Gator (and Southern) Hoops Blog # 3 - Season 2 (with a little bit of football)

My Beloved 89 Bloggees (Welcome Steve, David, Justin, Jeffrey, Ellen and Adam):



With college basketball's regular season not yet in full gear, let's continue from the last blog and look at some more upsets in exhibition games. I usually emphasize hoops in the South, but I will stray a bit this time.



It has not been a good week for the Nutt family. First, Houston Nutt is asked to resign from the head coaching job at Ole Miss. Then on Monday brother Dicky Nutt, the head coach at Division I Southeast Missouri State (known as SEMO in the Ohio Valley Conference), lost 68 - 63 in an exhibition game to Division II Harding University.  http://www.hardingsports.com/news/2011/11/7/MBB_1107111804.aspx


Remember in March 2008 when talented Drake University suffered a loss in the first round of March Madness on a buzzer-beater to Western Kentucky (and current South Carolina coach Darrin Horn).   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwOzyE_S5AY What a difference a few years make. Last Saturday, Drake was beaten by Division II Quincy University 84 - 74  http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20111105/SPORTS/311050062/Drake-men-s-basketball-Scant-Bulldogs-upset-by-Quincy


Florida Gator opponent on Nov. 21st, Wright State from the tough mid-major Horizon League (which includes Butler), was upset on Saturday by Division II Central State 56 - 50.  http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/wrightstatesports/entries/2011/11/06/wright_state_coach_on_loss_to.html I had originally thought Wright State could be a tough game for the Gators with their 5th place conference finish last year, but scratch that after this loss and the pre-season 8th place prediction for the Raiders.


There was another upset in an exhibition game that did not get much ink. Last Friday night West Virginia lost to Division II Northern Kentucky at the buzzer on a three-pointer 77 - 74.  http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/basketball/ncaa/11/05/nku.wvu.exhibition.ap/index.htm Would you have liked to have been in the locker room after the game listening to the mild-mannered coach of West Virginia, Bob Huggins, address the team?


The University of Utah lost to Division II Adams St. 61 - 60 also last Friday night.  http://www.ksl.com/?sid=17959633&nid=635&title=utah-falls-to-div-ii-adams-state . Pac-12 teams must be salivating after seeing this score of their new league member. New Running Utes Coach, Larry Krystkowiak, has a tough gig with only 4 returning players after 8 left the team when Jim Boylen was fired earlier this year.   http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=teamreports-2011-ncaab-uae NEXT


To football,........beginning in 1973. I became an Oakland Raiders fan, primarily because most of my college buddies were from Miami (like bloggee Steve ) and the Raiders were the only team that could beat the Dolphins. I developed a love affair with the Silver and Black and some of their stars like Kenny Stabler, Anthony Davis, Fred Biletnikoff, Jim Plunkett, Ted Hendricks, Willie Brown, Cliff Branch and two of my three favorite running backs to ever play at Colgate, Marv Hubbard and Mark van Eeghan (the third being bloggee Joe). I even went to the "Marcus Allen" 1984 Super Bowl in Tampa with bloggee Charlie when they beat the Washington Redskins 38 - 9 and Allen ran for 191 yards including a 74-yard TD scamper.

So, I have been a diehard Raider fan for 38 years. This past Sunday was the first time since 1973 that I rooted against them when Denver and my fellow UF alumnus, Tim Tebow, defeated the Raiders 38 - 24. It was the POWER OF TEBOW which trumped the long-time allegiance I had for the Raiders. NEXT



Sadly, bloggee Irby passed away last week. He fought an unbelievably courageous 3-year battle against cancer. I wish you all had a chance to know this special guy. Attending Samford and UAB basketball games will never be the same. I usually end the blogs with the closing, Enjoy, but that is surely not appropriate this time. THAT'S IT




Barry

Gator (and Southern) Hoops Blog # 2 - Season 2

My Beloved 82 Bloggees (Welcome Dan, Andy, Doug, Bernard, Bobby, Ben, and Franz):



In the battle of Billy Donovans on Thursday night, Dad ended up on the winning side when Florida defeated Catholic University 114 - 57.  http://www.gatorzone.com/basketball/men/boxscore.php?gameid=10276 . Billy Donovan Jr. scored 13 points on 3 for 7 shooting in 27 minutes as a last-minute addition to the starting lineup for the Division III Cardinals.

The Gators made 20 of 40 three-point field goal attempts with their 3-guard lineup. Athletic freshman 6 '3 guard Bradley Beal is special and you will want to remember that name. He was 8 for 11 from the field including 4 for 7 from the arc for 20 points. Kenny Boynton had a super game with a double-double, 21 points and 10 assists.

Although Patric Young is a horse in the middle, rebounding will be a challenge this year for the Orange and Blue. Vernon Macklin, now with the lockout Detroit Pistons, and his physicality will be sorely missed, especially without a "thick" (the relatively new "trendy" word describing a broad-shouldered tall physical frontcourt player) replacement from the freshman class. NEXT



It is never a good sign for a Division I college basketball team when it loses an exhibition game usually against a team in a lower division. Many remember when Syracuse was upset in 2009 by Division II LeMoyne and last year when Tennessee was upset by Division II Indianapolis. The pre-season upsets have continued this year.

This past Wednesday, the Division II Northern State Wolves, from Aberdeen, South Dakota, upset the national runner-up the last two years, 31st ranked Butler University, 53 - 50 after trailing by 9 with less than 5 minutes to play. http://rapidcityjournal.com/sports/college-basketball-thomas-s-triple-helps-northern-state-upset-butler/article_4a5338e4-05d5-11e1-82dd-001cc4c002e0.html

Last week Division II Seattle Pacific upset no.16 ranked Arizona 69 -68  http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=ncb&id=7183144

I am sure practice was not pleasant for Butler and Arizona players the day after these stunning upsets. NEXT



On Thursday night, the NBDL had their annual draft. Here are some of the Southern highlights:

1. In the first round, Mustapha Farrakhan from Virginia and grandson of Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan, was drafted by the Bakersfield Jam.

2. In the fourth round, Donald Sims from Appalachian State, was drafted by the Reno Bighorns. Many in Birmingham remember seeing this sharpshooter play against Samford in Southern Conference action. In 2009-2010 he led the nation with an astounding free throw percentage of 95.1, on 175 out of 184.

3. In the eighth round, Justin Tubbs, from East Tennessee State after transferring from Alabama, was drafted by the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. THAT'S IT



Enjoy...will be attending my first college basketball game of the year Monday when Samford hosts Berry College in an exhibition encounter....as a Samford fan, I hope I don't have to report another upset.



Barry

Gator (and Southern) Hoops Blog # 1 - Season 2

My Beloved Bloggees (Welcome Coach Murray):




It is time for a new season of hoops and blogs. I can hardly talk about the NBA lockout. The players need to realize that how great they have it and stop being so greedy. How about thinking about the out-of-work folks like arena employees because of your "not enough millions" selfishness. Be grateful and let's play. We want to see last year's all-BB (Barry's Blog) rookies like Kenneth Faried snatching rebounds for Denver and Andrew Goudelock draining threes for the Lakers. NEXT



The David vs. Goliath college exhibition games are already starting. Thursday features an interesting coach-player father-son matchup..... Gator head coach Billy Donovan vs 6' 2 sophomore Billy Donovan http://www.cuacardinals.com/sports/mbkb/2011-12/bios/billy_donovan  Florida hosts Catholic University.

Last year the coach's son averaged 1.4 points in less than 4 minutes a game, but something tells me he will get much more PT at the O-Dome on Thursday. I am predicting double figures for Junior. NEXT



Throughout the year we will once again, focus on transfers. When you think back to last year's Arkansas basketball team, which player do you think would have been a great fit for Butler's squad? If you guessed sharpshooter (except when Gator Kenny Boynton was covering him) Rotnei Clarke, you are correct and he has transferred to the "perennial" national runner-up school. Clarke will sit out this year and become an integral part of the Butler Bulldogs for the 2012 - 2013 season http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/story/2011-08-01/sharpshooter-rotnei-clarke-transfers-to-butler  . THAT'S IT




Enjoy....keeping it short...don't want you to get burned out...our thoughts are with a giant hoops fan bloggee Irby who is at home with hospice....a Samford season ticketholder in our bloc of seats, he would watch the Samford game, while listening to the UAB radio broadcast on his headphones if both teams played at the same time...also was passionate about Penn (his alma mater) and Alabama basketball....a great guy and recently voted 2011 Realtor of the Year by the. Birmingham Association of Realtors.





Barry

Blog # 74 - NBA Draft Edition

My Beloved 108 Bloggees:

 

 

Welcome back after a short hiatus this off-season. Last night was the NBA Draft http://www.nba.com/draft/2011/ which produced some results that warrant brief blog discussion.

 

Only 4 SEC schools had players chosen:

 

 

Kentucky

 

Enes Kanter (if you want to count him even though he was ineligible in his one and done year) 3rd to Utah http://www.nba.com/draft/2011/prospects/enes-kanter/

Brandon Knight  8th to Detroit http://www.nba.com/draft/2011/prospects/brandon-knight/

Josh Harrellson  45th to New York (after being traded from New Orleans) http://www.nba.com/draft/2011/prospects/josh-harrellson/

DeAndre Liggins  53rd to Orlando http://www.nba.com/draft/2011/prospects/deandre-liggins/

 

 

Georgia

 

Trey Thompkins  37th to Clippers  http://www.nba.com/draft/2011/prospects/trey-thompkins/

Travis Leslie  47th to Clippers  http://www.nba.com/draft/2011/prospects/travis-leslie/

 

 

Tennessee

 

Tobias Harris  19th to Charlotte http://www.nba.com/draft/2011/prospects/tobias-harris/

 

Undrafted Junior Scottie Hopson should return to Knoxville http://www.nba.com/draft/2011/prospects/scotty-hopson/

 

 

 

The Florida Gators had two players go in the second round:

 

Chandler Parsons 38th to Houston. http://www.nba.com/draft/2011/prospects/chandler-parsons/  Here were some of  the on-air comments by ESPN analyst, Jay Bilas, after Parsons was chosen: "He needs to be physically and mentally tougher. Parsons leaves you wanting more. He did improve this year and rebounded better. Has the skill set". 

 

Vernon Macklin http://www.nba.com/draft/2011/prospects/vernon-macklin/  52nd to Detroit. Bilas was very complimentary about Macklin such as: "He is a great kid. Improved his post move....long arms....can hit the jump hook with either hand....will run down the ball.....good rebounder and good worth ethic". Then he repeated what a great kid Macklin is.

 

In my opinion, both Parsons and Macklin should follow the footsteps of current Gator NBAers, Udonis Haslem and Matt Bonner, by playing professionally overseas to hone their skills. Parsons needs to be more consistent with his jump shot and Macklin has to improve his free throw shooting. Look for the undrafted Gator senior, Alex Tyus,  http://www.nba.com/draft/2011/prospects/alex-tyus/ to join them overseas to develop his game.  NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

Two members of last season's all-BB (Barry's Blog) team of mid-major players were drafted:

 

Kenneth Faried, http://www.nba.com/draft/2011/prospects/kenneth-faried/ the 6' 8 forward from Morehead State,  was selected by Denver as the 22nd pick. He could be the next Dennis Rodman...no need to get him the basketball, he will find it himself near the backboard. Plus, he plays super defense. This type of "lunch pail" player helps win championships. http://www.nba.com/draft/2011/prospects/kenneth-faried/

 

Andrew Goudelock, the 6' 2 guard from Bobby Cremins' College of Charleston is going to Lakerland as the 46th pick of the draft. They will love him at the Staples Center when he starts throwing in those three-point bombs. My guess is the Lakers might have the next Microwave (one of the greatest nicknames in sports for former Pistons sharpshooter, Vinnie Johnson). I can't wait to see Goudelock on the court next to Kobe. http://www.nba.com/draft/2011/prospects/andrew-goudelock/  NEXT

 

 

 

 

Two members of the all-BB team were undrafted seniors, 6' 9 275 lb. center  Frank Hassell from Old Dominion http://www.nba.com/draft/2011/prospects/frank-hassell/ and 6' 6 forward Noah Dahlman from Wofford. One of our Virginia bloggess, Charlie, watched Hassell at the Portsmouth Invitational showcase for NBA prospects and indicated, "Frank did not have much in the tank". However, he later worked out with many NBA teams and could try to latch on as a free agent. Dahlman should probably take his game overseas where he could be a star with his cerebral play around the basket.

 

The other member of the all-BB team was Tu Holloway, the returning senior at Xavier. If Tu hadn't laid an egg in a first round NCAA tourney game with 5 points against Marquette, shooting 1 for 8 from the field, he might have kept his name in the draft. Instead he has been selected to try out for the USA team in the World University Games http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110622/SPT0102/106230341/Tu-Holloway-to-watch-NBA-Draft-be-part-of-next-year-s?odyssey=tab%7Cmostpopular%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE . THAT'S IT

 

 

 

Enjoy the off season,

 

 

 

Barry

Blog # 73 - Final One of the Season After Disappointing Gator Loss

My Beloved 108 Bloggees:

 

 

The timing of my out of town trip was perfect....the day after the Gators' disappointing loss to Butler in a classic overtime Elite Eight game. At this juncture, any comment would be like reading yesterday's newspaper, so I will just congratulate the Bulldogs on being such a tough tournament team that works hard every second on the court. Brad Stevens is a marvelous coach. I would not be surprised if they win it all....as mentioned in a previous blog, they seem to have destiny on their side. 

 

The Gators gave their fans some memorable moments this year, especially in March. Billy Donovan and the team need to feel proud for making Florida basketball relevant once again, after a brief lull. NEXT

 

 

 

 

It has been a good week for Anthony Grant. He is being praised for stocking the roster of Final Four team, VCU, with winners before leaving the Richmond school two years ago. Secondly, his Crimson Tide are playing for the NIT Championship  on Thursday after squeaking by fellow number 1 seed Colorado, 62 - 61 in Tuesday's semi-final http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201103290125  .

 

A quick point guard I love, Alabama's Trevor Releford, drove the baseline and made a game-winning layup "among the trees". Colorado's stud, Alec Burks, who had already scored 20 points, missed a jumper at the buzzer that would have sent Alabama home. The men of Crimson were led by JaMychal Green who had a game-high o 22 points on 11 for 16 shooting. Alabama overcame a Vernon Macklin-like 4 for 11 from the charity stripe.

 

Wichita State stands in the way of the NIT gold after they demolished Washington State 77 - 45 when 7-footer Garrett Stutz came off the bench with a double-double, 24 points on 10 for 13 along with 11 rebounds. Klay (son of former NBAer Mychal) Thompson was way off for Wash State, shooting 1 for 10, coming up empty on all 5 three-point attempts.

 

By the way, during Bracket Buster Saturday in February, Wichita State lost to VCU  68 - 67 on two free throws with less than a second. They also lost to another Final Four team, Connecticut 83 - 79 in Novermber after leading with less than 3 minutes remaining. NEXT

 

 

 

There was a big surprise to me Monday in the first game of the best of three championship series of the CBI tournament at Creighton. They were hosting Oregon and the return of their former coach, Dana Altman, who deserted the Omaha school for the greenbacks of Nike U last April. Altman, who had 327 victories and 7 NCAA appearances at Creighton during his 16 years actually received a terrific reception when he came out of the tunnel and when his name was announced.

 

Wow! Folks in the Midwest sure have class. I am not sure that type of crowd reception would have happened in other venues across the country in a similar situation. When Lon Kruger left Florida for Illinois in 1996 just two years after taking the Gators to the Final Four, he was Benedict Kruger in my book (even though he seemed to be a great guy when I met him after UF played in a consolation game of the NIT a few years earlier.....I know, one needs help if they go to a game like that....like most consolation games in the postseason, it has been eliminated). NEXT

 

 

 

 

 

Who is the best high school hoopster ever to come out of the St. Louis area.....Bill Bradley, Jojo White, Larry Hughes, LaPhonso Ellis, David Lee or the current Gator signee, Bradley Beal? Click on this article for a discussion http://www.stltoday.com/sports/high-school/boys-basketball/article_154f01e2-5724-11e0-9d4b-00127992bc8b.html . Thanks to bloggee Sean for forwarding  the article. THAT'S IT

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy.........in a blog over the weekend, I gave you the trascript of Pat Summitt's halftime speech when her Vols were losing to Ohio State.....a video of it begins at the 25 second mark of this clip....definitely worth watching..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTavyjvvwn0 .....of course, they came back to win.....however the Lady Vols lost on Monday to Notre Dame....need to find a locker room clip of Pat from that game....I still get a kick out of her yelling at her team for its low energy level "....and it makes me sick to my stomach",

 

 

 

Barry

Blog # 72 - Tournament Games of March 25th

My Beloved 108 Bloggees:

 

 

For a fantastic insight of Billy Donovan spend a few minutes, put the feet up with a sandwich and watch his Friday press conference by clicking here http://www.gatorvision.tv/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=762519&db_oem_id=6500 . There are two parts....go directly to the part 2. His anecdotes regarding Larry Bird, Bill Belichick, Brad Stevens and many, many more are outstanding. You do not have to be a Gator fan to enjoy hearing from a guy who loves basketball and can relate his passion the way Billy can. NEXT

 

 

 

There is a lot of excitement in Gator Nation with a chance today at 3:30 CDT on CBS to play for a trip to the Final Four. However, playing a tough, tournament-tested team like Butler is worrisome. Plus I heard an unsettling statistic....the previous 11 teams who won an NCAA game in overtime all lost their next NCAA tournament. Let me remind you that the Gators beat BYU in overtime in its previous game. Oh no!

 

For a video preview of the game with bloggee Kevin # 1, click here http://video.gatorsports.com/ . For Kevin's written preview, click on http://www.gatorsports.com/article/20110326/ARTICLES/110329567/1136?Title=Experience-has-Florida-Butler-in-Elite-Eight . NEXT

 

 

 

If VCU coach Shaka Smart were a stock, how many shares would you buy....or should I ask, how many thousands of shares would you buy? The former Florida assistant is one hot commodity. He led his Rams to the Elite Eight with an overtime (oh no) 72 - 71 win over defensive-minded FSU http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201103250213 .

 

The nation heard former NBA GM and current broadcaster, Steve Kerr, saying, "Shaka Smart can coach" numerous times, especially after drawing up the game-winning inbounds play near the end of the overtime period. That means the ADs at schools, such as the University of Tennessee and University of Missouri who have head coach openings, also most likely heard Kerr's praise of Shaka.  Schools from the power conferences are always looking for the next Billy the Kid, and Shaka Smart fits that to a tee, especially having an apprenticeship year on Billy Donovan's staff under his belt.  NEXT

 

 

 

 

Kentucky destroyed many a bracket last night when Brandon Knight's tie-breaking mid-range jumper with 5 seconds left lifted the SEC tourney champs to a 62 - 60 thriller over top-seeded Ohio State http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201103250443 . What a game!  The Buckeye's long-range shooter, Jon Diebler, had just tied the game with a three before Knight's heroics.

 

The Wildcats' "lunch bucket carrying" Josh Harrellson continued his postseason resurgence with a double-double, 17 points on 7 for 9 and 10 rebounds. The Buckeyes' freshman superstar, Jared Sullinger, collected 16 rebounds and was 7 for 14 on the way to his double-double, but William Buford's 2 for 16 shooting performance offset Sullinger's contributions. Buford also missed the potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer. William, I know the feeling, I once struck out with two outs in the last inning with the potential tying and winning runs on base in the playoffs to end my team's season, also. You never forget those disappointing moments, unfortunately. NEXT

 

 

 

It is Friday night after a long week. You are all excited to sit at home and switch back and forth between the two early Sweet Sixteen games. Those plans go awry with two clunkers... North Carolina's 81 - 63 whupping of Marquette http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201103250413 and Kansas's 77 - 57 thrashing of Richmond http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201103250287 . Both games were even bigger routs than the final scores indicate.

 

North Carolina's front line of Harrison Barnes, Todd Zeller and John Henson just missed all having double-doubles when Barnes had 9 rebounds with his 20 points. Zeller was dominating with 27 points and 12 rebounds, while Hensen also had 12 boards with his 14 points. Red-hot Kentucky looms next in what should be an epic battle between tradition-rich programs.

 

Kansas, the lone remaining one-seed,  is finding itself having an easy road to the Final Four due to early round upsets on their side of the bracket. A Sweet Sixteen with a win against 12-seed Richmond and then tomorrow, 11-seed VCU as the opposition, surely contrasts with the more difficult paths other teams have had to try to get to Houston. NEXT

 

 

 

 

Former Gator assistant Donnie Jones saw his UCF basketball team's disappointing  season mercifully come to an end when Creighton thumped them in Omaha on Wednesday night, 82 - 64 in the semi-finals of the CBI postseason tournament. Marcus      " son of "  Jordan who is averaging over 15 points a game, failed to reach double figures for the second consecutive game, scoring just 9 points on 4 for 9, and nothing to show for his 3 deep attempts  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/88734 .

 

The CBI did get a break with their best of three finals matchup between Creighton and Oregon who is coached by Dana Altman, the former Creighton coach for the previous 16 years. It is a promoter's dream for such a tournament. The first game is at Creighton next Monday and during that March Madness off night, it will be interesting to see the reception he gets.

 

 If you remember, Oregon is the second school for which Altmann left Creighton. After the 2007 season he left for Arkansas and then within 24 hours of the press conference introducing him as the Hogs' coach, he "Billy Donovan-ed" and returned to Creighton http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2824653

 

By the way, guess who won the CBI tournament last year? Shaka Smart and this year's Elite Eight VCU.  THAT'S IT

 

 

Enjoy......will be giving you a break by taking a couple of blogging days off.....did I hear a bunch of you yell "hooray"?......I just watched the halftime speech of Pat Summitt with her Tennessee team losing at halftime to Ohio State....."that team over there has more energy and more heart than we do. Does that bother you?   It makes me sick to my stomach. ....I don't know what you are going to do but you better come out of this locker room with a big-time attitude, you with me? You defend, defend, defend, and rebound, rebound, rebound.  Do you want to go home? You play like you don't want to be here, and you look like you don't want to be here.".....Wow. If that were an audition for the Tennessee men's job, she should get it.

 

 

 

Barry

Blog # 71 - Tournament Games of March 24th

My Beloved 108 Bloggees:

 

 

For Gator fans, there were two pieces of good news after the exhilirating 83 - 74 overtime victory over BYU http://stats.gatorsports.com/cbk/boxscore.asp?gamecode=201103240210 . The first was Billy Donovan will be taking the Gators to his 4th Elite Eight. The second is the Gators will never, ever have to play Jimmer Fredette again. That guy just scares you  when he has the basketball.

 

 A tip of the hat to the gutsy, defensive play of Kenny Boynton on Fredette....Boynton was like syrup on a waffle. Don't forget Kenny missed the last few minutes of the previous game and some practice this week due to an ankle injury. Scottie Wilbekin, who should be playing high school basketball because he graduated a year early, also did a phenomenal job guarding Fredette who did score 32 but it was on 11 for 29 including just 3 for 15 from deep, deep. I remember one of those threes was from "Goudelock" range (see blog # 70), while another clanged the front of the rim and the "iron was kind" (thank you Tim Brando) as it bounced into the hoop.

 

Alex Tyus didn't just have a double-double, he had a serious double-double with 19 points, on 8 for 9 shooting (including just his second three-pointer of the year) and 17 rebounds.  The Gators somehow managed to win shooting 45.5% from the charity stripe with Vernon Macklin the primary culprit...a painful 1 for 5. (Paging Samford's Emily London....are you available as the leading Division 1 free throw shooter to provide some tips to Macklin and his teammates before Saturday's crucial game against Butler?)

 

Click here to watch the post-game celebration in the locker room  http://www.http//www.utsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2007-2008/ut0323.htmlgatorvision.tv/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=762179&db_oem_id=6500 . As always, bloggee Kevin # 1 was there covering the game for the Gainesville Sun. Here is his written recap http://www.gatorsports.com/article/20110324/ARTICLES/110329652/1136?Title=Gators-move-on-to-Elite-Eight-after-overtime-win-over-BYU .  If you want to watch Kevin give his analysis of the Jimmer farewell game, click here http://www.gatorsports.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage?tc=ar . NEXT

 

 

 

 

Florida plays last year's finalist Butler on Saturday at 3:30 CDT in a rematch from the 2000 first round of the NCAA tournament when Mike Miller had a buzzer-beater in overtime to defeat the Bulldogs 69 - 68 (Gulp, that was 11 years ago, Mike Miller, You Make Me Feel Old) http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/college/2000/ncaa_tourney/east/news/2000/03/17/butler_florida_ap/ . Florida went on to the Final Four that year. The winner, this year, will definitely be going to the Final Four.

 

Butler's senior 6' 8 forward Matt Howard is an experienced winner as evidenced by his double-double, 20 points and 12 rebounds, in last night's 61 - 54 win over Wisconsin http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201103240657 . I remember seeing Howard three years ago in Birmingham when Butler lost in overtime to Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA tourney http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2007-2008/ut0323.html . He shot only 1 for 7 and fouled out in 23 minutes. He has since become wiser and has limited his fouls. Maybe Florida will challenge that and pound the ball down low to draw fouls from him and starting center 6' 11 Andrew Smith.

 

What Butler possibly has on its side is destiny. A buzzer-beater win in its first game against ODU and the miraculous second round win against number one-seed Pitt after almost giving away the game with a foul 45 feet from the basket with 1.4 seconds left and a one-point lead, makes me think Florida might have to deal with some intangible obstacles. I know it is voodoo, but tell me a fan who doesn't give stuff like that a thought. We might have to come up with another mantra similar to "Jimmer will have an off night" to contend with it. NEXT

 

 

 

I love when one-seeds who I don't pick to win in my bracket, lose like Duke did last night to Arizona 93 - 77 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201103240173 (sorry if you had Duke) .  It has been a long time since a Duke team has been dominated in a half the way Arizona did after intermission, 55 - 33. A friend of mine spent the last two months in Tucson, AZ and he warned me about the Wildcats' Derrick Williams. He was right. The 6' 8  241 lb forward had 32 points on 11 for 17 shooting, 5 for 6 from the perimeter along with 13 rebounds.

 

Williams scored 25 of his points int he first half keeping his team in the game. Then his colleagues took over and put on a dunking and rebounding exhibition giving Coach K plenty of time to give interviews during the rest of the tournament, something he refuses to do during games that he coaches. However, he did make a rare exception during the Arizona game last night http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Did-Coach-K-s-halftime-interview-jinx-Duke-in-se?urn=ncaab-wp1150 NEXT

 

 

 

Connecticut will be too tired after playing five games on consecutive days to win the Big East tourney. Do you know of a crazy blogger who wrote that?  Hasn't he heard of the great Kemba Walker?

 

Kemba was just being Kemba last night when he scored 36 in knocking out for the first time a Final Four pick of mine, San Diego State 74 - 67 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201103240498 . Because this was not the "primary" early game in my household (some other game  took place at the same time in which I was somewhat interested) I was only able to see highlights like these  http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/gametracker/recap/NCAAB_20110324_CT@SDGST/walkers-36-lead-uconn-past-sdsu-to-regional-final .

 

Freshman 6' 5 guard Jeremy Lamb (from Atlanta suburb, Norcross....nice recruiting job, Jim Calhoun) contributed 24 points on 9 for 11 from the field including perfection on his 3 long distance tosses. Now if my arithmetic is correct, there was not much scoring from the other 8 Huskies who played....just 14 other points! Can you say unbalanced?  THAT'S IT

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy.....my favorite basketball analyst, Bill Raftery, had the greatest line when after of Arizona's players blocked a shot during their explosive second half, "That's not a message, that's a novel." .... he is the best,

 

 

 

 

Barry