Some thoughts from the NCAA Tournament, which is now in the Final Four this weekend.
The highlight of the NCAA Tournament for me was definitely watching the re-emergence of Georgetown University as a national championship contender with a man named John Thompson running the show. The final 10 minutes and overtime of Georgetown’s 96-84 victory over North Carolina in the East Regional finals were incredible. Georgetown trailed by 10 points with seven minutes to play before staging its dramatic rally to turn the game into a run-away. Instead of showing panic, the Hoyas stuck with their game-plan and turned the fast-break affair into a half-court game, which effectively shut down the Tar Heels. They went inside to their big horses, Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, and continued to hit each other with backdoor cuts, which resulted in layups and dunks.
It was also a fitting tribute for Georgetown coach John Thompson III, who has brought the Hoyas back into national prominence after his father John Thompson built Georgetown into a national power in the 1980’s. JT III will take the Hoyas to the Final Four 25 years after his Hall of Fame father became the first African-American head coach to take a team to the Final Four in 1982. Forward Jeff Green is the best player in the nation that few people know about, despite the fact that he plays for a high-profile program. He’s 6’9″ and oozing versatility. JT III has a group of big and talented athletes and he has implemented the Princeton offense, which has made the Hoyas a truly dangerous team. Athletic and cerebral is a nearly lethal combination.
You get the feeling that Big John had this master plan in his mind the whole time. He built the Georgetown program on intimidation, toughness as well as great talent. But he sent his son to the pristine Ivy League school, Princeton, to learn that precision offense from the master himself in Pete Carill. When JT III was ready to take over the family business, he would be armed with his fathers’ strong will and competitive spirit along with Carill’s knowledge and wisdom.
You instill those qualities into a group of hungry, young athletes who also happen to have great athleticism, skills and high basketball IQ’s and, voila, you have a Final Four and the rebirth of a proud basketball tradition.
African-American parents across the nation had to sit up and take notice of these developments. Had I been a Division I level basketball player when I was in high school in 1982, I was going to Georgetown. My father told me so. Many parents felt the same way back then.
Gator guts
The Florida Gators are trying to do something that is truly amazing. To win the national championship is one thing. But all five starters returned, with four of them putting off the NBA for at least one more year, with the goal of winning it one more time. That is truly remarkable in this day and age of kids leaving school as soon as possible to get the NBA riches. The quintet of Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Corey Brewer, Tauren Green and Lee Humphrey are trying to leave a legacy. They want to leave their mark in the history books and that’s cool. Although I picked Georgetown to beat Florida in the finals, it would be something special if the Gators were able to pull this off.
Oden is No. 1
There’s no question that Kevin Durant of Texas is a special player who will be special in the National Basketball Association when he begins his career next season, BUT Ohio State’s Greg Oden should be the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft whenever he decides to earn. All you had to do was look at the final play of the Buckeyes’ 85-84 victory over Tennessee in the South regional semifinals. Oden tracked down UT’s Ramar Smith from the top of the key and jumped over teammate Mike Conley to block Smith’s potential game-winning shot at the buzzer to preserve the victory. Somewhere on his couch, Bill Russell was cackling out loud. NBA championships are won front the inside-out and Oden is a once-in-a-generation type of player. There will be other great versatile perimeter players such as Durant, but the next superstar center such as Oden is currently in some women’s belly.
Big to win
Once again, the bigs are taking center stage in the tournament. With the exception of UCLA, if you don’t have great bigs, you don’t have anything coming this year in terms of winning a title. Florida brings back 6’11” Joakim Noah and 6’10” Al Horford, Ohio State has the 7’0″ Oden while Georgetown has 7’2″ Roy Hibbert, 6’9″ Jeff Green and a gaggle of long 6’9″ athletes in the stable. It is nice to see some of these talented big men staying in college a few years to learn the game and perfect their craft.
On point
Although I love my bigs, I must show some love to some very impressive freshmen point guards who have been on display throughout the tournament. These rookies have taken the reins of some high-powered programs and have done a tremendous job. The one still standing is Mike Conley of Ohio State, who is the walking definition of a great decision-maker. Ty Lawson of North Carolina, D.J. Augustine of Texas and Sherron Collins of Kansas were also prime-time rookie floor leaders. St. Louis fans were treated to another talented freshman in 5’6″ sparkplug Tajuan Porter of Oregon, who thrilled a crowd of 28,000 at the Edward Jones Dome on Friday with 33 points and a record-setting 3-point shooting display against UNLV.
Rutgers kudos
Major kudos also go to C. Vivian Stringer, the head women’s coach at Rutgers on pulling off the most stunning victory of the postseason when her Scarlet Knights defeated No. 1 Duke in the regional semifinals of the South Regional. The Scarlet Knights’ defense had the Blue Devils bottled up for the entire game and held them to more than 30 points under their scoring average for the season. Rutgers lost to Duke by 40 points in their first meeting in December. Stringer went on to guide Rutgers past Arizona State in the regional finals to make the Final Four. Stringer is the only college coach to have taken three different schools to the Final Four.
Dumb, dumber, dumbest
The young knuckleheads club added three charter members during regional play over the weekend. Kansas guard Russell Robinson declared that he and teammate Mario Chalmers were the best backcourt in the country. WRONG! After barely scrapping by Southern Illinois’ in the West Regional semifinals, they were easy pickings for UCLA’s stellar duo of Arron Afflalo and Darren Collison in the regional finals. Afflalo lit up the Jayhawks for 24 points while Collison hit 14 points, including the dagger like 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer when the Bruins were clinging to a 55-50 lead.
Meanwhile, Memphis’ center Joey Dorsey took the cake with the “don’t let your mouth write the check that your behind can’t cash” statement when he declared himself “Goliath” in his battle with Ohio State’s Greg Oden. Dorsey also referred to Oden as the “Little man.” While Oden erupted for 17 points, nine rebounds and a few earth-shattering dunks, Dorsey turned into a putrid effort of 0 points and five fouls.
Young men, don’t sing it. Bring it!
More die of heartbreak
Boy, did we ever see some major-league heartbreak over the past several days. Heartache is the opposite emotion of the ecstasy that you normally see during March Madness. However, you have to really feel for:
* Duke All-American point guard Lindsey Harding, who missed two free throws with .01 seconds left with her team trailing Rutgers 53-52.
* Texas A&M’s Acie Law IV, who has made a living of hitting clutch jumpers and breaking hearts all over the Big XII Conference, had the tables turned on him last week. His missed layup in the closing seconds of last week’s South regional semifinals played a big part in the Aggies’ one-point loss to Memphis.
* Winona State, the defending NCAA Division II men’s champion, who appeared on its way to repeating with a seven-point lead with 45 seconds left against Barton. However, Barton guard Anthony Atkinson scored 10 points in the final 39 seconds, including a lay-up at the buzzer to give Barton U. a shocking 77-75 victory. Oh, the humanity.
MICDS at UCLA
There will be a St. Louis area player participating in the Final Four festivities this weekend in Atlanta. Former MICDS standout Mustafa Abdul-Hamid is a freshman walk-on guard at UCLA. He turned down scholarship offers from various Division I schools, plus an offer from Harvard to wear a Bruins uniform. He was one of the area’s top scorers last season at MICDS. On the women’s side, former Gateway Tech standout Mesha Williams is a member of LSU’s team that will compete in the women’s Final Four in Cleveland this weekend. Williams was a former JUCO All-American at Moberly.