2006 NCAA Tournament: Sweet 16, Day 2

Before I get to the picks, gee, has anyone seen Duke lately? Hello…Dookies? Is thing on? Oh there they are. Back in Durham already? That was a mighty short stay in the ATL. Let’s just say that their performance against LSU was one of the biggest choke jobs in recent memory. For a team with all this “talent”, the Dookies sure knew how to squander it. And I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so.

I said in November that this Duke team was no better than the Duke team from last year that got bounced in the third round. And I don’t know how, but Ratface and company proved me right. There are so many enjoyable factoids from last night’s loss. First, they lost to a LSU team, which I happen to like watching, that only has three players worth anything. Two of their best players, Tyrus Thomas and Glen Davis, played (or didn’t play) most of the game with foul trouble, so they were limited in what they could do. The Mighty Dookies were basically beaten by an average freshman guard (Garrett Temple), an average freshman forward (Tasmin Mitchell) and a reserve forward who is usually the second man off the bench for John Brady (Darnell Lazare). And this was supposed to be a great Duke team? Duke lost exactly how I said they were going to lose. That overrated sack of crap wearing number four would be exhausted and have a bad shooting night, and that freshman point guard of theirs would make crucial mistakes late in the game. Both happened. How is Ratface still considered a great coach? A great coach would make sure that on his best team in five years, he wouldn’t have a freshman point guard starting. Can he recruit? Absolutely. Can he coach? Not really. He can’t make mid-game adjustments, he’s not a great practice coach and he doesn’t know how to use his bench. I’m sorry, with all the players that have passes through this hideous program, Ratface should have six or seven championships by now. He has beaten himself in the postseason more times than not.

As I write this, errant shots by Just Jumpers Backne Red-dick keep whizzing by my head. Nice shooting last night pretty boy. 3-18? 3-18 shooting in the biggest game of your college career? HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Way to screw up the entire season. Backne was guarded by Temple for most of the night. So it wasn’t like Steve Blake or John Gilchrist was manning up against him. Temple played aggressive defense, and Redick, as usual, folded. All you have to do is breathe on this guy and he’s going to have a bad night. Backne’s reaction to the LSU defense is just a glimpse as to what will be coming when he goes to the NBA. He looked completely helpless last night. He couldn't get open. He ignored his coach (not like I blame him for that). He ignored his teammates. He was getting bumped and checked by LSU. He whined to the officials, he complained to the officals and he pleaded with the officals like a little punk. Then he quit. Once he realized that the refs weren't going to give him all the calls that the ACC officals usually do, he quit. He flat out quit. He went through the motions the rest of the night and took the team down with him. Instead of leading his team to victory, he led his team to defeat.

Redick’s lasting legacy will be one of underachievement. For all the “talent” he possesses, here is the bottom line. Four year at Duke, surrounded by All-American players, one Final Four appearance, three early exits, a bunch of meaningless and selfish individual accomplishments that will just show you how overrated Redick actually was. Good players put up numbers. Great players lead their teams to championships. As for now, get out, and stop polluting the game of college basketball, you whiny, choking, overrated little bitch. And take your friend the Rapist with you. Stop crying, be a man you pussy (that goes for the ‘Stache as well). These pictures will be priceless for a long time.


It's not as good as Jason Williams bawling as he left the court, or the famous pic of a kid in a Duke jersey crying at the ACC Championship game after Maryland won, but it's still pretty enjoyable.

Now to the picks. I was 2-2 after last night’s thrillers, and I’m 35-17 overall. Big sarcastic thanks to Gonzaga, who screwed my brackets up by handing their win to UCLA. Take my win…please!

Washington DC Region
Verizon Center – Washington, DC

#5 Washington (26-6) vs. #1 Connecticut (29-3)
The teams have not played this season
UW beat #12 Utah St. 75-61, #4 Illinois 67-64
UConn beat #16 Albany 72-59, #8 Kentucky 87-83
The Eastern Huskies seem hell-bent on ending my six-year streak of correctly picking the tournament winners. They’ve escaped two completely inferior teams to earn a game against a very good Washington squad.

As part of my job at WMAL, I was sent to cover the team practices at the MCI/Verizon/AT&T/Sprint Center yesterday. I knew that Brandon Roy was a good player. But after the show he put on yesterday, I realize that this dude is a serious playa. You remember that LeBron James commercial where the film is digitally spliced to make it look like James made five straight 75 foot shots? Well, Roy was doing something similar, except he was actually doing it. Roy stood a couple of feet in front of half-court, with a defender on him, and made eight straight jumpers. Unbelievable.

Anyway, I keep thinking that the real UConn will show up any day now. And that’s precisely the type of thinking that is going to cost me the $20 bucks I threw into my bracket pool. With the exception of whoever matchups on Roy, UConn should have advantages all over the court against the Western Huskies. Sure, U-Dub has a couple of nice forwards in Bobby Jones and Jamal Williams. Two solid seniors that average 11 and 13 points a game respectively. But without a good game from Roy, the Huskies will be traveling back to Seattle tonight. During a three game losing streak in late January, Roy was shut down by lesser Pac-10 teams. Williams, Jones and one of the better freshman centers in the country, Jon Brockman, couldn’t carry the team.

Washington certainly has the talent and the size to win this game. They also have a nine-man rotation that can keep sending waves of players off the bench to match UConn. And UW plays some resemblance of defense, unlike Kentucky did in the second round. For UConn to win, their guards are going to have to lead the team tonight. Marcus Williams, Denham Brown and Rashad Anderson are going to have to hit threes. 5’11” Justin Dentmon, the weak link in the Washington starting five, will have to guard one of those guards. Look for whomever he is guarding to get at least 22 points and lead the Huskies over the Huskies.
Pick: Connecticut 80, Washington 78

*THE PREDICTOR GAME OF THE NIGHT*
#11 George Mason (25-7) vs. #7 Wichita State (26-8)
GMU defeated WSU 70-67 in Wichita on 2/18
GMU beat #6 Michigan St. 75-65, #3 UNC 65-60
WSU beat #10 Seton Hall 86-66, #2 Tennessee 80-73
The Billy Packer Special will be the game I’m most looking forward to. I had the Shockers going to the Sweet 16. As for Mason…well I had the Shockers going to the Sweet 16. What more do you people want from me?

As I said, I attended the open practice yesterday and got a chance to talk to some of the players and fans. I wasn’t going to pick Mason to win this game. But after interview Lamar Butler and Tony Skinn, I’m definitely not going to pick Mason to win this game. Not because they were rude or anything (although I did try to shield my nether-regions from Skinn), but because they were shorter and skinnier than they looked on TV. They were basically my size. Butler is listed as 6’3”, but I’m 5’8” and my eyes were level with his nose. He couldn’t be more than 6’ even. Skinn, listed as 6’1”, and I were basically standing eye-to-eye. I didn’t realize these guys were so tiny. How did this team manage to win two games against powerhouses? I don’t know, maybe you can tell me.

I also met this really nice (and really attractive) young woman from Wichita. And she knew her basketball. She was braking down WSU games and Mason games and making great points that I couldn’t even respond to. I was blown away. Most of my knowledge about these two teams comes from the game on February 18th that I watched. And Wichita State had a horrid shooting night. So I don’t know how much Mason’s three-point victory means. Anyway, I’ll let her summary be my analysis. She did it better than I could.

Basically, the frontcourt matchups, that will be the focus of CBS tonight, will be even and end up being a wash. Jai Lewis and Will Thomas for Mason should have he upper hand inside, but they’ll have trouble guarding Paul Miller and Kyle Wilson outside. Both the 6’10” Miller and the 6’8” Wilson play a European style of basketball and shoot really well from beyond the arc.

The key matchup will be Butler vs. P.J. Couisnard and the bench play between the two schools. She feels that as of late, Butler has been creating shots for himself and his teammates better than any guard not playing for Villanova. And it’s hard to argue there. Butler has been playing lights out. Especially when he gets Lewis involved inside. Couisnard is a lesser version of Redick. He can hit the open three, he can curl off of screens, but he can’t create on his own, he’s not a good passer and he’s not a good ball-handler (enter own Tony Skinn joke here). He is, however, a very good defender. So maybe he’s better than Backne because he can at least play some D. And before you think I’m crazy comparing this nobody to Duke’s nobody, let me ask you this. Which one of the two is still playing? That’s what I thought. If WSU is going to win, Cousinard is going to have to contain Butler, especially when he tries to drive. And P.J. must get open outside. He’ll at least have the height advantage.

The bench play favors WSU. Mason is not a deep team. They’ll bring serviceable Gabe Norwood and Sammy Fernandez off the pine, but neither of them do very much. The Shockers (and in my opinion, they should back to being called the Wheat Shockers…that’s a cool nickname) can bring Karon Bradley and Ryan Martin into the game and get 7 to 10 points of production from each guy. The bench points will be the difference. WSU’s scores about 12 points more a game than GMU’s.

So factor in the advantage on the bench for WSU with Mason’s slight advantage inside, and this terrific WSU fan came up with a pretty reasonable prediction. Heck, I’ll use that too.
Pick: Wichita State 68, George Mason 62

Minneapolis Region
H.H.H Metrodome – Minneapolis, MN

#4 Boston College (28-7) vs. #1 Villanova (26-3)
The teams have not played this season
BC beat #13 Pacific 88-76 (2OT), #12 Montana 69-56
Nova beat #16 Monmouth 58-45, #8 Arizona 82-78
The last team left standing from the ACC is…Boston College! And who predicted that would be the case all the way back in November? THIS GUY, that’s who! (what, no applause?) Though they never crushed the competition in the way they should have back in the regular season, BC was the conference’s most consistent team. Only that weird blowout loss to Virginia in mid-February is hard to explain.

The Eagles get to face their former conference mates in the greatest clash of styles in the tournament so far. Obviously, the matchup will feature Nova’s guards against BC’s inside game. Your guess is as good as mine when it comes to guessing which one will be more effective tonight.

Usually the tournament is built around great guard play. The team with the best guards, or at least the hottest shooting guards, advances more often than not. But every championship caliber team needs a big man. Where would Mateen Cleeves been if it wasn’t for MoPete? Where would Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants been if it wasn’t for Shaun May? And where would Saint Juan and Steve Blake been if it wasn’t for Lonny Baxter and Chris Wilcox? You can have a team oriented around guards, but you need a big guy inside in case of an off-shooting night. Maryland never would have survived the East Regional against Kentucky and UConn if it hadn’t been for Baxter. Dixon was not going to carry the Terps over the Huskies by himself.

Villanova is a little bit different. Instead of two great guards, they have four. So chances are that at least one of them will hot on any given night. But as we saw against Monmouth, and even against Arizona, it is possible for three of the four to have horrible games. So with Will Sheridan, a bench player on most teams, as the only guy resembling an inside presence for the Wildcats, one guard having a great night is not going to cut it in the NCAA’s.

That’s why I like Boston College. Looking at Nova’s guards, Mike Nardi hasn’t had a good game in over a month. He’s spent a lot of the tournament on the bench. So forget about him. Kyle Lowry has also been a non-factor recently. So that leaves us with Allan Ray and Randy Foye. The two of them scored 49 of Villanova’s 82 points against Zona. Sheridan had 16 points. But Sheridan won’t be able to do that against Craig Smith, Sean Williams and company underneath. So either three of the four guards will have to have great nights for Nova, or BC is going to have to endure a lot of foul trouble for Villanova to get their third scorer in the form of an inside player. I don’t think either will happen. Plus, there is always the height factor outside for BC. Sean Marshall and Jared Dudley will matchup against Foye and Ray. Both Marshall and Dudley are taller, and almost as quick, as the two Nova guards. So don’t expect Foye and Ray to combine for almost 50. BC is ten times better defensively than Arizona. It’s should be rude wake-up call for the ‘Cats.

Unless either Lowry or Nardi step up, Nova is stepping down. Too much gimmick, not enough inside presence in this offense.
Pick: Boston College 77, Villanova 71

#7 Georgetown (23-8) vs. #3 Florida (29-6)
The teams have not played this season
GTown beat #10 NIU 54-49, #2 OSU 70-52
UF beat #14 S. Alabama 76-50, #11 UWM 82-60

I'm not going to waste my time with this game. I don't like Florida. I don't like Georgetown. One of them has to win, but one of them has to lose. At this point, with Duke out, as long as one of these two schools don't win the whole thing, then I'll be happy.

I still don't trust the Greaseball that swamps the sidelines for Florida, but it's hard to pick the Princeton offense to win anything important.
Pick: Florida 75, Georgetown 66