As a Tennessee resident, I've watched (and enjoyed) more than a fair amount of Tennessee basketball. They had a very impressive schedule against very impressive competition, and by and large, they were a joy to watch. Still, when the brackets were announced on March 16, I couldn't bring myself to pick them to go beyond the Sweet 16. I saw the potential matchup with Louisville lurking, and I knew it would be trouble.
For one, Louisville was vastly underrated. They dropped a few places in seeding by virtue of losing a buzzer beater to the Big East Conference Champions and by losing a heartbreaker in the Big East Tournament to eventual Tournament Champions, Pittsburgh. I suppose the Selection Committee thought this was enough to put them as a 3 seed, and the competition for 2 seeds was pretty stiff. Before the brackets were announced, I thought Louisville would be a good pick for the Final Four, but I chickened out when I saw that they'd probably have to play North Carolina in Charlotte. This is all to say, the fact that Tennessee had to play Louisville was a tough hand to be dealt.
Perhaps a bigger reason for my reluctance to pick Tennessee was their recent dip in form at the point guard position. The one thing that is always stressed in the NCAA Tournament is that you have to have tremendous guard play in order to keep playing. Their's just wasn't that good, and judging by Bruce Pearl's decision to start someone new at point guard 33 games into the season, Pearl knew it as much as anyone. The point guard futility was on display again last night, but with limited options, there just wasn't a lot to be done about it. There was, however, one option that could have potentially remedied this, at least in last night's game...
Chris Lofton. Hear me out on this. I know that his role in every other game this season has been to spot up and take open shots. Those shots weren't often there for the SEC's all-time leading three-point shooter last night, and when they were there, they didn't fall. It wasn't much of an anomaly, either, as he had been a shadow of himself in the games against American and Butler, possibly because of the lack of a competent point guard to get him the ball. Given his shooting woes, I think the right thing to have done would have been to let him contribute in other ways. He was easily the most seasoned veteran on the floor, and no one plays with more poise than him. He makes good decisions, when the ball is in his hands, good things generally happen. He may be a little less of a threat to score, but he wasn't scoring anyway. He went just 3 of 15 from the field. Who knows? Maybe it wouldn't have made that much of a difference, as a 19 point drubbing is difficult to overcome. Given the alternative, it would have been worth a shot.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I am inclined to agree that Lofton was pretty much the only player on the court who didn't completely lose his handle last nite, that's not saying terribly much. My lord, what a shellacking! Has anyone checked on Trent?
Anyways, here's what I'm going with for tonite's game:
Unless Villanova's young guards get hot from the outside, this overachieving squad is getting routed. Also, I shudder to think what my night will be like if the Jayhawks lose, considering the company I keep. Gimme KU -12.
Georgetown's defense may have been highly ranked, but their coach was a fool all nite, keeping his bigs on the bench due to foul trouble. I guess it never dawned on him that this is a single elimination tournament. I guess I'll cut JT3 some slack, considering Roy Hibbert is a big, black vagina man. Don't count on Soldier Boy letting Stephen Drew (whose moniker did not foretell his spelling bee championship) get inside, thereby opening up the perimeter game. Gimme Wisconsin - 5.
Normally, I would talk about how moronic Rick Barnes is and how his obsession with never turning the ball over and giving his starting 5 too many minutes will undo him, but, in this case, his strategy may work. Stanford doesn't attack the ball defensively, anyways, and if DJ Augustin doesn't completely take over, then Stanford will win big. However, if DJ returns to his usual dominant ways, then Texas wins a close one. I'll say DJ's worn out and dreaming NBA dreams, so gimme Stanford +2.
Well, Coach Cal will get his wish, because free throws won't mean a whole lot in this contest as Izzo's squad doesn't send the other team to the line very often. This will be tight and will basically come down to UM's defense. If they have double digit blocks or steals, they are gonna take it, but I think it will be close. Plus, we all know Memphis has to fuck it up, right? Or am I thinking of Kansas? Gimme Michigan State +5.
Oh, and if there wasn't points shaving in the UCLA/Western Kentucky game, then Joey Dorsey can kiss my sister.
Post a Comment