So two teams have booked their flights to - and hotel rooms in - Indianapolis. Oh wait, they were already there. Anyway, two teams have made their reservations in the Final Four. In the early game, Houston held off a furious late-game/second half rally by the Oregon State Beavers to earn the school's 6th berth in the Final Four. In the late game, Arkansas gamely kept coming back, and coming back, but Baylor's physicalness was just too much, earning the Bears their spot in next weekend's championships. And, Baylor is doing this with their All-American Jared Butler playing sub=par basketball as he went 4-11 last night, although perhaps a glimmer of hope for him as he went 2-3 from three. If he gets hot - look out!
Since Baylor, a 1 seed and number 2 overall tournament seed, and Houston, a 2 seed, both won, no bonus points for everyone, and most entrants won 1 or the other of the games. And, since a significant portion of us had both games, no "Pick of the Day" award today.
But, we do have a new/old leader. William Pujals, of Charlotte, North Carolina has jumped back into the possession he held after day 1 of round 1. And, he is in sole possession of first place, thanks to his selection of both Baylor and Houston into the Final Four. For those that want to go back and try to figure how someone that wasn't in first place yesterday jumped someone who was in first and got both games right yesterday, it was a calculation error on my part, having short-changed William 2 points. Those have been added. He and Matt Hopps of Quincy, Massachusetts have different champions anyway, so that mistake will sort itself out.
Today's games are also worth 8 points apiece, so some serious change in the standings could be had, especially if the two California teams (or even one of them), can make a splash today. The Gonzaga/USC tilt is also important because, as outlined yesterday, the winner of that game will determine the last place finisher in our pool. As a refresher, if Gonzaga wins, Sean McInerney of Atlantic Beach, Florida will finish last and earn his money back. IF USC wins, Bubba Zdrowak of Orlando, Florida has that dubious distinction. Bubba, it should be noted, is an alligator.
With the twin victories from the two Texas schools, the remaining champions in our pool stay intact: Baylor, Gonzaga, Houston, and Michigan. Those that have fallen are Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan State, Ohio State and Virginia. And, as a reminder, somebody selected Michigan State even though they did not make it to the main bracket!
Players of the Day
5. Davion Mitchell, Baylor. Dude only had 12 points, but he did have 6 assists, with 1 rebound and 1 steal. But, this man controlled the game. As fast as anyone with the ball, and a sick change of speeds. If we want to see pure athleticism and skill and knowledge of the game from our points guards, we will get Michigan and Mike Smith, UCLA and Tyger Campbell, joining Mitchell in the Final Four. Mitchell did go 0-3 from the free throw line in what Baylor is hoping is not foreboding foreshadowing.
4. Quinten Grimes, Houston. Solid performance from Grimes, who had 18 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
3. Marcus Sasser, Houston. Sasser led the Cougars in scoring with 30, and added 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
2. MaCio Teague, Baylor. The transfer from UNC-Asheville scored 22 points with 5 rebounds, to lead Baylor in scoring in its win over Arkansas.
1. Charlie Melton, Director of Athletics Performance, Baylor. In essence Melton is the team's Strength and Conditioning Coach (with better pay and title). Seriously, did you see those guys. To quote 2 separate entrants from our pool last night, "Baylor is a team of MEN" (emphasis supplied.) OK, those 2 entrants were Silas Nichols 1 and Silas Nichols 2, both of Washington, DC, but that does not make the point less valid. Look at that team and tell me which other team is going to out-physical them. Maybe the Baltimore Ravens.
Stats of the Day
6. Not basketball related, but astronomical anyway. University of Texas Swimming & Diving coach Eddie Reese retiring after the Longhorns just captured their 15th national championship under Reese, to go with 12 second-place finishes. But, the stat of the day is that Texas this year just won their 42nd consecutive conference championship. 42!!!
5. Only 1 team east of the Mississippi made it to the Elite 8 (Michgan). Not so much a stat as an observance.
4. Arkansas won their first 3 games after being down double digits in each. This stat would have been higher had they been able to convert it to 4, having trailed Baylor by as many as 18.
3. Oregon State had 2 turnovers in the second half, and the second one came down 6 with 20 or so seconds remaining. This is how you stage a comeback.
2. Baylor is shooting 40.8% from three-point range ON THE SEASON!!! They went 8-15 last night.
1. Houston grabbed 19 OFFENSIVE rebounds. Just offensive. That is ridiculous.
Social Media Post of the Day
1. On Twitter from Nneka Ogwumike: "It's women's basketball for me #marchmadness". So Connecticut and Baylor battled against each other in an awesome Elite 8 game in San Antonio, which featured four separate swings of 10 points or more, and culminating in this Baylor shot, with the Bears down 1 to Connecticut at the end of the game, by DiJonai Carrington, which apparently wasn't a foul.
Seriously though, basketball twitter was ablaze as every player, former player, coach, former coach, family member, former family member, acquantaince, former acquaintance and stranger (no, I will not type "former stranger") was commenting on this game, and in particular on this play.
Today's history lesson was difficult for me to decide about what to write. Baylor returns to the final four for the first time since 1950, but that tournament was not very memorable, and neither were any of the standout players. Plus, the CCNY point-shaving scandal didn't hit until the next year, so that didn't work. Had Arkansas won and returned to the Final Four for the first time since 1995, I could have written about that awesome 1995 team with Big Nasty Corliss Williamson, Scotty Thurman, Clint McDaniel, and Corey Beck. But alas, that doesn't work here. I had already mentioned Oregon State's 1983 squad, and they lost anyway. The obvious answer is to write about Houston, who made the Final Four for the first time since their 1982-1984 run of three straight, but earlier this year I highlighted former Cougars coach Guy Lewis. So, as I decide my topic I will add this story about Houston's recruitment of Hakeem Olajuwon.
Olajuwon never played basketball until he was 15, having previously been a soccer goalie in Nigeria. After he started playing basketball, he received a few looks and tryouts, and eventually earned the eye of 3 schools, Providence, Louisville, and Houston. Olajuwon had tickets to all 3 cities, and upon his arrival at the airport in New York, he had to decide which plane ticket to take. He walked outside the airport, and it was ridiculously cold. Olajuwon spotted a man working the cab line or as a porter and either by his facial structure or name knew he was Nigerian. Olajuwon walked up the man, showed him all 3 tickets and asked, "Which place has weather that is closest to Lagos?" The man handed him the ticket to Houston. And that is how Hakeem Olajuwon came to play for Guy Lewis and the Houston Cougars. For a great history of the 1982-1984 era of Houston basketball, please watch the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Phi Slama Jama.
And guess what, that is tournament History!
Now, onto the standings. Remember kids, let me know if you think you see an error in my scoring. I will double check.
1. William Pujals - 95 - Gonzaga/Houston
Thanks Pepe for your hard work! These posts are fascinating reads. That Akeem story of having different tickets happens only during the pre-9/11 era, right? I remember back then where you can just buy a ticket and give it to someone else. The ticket wasn't tied to an individual. These days, Akeem would have had to make his decision back in Nigeria.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely true. This probably could not happen as casually as it did post 9/11.
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