No awards tonight. Just a few quick comments. I had considered skipping the commentary altogether, but I realize some of you are addicts by now, so here is your quick fix.
This Is How You Lose A Close Game
Undoubtedly the Missouri Tigers were undersized and undermanned against the aptly named UConn Huskies. Still, they made an excellent game of it through frenetic defense and good shooting. They were near 30% from 3 point range, shot a respectable 42% from the field, had 21 assists and 10 steals contributing to a whopping 17 turnovers for UConn. Unfortunately, none of these stats were key to the game. Missouri got to the line only 12 times, and made only 6. UConn spent all afternoon at the line, making 26 of 32. They only won by 7, folks. Missouri makes all their freebies, a couple more attempts, a few less attempts for UConn…if, if, if. Still, UConn is a freight train. No matter how you try to stop them, it isn’t going to be very effective.
On the other hand…
This Is How You Win A Close Game
Actually, this is how you win, nearly lose, and then win at the last possible instant. If you didn’t watch the Pittsburgh-Villanova game, you missed the game of the tournament so far. Unlike the aforementioned Tigers, thesecats made 21 consecutive free throws before missing one, finishing the game 22-23 at the line. The finish was one for the ages. Up by four with less than 30 seconds to play, Villanova went into prevent defense. They triple-teamed the three point shooter, leaving the monstrous DuJuan Blair under the basket for an easy dunk. Up by 2 with 10 seconds to play, Nova spends it’s final timeout to set up a foolproof out of bounds play to seal the game. Get the ball in. Get fouled. Shoot free throws perfectly like you have all night. Game over.
Not exactly…
Unable to get the ball in bounds with no timeouts remaining, Nova throws 93.5 foot pass on a 94 foot court. Receiver of the pass tries to throw it off Pittsburgh player, but whiffs. Pitt drives down for the win or the tie, and Nova fouls with 5.5 seconds left. Two free throws later, it’s a tie ballgame. Suddenly I’m rubbing my eyes and wondering at exactly what point my best pick of the tournament managed to lose this game. That’s when Nova runs the old picket-fence-Bryce-Drew-Valpo-Classic-Pacer-play with the Tyus Edney finish. Half court pass, tap to the guard, drive to the basket and and lay it in with 0.5 to go. Unbelievable.
Parting Shots
With that amazing finish, 267 contestants lost one of their Final Four picks, our contest leader dropped to second, a new leader emerged, and my hopes of finishing in the top 20 stayed alive. I know this sounds like hype (Who, me, hype up my contest? Never!), but I don’t remember a contest ever having this much dramatic potential this close to the end. There are three very large scategories bonuses remaining, and they are all very much a possibility.
A Villanova win in the national semifinals is worth 21 points to 9 contestants, including yours truly.
A national championship for Sparty (Michigan State for the uninformed) is worth 30 points to 17 contestants.
A national championship for The Oklahoma Fighting Griffins is worth 30 points to 14 contestants. (Curiously, the griffin is a mythical creature, half lion, half eagle, if I remember correctly. If you watch Blake play, that’s a fairly accurate description.)
Check the Possible Scategories Bonus report to see if you qualify.
Tomorrow night I will hand out a copious number of awards for the regional finals. More news later. Film at 11.