Final Four Faux Pas
With only two games on tonight, I’m going to assume that everybody reading this knows who won and either watched the games or watched the highlights already on Sports Center. Therefore, I am choosing to bypass any specific play-by-play observations in favor of some more philosophical musings.
You Might As Well Face It You’re Addicted to Threes
Live by it, die by it, or so goes the cliche. Still, I am continually amazed at how willing teams from the upper, lower, and every echelon in between seem content to shoot the open three-pointer, the long three-pointer, the forced three-pointer, the ridiculous three-pointer, the unnecessary three-pointer, and the downright idiotic three-pointer at every opportunity. Shoot early. Shoot often. Consider the following. The four teams tonight combined to attempt a whopping 84 three-point shots. Of those 84, 26 were made for a success rate of just barely 30%. VCU made a living all tournament with deadly shooting from three-point range, but in tonight’s game they were just 8-22. Tonight’s other loser, Kentucky, similarly was 9-27. Conversely, UConn attempted only a dozen three-pointers and made only one! Someone please explain to me why DeAndre Liggins took a contested three-pointer, down two, with 9 seconds left? Take those leggin’s to the hoop, Liggins! Kentucky didn’t even make a move to the basket. Yes, UConn played good defense, but not that good. In the two games Kentucky won by close shaves in this tournament, did they do so by bombing a three? No. Brandon Knight made a move to the basket. That’s the smart play. At least draw the defense to get an open three-pointer, but no. Knight checks the air in the ball for seven seconds and then passes to Liggins for the heroic, contested three. Bzzt. Game over.
Free Throws Still Matter
My grandfather used to say, “You have to make your freebies!” It’s still true. Consider these numbers. VCU: 8-13, Butler: 20-26. Not only did Butler shoot a much higher percentage, but they got to the line twice as often as did VCU. In the second game the number of attempts was much more balanced, 12 for Kentucky and 11 for UConn. However, UConn made 9 while Kentucky made only 4. That may night seem significant until you consider Connecticut won by a single point. Monday night’s championship will pit two very good free throw shooting teams against once another.
Who Are You Calling Dog?
Monday night’s championship will feature dogs vs. dogs, but it doesn’t take a genius nor a prophet to know who the odds makers and the media will dub the underdogs, that being the Butler Bulldogs. One has wonder if such a pronouncement is supportable by anything rational or concrete, however. Yes, UConn is the blue blood in this match-up, with multiple Final Fours and national championships to their credit, and the 25-year coach with the impressive resume. Let’s not forget, however, that these Connecticut players didn’t make the tournament last year, while these Butler players played in this very game just last year. If you ask me, UConn didn’t exactly overwhelm Kentucky tonight. In fact, they were one stupid decision on Kentucky’s part away from overtime at best, and defeat at worst. Much has been made of UConn’s perfect 13-0 record this year in “tournament” play, including ten consecutive wins starting in the Big East tournament. Let’s not forget, however, that Butler hasn’t lost in a long time, either, not since February 3rd, in fact. That’s fourteen in a row if you’re keeping score at home. Butler has repeatedly shown the ability to win close games, neutralize opponent’s star players or withstand them, and generally apply the Al Davis creed to the hardwood, “Just win, baby.” I expect Butler to win. Maybe you should, too.
Semi-Final Awards
This has been an historic year for contest scoring, with both games tonight earning 31 happy contestants a whopping 48-point scategories bonus each. No contestant picked both games correctly with original picks, however, so no one earned 96 points tonight. There were four contestants who picked both games correctly with the help of re-picks, however. More on that in a minute. What’s more, both Connecticut and Butler were such unpopular picks as national champions that both teams qualify for the Ultimate Scategories Bonus, meaning a few brilliant (or perhaps lucky) contestants will score a 96-point bonanza on Monday night. More on that in a minute, too.
But first, the awards…
- The Four Horsemen award goes to those four contestants who picked both games correctly this evening, albeit with the help of a re-pick for one of the two: Julia Harper, Eric Shelton, Janae Dailey, and Jeffery Cardwell.
- The Wonder Woman award goes to Christy “Warrior Mom” Bowen, who vaulted to first place after Butler’s victory. Beware the golden lasso.
- The Checkmate award goes to Jacob “Chess Champion” Deaver, who jumped from 27th to 5th after Connecticut’s victory. Bobby Fischer would be proud.
- The Absolutely Abominable award goes to Ethan “Yard Yeti” McGivern who jumped from 508th to 27th thanks to Butler’s victory. Ethan will receive a year’s supply of yellow snow cones.
- The Moment In The Sun award goes to Eric Shelton, who, not to be outdone by Warrior Mom, jumped to first place after Connecticut’s victory. This makes Eric our current contest leader, though it will be short-lived.
With the tournament down to two teams and one game remaining, we are left with only two possible outcomes, two possible winners. Likewise, in our contest, we are now down to only two possible winners, those who picked UConn and Butler with original picks and are the farthest up the leader board, respectively. Butler’s representative is Christy “Warrior Mom” Bowen, and UConn’s representative is Christopher “UCF Knight” Randazzo. One of these two contestants will win this year’s contest, meaning that a Butler victory would not only be historic from a NCAA Tournament perspective, but also historic in the context of a our contest, as it would be the first victory ever by a female contestant.
With that, I sign off once more until the final horn sounds. Be sure to check back late Monday night or Tuesday morning for this year’s final contest commentary and awards.
The Wizard of Whiteland