“When you reach that elite level, 90 percent is mental and 10 percent is physical. You are competing against yourself. Not against the other athlete.” – Dick Fosbury
The Elite Eight is now complete, and only one game out of eight went to the underdog. In tonight’s tome we look at big wins, big buildings, and the big Karnowski.
Game Action
- Those Who Zigged Should Have Zagged – I can understand pundits, analysts, and even you minions being skeptical of Gonzaga. Despite well over a decade of perennial success, the Zags (officially they are the Bulldogs, but who calls them that?) have failed to advance past the Sweet Sixteen since their magical run to the Elite Eight in 1999. This is despite having several highly-regarded teams, including a #1 seed just two years ago. Tonight’s match up harkens back to a nightmare Gonzaga fans would like to forget, a loss to UCLA in the 2006 tournament in a game that the Zags led by as many as 17 points and never trailed until 10 seconds remaining. The image of Gonzaga standout Adam Morrison collapsing in a heap of tears at center court is permanently ingrained in my memory. It was heartbreaking. While tonight does not exactly constitute revenge by any means, these Zags put the hammer down on UCLA from the beginning and never let up. Gonzaga big man Przemek (pronounced SHEM-ick) Karnowski dominated with 18 points, 9 rebounds, 2 completely awesome assists, and 2 blocked shots for good measure. Now the question becomes if Mark Few’s bunch can finally get over the hump and into the Final Four. To do so, they will have to get past mighty Duke, and I, for one, believe they have all the necessary components to win that game. Speaking of Duke…
- Duke Squeaks By The Utes – This was an odd game that felt as though Duke always controlled, and yet they only won by six points. The other notable oddity about was that this was the game that felt like it might never end. They even brought a Duke player back on the floor to shoot free throws as the coaches were already shaking hands. The Utes’ shooting was atrocious, but they shot 60 times! That’s 15 more shots than Duke attempted. What they lacked in accuracy they made up in moxy. This game featured tonight’s Boneheaded Play Of The Day award recipient, Duke’s Justise Winslow. After making a three point basket, Justise decided to do the Reggie Miller and play to the crowd, gesturing with three fingers and then commencing with the ubiquitous “feed the beast” mime. While he was enjoying himself, Utah tossed a full court pass right over his head for an easy almost-dunk on the other end. Oops. I know he led all scorers with 21, but something tells me he’s still getting an earful from Coach K for that one.
- It Just Wasn’t In The Cards for NC State to continue their quasi-cinderella run, their bid to make the Elite Eight upended by a Louisville team that, in my estimation, continues to perform a bit beyond expectations. The most notable stat to me in this game is the fact that only one bench player for Louisville, Anton Gill, had so much as a point. In fact, Coach Pitino played just seven players, with two starters (Harrell and Rozier) playing the entire game. To say that this team isn’t that deep is an understatement, and one has to wonder if that will cause them problems if not against Michigan State, definitely against whomever they face in the Final Four should they get there.
- The Best For Last – After seeing the first seven Sweet 16 match ups won by the favorite, only the eighth and final game gave us an upset as the Michigan State Spartans continued to demonstrate the truth of my mantra: Never pick against Tom Izzo in March. To say Sparty wasn’t on the radar as a Final Four contender at the beginning of this tournament would be mostly accurate, and yet here they are, one game away from doing it again. In many ways this was a game they won in spite of themselves. Oklahoma led as late as 7:52 remaining in the game, but the three point shooting of the aptly named Travis TRIce (see what I did there?) and Denzel Valentine kept them in the game and then enabled them to pull away. I have to say, though, that Sparty’s woeful free throw shooting is sure to doom them at some point. Tonight they shot just 56% from the line, BUT…and this is a really big BUT…they made their last six free throws to win the game. That means that, up to that point, they were shooting just 30 PERCENT FROM THE FREE THROW LINE. I would say that doesn’t bode well for their next game, but Louisville is almost as bad, making just 67% of their free throws in tonight’s win themselves. That game could be played in the 50s if both teams continue to shoot bricks from the line.
- The Rumplestiltskin award for best name in the tournament has to go to Michigan State’s Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr. Why they call him Tum Tum I do not know, but methinks his play had Coach Izzo reaching for the Tums tonight. He reportedly had been battling illness all week and wasn’t himself, and let’s hope that’s true, because for the majority of the 11 minutes he was on the floor tonight, he was a liability. One shot (missed), one assist, one turnover, and one foul.
- Here’s one from Captain Obvious: Football stadiums are made for football. I have been to both a Final Four and a regional at our own Lucas Oil stadium here in Indy, and while I enjoyed both, there is simply something about the lighting and sight lines that in my humble and not so expert opinion lead to both a poor viewing and a poor shooting experience for a basketball game. The games in the Carrier Dome tonight looked like basketball games. The games in the mammoth NRG Stadium in Houston looked strangely out of place. I don’t know. Your mileage may vary.
- I Stand Corrected – In a previous commentary i bemoaned the worst camera angle employed in the tournament being the view from behind the basket at the opposite end of the court. I was wrong. Tonight we were treated to what can best be described as the Rabbit Cam, a view from a mobile camera at floor level – and by floor level I mean cheek-to-the-floor looking up at the players level. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been watching a basketball game and wondered, “What would it be like if I were Lilly Bunny Foo Foo running down the basketball court?” Look, not every new camera angle is bad. I dig the above-the-hoop cam for replays of dunks, free throws, and rebounds. It gives a perspective that is actually both entertaining and informative. The bunny foo foo cam, well, not so much.
- Quick Question – What’s the purpose of slapping the floor on defense? Is this a stretching exercise? Is it meant to instill fear in the opponent who’s dribbling the ball up? Is it simply that it makes a cool sound? Perhaps it is some sort of ritual intended to generate feelings of strength and camaraderie among teammates, like “Shark Bait, Ooh Ha Ha!” If you have an idea, send it my way.
More Commercial Madness
- That’s What THEY Said – Does anyone “get” the Century 21 commercial with the young adult man playing video games in his parents’ basement and reciting a list of things that “they said”? Somehow all of the things “they said” lead up to his seeking the help of a Century 21 agent to purchase his own home and move out of mom’s basement. This ad is bizarre, we said.
- What Exactly IS Wedding Season, Anyway? Southwest returns a fresh take on the dancing bridesmaid ads they aired last year. While these are moderately amusing, one has to wonder; what real person has so many friends who get married in a single year? And why do they live all over the country? Or, are we to assume this chick is just a wedding crasher taking advantage of all those Southwest frequent flyer miles?
- The Too Much Information award has to go to Fruit of the Loom for their spot promoting their (new?) no-ride-up boxer briefs. In this one, three dudes wear transparent plastic pants and dance about to their favorite jam. This is to demonstrate that their boxers don’t ride up even with vigorous activity, I assume. Even if it’s true, that’s just TMI, man.
Elite Eight Awards
Now let us recognize the worthy at this Elite Eight stage of the contest.
- The Crazy Eights award goes to six surprisingly prescient minions who picked all eight of the Elite Eight correctly with original picks; Tony Mungovan, Don Miller, Holly Easton, Chris Johnson, Jeff McLinn, and Jeffrey Beard. Perhaps it was because 7 of the 8 games were won by the favorites that made it so “easy” to go 8 for 8 this year. If you include re-picks, a whopping 110 minions got all 8 games right!
- The Happy Belated Birthday award goes to Justin Dailey who said yesterday that all he wanted for his birthday was an award in the contest. Now listen, folks, the Wizard doesn’t just hand out awards like candy or youth soccer trophies. They have to be earned. Fortunately for Justin, he has earned this special recognition by climbing all the way to 16th place. Blow out your candles, Justin, if you can find a cake big enough.
- The Invisible Man award goes to my best little buddy, Graham “you can’t see me” Little who is hiding at the bottom of the standings in 740th place. I love you, bubba, no matter how you pick ’em.
- The Wishful Thinking award goes to the 26 minions who picked West Virginia to beat Kentucky. Use the Contestant Search Tools link to see who they are.
- The Rising Star award goes to Tom Seely who has risen nearly 600 spots in the standings from a low of 681 to his current spot of 86th.
- The Look Out Below award goes to Lizzy Randall whose dizzying drop from a high of 8th at one time all the way down to 728th will make your head spin.
- The Who Needs A System When Guessing Will Do? award goes to Janet “wild guess” Schweizer, currently in 12th place.
- The When At First You Don’t Succeed award goes to the minions who made the best use of the re-picks, Karis Wynn and Luke Richardson, each winning 6 games by virtue of their re-picks.
- The It Must Be The Name award goes to Heather Little and Heather DiIulio who seem to be marching in lock step with each passing game and are currently tied for 61st.
- The Enjoy It While It Lasts award goes to continued contest leader Sue “no clue” Chmura. Sue is finally showing some chinks in the armor, though, as she had Oklahoma in the Final Four. This may open the door for someone to usurp her position at the top of the leader board. It is worth noting that Sue has never been lower than 12th!
Ok, minions, two games today and two games tomorrow, and then we will have our Final Four. Best wishes to all of you as we enter the final stretch. The way the games have gone this year with so few upsets, the scores in the contest are close, and a very large number of contestants still can win all 7 remaining games. That means it’s still wide open, and that’s the way I like that.
Time for a 12-hour break. Until next time.
The Wizard of Whiteland