I’m not strange, weird, off, nor crazy, my reality is just different from yours. – Lewis Carroll
Strap in as we take a trip through the looking glass in tonight’s commentary, as the standings have been turned completely on their head. But first, a few game observations…
Play Angry, Earn Respect
Early in the second half of the game between Wichita State and Louisville, I posted to Facebook that I thought when the game came to an end, we’d be saying, “Wait, what just happened?” Even though the outcome was as expected in terms of the winner, I still think that’s an accurate assessment. That Louisville won is about the only thing about this game that went according to script.
Cool Hand Luke
Check the stat line for Louisville’s starters and you’ll wonder how in the world they won this game. They were 10-33 from the floor for 38 points. Even though Russ Smith had 21 points, he was 5-12 from the free throw line. Left to the starters, Louisville would have been throttled in this game. The unlikely heroes were the bench players led by Luke Hancock who definitely left his signature on this one: 20 points on 6-9 shooting including 3-5 from three point range. Add two crucial three pointers from walk-on Tim Henderson (who?), and you have what Louisville had to do to win this game. They got production from bench players after the Shockers succeeded in taking them out of their primary game plan.
Parade To The Free Throw Line
I saw some chatter in the Social Media Verse, mainly from Louisville fans, complaining about the officiating. In my view, this was one of the few games of the tournament actually called properly for the most part. We became so accustomed to basketbrawl in this tournament that when a crew actually called legitimate fouls, it felt like they were whistle happy. Again, check the stat sheet – 23 personal fouls on Louisville and 20 on Wichita State.
I believe the two worst calls of the game came against Wichita State late in the game. The first was the double foul on Baker and Van Treese. Where’s the replay monitor review on that play? Baker got smashed in the neck and the face, but no flagrant was called. The second was the final jump ball which punctuates all that is wrong with the incredibly stupid alternating possession rule in college basketball. That rule is a relic of an ancient past where jump balls delayed the game. Those days are over. Besides that whistle being way too quick, “the arrow” made that held ball just as good as a steal for Louisville, and it came at a critical point in the game. That rule has got to go.
Chuck Was Right
As much as I hate to admit it, it seems that Charles Barkley was on target when he said at halftime that, in order to win, Louisville had to score 65 points. I think he was right. If the Shockers had been able to maintain their pressure and poise and held Louisville below that toal, it would have been enough to win.
Score Early, Score Often
I was truly impressed with Wichita State, perhaps more so than I ever have been by a losing team with the possible exception of Butler’s heartbreaking loss to Duke three years ago. State’s Cleanthony Early was a monster. He led all scorers with 24 and had the game’s only double double with 10 rebounds to go with those points. Hancock’s heroics make him the MVP, but Early gets an honorable mention for sure.
Play Ugly, Win Anyway
Let us examine how Michigan won the first-ever meeting of two 4 seeds in the Final Four.
The Good
Michigan made 8 three-pointers to Syracuse’s 3, and that turned out to be a crucial element in beating the Orange’s vaunted 2-3 zone defense. Spike Albrecht hit one from the concession stand in the first half.
The Bad
However, Michigan’s shooting percentage was actually worse than Syracuse’s, and though they had 9 more free throw attempts than Syracuse, they made only four more. In fact, the free throw shooting for both teams was pretty horrific: 55% for Michigan and 64% for Syracuse. At one point I thought for sure it was going to be deja vu all over again for Michigan. Remember how they lost the Big Ten championship to Indiana because they couldn’t make free throws at the end of the game.
The Ugly
But the real reason Michigan was able to hold off Syracuse in this game was the fact that Syracuse fouled out BOTH of their starting guards, Triche and Carter-Williams. With no one to handle the ball on their final possession, Syracuse was in real trouble. Needing three to tie, Trevor Cooney (who?) decided to drive to the basket. I guess he was hoping for a foul. Instead he got a rejection, a turnover, and breakaway, in-your-face, exclamation point dunk by Michigan to seal the game.
Final Musings
Many years ago, the NCAA did away with the consolation game, where the losers of the semi-finals played each other for 3rd place. I think Wichita State could beat Syracuse. In fact, I think the Shockers could beat Michigan! This is based on the way the two teams played tonight. If I’m right, the championship game was played in the first game this evening, and Louisville should win easily Monday night. If I’m wrong…well, maybe the Big Ten will have something to celebrate for the first time in over a decade.
Last Look At Aliases
I’d like to take a moment to give out some final awards for aliases that made me smile.
The Business Is Business, But This Is Personal Award
This award goes to the folks who used their alias to take a jab at someone else in the contest.
- Taylor “Beat Toby Risner!” Bradbury
- David “Ithinktobyshouldbringbackthegingermullet” Brush
- Wendy “Lonely up here without the Cooper boys” Cooper
- Gavin “Dad, ur the UofL grad, yet I pick’d em?!” Hand
- Sarah “Dad, re-picks or not, I’ve got u :P” Hand
- Kim “You’re Grounded!” Harper
- Natalie “You know you love me” Harper
- Chris “Blake Dieringer will never win this” Jones
- Caroline “Beating The Pants Off Anthony Randazzo” Modarressy-Tehrani
- Maria Joy “I’m Beating All 6 Bros. Randazzo” Randazzo
- Frank “Too many Randazzos in this pool” Riviera
- Mike “I’ve Never Lost to Jeff in Axis & Allies” White
The Flattery Will Get You Nowhere Award
This award goes to the contestants who used their alias to give a nod to me or to something I mentioned in the commentary.
- Mike “falling fast with a cheetah on my back” Desch
- Blake “G is for Gonzaga” Dieringer
- Jason “Rocket-Propelled Wrecking Ball” Roehl
- Chris “The Wizard of Pittsburgh” Wright
- Kim “Yellow Bellied Marmot” Livingston
The Magic Johnson Award For Most Cryptically Incomprehensible Alias
- Todd “Oskee Wow BAM!” Bergman
- Sean “Sven Torbenson” Evans
- Jack “ISLANDLAX13” Harper
- Dawn “OICURSB2?” Lamb
- Trevis “Absalom, Solomon: I hate you.” Litherland
- Bruce “Pampero Furpo” Schafer
The Security Breach Award
This award goes to those folks whose alias sure looks like it might be what they intended their password to be. I didn’t try to login to their picks using their alias, mind you. That would be cheating.
- Mike “mlbstl” Blankenberger
- Fred “fr3dd” Duncan
- Mark “MWE5398” Ehly
- David “d85jones” Jones
- Andy “arcb102000” McVeigh
- Raquel “Raq154” Turner
National Semi-Finals Awards
Now for the next to last set of awards for the 2013 contest. I know, I know. Very sad.
- The Tweet Of The Day award goes to Blake Dieringer who, regarding Louisville’s uniforms, quipped via Twitter, “Adidas struck out with those jerseys. I wouldn’t even wear those to Wal-mart.”
- The How Many Years Have You Been In This Contest And You’re Still Confused About The Scoring System? award goes to Jonathan Hand, who had been emailing me all week absolutely convinced that the contest had only two possible winners even before the Final Four started and regardless of who won the National Championship. This turned out not to be correct, because he was counting too many points for the winner of the Syracuse-Michigan game. I have to it hand it to you, though, Jonathan, you put a lot of effort into those calculations.
- The Dynamic Duo award goes to eight amazing contestants who correctly predicted BOTH teams in the National Championship game with original picks. These eight geniuses are: Toby Schneckloth, David Ricks, Sam Randazzo, Cassie Cox, Brian Gaffney, Anthony Randazzo, Rich Park, and Shane Svendpladsen. Each will receive a vintage autographed picture of the original Batman and Robin.
- The One Hit Wonder award goes to John “JWW” Wilcox, who spent a brief but glorious moment in first place after Louisville’s win. Michigan’s win subsequently dumped him back down to 16th, but hopefully John checked the standings between games to enjoy it. John will receive a signed copy of Vanilla Ice’s 1990 smash hit, “Ice Ice Baby”.
- The Red Dawn award goes to David “Pick the mascot” Ricks whose pick of the Wolverines has brought him within one game of Jeff’s March Madness contest glory. More on that in a moment.
- The Line Change award goes to the entire former top nine in the standings, all of whom dropped to 16th or lower after the Michigan win. They were, in order, John Wilcox, Chelsea Goodwin, Jonathan Hand, Tyler Drone, Chad Freymiller, Monica Muschalik, Tammy Stewart, Jim Davis, and AJ Spuches. These folks will each receive a hockey puck.
- The Out Of The Cellar award goes to Tasha Vessely who climbed from 283rd into the top 25 (24th, to be exact) on the strength of her Michigan pick.
- And finally, the Pardon Me, But Do You Have Any Grey Poupon? award goes to Colman “pass the mustard” Goodwin, our current contest leader.
So, in case you are wondering, there IS some drama left in our contest.
- 120 contestants picked Louisville to win the national championship, either with an original pick or a re-pick. All 120 can move up in the final standings with a Louisville win.
- Only 15 contestants picked Michigan to win the national championship, either with an original pick or a re-pick. A Michigan win would move fewer people up the standings, but the moves would be more dramatic, as ten of those contestants would be awarded the Ultimate Scategories Bonus of 96 points! Yes, the Michigan homers have a chance to ride their team all the way to a complete sweep of the contest’s top ten. Not fair? You should have picked Michigan!
- Ultimately, just as the national championship has come down to two possible winners, so has our contest. A Michigan win will secure victory for our current contest leader, Colman Goodwin. On the other hand, a Louisville victory will give enough points to David Ricks for him to pass Colman and win the contest. There you have it. Root accordingly.
Now we shall take a slightly-less-than-48-hour break, after which time I shall issue the final installment of the 18th annual Jeff’s March Madness Commentary and Awards. Until then, sweet dreams!
The Wizard of Whiteland