Tweet
Friday's Big Dance Review
March 19, 2011
Take that, Jay Bilas and Dick Vitale!
But unlike Vitale, at least Bilas, ESPN’s resident Dookie, put a disclaimer on his Selection Sunday tirade regarding Virginia Commonwealth’s inclusion into the NCAA field of 68. If you recall, Bilas begrudgingly admitted that VCU (or UAB) were capable of winning games in the Big Dance. We doubt, however, that Bilas or many outside of Richmond believed the Rams could dump both Southern Cal in the First Four and Georgetown in the second round by double-digit margins. And we dare say that VCU has been as impressive as any team we have yet seen in the Dance.
Indeed, the Rams were one of the main storylines on Friday, although things calmed down considerably after a wild Thursday in which a record-tying five games were decided by two points or fewer. There were far more blowouts than nailbiters on Friday, although we did have a couple of requisite white-knucklers, especially George Mason’s 61-57 comeback win over Villanova, and near last-minute comebacks by Memphis (against Arizona) and Georgia (against Washington). Still, we suspect only a couple of Friday highlights will make it into the official "One Shining Moment" version that will play on CBS for the 25th straight year at the conclusion of the final game on April 4, with the only relatively sure thing to be Arizona F Derrick Williams’ last-second block on Memphis’ Wesley Witherspoon from point-blank range that saved the Wildcats’ 77-75 win. Otherwise, about the only scenes we will likely see replayed from Friday are a swooping, highlight-reel missed dunk (due to a foul) by Georgia’s high-wire G Travis Leslie in the first half against Washington, and Tennessee HC Bruce Pearl’s brisk exit from the court after his Vols were trounced by Michigan at Charlotte, 75-45, which could end up being Pearls’ last game in charge at Knoxville. Stay tuned for further developments.
Elsewhere, here are some bests and worst from Friday action...
Best performance: Michigan...The Wolverines continued their breathtaking uptick with that aforementioned 30-point trouncing of Tennessee, a game in which Michigan placed five in double-digit scoring (led by Zack Novak’s 14 points) but amazingly didn’t convert a free throw, taking only one all afternoon. But they didn’t need to go to the charity stripe after hitting 51% from the floor and forcing 18 turnovers by the bumbling Volunteers. John Beilein’s crew has now covered eight straight and 13 of its last 14 pointspread decisions since late January. And the Wolverines were having so much fun late in the game that they began to resemble the Fab Five, with behind-the-back passes and thundering dunk shots not usually associated with a Beilein team. Speaking of the Fab Five, Sunday’s third round test will ironically come against Coach K’s Duke, which KO’d Michigan’s Fab Five freshman crop of Chris Webber & Co. in the 1992 finale by a 71-51 count. Not to mention the Blue Devils being the target of some inflammatory commentary by ex-Wolverine star Jalen Rose in ESPN’s recent "Fab Five" special presentation. It should be interesting on Sunday in Charlotte.
Best game: George Mason 61 - Villanova 57... They’re back! Jim Larranaga’s GMU Patriots won their first Big Dance game since the magical run of 2006 by rallying late to overcome Villanova at Cleveland. The Cats held the lead for much of the game until GMU caught fire in the final minutes, with Mike Morrison’s follow-up dunk putting the Patriots up 56-54 with 55 seconds left. A foul on a subsequent Nova 3-point shot resulted in the Cats’ Corey Stokes nailing all three FTs to put Jay Wright’s team back ahead, but Ryan Hancock’s triple with 21 seconds to play put GMU in the lead for good.
Honorable mention: Arizona 77 - Memphis 75... The Cats and Tigers went back and forth for much of the afternoon in an intense affair made even more so by Memphis HC Josh Pastner’s (and staff’s) connections to Arizona. Although Derrick Williams’ aforementioned block on Wesley Witherspoon was not terribly difficult, it still provided an exciting climax to what might have been the day’s most-entertaining game (and certainly its defining moment with the Williams block).
Best post-game T-shirt: Mike Morrison, George Mason... Afer the win over Villanova, Patriot frontliner Morrison held up a shirt with the slogan "We ARE this year’s George Mason," referring to the much-used Big Dance term that’s been circulating every March since Larranaga’s magical Final Four run five years ago.
Worst performance: UNLV... Sure, the Rebels made the final score look a bit more respectable vs. the Illini in a 73-62 loss at Tulsa on Friday night, and certainly better than the Tennessee scoreline vs. Michigan. And Texas A&M might earn a few votes for its slow-motion effort in a 57-50 loss to Florida State. But whereas the Vols were only down by 4 at the break vs. the Wolverines, Lon Kruger’s team was already down by 22 at the half against an Illinois team that frankly hadn’t looked this good since around Thanksgiving. The Rebels, romanced by the 3-point line, lost touch in about an 8-minute sequence of the first half when the combination of poor shot selection (too many threes) and defensive breakdowns allowed the Illini to go on a 36-11 run to balloon the scoreline to 41-18 late in the first half. Game over. Honorable mention could also go to Tennessee as well as Texas A&M, which might earn a few votes for its slow-motion effort in a 57-50 loss to Florida State.
Player of the Day: Brandon Rozzell, Virginia Commonwealth... It’s not often that reserves make the sort of impact that the explosive Rozzell did on Friday night in Chicago vs. Georgetown. But Rozzell, a 6'2 senior guard who has started a handful of games this season and is Ram HC Shaka Smart’s first man off the bench, outdid himself on Friday vs. Georgetown, firing in 26 points, including 6 of 10 triples to almost single-handedly deliver an Earnie Shavers-over-Jimmy Ellis-like (check that one out on You Tube) knockout blow to the Hoyas in the Rams’ eventual 74-56 win.
March 19, 2011
Take that, Jay Bilas and Dick Vitale!
But unlike Vitale, at least Bilas, ESPN’s resident Dookie, put a disclaimer on his Selection Sunday tirade regarding Virginia Commonwealth’s inclusion into the NCAA field of 68. If you recall, Bilas begrudgingly admitted that VCU (or UAB) were capable of winning games in the Big Dance. We doubt, however, that Bilas or many outside of Richmond believed the Rams could dump both Southern Cal in the First Four and Georgetown in the second round by double-digit margins. And we dare say that VCU has been as impressive as any team we have yet seen in the Dance.
Indeed, the Rams were one of the main storylines on Friday, although things calmed down considerably after a wild Thursday in which a record-tying five games were decided by two points or fewer. There were far more blowouts than nailbiters on Friday, although we did have a couple of requisite white-knucklers, especially George Mason’s 61-57 comeback win over Villanova, and near last-minute comebacks by Memphis (against Arizona) and Georgia (against Washington). Still, we suspect only a couple of Friday highlights will make it into the official "One Shining Moment" version that will play on CBS for the 25th straight year at the conclusion of the final game on April 4, with the only relatively sure thing to be Arizona F Derrick Williams’ last-second block on Memphis’ Wesley Witherspoon from point-blank range that saved the Wildcats’ 77-75 win. Otherwise, about the only scenes we will likely see replayed from Friday are a swooping, highlight-reel missed dunk (due to a foul) by Georgia’s high-wire G Travis Leslie in the first half against Washington, and Tennessee HC Bruce Pearl’s brisk exit from the court after his Vols were trounced by Michigan at Charlotte, 75-45, which could end up being Pearls’ last game in charge at Knoxville. Stay tuned for further developments.
Elsewhere, here are some bests and worst from Friday action...
Best performance: Michigan...The Wolverines continued their breathtaking uptick with that aforementioned 30-point trouncing of Tennessee, a game in which Michigan placed five in double-digit scoring (led by Zack Novak’s 14 points) but amazingly didn’t convert a free throw, taking only one all afternoon. But they didn’t need to go to the charity stripe after hitting 51% from the floor and forcing 18 turnovers by the bumbling Volunteers. John Beilein’s crew has now covered eight straight and 13 of its last 14 pointspread decisions since late January. And the Wolverines were having so much fun late in the game that they began to resemble the Fab Five, with behind-the-back passes and thundering dunk shots not usually associated with a Beilein team. Speaking of the Fab Five, Sunday’s third round test will ironically come against Coach K’s Duke, which KO’d Michigan’s Fab Five freshman crop of Chris Webber & Co. in the 1992 finale by a 71-51 count. Not to mention the Blue Devils being the target of some inflammatory commentary by ex-Wolverine star Jalen Rose in ESPN’s recent "Fab Five" special presentation. It should be interesting on Sunday in Charlotte.
Best game: George Mason 61 - Villanova 57... They’re back! Jim Larranaga’s GMU Patriots won their first Big Dance game since the magical run of 2006 by rallying late to overcome Villanova at Cleveland. The Cats held the lead for much of the game until GMU caught fire in the final minutes, with Mike Morrison’s follow-up dunk putting the Patriots up 56-54 with 55 seconds left. A foul on a subsequent Nova 3-point shot resulted in the Cats’ Corey Stokes nailing all three FTs to put Jay Wright’s team back ahead, but Ryan Hancock’s triple with 21 seconds to play put GMU in the lead for good.
Honorable mention: Arizona 77 - Memphis 75... The Cats and Tigers went back and forth for much of the afternoon in an intense affair made even more so by Memphis HC Josh Pastner’s (and staff’s) connections to Arizona. Although Derrick Williams’ aforementioned block on Wesley Witherspoon was not terribly difficult, it still provided an exciting climax to what might have been the day’s most-entertaining game (and certainly its defining moment with the Williams block).
Best post-game T-shirt: Mike Morrison, George Mason... Afer the win over Villanova, Patriot frontliner Morrison held up a shirt with the slogan "We ARE this year’s George Mason," referring to the much-used Big Dance term that’s been circulating every March since Larranaga’s magical Final Four run five years ago.
Worst performance: UNLV... Sure, the Rebels made the final score look a bit more respectable vs. the Illini in a 73-62 loss at Tulsa on Friday night, and certainly better than the Tennessee scoreline vs. Michigan. And Texas A&M might earn a few votes for its slow-motion effort in a 57-50 loss to Florida State. But whereas the Vols were only down by 4 at the break vs. the Wolverines, Lon Kruger’s team was already down by 22 at the half against an Illinois team that frankly hadn’t looked this good since around Thanksgiving. The Rebels, romanced by the 3-point line, lost touch in about an 8-minute sequence of the first half when the combination of poor shot selection (too many threes) and defensive breakdowns allowed the Illini to go on a 36-11 run to balloon the scoreline to 41-18 late in the first half. Game over. Honorable mention could also go to Tennessee as well as Texas A&M, which might earn a few votes for its slow-motion effort in a 57-50 loss to Florida State.
Player of the Day: Brandon Rozzell, Virginia Commonwealth... It’s not often that reserves make the sort of impact that the explosive Rozzell did on Friday night in Chicago vs. Georgetown. But Rozzell, a 6'2 senior guard who has started a handful of games this season and is Ram HC Shaka Smart’s first man off the bench, outdid himself on Friday vs. Georgetown, firing in 26 points, including 6 of 10 triples to almost single-handedly deliver an Earnie Shavers-over-Jimmy Ellis-like (check that one out on You Tube) knockout blow to the Hoyas in the Rams’ eventual 74-56 win.
Comment