2007 NCAA Tournament: St. Louis/East Rutherford Regional Finals

Another perfect day. The 2-0 record makes me 45-13 overall. Seriously, why do they even play the game anymore? Just come here, see who I pick, and award a winner. It would be pretty simple.



#3 Oregon Ducks (29-7) vs.
#1 Florida Gators (32-5)
Edward Jones Dome – St. Louis, MO
Midwest Regional Final
Looks like these two teams will finally get a challenge. The Ducks have had the easiest road to the elite eight, getting a 14 seed, 11 seed and 7 seed. They put two of the three away easily and it’s looking like that struggle against the fake Miami was a fluke. The Gators road wasn’t much tougher, getting a 16 seed, a 9 seed and the weakest of the 5 seeds. They’ve struggled in all three games. They’ve played only one half of dominant basketball the entire tournament, and that was the second half against Jackson State. I guess when you are the defending champs and have NBA talent at almost every position, you can do that.

Before I get to this game, it’s time to point out another stupid moment in broadcasting. Comcast SportsNet, in all of its infinite wisdom (hopefully you are getting the sarcasm), decided that the DC area needed a daily 90-minute talk show dedicated to local sports. I’m sure that if you live around DC, you’ve seen the advertisements for WPL (why the Washington Post, one of the greatest papers in the world, agreed to sponsor this show is completely beyond my level of comprehension and would need a separate post on this page to fully try to explain it). WPL is a complete rip-off of several, more prominent, ESPN talk shows. According to inside sources, WPL was even going to have their own “Stat Boy” until someone with good sense finally realized that this is the United States and copyright infringement does exist and if they went through with this plan then ESPN would probably sue the company off the face of the planet. And according to millions of customers who subscribe to Comcast Cable, that would actually be a good thing.

Anyway, the host of the show (who will go unnamed here) was talking with the collection of sports writer “experts” about the NCAA tournament. Oregon came up. Various experts started questioning Oregon’s validity as a threat to go to the Final Four because they played in the mysterious Pac-10. The host, realizing this was his chance to seem important and knowledgeable, pounced on the opportunity to talk Pac-10. The host mentioned that because Comcast SportsNet has a deal with Fox Sports Net, that CSN shows a lot of Pac-10 games. More specifically, the station carries a fair amount of Oregon games. He said, and I quote “Oregon is no fluke…I’ve seen a lot of Oregon this year because our station carries their games. They are a good team.” Fair enough. Who would dare question that statement? He works at the network. I’m sure he watches the network. So who is to say that he hasn’t watched a bunch of Oregon games?

Well, one of the sports writers decided to call him on it. The reason he did so is unknown. Maybe the writer didn’t know about Oregon and was probing for more details. Maybe he wanted to find out the exact number of games that the host had seen. Maybe he did it because it’s not possible to have enough stories to make it worth it to create a decent 90-minute daily show about local sports and the writer called him on it because there was absolutely nothing else to talk about . Whatever the reason, the writer didn’t believe him. He asked the host “Oh yeah, name some of their players.”

The host, shocked that he would be questioned, took a moment to think about it. Then, with great confidence replied “They have that little guy…I can’t remember his name now, but he sure can shoot.” This was the rarely seen, but always enjoyable, “complete stupid moment in broadcasting.” Not only did the host look stupid, but the challenge made it clear that the guest panelist and the host weren’t getting along. Why else would he challenge him? It’s never good for the host and the guest experts to make each other look bad. That serves no purpose. It also proved that this show really doesn’t have much of a chance since they were talking about the Oregon Ducks on a show that is supposed to be based on local sports on only the fifth day of the show’s existence.

With that moment in stupid broadcasting behind us, it’s time to get back to the game. That “little guy” is Tajuan Porter, who scored 33 points in the win over UNLV. The 5-6 Porter may be one of the best shooters in the country. I just don’t get how someone so small can succeed like he has. And unlike that host, I have seen several Oregon games. Look, the dude is 5-6. As an opposing guard, you know he’s not going to drive to the hoop unless he has a clear lane. Why wouldn’t you step up and guard him tightly? He’s not going anywhere. Any player on your team can block his shot if he tries to go strong. Every guard in the tournament has at least five to six inches on him, if not more. Use the height to alter his outside shot, and if he does try and drive, than take your chances that there will be at least one teammate there to swat his shot away.

By now, the entire country outside of Comcast SportsNet has discovered Porter and his two fellow backcourt assassins Malik Hairston and Aaron Brooks. As I talked about two days ago, Oregon really has no legitimate inside presence and it is possible to bully them around in the paint. They may even be weaker inside than Virginia. Against Winthrop and UNLV, this wasn’t a problem for the Ducks because neither team possessed a true power forward or a center with consistent scoring ability. Oregon’s luck has run out as they have to face Florida. Al Horford and future WNBA player Joakim the Shemale Noah are going to have field days in this game. The Ducks do have a chance if they shoot as well as they have recently. I’ll be rooting for the Quack Attack. I’m just not picking them.
Pick: Florida 87, Oregon 76




#2 Georgetown Hoyas (29-6) vs.
#1 North Carolina Tar Heels (31-6)
Continental Airlines Arena – East Rutherford, NJ
East Regional Final
You didn’t really think that the NCAA and CBS would allow Vanderbilt to win, did you? Not when they had a potential Georgetown-UNC matchup a tantalizing one round away. Not with the 25th anniversary of the historical 1982 championship game coming up. Not with a Georgetown team that has both a Ewing and a Thompson on it. So it was perfectly normal to see Vanderbilt get whistled for four illegal screens in the second half when that call is usually made once or twice a game on both teams combined. Or the multiple palming calls. Let’s not even mention the blatant traveling that wasn’t called before Jeff Green’s final bank shot. That was the most obvious 8 vs. 5 officiating job in the NCAA tournament since the Maryland-Dook and Arizona-Dook games in 2001. I guess Vanderbilt-UNC just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

The Hoyas somehow managed to get season win #29, with a bullet (and an asterisk), and get to face the Michael Jordan-less Carolina Tar Heels in what is being billed as a grudge match. Please don’t buy into the hype. 25 years is an impossibly long time for two teams that don’t regularly play each other to carry a grudge in any sport. In college sports, where the players recycle every four years, 25 years is an eternity. Heck, it’s two eternities.

Georgetown is living a charmed life right now. No matter how much they fall behind in the first half, it seems their opponent plays as lousy as possible in the second half. Roy Hibbert is back to his usual 20-minute disappearing trick again. Green has been ok, but not amazing. He’s certainly not playing like the Big East Player of the Year. The Hoyas’ saving grace, at least in the Vanderbilt game, was forgotten starter DaJuan Summers. While Green’s last second travel/shot won the game, Summers was the real star for the Hoyas.

Carolina has also been leading the charmed life. Michigan State grabbed a lead in the second half of their second round game and then fell apart. USC led 59-49 and then watched dumbfounded as the Heels reeled of 18 straight points. No one is playing exceptionally well for UNC. Their overwhelming depth has been the key factor. USC tried to out Carolina the Heels. For the first 30 minutes that strategy worked. The run and gun from USC seemed to surprise North Carolina and forced turnover after turnover. It worked right up to the point that USC got gassed. Then the Heels did what they always seem to do. They kept the game within striking distance, let their opponents tire, then stormed back to win.

The key matchup will be Tyler Hansbrough and Hibbert in the first 10 minutes of the game. The NCAA continues to have a hands-off policy when it comes to Hansbrough. You breathe on this guy, you get called for a foul. Hibbert is foul prone. If he has to sit early, and Green is the only inside player trying to stop Hansbrough, then Georgetown could have a long day. Even if Green is able to stop him, without Hibbert, it would be nearly impossible to stop Brandan Wright as well.

I like Georgetown in this game because they are much more cerebral than the Tar Heels. The Hoyas need to slow this game down, take away as many possessions as possible and force UNC into their usual bevy of mistakes. And John Thompson III has to be liberal with his substitutions. Even though Ewing, Jr., Jeremiah Rivers and Vernon Macklin are average players at best, all three will have to play at least 15-20 minutes a peace. Otherwise, Georgetown will suffer the same fate as Southern Cal. I like the Hoyas’ defense on the perimeter to shut down the UNC guard play. I like Green’s one-on-one matchup with the freshman Wright. And call it a hunch, but I think Hibbert will play pretty well against Hansbrough.
Pick: Georgetown 76, North Carolina 70