Deny it to a king? Then happy low, lie down! Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. – William Shakespeare
Shockers They Are
Behold, oh Zags, how I have loved thee. The worst part about Gonzaga’s loss is not that I just lost my national champion. (No, I didn’t REALLY think they would win. I was trying to pick someone other than Louisville or Indiana to differentiate myself from the field.) The worst part is that I now have to listen to relentless whining of the talking heads about how “I told you they didn’t deserve a #1 seed!” Really? Well before you make that pronouncement, consider this. Gonzaga is just the 5th number 1 seed all time to lose to a 9 seed. Coincidentally, they are also the 5th number 1 seed all time who was also the AP Poll #1 to lose in the round of 32. Can you guess who the last such team was that was so ignominiously defeated? It was none other than perennial tournament blue blood Kansas in 2010. Kansas was a #1 seed that year and the AP #1 when they faced Northern Iowa and a unique Iranian named Ali Faroukmanesh. And get this – Kansas was the number one overall seed that year! So spare me the whole I-told-you-so baloney when it comes to Gonzaga. This is March Madness. In a single game, anyone can win.
The truth is that Wichita State played over their heads and out of their minds in this game, especially in the second half. That doesn’t mean they didn’t “deserve” to win. There’s no such thing as deserve in March Madness. That’s the beauty, or perhaps the agony, of the whole thing. Just when it seemed as though Gonzaga had finally gained control, the Shockers started raining threes like they were tossing pennies in Lake Michigan. They made seven consecutive three point baskets in the second half. Despite being clobbered 20-9 on the offensive glass, Wichita State won this game by shooting a blistering 50% from the field on baskets of both the 2 and 3 point variety.
Black And Blue
In the other game worth talking about from today, the plucky Butler Bulldogs would likely have pulled off the upset had it not been for one Vander Blue of Marquette. Blue had 29 points on 9-15 shooting and a perfect 8-8 from the line. His stellar performance not withstanding, he almost earned himself the Chris Webber Boneheaded Play Of The Day award when he tossed the ball over Jamil Wilson’s head on what should have been the game’s final out of bounds play. This gave Butler one last possession, down 2, with 2.9 seconds to play. Alas, there was no joy in Indy, as Andrew Smith couldn’t get squared up for a good shot.
That’s No 12 Seed
I rarely agree with Doug Gottlieb, but I must agree with him one particular point he made today. Oregon is woefully under-seeded at 12, and it has truly messed up the entire Midwest bracket. Instead of drawing the caliber of team they should have, both #5 Oklahoma State and #4 St. Louis got bounced early by a team more worthy of a 3 or even a 2 seed. Bad form, selection committee. Bad form.
Disturbing Trends
After a full Saturday’s diet of second-round action, I’ve picked up on some disturbing trends.
- Dumb fouls late in the shot clock – What is it with teams defending well for 30 seconds only to commit some boneheaded foul 20+ feet from the basket? I think such an emphasis is being placed on “good defense” these days that players just get too aggressive and antsy and don’t use their heads. And speaking of aggressive defense…
- Brutal play – Announcers like to call it “physical”. I call it downright brutal. If you watched any of that Louisville/Colorado State game, you’ll agree that what was being lauded as superior defense was more like assault and battery. I’m honestly surprised no punches were thrown in that game. In the Harvard/Arizona game, in addition to a chipped tooth, there was one particular play where so many guys were taken out by an on-court collision, the transition possession was played 4-on-3 like some sort of demented hockey power play. Maybe we should borrow from hockey and set up a penalty box. Sheesh.
- Lost shoes – My son is a first grader and admittedly has trouble tying his shoes. The rest of my children, 15 and younger and all girls, do not. And yet the floor seems littered with shoes during this tournament. Look, there goes Olynyk, running down the floor in his sock feet. What’s up with that, boys? Do you need the coaches to tie your shoes for you? I know I’m on to something with this trend, because CBS included “Lost Shoes” in a stat graphic halfway through the Michigan State/Memphis game.
- Quasi-camo Uniforms – I know you’re sick of this rant, but that hideous uniform design seems to be gaining popularity.
- Cancer of the photographer – There are literally so many photographers on both end lines, there is nowhere for a player to stand and take the ball out. If a player goes down under a basket, there’s a camera man with his big fat shoulder-mounted Sony HD Beta-max pointed right in the poor guy’s grill as he writhes around in agony. I’m equally surprised no cameramen have been punched out in this tournament.
- Wet floors – Clearly, we need better mop boys and girls. I’ve seen a number of players feet go right out from under them as if they just hit a patch of ice. Dangerous.
- Poor shooting and low scoring – I am sure some would attribute this to the aforementioned “good defense” being played these days, but let’s face it. There’s a whole lotta brick layin’ goin’ on out there. Consider this – in the five games that were blowouts today, the losing teams shot 97-273 for 36%. Contrast that with the teams that won those games. They actually took fewer shots and were 143-269 for 53%. I may be stating the obvious, but if you want to win a basketball game, you have to make shots.
In Other News…
- Name Games – I usually start picking up on the players who have the funny, punny, or interesting names right about this time in the tournament. I have already commented on Marquette’s Vander Blue. Michigan State’s Nix and Payne are aptly named. One nixes shots and the other brings the pain.
- Dopplegangers Abound – We’ve already discussed the similarities between contestant Brock Zagel and Indiana center Cody Zeller. Another alert contestant pointed out to me today that Florida Gulf Coast’s star player Sherwood Brown bears a striking resemblance to Baylor women’s phenom Brittney Griner. In a slightly less flattering comparison, Memphis coach Josh Pastner evokes memories of Donnie Osmond.
- Today’s History Maker award goes to Arizona’s Mark Lyons, the only player in NCAA history to go to the Sweet 16 in two consecutive seasons with two different teams. Last year Mark made the Sweet 16 as a member of Xavier’s squad.
- History Maker, Part Deux – The Atlantic 10 was the first non-power conference to start the NCAA tournament 6-0. Well, 5-0 if you don’t count the play-in game, which I have a hard time with still, but anyway, as far as our contest accounting goes, the A10 is 5-3.
- Surprising Success – With Wichita State’s, ahem, shocking victory over Gonzaga tonight, the Missouri Valley Conference is now an impressive 3-0 in the tournament. There are no other undefeated conferences left in the tournament with more than one game played.
- The Boneheaded Play of the Day award, recognized immediately by alert contestant Kip Layman, was the silly out of bounds violation committed by Gonzaga’s Elias Harris and David Stockton. Down a single point with 3:10 to play, Harris grabbed the made free throw while out of bounds and tossed it to Stockton, who was in bounds. Their intent, however, was simply to exchange the ball so that Stockton could actually inbound the ball, but when Stockton stepped back out, it was a violation, and the ball went back to Wichita State. This was clearly a turning point in the game, as WSU’s Ron Baker made yet another three point basket on the ensuing possession, and Wichita State had the lead for good.
Day Three Awards
Before I put myself out of my misery over the loss of my beloved Zags, it’s time for today’s awards.
- The Meta World Peace Award For Best New Alias goes to Mike “falling fast with a cheetah on my back” Desch. Honorable mention goes to Jason “Hey, look! You’re kitchen’s on fire!” Roehl. These awards were given based on the fact that they actually made me laugh out loud.
- The Crash and Burn award goes to Richard “pickin em by geography” Goodwin who dropped from 4th to 218th. Perhaps Richard needs a Garmin.
- The Road Signs, Weeds, Trash, and Convicts award goes to 331st place contestant Bob “beaten favorite” Huppert. Bob gets this award because that’s the stuff you find in the median.
- The Typographically Challenged award goes to 50th place contestant Jamse “I can’t spell my first name” Wells. I can fxi that four yu if u wannt, Jamse.
- The True Fan award goes to Chelsea “Punkin Doodle” Goodwin, the only contestant who, unlike the rest of you bandwagon jumping Gonzaga haters, picked Wichita State to go to the Final Four. Chelsea is currently in 97th place.
- The Top Prognosticator award for today goes to Bev Thomas, Vincent Randazzo, and Cayden Bauschek, all of whom picked 7 of today’s 8 games correctly. No one went 8-0 today.
- The Strike Out award goes to the four contestants who DID manage to go 0-8 today, however: Paul Sopke, Paul Smith, Gabriel Geistwhite, and Margaret Dean.
- Finally, the Keep This Up And You’ll Be Less Popular Than Duke award goes to ongoing contest leader Kasiah Hand. Despite having 23 losses to just 17 victories, Kasiah has more bonus points than anyone else in the contest right now (72). Tune in tomorrow to see if anyone can unseat her from her perch atop the contest.
With that, I’m off to grab some shut eye for church tomorrow and canned goods for the impending Palm Sunday Blizzard of 2013. If your bracket is trashed liked mine, do not despair. The Re-pick Round starts on Monday.
Madly yours,
The Wizard of Whiteland