Friday, March 25, 2011

3/25: Kemba, Duke goes Down, etc...

Greetings all... let's get to the Sweet 16 action...
  • Arizona 93, Duke 77... Definitely the surprise of the night... Duke was a 10-point favorite... and lost by 16... Derrick Williams was everywhere last night.. 32 points, 13 rebounds on 11-17 shooting, and they also got 16 and 16 for MoMo Jones... 93 points against that Duke defense is extremely impressive (shooting 54% from the field, and 60% from 3), and they were able to overcome 28 points from Kyrie Irving on the other side... I think Arizona may be the favorite over UConn because I just don't see anyone stopping Derrick Williams...
  • Speaking of UConn... they get a 7-point win over San Diego State... Kemba Walker finished with 36 points including outscoring the Aztecs 16-14 BY HIMSELF down the stretch... he went nuts after a "shove" incident (which has been overblown thanks to Lebron James tweeting about it, etc.), and they simply couldn't contain him... SDSU did themselves no favors shooting 6 of 13 from the line, and got hurt by foul trouble that kept Kawhi Leonard to just 29 minutes... Really looking forward to Arizona/UConn...
  • Butler 61, Wisconsin 54... My dream is over... lol... anyway, Butler led by 9 at the half, and never really looked back even though Wisconsin made a big-time late charge to cut the lead to 4 with 1:20 left... Shelvin Mack then ice-colded a curl jumper, and the lead was safe from there... The big story was the shooting woes from Wisconsin... 30% from the field (including 1 of 12 from Jon Leuer) and just 13 of 19 from the line for the best FT shooting team in the country which caused them to fall out of their #1 perch all-time in that category... Matt Howard led the way with 20 and 12 (on just 8 shots), and they got enough buckets to take advantage of their suffocating defense....
  • And Jimmer goes home... Florida beats BYU by 9 in OT... Jimmer just couldn't make a play down the stretch in regulation, and Florida throttled them 15-6 in OT... Alex Tyus had the game of his life with Florida with 19 points and 17 boards, leading 4 guys with 16+ for Florida, which was enough against BYU's non-balanced attack... Fredette finished with 32, but needed 29 shots to get it, and no other Cougar finished in double-digits... Florida/Butler has happened before, and I'm really interested to see how that goes down...
Elsewhere...
  • Chase Utley likely to start the year on the DL... the reports are wide-ranging on Utley (see my NL East Preview), and no one seems to have a gauge on this one... Definitely hurts the Phillies though...
  • Shaq is reportedly walking around in a boot... this is big news for Celtics' fans who thought they were just holding him out to save him for the stretch run... I don't see a scenario where they can win the title (i.e. beat LA) without Shaq...
  • NBA Check - Dallas gets their 50th win with a 104-96 result over the Kevin Love-less T-Wolves... Dirk had 30 and 11 for Dallas, and Anthony Randolph came out of nowhere for 31 and 11 for Minny... Speaking of Love, he may be shut down for the year... which is a shame... and New Orleans gets a win.... by at what cost? David West (after putting up 29 points) went down clutching his left knee on a late dunk... no prognosis, but it looked bad... on the court, Chris Paul had 24 and 12, but going forward, they are in real danger of missing the playoffs if West is out..
What to watch for on Friday...
  • East Regional Semifinal - Marquette vs. North Carolina - 7:15 CBS - This is an interesting game... Marquette isn't your typical 11-seed, and they are fully capable of rising up here... they dispatched of Syracuse already, and won't be phased... UNC has so much length, and that's their advantage... Henson and Zeller are long and active, and ever since they inserted Kendall Marshall for Larry Drew (the best coaching move of the season nationwide IMO), it's been a different offense... I like UNC, but tight...
  • Southwest Regional Semifinal - Kansas vs. Richmond - 7:27 TBS - Probably the most lopsided result... Richmond is a very good A-10 team... they've scrapped and have some talent, but Kansas is a different animal, especially inside... I expect the triple towers (i.e. the Morris' twins and Robinson) to wear them down, and Kansas to win by double-figures...
  • East Regional Semifinal - Ohio State vs. Kentucky - 9:45 CBS - Experience against youth... or so they say... Ohio State is actually young-ish as well... Sullinger and Craft are freshman too, but just don't play like it... anyway, Kentucky certainly has the talent to win this game... Brandon Knight has exploded in the tourney, and should have an advantage over Craft, but the key for me is Terrence Jones... He's kind of an enigma, and I think the only way they win this game is if he really shows up... I like Ohio State... too much Sullinger, and they'll take advantage of the UK youth setting up triples that they just don't seem to miss...
  • Southwest Regional Semifinal - VCU vs. Florida State - 9:57 TBS - #11 vs. #10 won't inspire too much attention I wouldn't imagine, but I'm interested in this one... Florida State would've been a 5 or 6 seed if Chris Singleton had been healthy down the stretch, and now that he's back, they have crazy defensive length, and absolutely ate up Notre Dame on that end... VCU has their offense firing on all cylinders, but haven't seen a defense like this, and the only way FSU loses this one IMO is if the Leonard Hamilton "stand-around" offense gets them....
Until later...

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