Not a good start to the NCAA Tournament for the ACC, huh? Unfortunately, I’m not terribly surprised. I mentioned briefly on this site and again on one or two of my radio interviews that the ACC was poised for a tough first two rounds of the tourney. Only Carolina would be a heavy favorite to win two and Maryland was probably the only other one even slightly favored. And well, the ratings and Vegas oddsmakers were right.
Does it mean the ACC had a terrible year? No, certainly not. Just getting seven teams in is a pretty impressive accomplishment that speaks volumes about how those teams played the entire season. But putting only one team in the Sweet Sixteen does mean that it’s certainly not a banner year for the ACC. Not a great one and not even a very good one.
There are many ways for a conference to have an excellent year. One way is to have a few exceptional teams on top – two or three squads who are good enough to vie for a Final Four berth or even a title. Another way is to have strength at the bottom of the league – the whole “there is no off night in this league” thing. And a third is to have a strong middle of the league – maybe an elite team on top and one crappy one on the bottom, but with a large, successful middle class. I’d say the ACC pretty much fit that last mold this year, with a touch of the second one as well. As the bottom-feeders showed at the end of the year, no game was a guaranteed win this season and 10 of the 12 ACC teams earned postseason bids. The ACC led in pretty much every conference power rating, but had only national-level elite team.
Now, my thoughts on the weekend games, which despite the ACC’s struggles, were pretty entertaining.
Saturday’s games:
- That charging call on DJ Strawberry near the end of the Maryland-Butler game was horrendous. Not only was the guy not in position until after Strawberry was in the air, but there’s also a rule that says you have to let someone catch a ball and come down. Terrible. The thing is though, Maryland probably still would have lost. They were down 2 at that point and Strawberry had just missed one of two free throws. Even if he had hit them both, Butler would have had 20 seconds to get off a last shot. Still, I’m sure the Terps would rather have been in that situation than the one that call left them in.
- Georgetown was extremely impressive in the last 10 minutes against Boston College. Their two stars, Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green stepped up and so did Patrick Ewing Jr. If those guys, Hibbert in particular, continue to play like that, then the national prognosticators who are jumping on the Hoya bandwagon may just be right.
- That Xavier collapse was crushing. It bummed me out all day; I can’t even imagine what Musketeer fans must feel like. They had that game. Had it! Give Ohio State all the credit they deserve, because they seized the slim chances that were there, but still, Xavier blew it. One free throw here, one rebound there and the game ends differently. If the refs had blown an intentional foul on Greg Oden at the end (and he deserved one), it would have ended differently. But, instead we saw one of the great comebacks in NCAA history. Great game. But it hurt.
- Don’t look now, but North Carolina is playing their best ball of the year. Sure, they had a midseason peak, but I like what they are doing now even better. Roy has tightened the rotation a bit, even if he’d never admit it, and the big guns are stepping up. Tyler Hansbrough played his best game of the season and Reyshawn Terry continued his last season surge. All season, I was sure that they would fall short of the Final Four, but I’m not so sure now.
- Early in the day, I happened upon an NIT game on TV, where Mississippi State was playing someone. While I was watching, I saw a quick, aggressive Bulldog guard drive through the defense for an impressive layup. The kid was Ben Hansbrough, Tyler’s little brother. That got me thinking. It’s one thing to be 6’9″ and play college basketball. Sure, you have to be somewhat athletic, really how many people are you beating out for that spot? But to be 6’3″ or so and play college ball, you have to be a hell of an athlete. And that’s Tyler’s brother.
Later, when Carolina was playing, they showed his dad and mentioned that he had high jumped as a student at Missouri and had once cleared 7’2″. 7’2″!! So, Tyler’s little brother is a D-1 guard and his dad was an elite track and field athlete. Hmmm, maybe Tyler’s not quite the sub-athlete so many say he is. He’s constantly praised for his motor, his aggressiveness, his work ethic and his hands, but never for sheer athleticism. Do you think maybe he’d be talked about differently if he were black instead of white? - The Louisville-Texas A&M game might have been the most entertaining game of the day. Might have been except that it wasn’t because the refs couldn’t stop blowing their whistles. Damn near every possession ended with free throws. It was too bad, because both teams were playing hard, aggressive ball and it would have been nice to see them establish some flow.
Tough break for that Louisville kid who missed those free throws at the end. He was 15-15 at that point, but with just seconds left and his team down by one, he missed both. Ouch. - Vandy must like their ACC imports. Back in the day Billy McCaffrey was an All-American there after leaving Duke. Now, former Cavalier Derrick Byars has them in Sweet Sixteen. They should have to donate a share of proceeds.
- The average margin at the end of regulation of the eight games – 3.6 points. If you take out the Carolina game, it was just 3.3 points, and in that game, UNC trailed by 3 with about 8 minutes left. Pretty amazing slate.
Sunday games:
- Virginia was sooo close, but I can’t really argue with the outcome. Tennessee was probably the better team, but if they played 10 games, the final split would probably be 5-5 or 6-4. Things might have been different if JR Reynolds hadn’t rolled his ankle 14 minutes into the game. At that point, he’d already scored 22 points, but he tallied just 4 more, both on layups, the rest of the way. Similarly, if the Vols hadn’t banked in a damn three with about 2 minutes left, things might have been very different. It always sucks to see your team lose and end their season, but I’m still happy with what they did this year.
- Virginia Tech played against two of the best half-court defenses in the tourney and struggled mightily against both. Against Illinois, they found their rhythm by going to a full-court press, but nothing seemed to work against Southern Illinois. Thinking back, I don’t remember if they even tried a press. One thing I noticed in both games is something I should have picked up earlier this year – the Hokies have no offense. Their points seem to pretty much come from dribble penetration from Jamon Gordon, Zabian Dowdell or sometimes Deron Washington. Basically, they pass the ball around a few times and then someone attacks. That just won’t work against a disciplined defense with good on-ball defenders. When you are held to 44 points in a tourney game against a mid-major and you have the offensive talent VT has, something is wrong. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to them next year without Gordan, Dowdell and Coleman Collins. That might be a last-place team.
- Thought I had during the day (many times) – Well, at least the Big Ten is sucking too.
- Memphis really reminds me of those old Denny Crum Louisville teams – athletes all over the floor, running and jumping and creating mayhem. Of course, I thought that last year too and they folded in the tourney. Their game against Texas A&M should be awesome. BTW, Joey Dorsey has a ridiculous body. That guy just looks like an All-American.
- The Kentucky-Kansas game was very entertaining. Both teams looked really good. I wonder if Kentucky just needed to see another elite program on the court to help them get motivated? The Jayhawks are looking more and more like a legit favorite for the title. It’s great to see them, UNC and Florida all rounding into shape here at the end. It could be a hell of a Final Four.
- So, is UNLV a mid-major? They are from one of those minor western conferences, but they have some impressive history and were a traditional power 15-20 years ago. I say they are. Or are they some other category – Major program in middling conference? You could put Memphis in that category as well (and Louisville back in their Metro Conference heyday).
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