they had it in them to win back to back games over very good teams on a neutral court. It’s certainly not something that they were capable of during the regular season. Just over two weeks ago I was vaguely concerned that the Golden Eagles would drop a game to lowly Providence and miss the tournament altogether. And now they’re in the Sweet Sixteen. As for Friday’s game, let’s be thankful that everyone’s in good shape, as we should see lots of running against UNC. And with Marquette finally showing some of the toughness that it seemed to abandon after last season, anything can happen now.

6) Old Dominion over Butler: I pretty specifically said that I thought that Butler was overseeded based on their prior year’s success, played medicore basketball in a mediocre conference, and would lose immediately. The Bulldogs then not only won their first game, but followed it up by upsetting a 1-seed. Yeah, I guess they weren’t overseeded. I just hope that none of these bad things that I said about Butler come back to really bite me when the Bulldogs take on Wisconsin tonight.

5) St. John’s over Gonzaga: Perhaps my recent lack of respect for the Bulldogs is because my schedule no longer allows me to fall asleep to Gonzaga games on the TV in my bedroom. Whatever it is, I sure didn’t expect Gonzaga to beat St. John’s, who by the way, I had in the Elite Eight. Ugh.

4) Georgetown over Notre Dame: This one was supposed to happen tomorrow, but neither team made it to the game. I didn’t love Notre Dame, so I’m not that blown away that the Irish dropped their game on Sunday, but the real shocker was Georgetown being so throughly throttled by VCU. Granted, VCU has completely crushed everything in its path so far, but the smart, slow-down team from Georgetown was supposed to be blowout-proof. Apparently I was a bit off in that reasoning.

3) VCU losing in the First Four: Piggybacking off that last point, I never explicitly stated this, but I fully expected USC to win the play-in game and for VCU to be sitting home on the first weekend of the tournament. All VCU has gone on to do after playing its way in is post a pair of 18-point wins against higher-seeded teams. Sure, no one saw that coming, but it doesn’t change the fact that I was epically wrong. (Side note–best quote of the tournament so far comes from VCU coach Shaka Smart, who after his team’s upset of Purdue responded to a question about next weekend by noting about his point guard Joey Rodriguez “I’m not worried about a letdown. For instance, Joey’s nuts. He wants to win the whole thing.” Credit to the Midmajority twitter feed for making note of this gem.)

2) Syracuse in the Final Four: This was a risky pick, and I knew it. The Orange share a bracket with Ohio State, which is the odds-on favorite and who looked unbeatable this weekend, and North Carolina, a team which appears to be peaking at just the right time. I’ll admit that I never expected Marquette to be the team to take Syracuse out, but seeing as they did, it seems that one of the other stellar teams would have eventually done that anyway. I suppose I should have seen this coming, with Marquette’s signature win of the regular season coming over Syracuse, but I was blinded by the 3-seed.

1) Pittsburgh as National Champions: I think I knew when I was picking this one that it was a bad idea, but I just couldn’t help myself. I love Pitt’s hard-nosed style, and hey, you can’t go wrong picking the top team from the Big East, right? Wrong. I overlooked the fact that while Pitt plays well together, it’s a team lacking star power, something that I must begrudgingly admit is important in March. And while I would still make the case that the Big East is a very good conference, the fact that only two of eleven Big East teams are still playing next weekend, and seven Big East teams lost to lower seeded opponents this past weekend is probably enough for me to concede that I overrated the conference a bit.

Fortunately, the outstanding weekends of Marquette and Wisconsin made up for any personal failures that I may have encountered. Here’s hoping for at least two more nights of excitement from our home teams, though I’d certainly take a few more in the event they’re able to bring home a couple more wins. Enjoy the games this weekend...

2011 NCAA Tournament Picks

As has become all too apparent over the past three years, I’ve slipped a bit in my older age and have continued my shift from rabid fan to casual fan. But if there’s one thing I’ll never stop doing with the blog, it’s making my NCAA tournament picks. Frankly, I didn’t watch nearly as much televised basketball as I have in years past, so I’m less informed on non-local teams than I should be (including one #1 seed I haven’t seen play a full game all year). But I did just spend a long weekend in Las Vegas enjoying the conclusion of all of the major conference tournaments (side note--it was my first time doing this and suspect that it will be far from my last) and am sufficiently excited for the tournament. I'm no expert, though, and can virtually guarantee that you've got a couple of guys in your office pool with more well-informed thoughts than I have.

Before I get to this year’s picks, though, it’s time for my annual restatement of my general rules for filling out NCAA tourney brackets:

1) Don’t just completely steal my picks (or anyone else’s, for that matter). I don’t mind it personally, but what fun is that for you? Think of it this way–what’s going to be more fulfilling to you: telling the guy in the cube next to you that you “totally called” St. Peter’s knocking off Purdue, or telling him that some guy whose picks you followed got it knew that St. John’s had a path that would allow them to go deep into the tourney. Listen to advice from your doctor or your financial advisor, but the NCAA tournament is supposed to be fun. So relax and follow your instincts.

2) Don’t go crazy with upsets, particularly in the first two rounds. The NCAA selection committee knows more than you, and they’ve seeded these teams for a reason. Sure, you’re no fun if you don’t go out on a limb here or there, but picking 14 first round upsets isn’t just bold, it’s stupid. Yeah, you’re probably going to have a friend that picks that miracle 10-seed that made it to the Sweet Sixteen, and he’s not going to shut up about it. He’s probably not talking so much about the 5-seed and the 7-seed that he had in the Final Four who both lost the first day, though. My picks are notoriously and painfully boring, and I make no apologies for that, even though someone inevitably comments below to complain about my lack of originality and insight every year. (One addendum to this note—while I’d never predict it in a bracket and don’t honestly think it will happen, if ever there was a year that the perfect record of 1-seeds vs. 16-seeds was broken, this would be it. It was a chaotic year, and this is not my favorite group of 1-seeds ever.)

3) Have fun and make some picks for goofy reasons. There are 64 teams in this tournament, and unless your name is Jay Bilas or Digger Phelps, you probably haven’t seen all of them (and in the case of Phelps, even seeing every team isn’t helping him make any sort of useful analysis). So go ahead and pick Oakland to win a game because your favorite cousin from Michigan goes there, or pick against Connecticut because a guy in your office who’s a total dick got his degree there. After all, last year wasn’t your pool won by that woman in your office who thought Duke had nice uniforms? See, you need some quirks, too.

Those are the rules. Now on to the picks. Winners are in bold:

Second Round (Why the NCAA can't just call this the first round is beyond me...)

East

Ohio State (1) vs. UT-San Antonio/Alabama State (16): I’m not going to try real hard on the my explanations for each of the 1-16 matchups, since we generally know how these are going to end, anyway. So I suppose I’ll just say that it amuses me that Dallas Lauderdale looks like he’s about a 42-year-old senior.

George Mason (8) vs. Villanova (9): Villanova, by Villanova standards, was fairly forgettable this year. And seeing as Jim Larranaga is a regular guest on my favorite radio show, the Sports Junkies, it’s easy for me to pick the Patriots here.

West Virginia (5) vs. UAB/Clemson (12): And here’s where the “First Four” games mess things up. If Clemson wins against UAB, I’d take the Tigers in an upset against WVU. If UAB was to somehow pull off a win in its opening game, I’d give this one to West Virginia. I’m feeling like a gambler today, though, so I’ll take UAB/Clemson on the assumption that Clemson will make take out the Blazers. It’s tough to pick a game when you don’t know who will be in it, though.

Kentucky (4) vs. Princeton (13): I like that Princeton has two Milwaukee-area kids (Whitefish Bay’s Jimmy Sherburne and Catholic Memorial’s T.J. Bray), but still can’t take the Tigers over Kentucky’s usual roster of freshman all-stars.

Xavier (6) vs. Marquette (11): Normally my knock on Marquette is that the Golden Eagles are wildly inconsistent—able to knock off the top team in the country on one day and lose to a mediocre mid-major the next. Not this year, though—Marquette is plenty consistent, but simply isn’t all that inspiring. Xavier rolls them in this one, and the Golden Eagles can start their offseason of trying to figure out who’ll step up and be a leader next year.

Syracuse (3) vs. Indiana State (14): I feel it must be noted that if we’re strictly talking nicknames, Orange vs. Sycamores has to rank up there as one of the worst matchups of all time. But hey, at least orange is an attractive color.

Washington (7) vs. Georgia (10): I can’ get too worked up about Pac-10 or SEC hoops this year. Lorenzo Romar’s teams always seem to be good, but also seem to fly under the radar a bit, so give me the Huskies in this one.

North Carolina (2) vs. LIU (15): UNC got a 2-seed, and it doesn’t seem like a travesty? Back in early December I’d have never believed that this would happen. Seeing as things got so much better after he departed, Larry Drew is not looking real good right now.

West

Duke (1) vs. Hampton (16): Duke’s okay now, but I’d give my right arm to see Duke playing with Kyrie Irving like they were at the start of the year. I’m a lefty, though, so it wouldn’t be that big of a sacrifice.

Michigan (8) vs. Tennessee (9): While watching the selection show with a couple of buddies, this was the game that came up on the screen and prompted us all to immediately say “That one’s going to be fun to watch.” With the amount of running in this game, I’m going to be worn out just from watching it. Seeing as this year was a bit of a step back for Tennessee and a huge step forward for Michigan, I’m riding the Wolverines on their way up. And finally, no, I can't even come up with a decent Jeronne Maymon joke right now, and I feel sort of bad about that.

Arizona (5) vs. Memphis (12): Arizona won the Pac-10, yet no one seems to know or care about this. Well, Wildcats, I care. I care.

Texas (4) vs. Oakland (13): The fact that Texas stumbled a few times down the stretch concerns me and I do love Oakland’s nickname (the “Golden Grizzlies”) and jerseys with the players’ names below their numbers. But I just can’t pick against the Longhorns this early.

Cincinnati (6) vs. Missouri (11): I love Yancy Gates, but let’s be honest, I’m taking Cincy here largely because I don’t want to pick against a team that starts a guy named “Cashmere.”

Connecticut (3) vs. Bucknell (14): Kemba Walker has a great sense of timing. He’s a good player who has turned it on to become great when he happens to be in any sort of a tournament that is being seen by the entire country. He did it in the Maui Invitational, he did it in the Big East tournament, and given that the NCAA tournament dwarfs both of those, it’s safe to say that Walker should explode for about 65 points in helping his Huskies take down Bucknell.

Temple (7) vs. Penn State (10): I want Penn State to go out and win this one, mostly because I’m sick of people talking about Penn State like they finished tied with Indiana in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions wre the 6-seed in the Big Ten tournament, and while that doesn’t mean they had a mind-blowing year, it’s still a fairly good indicator that they don’t suck as much as most people seem to think.

San Diego State (2) vs. Northern Colorado (15): SDSU is 2-2 against teams that were relevant at the times that the Aztecs played them. Not a ringing endorsement, but good enough to pick them over a 15-seed.

Southwest

Kansas (1) vs. Boston University (16): Fun fact—if you’d like to know how derelict I’ve been in my basketball watching this year, I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen a full Kansas game from start to finish all year.

UNLV (8) vs. Illinois (9): This pick says less about UNLV (though they did give 2-seed San Diego State a good run in the Mountain West tourney) and more about my lack of confidence in Illinois. I actually like it when the Illini are good, but they just never reached their potential this year.

Vanderbilt (5) vs. Richmond (12): I dislike Vanderbilt--the basketball team, the institution of higher learning, and probably even the family itself. And while I have a ton of reasons why I’d like to pick against the Commodores, I just can’t bring myself to do so.

Louisville (4) vs. Morehead State (13): I’m always going to pick a Big East team that has stepped up its play down the stretch, particularly when it has a coach who’s been through the tournament a few times in his day.

Georgetown (6) vs. USC/VCU (11): I suppose I understand why it worked out this way, but I find it amusing that the other “First Four” game is being played for a 12-seed, and this one is for an 11. Either way, I already picked the other First Four winner to advance, and I’m not picking them both. So Georgetown moves on.

Purdue (3) vs. Saint Peter’s (14): I know literally nothing about Saint Peter’s, though I’ll make an educated guess that it’s a small Catholic school, probably from the East Coast. I’ll take Purdue to win this one, as I continue to shake my head in disappointment at friends who expected the Boilermakers to completely fall apart when they lost Robbie Hummel to injury before the season. Were you simply unfamiliar with JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore?

Texas A&M (7) vs. Florida State (10): I’ve liked what I’ve seen out of Florida State when I’ve seen them this year. I’m probably not giving enough weight to Chris Singleton’s broken foot on the ‘Noles chances, but it wouldn’t be the first time that I overlooked an obvious angle on a game.

Notre Dame (2) vs. Akron (15): For a team that finished 14-4 in the Big East, I never found myself looking at Notre Dame and thinking “Wow, that’s a great team.” But that said, you’re doing something right if you go through the most challenging conference in the country and come away largely unscathed.

Southeast

Pittsburgh (1) vs. UNC-Asheville vs. Arkansas-Little Rock (16): I can’t see the words “UNC-Ashville” without thinking of Kenny Gregory, the Bulldogs’ 7’7” center from a few years back. Was there anything more fun that just watching guards lob the ball as high as possible to a giant near the hoop?

Butler (8) vs. Old Dominion (9): I was shocked when I saw Butler as an 8-seed this year. The Bulldogs are on a nice streak now, but they had a stretch late January/early February where they lost four of five games in the Horizon League, a conference that doesn’t exactly strike fear into the hearts of outsiders. I think this year’s Butler team, while decent, is getting a little too much attention based on their Final Four appearance of a year ago and rich history. I like to pick one game each year where I zig when everyone else is zagging. This is this year’s game, as the rubes in your office pool are going to stick with the name they know and just ignore Old Dominion.

Kansas State (5) vs. Utah State (12): No solid reasoning this year—I’m simply taking the number of Utah State t-shirts that I saw while I was out in Las Vegas over the weekend of a sign of something big to come. (Side note—I saw more Utah State and BYU gear in Las Vegas than perhaps any other school this past weekend. I found this odd, as I based on what little I know about Las Vegas and the Mormon religion, I would think it would be a sin for most Utah folks to even enter Las Vegas city limits.)

Wisconsin (4) vs. Belmont (13): I struggled with this one quite a bit, so prepare for me to ramble on about it. While watching games with my friends on Sunday about three hours before the selection show started up, I said to everyone “Who’s that mid-major team that lost 3-4 games all year and won it’s conference championship game by like 40 points? I forget their name right now, but I know we’re going to hear it 8,000 times in the next 3-4 days, since every talking head in the country is going to name them as their sleeper pick.” That would be Belmont. Every year there’s a team that becomes such a popular sleeper pick that it actually becomes so overrated that it is no longer a sleeper. This year, it will be Belmont. And it’s tough to argue—Belmont has a great resume. Little did I know that they would be matched up against my favorite team. And knowing Wisconsin as well as any team out there, their performance at road and neutral sites concerns me. The fact that they laid an egg in their last game of the year against Penn State doesn’t help my perception, either.

On the flip side of the equation, the Southeast region is a great one to be in, and Wisconsin could have some success there. Gary Parrish has picked Wisconsin in his Final Four, and explains his logic here. It’s pretty solid reasoning. As he points out, top seed Pitt is always solid but doesn't have athletes that leap off the page, Florida was unranked not too long ago, and BYU, having lost its leading rebounder, isn’t exactly the same team as it was just weeks ago. So if Wisconsin gets by Belmont, it stands a good chance of going pretty far.

So my thoughts on this are conflicting. I always hate picking the hot sleeper pick, because a sleeper that everyone knows about doesn’t bring as much value. And there’s some risk in picking the sleeper, as I don’t see Wisconsin as a team that will lose right away if the advance past the first round (particularly since I’m projecting Utah State, a 12 seed, as the second round opponent for the winner of this game). But at the end of the day, I come back to two key reasons to pick against my alma mater here: 1) Belmont is the trendy sleeper pick for good reason, and 2) Wisconsin scares the hell out of me when they’re not playing at the Kohl Center. So with great regret, I’m picking Belmont in the upset. It hurts my soul to do so, and I’ll be rooting hard for the Badgers, but I have to concede that I think it’s the right pick to make. I’m horrifically wrong a lot of the time, though, so let’s hope that this is one of those times.

St. John’s (6) vs. Gonzaga (11): There used to be a time when Gonzaga would be a sleeper pick as an 11 seed. Now it just means that the Bulldogs had a somewhat crappy year. I like the way that St. John’s has played down the stretch, and am pleased with the Red Storm coaching staff’s decision to make the “Coaches for Cancer” sneaker gimmick an all season long thing. Just when you thought Gene Keady couldn’t look any more ridiculous, there he is in a suit and some bright white sneakers.

BYU (3) vs. Wofford (14): I’m not sure people know what to think of BYU right now. On one hand, you’ve got people writing them off because of the suspension of Brandon Davies. On the other hand, it’s borderline impossible to not be excited about the Cougars after watching Jimmer Fredette put on a show to the tune of 52 points against New Mexico this past weekend. BYU is either overrated or underrated, but I don’t think anyone (myself included) has them properly rated. But it doesn’t really matter in the first round—they’re still beating a solid Wofford team.

UCLA (7) vs. Michigan State (10): It’s tough to get super-psyched about either of these teams, so I’ll just stick to my general rule that if you have any doubt (and often even if you do have doubt), you don’t pick against Michigan State in March.

Florida (2) vs. UC-Santa Barbara (15): UC-Santa Barbara is the alma mater of a fairly cool guy that I went to law school with and used to talk hoops with from time to time, as well as Steve Czaban, a favorite sports radio personality of mine. That said, I’m still not picking the Gauchos over Florida.

Third Round

East

Ohio State (1) vs. George Mason (8): Remember that game where Ohio State shot over 90% from three-point range against Wisconsin a few weeks back? I sure do.

Kentucky (4) vs. UAB/Clemson (12): I’d be a fool to pick UAB or Clemson here, since they have to win two games to even play in this one. That’s two events that could keep picking them through to the third round to even be a viable option. I like Kentucky’s team, but frankly, even if I didn’t, I’d be compelled to pick them simply for safety reasons, given that I’ve got them playing a play-in game winner.

Syracuse (3) vs. Xavier (6): Syracuse struggled mightily during the middle of the season, but you have to like that the Orange have put things together for a good late-season run. And their 2-3 zone, run to perfection, is the sort of thing that always tends to bother teams that haven’t seen it before.

North Carolina (2) vs. Washington (7): I like that I’m back to looking at North Carolina and thinking “Why wouldn’t they win this game?” Harrison Barnes is finally playing like people expected all along, and things are clicking for the Heels again, so I can’t end their run this early.

West

Duke (1) vs. Michigan (8): If I may make a superfluous jump back in time for a moment, how awesome was the portion of The Fab Five, the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary that premiered on Sunday, where Jalen Rose noted that he thought Christian Laettner was a “bitch” and that Grant Hill was one, too? Great stuff—almost as great as those games between the Blue Devils and the Wolverines in the early 1990s. As to this weekend’s game, I’d put the over-under on total three-point attempts by both teams around 55. And while Michigan is heading in the right direction, Duke’s already where the Wolverines want to be, so I’m moving the Blue Devils along.

Texas (4) vs. Arizona (5): Neither team has been a model of consistency down the stretch, but I’ve just got a feeling about Jordan Hamilton getting hot.

Connecticut (3) vs. Cincinnati (6): UConn is seeded 6 spots higher in the NCAA tournament than they were in their own conference. And interestingly, while seeded three spots lower than UConn in the NCAA tournament, Cincinnati was seeded two spots higher than UConn in the Big East tournament. I’ll take the team that’s trending upward.

San Diego State (2) vs. Penn State (10): Penn State is a team that I think will challenge San Diego State, but the Aztecs have something to prove, and I don’t see them letting down against a mid-level Big Ten team.

Southwest

Kansas (1) vs. UNLV (8): Like I alluded to earlier, I know little to nothing about Kansas, but you pick an upset of a 1-seed this early in the tournament at your own peril.

Louisville (4) vs. Vanderbilt (5): It was supposed to be a re-building year for Louisville, but you wouldn’t know it by watching them late this season. I’ll stick with the hot hand here. Besides, I really hate Vanderbilt.

Georgetown (6) vs. Purdue (3): Let me get something straight—while I’ll defend Purdue against people that thought losing Robbie Hummel would end their season and I am a huge fan of JaJuan Johnson, I stop well short of having tons of confidence in the Boilermakers this year. Georgetown’s style of play would put them right at home in the Big Ten, so I think the Hoyas enjoy a solid win here.

Notre Dame (2) vs. Florida State (10): And the least-exciting (though arguably the best) 2-seed moves on. Who knew Ben Hansbrough would be this good?

Southeast

Pittsburgh (1) vs. Old Dominion (9): Have I mentioned yet that I am a big fan of the way that Jamie Dixon gets his teams to play?

Utah State (12) vs. Belmont (13): Did I really just pick two underdogs to advance to this game? I guess I’ll take Belmont to move into the Sweet 16 because a) as I mentioned earlier, they’ve got a stellar mid-major resume, making them more likely to win if this game actually takes place and b) if they manage to take out Wisconsin, it would at least be mildly validating to have them win another game and prove themselves to be a worthy team.

St. John’s (6) vs. BYU(3): Jimmer and friends, meet the representatives from the Big East. You’re not going to like them.

Michigan State (10) vs. Florida (2): For the record, about a month ago I saw Michigan State’s squad get their doors blown off at Wisconsin. It has been a rough year for the Spartans, and there were doubts that they’d even make the tourney. However, if they can pull a mild first round upset, they get, in my estimation, the weakest of the 2-seeds. And just like they’ve done in the past, the Spartans will again find themselves inexplicably playing on the second weekend of the tourney. Don’t bet against Tom Izzo in March, even when he’s got a weak team and it makes logical sense to do so.

Sweet Sixteen

East

Ohio State (1) vs. Kentucky (4): Ohio State has that rare mix that makes a team special—a bunch of seniors that have been around the block and know how to behave in tough situations, and a super-talented freshman player that’s only going to be around for one year. So Kentucky’s going to have to wait until next year, when they bring in an entirely new crop of one-and-done talent.

North Carolina (2) vs. Syracuse (3): I like both of these teams a lot, but don’t trust either of them. North Carolina started off the year by continuing last year’s epically disappointing play, while Syracuse had a brief free-fall in the middle of the season. But seeing as I spent the past weekend watching North Carolina get down 15 points every day before charging back against their opponents, I’ve got to take the Orange here. It’s nice to be able to get out of a hole, but why jump into one to begin with?

West

Duke (1) vs. Texas (4): Back in February, Coach K was saying that Duke was still trying to figure out how to play without Kyrie Irving. I’m trusting that they’ve figured it out by now. Look for Mason Plumlee to bust out a stellar game at some point.

San Diego State (2) vs. Connecticut (3): When I was in Las Vegas this past weekend, one of the most confusing betting lines of the day on Friday was when I looked up at the board and saw San Diego State vs. UNLV as a pick ‘em (the line had moved to SDSU -1 by the time I got in for one of my few good decisions of the weekend). Now, I know that the Mountain West tournament was being held in Las Vegas, making UNLV the hometown favorite. I don’t care where that game was being played, though—it simply doesn’t make sense to have an unranked opponent getting no points against the #6 team in the country. If my wallet and I learned one thing this past weekend, though, it’s that the folks running Las Vegas are smarter than I am. And if they say that San Diego State vs. UNLV is a coin flip, than I can only imagine what kind of a favorite UConn would be.

Southwest

Kansas (1) vs. Louisville (4): I love the way the Big East is playing right now, but I can’t bring myself to put six Big East teams in my final eight. Yeah, that’s right—I just revealed where I’m going with the rest of my picks for this round.

Notre Dame (2) vs. Georgetown (6): Strictly a feel pick for me. Georgetown always feels like one of those teams that you don’t think is all that great, but ends up being a lot better when you see them on the court. Notre Dame always feels like one of those teams that you think is going to be awesome, but then you feel sort of underwhelmed when their game is over. So based strictly on my program stereotypes, I’ve got to take the Hoyas.

Southeast

Pittsburgh (1) vs. Belmont (13): Nice run for Belmont, but Pitt’s not the kind of team that will allow a mid-major to sneak up on them. In the event that Wisconsin surprises me and powers through to play in this game instead of Belmont, here’s hoping that New Orleans has plenty of ice machines, because there are going to be a lot of sore players at the end of that one.

St. John’s (6) vs. Michigan State (10): I will admit that in many ways it is patently stupid to pick Michigan State to advance to this point. But like I said, logic often gets thrown out with the Spartans. But given that they really shouldn’t be winning either of the games preceding this one, I have to play it safe and knock them out here. Congrats, Steve Lavin—ditching your ESPN gig and getting back into coaching seems to have worked out well.

Regional Finals

East

Ohio State (1) vs. Syracuse (3): Ohio State’s the obvious pick for the best team in this tournament. Three senior leaders, two stellar freshmen, and a bunch of other solid options helping out. This year’s Syracuse squad lacks its usual star power, but has righted their ship down the stretch. You can take two paths when picking late round NCAA tournament games—either play it safe with the favorite, or play some hunches and hope that everything works out. The former is my usual strategy, because let’s face it—you don’t want to be the only one left out in the cold when the team everyone else has picked is hoisting the trophy. But this year I just have a feeling about Syracuse, so I’m playing the hunch. Let’s hope it works out.

West

Duke (1) vs. Connecticut (3): I feel like I was in this position last year—I don’t love Duke, but I just don’t see anyone taking them out in this regional (that logic worked out fairly well last year, by the way). UConn’s the best bet, but the Huskies will have won seven games in a row dating back to the start of the Big East tournament by this point. And while UConn’s good, they’re not so good that I see them ripping off eight straight wins against good teams. So once again, I have to begrudgingly pick Duke through to the Final Four.

Southwest

Kansas (1) vs. Georgetown (6): This one just boils down to logic and blind faith. I love Austin Freeman and Georgetown, but even though I’m totally unfamiliar with Kansas, the Jayhawks must be a #1 seed for a reason. So I’m picking them. Either way, if this game happens is will be a fun contrast of styles.

Southeast

Pittsburgh (1) vs. St. John’s (6): Pitt lost to St. John’s about a month ago by one point. And while that could certainly happen again, Pitt doesn’t strike me as the kind of team that loses to anyone twice.

Semi-Finals

Syracuse vs. Duke: When you go with your hunches, as I did with Syracuse last round, you don’t go small. Duke had their turn last year—now Syracuse is getting a crack at the national championship.

Kansas vs. Pittsburgh: It will warm my heart if two true teams like this without the usual overwhelming superstars make it to the Final Four. Who will win? You may have noticed by this point that I have sort of an irrational love of Pitt’s toughness, so I’m putting the Panthers through to the finals.

National Championship

Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh: It amuses me that I’ve got Pittsburgh and Syracuse, two teams that didn’t even make their own conference tournament finals, in the national championship game. I suppose that speaks to the fact that the Big East is a tough conference, though I think it also is somewhat related to the fact that the Big East contains something like 85 teams. Pittsburgh won during the first meeting, so I’ll take them as a winner again, restoring the nation’s faith in tough-minded team basketball. How old school is that?

So there are my 2011 picks. Happy bracketing, enjoy the best weekend of the year, and I'll check back in when it's all done...

What I've Been Up To Lately...

Sometimes life gets the best of you, and as I should have learned 2-3 years ago, my life doesn’t allow me the time to blog like I used to. Nonetheless, I’ve failed to share some excellent moments of basketball watching over the last month and a half. So here, in abbreviated form, is a brief account of every game that I have attended in person in the last month and a half. I've been sitting on most of them for a bit, so some of the observations are a bit dated at this point, but I assure you that they were amusing at the time. Good luck on getting through all of this entry.

Wauwatosa East vs. Menomonee Falls (1/14/2011)

Tosa East won the game 69-66, but as with any Menomonee Falls game that I see, most of the questions that I got from friends after this one centered about how star forward J.P. Tokoto played. Tokoto should pay me not to watch his games, because on virtually every occasion that I’ve gone to see Menomonee Falls during the past two years, he has gotten into early foul trouble and been relegated to the bench. This most recent occasion was no different, as Tokoto picked up a couple of quick fouls, drew the anger of his coach, and was relegated to the bench for nearly the entire second quarter. Largely because of this, Tokoto finished the first half without a field goal, before putting up a respectable second half.

My general thoughts on Tokoto based on the few times that I’ve seen him play? Hopefully you’re not looking for anything groundbreaking, because nothing I think is all that different from the volumes that have been written on him. He’s a ridiculous athlete who occasionally makes questionable decisions when dribbling and needs work on his outside shot (though this latter issue has probably been overstated a bit by people who feel a need to pick apart Tokoto’s game). Clearly he’s going to be an asset for whatever college ends up enticing him to campus, but I’m not so sure that he’ll be the immediate game-changer that lots of people are expecting. I like guys with very little downside, though, and Tokoto’s superior athletic ability combined with his purported level headed demeanor and strong work ethic clearly put him in the “low downside” category. So while I’d be absolutely thrilled if either Wisconsin or Marquette acquired his services, I’m fairly certain I’m less worked up about his recruitment than most people are.

On a secondary note, I’m not sure if I specifically made note of it at the start of the season, but you can color me unsurprised that Menomonee Falls has struggled a bit this year. While the current Indian roster is talented, it was readily apparent while watching them last year that their senior class of John Cording, Jonathan Phillips, Adam Rubatt and Conor Cassidy was special. Not one of them was off the charts in terms of basketball ability, but all of them were successful at hoops, and most of them had significant accomplishments in other sports as well (I believe it’s no coincidence that Falls reached the state finals in football last season prior to fielding a stellar basketball team). Simply put, it was a group of winners–and one of the best three such groups that I’ve ever seen, I might add. And while the current Falls players may have just as much (if not more) talent than the departed seniors, they lack those difficult-to-define things that left when their teammates graduated last spring. You just don’t replace a foursome like that.

Marquette vs. DePaul (1/18/11)

I won’t waste a lot of time on this one, as going to it wasted enough of my time. If this game was representative, this year’s DePaul squad may be the worst Big East team that I’ve ever had the displeasure of watching. The Blue Demons actually kept the game close up until 5-minutes were left in the first half. At that point, Marquette went on a short run, and DePaul appeared to basically quit. The 30-point margin of victory for the Golden Eagles doesn’t begin to show how lopsided this game was, which is particularly notable, given that the game was all but tied until late in the first half. It’s rare that I leave a game early, but I did so on that night. DePaul’s effort was simply disgraceful.

Cedar Grove-Belgium vs. Sheboygan Lutheran (1/21/11)

Aside from being required to be out of my house for several hours on this particular Friday night, my reason for making my pathetic hour long drive to Cedar Grove-Belgium High School with my buddy Gus in frigid weather was to get a glimpse at Wisconsin Badger recruit Sam Dekker. My thoughts on Dekker? In many ways he reminds me of Kevin Durant. He’s rail thin (though I would assume that this will change, as it always seems to, when he gets on a college weight program), has a soft touch from the outside, and has a good, but somewhat playful, handle. It’s sort of jarring to see a 6'7" guy on a division 5 team playing primarily on the perimeter (mark this down as the only time I’ve seen a guy who’s four inches taller than anyone else on the floor playing at the top of a zone defense), but Dekker would be miscast playing on the blocks, so his position is appropriate. And of course, from time to time he likes to try and make a spectacular pass, which undoubtedly is what prompts the allusions to Pete Maravich that you’ve undoubtedly read if you’ve followed Dekker’s recruitment (for the record, I find the Maravich references to be a bit over-the-top).

Will Dekker be remarkably successful at Wisconsin? I couldn’t tell you. His height and perimeter skills would seem to make him a perfect fit for the Badgers, but I’m notoriously bad at judging how high school players will turn out. Several years ago, I told anyone who would listen that while Devin Harris was one of the three best high school players I had ever seen, his slight frame would make it advisable for him to redshirt before thinking of trying to play in the Big Ten. Last year I managed to get to a game to see stellar Badger freshman Josh Gasser and came away about as unexcited as I’ve ever been about an incoming recruit. And I’m also the guy that saw some real potential in J.P. Gavinski back when he was at Wisconsin Dells High School. The fact that Dekker plays his high school ball against small schools that rarely have other players anywhere near his skill level makes his game even harder to judge. So while there’s a lot to like about Dekker’s game, you shouldn’t trust any excitement that I currently have, as even I find it impossible to trust myself.

And while I was clearly at this game for little reason other than to see Dekker, I feel it’s only fair to note that his teammate, 6'1" low post player Zac Jensema had roughly 400 rebounds during the game. Okay, that might be a bit of hyperbole, but I honestly wouldn’t be shocked if you told me that Jensema had 20 boards on the night in question. Very refreshing to go to a game and be wowed by someone other than the expected star.

Brookfield East vs. Wauwatosa East (1/28/11)

I always enjoy this match-up for two reasons: 1) Brookfield East is well coached, and while the Spartans may not always have a great record, they always give perennial power Tosa East a tough game, and 2) my buddy Dez is a Brookfield East alum, so we can usually talk one another into going to the game and dredging up our high school memories from our competing alma maters.

There was a third big draw this time around, though, as this game would present me my first chance to see the new Brookfield East fieldhouse. Due to my less-frenzied game watching schedule of late, I had somehow not managed to check out the brand new fieldhouses that opened last season at Brookfield East and their crosstown rival, Brookfield Central. I’ve still yet to see Central’s new facility, but assuming that it’s similar to the one at East, it’s safe to say that everyone in Brookfield should be very happy. The Brookfield East fieldhouse got everything right. The stands are well-built, the area outside of the actual gym is large and well put together, and it’s obvious that there’s abundant room for practices when you picture the fieldhouse devoid of fans (I can readily recall what a pain it was to schedule practice for six teams in my school’s moderate sized gymnasium way back when I was in school). Suffice to say, it’s a good time to be an athletic teenager in Brookfield these days.

As to the game itself, things went almost exactly as I expected, with the disciplined squads from both schools keeping the score low in a hard-fought battle to the end. Tosa East converted a go-ahead layup with 2.5 seconds left on the clock and stole a win from their foes from Brookfield. I walked out of the gym marveling at both the game and the huge flat screen TVs on the concourse outside the new fieldhouse. Both on and off the court, Brookfield East does things right.

Wisconsin vs. Purdue (2/1/11)

This would mark the first time that I’ve actually risked my life to go see a game. As you may recall, Wisconsin hosted Purdue on the night of what people were calling the “storm of the century.” My friend Samip had invited me to the game a week earlier, and I had been excited to go. However, with the forecast calling for 20 inches of snow overnight, I began playing phone tag with Samip early on the day of the game, checking to see if he wanted to cancel our trip from Milwaukee to Madison for the game. Honestly, I was sort of hoping that he would be willing to call things off, as the weather report seemed to indicate that we would be making the worst decision possible if we were to drive to Madison. But Samip was steadfast in his desire to head to the game. Even when he picked me up, I wanted to try and talk him out of going, but in the end, I knew that if I vetoed the trip it would forever make him a more dedicated fan than I am. So rather than allowing him to hold that over me for the rest of eternity, I shut up and to Madison. As expected, our trip to Madison was not particularly noteworthy–the real snow was starting later in the night.

Our game viewing experience was interesting, not simply because of the fact that it was a great game and a huge Badger win, but because Samip, despite being a decade out of college, had managed to acquire his game tickets on Craigslist from a student (I suspect this is mostly because Samip much prefers to stand and yell during games than to sit and clap). So we were among the kids. Normally, this would just make me feel like an old guy (and indeed, it did), but on that night things got a bit more interesting, as the students were chanting at Chancellor Biddy Martin about their desire for a snow day the next day. Just prior to their introductions, the students’ wishes were granted, as cell phones in the section began lighting up and the students around us all began high-fiving. Samip and I could only stand and chuckle as the students’ chant of “Let’s get wasted!” began. Twenty year olds have an odd way of expressing excitement. Meanwhile, I think we were both wishing that we really were still students, facing only a short walk to our old apartments just around the corner from the Kohl Center, rather than two allegedly intelligent adults who somehow had to find a way back to Milwaukee that night.

As you can tell, good as the game was, it was not the key point of the evening, so I’ll jump ahead to the drive home. Simply put, it was treacherous. The roads themselves were not terrible until near the end of the trip, but visibility was awful. Were it not for a long stretch of positioning ourselves behind a large semi truck whose tail lights we could clearly see, I’m not sure if we would have made it back (we saw a healthy smattering of motorists who had ended up in ditches on the side of the road. I’m also fairly certain that if it had been me rather than Samip driving, we’d have been staying in Madison for the next day and a half (if we’d made the trip at all–I’m a remarkably cautious man). As it was, our trip took longer than any of the many that I’ve taken between Madison and Milwaukee over the years, and it’s safe to say that the portion of the trip from Oconomowoc to my home was equal to the amount of time that it usually takes to drive the whole stretch. But Samip had guided us home safely, and I was thankful for that.

As Samip dropped me off and I prepared to trudge through the thigh-high snow in my front yard in order to get to my door, I thanked him for his hard work that night and said something that I think he wholeheartedly agreed with at that point:

“Let’s never do anything like that again.”

Wisconsin vs. Michigan State (2/6/11)

For the first time that I can remember after a Wisconsin-Michigan State game, there simply wasn’t much to be said. Wisconsin dominated the Spartans 82-56. Part of the reason for the Badgers’ dominance on this particular day was the fact that they shot incredibly well, but frankly, the bigger issue was that Michigan State just completely fell apart. It was, oddly, sort of disheartening. As those of you who’ve followed me in prior seasons may recall, though I love seeing Wisconsin beat Michigan State more than any other opponent, part of my reason for feeling this way is that I have greater respect for Tom Izzo than perhaps any other coach in the nation. His teams are consistently tough, and you can be virtually certain that you’re going to get a well-played game when the Spartans take the court. So to see Michigan State fall so mightily in this game (and for much of this season) was sort of sad. You like to beat your most hated enemy, but you really don’t want to beat them so badly that you start feeling sorry for them. Fortunately, I suspect that the Spartans struggles this season are an aberration and that they will be back with a vengeance next year. And when they do return to prominence, I’m hoping for a pair of hard fought, single digit Badger wins. Really, it’s just more fun that way.

The most amusing moment of the drive home (which needed to happen quickly, as you may also remember that this game occurred on the same day as the Super Bowl, which as a Wisconsin resident, I was legally obligated to watch) was the telephone call from the friend from whom I had obtained my tickets for the day. My friend in question is the holder of some excellent seats in the Kohl Center, and was excited at the start of the season to offer me the Michigan State game, as it looked to be the most compelling game on the schedule. I laughed after the game when he called to apologize for really setting me up with seats for a 26-point blowout. The sentiment from him was genuine, but even if it wasn’t the hard fought contest that I’d prefer, I’ll always take good seats to a win over Michigan State.

Wisconsin vs. Ohio State(2/12/11)

Unlike the Michigan State game, where I was sitting in the best seats in the house, I returned to my rightful place in society for the Ohio State game and headed up to the last row in a corner of the Kohl Center with my pal Ferd. I’m okay with that, though, because a) being anywhere in the arena for that game would have been awesome and b) one of the amazing things about the Kohl Center is that I’m pretty sure I’ve never sat in a truly bad seat there.

Ferd and I actually came into these tickets sort of by accident when we bought a four-pack of Wisconsin tickets at the start of the year. Before the season when we were looking to pick our ticket package it quickly became apparent that neither of us had a strong preference for any of the four different packages of games offered by the Wisconsin Athletic Department. Ultimately, I argued that I was fine with any of the Big Ten games (all packages had two conference games and two non-conference), but thought that the UW-Milwaukee game would be the non-conference game of the greatest interest with me. So we bought that package, never thinking that Ohio State would come into the building undefeated and ranked #1 in the country. It’s nice when my love for an in-state team pays off for illogical reasons.

So up to our nosebleed seats we trudged. I won’t recount the game–we all know that watching any team, let along a methodical Wisconsin team, recover from a 15-point second half deficit was pretty amazing. But watching it from the top of the building was a unique experience. As I stated, there truly are no terrible seats in the Kohl Center. From the last row I had an awesome bird’s eye view, I could stand whenever I felt necessary without impeding anyone’s view (as a moderately tall man, this is a constant concern of mine at events), and we were safely far away from the craziness that ensued on the floor immediately after the game (getting caught in a very short and mild crowd avalanche while rushing the court during my student days was one of the more terrifying moments of my life).

As to the post-game furor over the alleged Jared Sullinger spitting incident, I can’t say that I saw how Sullinger made it off the floor, so I can’t speak intelligently about that. What I can say is that while watching the rushing of the court I felt very concerned for Buckeye guard Jon Diebler, who was at mid-court when the Wisconsin students quickly enveloped the entire floor. It took Diebler at least a solid minute to wade his way through the exuberant students to the sideline, and Sullinger’s disturbing allegations notwithstanding, I was pleased to eventually see Diebler make it out of the crowd seemingly unharmed. Heaven knows that was not the safest place on earth to be for an opposing player.

Marquette vs. St. John’s (2/15/11)

There’s just been something very frustrating about watching Marquette all season, and this game encapsulated that feeling very well. St. John’s is a decent team that was playing very well coming into this game. And Marquette, a decent team in its own right, kept things even with the Red Storm throughout most of the game, but wilted at the end. It’s the same type of thing that’s been going on all year–the Golden Eagles simply can’t play 40 minutes of basketball against teams of similar strength to their own. I walked out of this game thinking that something is off about this year’s Marquette team. It’s not a squad that’s short on talent or desire, but I’m left wondering if departed seniors David Cubillan and Lazar Hayward were bigger factors in team chemistry than anyone ever knew. Whatever the story, I’ve watched too many Marquette games this year that, despite the athleticism on the court, left me feeling uninspired (it’s a bad sign when the most notable moment of the game for me was realizing that “Cotton Eye Joe” was no longer being played during the “Dance Cam” segment on the scoreboard). Hopefully the victory on the road over Connecticut not long after this one brought some fire back to the Golden Eagles.

Wauwatosa East vs. Menomonee Falls (2/18/11)

One moment sticks out for me in this game. I saw the most violent collision that I've ever seen in a high school game. A Tosa East fastbreak caused Menomonee Falls' Steve Ross to get tangled up with a backpedaling teammate as both were trying to defend the hoop. This ultimately caused both Falls players to fall into Tosa East's Anthony Carroll, who was streaking down the court at full speed. The game stopped for several minutes as Ross and Carroll, who both received the worst of it, stayed on the ground getting evaluated by the trainer. Fortunately, both eventually returned to the game and neither appeared to have suffered a major injury, but it was a scary few moments.

On a side note, both crowds displayed some of the poorest reactions to injury that I've ever seen. I was appalled at the Tosa East student section booing Ross as he eventually found his way back to his feet and ambled off the floor. That was totally unacceptable. However, I sort of thought that the outrage over the students' behavior displayed by a couple of overzealous fans seated near me in the Falls adult section was a bit ironic, since the duo in question spent the first minute of the injury stoppage yelling at the refs that their foul call on Ross during the play was a terrible call. The call was unquestionably a good one (and not a tough one to make, in my estimation), but that’s obviously not the point. Much like the general rule that you should never boo an injured player, I'd say that if ever there was a time to stop worrying about the game and complaining to the refs about a call, it's when two high school players are writing in pain on the ground and the severity of their injuries is not yet known. I can tell you quite honestly that after the collision that I saw, fouls and possessions were the last thing on my mind in the ensuing five minutes. Simply put, there were a lot of fans in the gym on that night that I felt truly embarrassed for.

Turning to another interesting tidbit from the game, while I won't say why exactly, my experiences at the game that night left me fairly confident that Menomonee Falls’ star player, J.P. Tokoto is going to be heading to Chapel Hill next year. That’s certainly not a guarantee, as I don’t have any inside information, but something that I stumbled upon that night pretty much convinced me how this one is going to end. I suppose we’ll know for certain soon enough, as Tokoto is reportedly planning to announce his decision at the end of this week. And just to be clear, I'd love to be wrong about this one.

As to the game itself, Falls pulled away for the win, extending a bit of a winning streak that they’ve put together. It appears that things may be coming together for the Indians at the right time for them to be a tough out in the tournament, which kicks off this week. As I noted in my earlier game notes from their prior game against Wauwatosa East, Falls is definitely not short on talent.


And with that, you’re now aware of what I’ve been up to for the past month and a half. I’ll try to be back with one or two updates before the end of the year. However as you know by now, it’s probably best not to expect too much from me these days...

Wisconsin vs. Michigan State: Ouch

Wow, that was a stomach punch. After a week and a half of basketball that included an improbable decisive UWM victory over Butler and a spirited Marquette win over longtime rival Notre Dame, I managed to re-find my focus just in time to watch a Wisconsin-Michigan State game that ended in dreadful fashion (assuming that you, like me, are a Wisconsin fan), as the Badgers blew a 9-point lead in the closing minutes and lost in overtime. I’m not sure what was a worse feeling–the loss, or the realization at the end of the game that I needed to go out and shovel snow in the dark. Such is life. Game points below:

1) I’ve come to greatly respect Michigan State’s defense over the years, so it was a bit disappointing to me to see the Spartans almost immediately allow Keaton Nankivil a wide-open look from three-point range, near the top of the key. Anyone who’s even vaguely familiar with Wisconsin’s recent games knows that Nankivil has been on fire from that area.

2) Obviously people are going to lay a good amount of blame on Rob Wilson for his dunk attempt during the midst of Michigan State’s comeback. And deservedly so. Wilson is a talented, fearless player. And while that’s a great trait to have at many points in the game, it’s not so great near the end of the game when you’re attempting to hold a fragile lead. I question why Wilson, not known as one of the more “safe” guys on the team was even in the game during the final minutes. I understand that he thought he had a good opportunity to nearly seal the game with a dunk in a 2-on-1 situation, but pulling the ball out or drawing the Michigan State defender (who, to be fair, played things perfectly) to him and passing off to a well-spaced Jon Leuer would have been a much better call. It doesn’t take a great basketball mind to see this.

3) I’m not sure what to make of the fact that for the first time in Bo Ryan’s tenure at Wisconsin, he can’t seem to settle on a regular starting lineup. In past seasons, he seemed stubborn almost to a fault with refusing to deviate from the starting lineup that he began the year with (Jason Chappell’s starting role seemed almost ceremonial at times). But this year, I think Jared Berggren is the only player in the regular rotation that hasn’t seen a start. Is this merely because Ryan is becoming more flexible in his old age, or simply because he’s not sure who to trust from game to game? I would hope for the former, but I suspect and fear that it’s the latter.

5) It’s something that I think every time I see a game in East Lansing on TV–I really need to get to the Breslin Center for a game. Rounding out the rest of my top-five arenas that I’ve never seen a game at, but would like to, are: The Dean Smith Center (North Carolina), Gallagher-Iba Arena (Oklahoma State), Phog Allen Fieldhouse (Kansas), and The Carrier Dome (Syracuse).

5) Is it disturbing to anyone else that the two best three-point shooters in Wisconsin’s regular rotation are the Badgers’ starting center and power forward?

6) Big credit to Delvon Roe’s defense on Jon Leuer. Last night was the first time all year that I’ve seen someone make Leuer look that uncomfortable. He was still able to make some moves, but when it came time to shoot, there were no easy looks last night.

7) For all of the great things that I can say about Jordan Taylor–and there are many–I found myself frustrated with him last night whenever the shot clock was running down. I don’t expect him to be able to break guys down and get into the lane like Trevon Hughes could last year, but it seemed to me that Taylor tended to panic a few seconds early, and consequently ended up launching long-range desperation shots with about 5 seconds left on the shot clock. The same thing happened at the end of regulation when he couldn’t quite find a way to crack Michigan State’s defense in time.

8) Losing a game in the manner that it occurred last night hurts. It always hurts as a fan when your team blows a tough-to-overcome lead in the final minutes. But it hurts a little bit more when you’re playing a tough team in a building that’s very tough to win in. And it hurts even more when it’s Michigan State. If history is any indicator, you know that the Spartans are only going to get better as the season goes on, so it would have been nice to steal one early on.

9) I’ve not watched enough televised basketball this year to really get a feel for things, but am I nuts for starting to really like Dan Dakich as an announcer? Obviously, despite his Indiana ties, Dakich is no Bob Knight. But I really like the way that he’s able to describe what will happen next on the floor before it actually happens (and he was on fire with reading tendencies last night). Kudos to ESPN for stealing another coach away and making him into a broadcaster. (And yes, I say that in spite of him completely confusing me when he got the white board in his hand to draw up a play late in the game).

10) I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again–I’m that rare Badger fan that likes Michigan State. Last night’s game is a perfect example of why I feel this way. Wisconsin lost to Michigan State in large part because of the Spartans’ hard-nosed style of play that made nothing easy. In short, Michigan State does the same sort of thing that Wisconsin does. I value the consistency and toughness of both teams. So while I don’t like losing, I’d much rather see a loss to a Michigan State team that wins by out-working you, rather than an Ohio State team that simply out-talents you.

So that’s last night’s game for me in a nutshell. On the plus side, with Monday night officially putting an end to college football, it seems like ESPN is really ramping up the intriguing basketball matchups this week. So I should get a chance to see a few more good games in the coming days. If nothing else, I’ve seen a number of amusing basketball-related television programs in the last few days, so I should have something to get me back to writing a bit more.

Marquette vs. Vanderbilt: Not Quite There Yet

After a hectic couple of nights (I only barely saw the Wisconsin-Minnesota game, a contest that I had circled on the calendar weeks ago), I finally got the chance to relax in my living room (well, after I took down the Christmas tree) and watch some basketball last night. Marquette and Vanderbilt looked to be a fun one. I’ve been waiting for Marquette to get a big non-conference win, and I have a bit of a distaste for Vanderbilt, so I was looking for the Golden Eagles to lay a major beat down on the Commodores. Unfortunately, that was not to be, with Vanderbilt pulling out a squeaker at the end. But it was nonetheless an entertaining game to watch, with perhaps as many dunks as in any game I’ve seen this year. Game thoughts below:

1) About five minutes into the game, Jae Crowder gave me one of those amusing moments that happens every so often where I think to myself “I didn’t know he could shoot from three-point range” as a guy’s launching a shot. And then .5 seconds later as the ball is missing the rim entirely, I realize why I was surprised to see that particular player shooting.

2) Great to see Joe Fulce on the floor, after questioning just a few weeks ago whether he would ever play basketball again.

3) I’m always perplexed when I see games at Vanderbilt. Who thought that floor would be a good idea? I kind of understand the concept of the raised floor, but I’m at a loss trying to figure out why anyone would think it a good idea to put the benches on the baselines. Given that virtually every other basketball facility has sideline benches and that set up tends to work remarkably well, wouldn’t it seem logical to set up your own facility in this way? I’m all for creativity, but sometimes you just need to conform.

4) Dear ESPN: If in any way true, that was a nice tidbit that your commentators dropped in about Chris Otule wearing goggles because he only has one eye. But as great a factoid as that is, I’d ask that you not share it with Dick Vitale before he calls any Marquette games. The world doesn’t need any more excuses for Vitale to make his old “I only have one eye!” joke.

5) Vander Blue may not start for Marquette, but is there anyone out there that doesn’t think he’s one of the top five players on the roster? He’s come along much quicker than I expected.

6) It was a subtle moment, but there was a great shot in the second half of Buzz Williams on the baseline, where the benches are at Vanderbilt, shouting out a complaint to the referees. In the frame as Williams was yelling were one male and one female Vanderbilt fan, each of whom looked to be about student age. Both fans were calmly sitting in their front-row seats until Williams began his complaint. The look on the face of the male fan quickly shifted to one of anger, as if he was ready to confront Williams about punching one of his family members, or something else way more serious than a traveling call or three-second violation. I can’t do it justice writing about it, and it probably makes no sense if you didn’t see it. But if you happened to catch it while you were watching the game, you probably understand the understated brilliance of this moment.

7) Okay, I’ll admit it–Chris Otule is starting to look like a serviceable player. I still don’t think he has a high ceiling, and I will never think of him as the solid big man that Marquette could really use, but he’s developed some moves and is not totally embarrassing when he’s on the court. And that’s not something that I could have said about him when he was a freshman.

8) There were times last night when I was completely embarrassed to watch Marquette’s defense. There was one notable moment early in the second half when one of Vanderbilt’s guards took the ball 3/4 of the way down the court and three Marquette defenders in the lane just watched helplessly as he slipped by them to effortlessly lay the ball in. I’ve rarely seen such a poor effort on one play from high school players, let alone a trio of decent college players. And then there was the more glaring last possession for Vanderbilt, when the Commodores patience led them to break Marquette down for an fairly easy layup. I’m not sure if the Golden Eagles don’t know what they’re doing or if they’ve gotten tired of the consistent effort that they’ve always given and just aren’t trying all the time. Either way, it was upsetting to see the lapses last night.

9) Watching Marquette not even get a shot off on their final possession really took me back to the Tom Crean days at MU. The only difference being, of course, that if Crean was still at Marquette, this failure would not have been due to a player tripping. Someone would have just dribbled out the clock while over-thinking things.

10) I can’t recall too many non-conference seasons more frustrating than the one that Marquette just completed. The Golden Eagles played four games against big-time opponents and lost all four. Yet none of the losses were by more than five points, and one of them was an excellent effort against Duke, the best team in the country. At some point you’d have to suspect that Marquette will get over the hump and hold on to beat some excellent opponents in Big East play. After all, this is a talented team. But a good team needs to win games, and even though a shift in 14 points in all the right places would drastically alter the season to date, the fact still remains that Marquette has not yet won a game against a name opponent.

So all in all, not the best of nights for Marquette. I still think this team has a few Big East upsets in them. Let’s hope they get a big win soon, though, because it’s tough as a fan to stay patient through all of the near misses.

What He Said...

Last night I typed up some thoughts on point guard Reggie Smith's decision to transfer from Marquette after just one semester. And this morning I decided that there's no need to post those thoughts after I read something that said everything better I did over at the Anonymous Eagle blog. Very well-reasoned analysis, and in addition, it raises some interesting points that I may look to dig deeper into when I have a spare moment tonight (in addition to my regularly scheduled hoops watching). I love it when someone articulates the thoughts running through my head better than I ever could.