3/31 Braves, Madness on Hold, Opening Day, etc.

Here we go...

• To wrap up the madness for a week (at least a little)....I've read more than one take (especially Dan Shanoff who claims the Final 4 is ruined) complaining about all 4 #1s being in the Final 4...I see nothing wrong with it...if anything it produces the highest level of play and some very nice matchups...Problem for CBS is there is no Cinderalla story but that should be quickly made up by the Huge mega-programs of UNC, Kansas, and UCLA....No worries here...Full predictions late in the week.....

• Just for the record....I went back and looked at the Davidson last trip and my basketball reference point helped me to see there was no real way to get Curry the ball unless he brought it up....I can see that....and in reference, a pretty makeable shot for Davidson, just real deep....Congrats to them on a crazy run and at last word Curry is coming back....which brings an interesting debate....


• Should Stephen Curry go pro? It brings about 2 different arguments....The first being the fact that his stock will likely never be higher...no, he's never going in the lottery because he's about 6'2, rail thin, and isn't a point guard....but he could conceivably ride this tourney run to a late 1st round pick, some guaranteed money and a better shot at staying the league....OR he could come back...play at least one more great college season, probably not have the same type of team success, improve his game and try to earn the NBA spot based on merit rather than the reputation of this tournament.....I think he should stay....but I do think it's not a ridiculous thought to leave b/c of the stock argument....Just thought this is an interesting case b/c it's not one of lottery-bound nature but rather one of NBA possibilities (for employment really) being highest potentially now....Rambling now....

And now something COMPLETELY different....

• Baseball? What? Oh yea....My team (The Braves) opened up last night....little interest beforehand...got caught up in the game during the festivities and was let down late when latest Braves' nemesis Ryan Zimmerman (see above) bashed a walk-off HR after the Braves had set down 24 straight Nats to that point...really didn't help me with my baseball excitement level...maybe when the final 4 is over?


• Opening day for every team in the league outside of Boston, Oakland, ATL, and Washington today....lots of first pitches and a full-slate of ESPN/ESPN2 games...I'll catch some for sure....Intriguing at least....

And back to the comfort zone...

• The NBA is winding down and there are some huge storylines (especially out West)....the 3-way tie for the 7th/8th/9th seed is crazy...First for the fact that 45-28 gets you the 7th seed in the West while that same record would place you easily in 4th in the East with a real shot at 3rd (laughs)....2nd because it seems quite logical that Dallas has very to little shot here but I can't guarantee it b/c Denver is so wildly inconsistent and downright bad at times....Common sense tells me there's no way Dallas stays in this thing without Dirk but I could be wrong....And oh yea...5.5 games between 1 and 9 in the West...so every game in the next week or 2 until the season ends can sway homecourt...really a raucous atmosphere
  
• Sunday Recap: San Antonio beats up on Houston at home by 21....I think you'd be crazy to not want to play Houston in Round 1 of the west playoffs....well, or Dallas/Denver....Miami sets a new record for least FGs in the shot-clock era with 17...they're just bad....New Orleans wins #50 with yet another impressive road win in Toronto..man they're good and my love for CP3 heightens daily....The hawks hold serve at home against New York and claim a 2.5 game lead for the East 8 spot and the right to get swept by Boston....only 3.5 behind Philly...but that seems like a pipedream.....Utah continues to show why it can't be taken seriously as a title contender...just putrid on the road in losing in Minnesota...granted they are almost unbeatable in Salt Lake but they'd have to show me the ability to win on the road for me to hitch my wagon to them in any series not involving Houston

Much more later i'm sure...

Final 4 Set...

Wow...All 4 Number ones...crazy huh? Not really shocked by it all (As I had picked 3 number 1s and a 2 with that 2 beating the 1) but still a bit odd....Davidson did more than I thought they'd do...Missed the entire 2nd half at church but have seen full recap highlights and wow...bad possession late I thought....Pretty indefensible to me to iso Curry bringing the ball up instead of bringing him off a screen or 2, they just let him get doubled like...easily....happens? eh, couldve been avoided Id say but the look wasn't too terrible, just a bit out of his range I'd guess...Memphis just took Texas behind the woodshed basically...shooting 83% FTs and holding Texas to sub 40% FG shooting...that'll do it....I, for one, dont mind the favorites being there...makes for big-time matchups....More tomorrow

UCLA Recap/Spotty Internet

• UCLA just got done dominating start to finish against Xavier...ho-hum for me....Kevin Love is officially my favorite player in the college game (and my favorite non-guard since Shane Battier)...the fundementals are astounding for a big guy in this age of flash and the emphasis on dunking/flying around....I can't overstate the ridiculousness of the way he can throw an outlet 60 feet on a line with accuracy...I know, I know, anyone can throw the ball deep...but not with the accuracy that he can....sorry to break it to you
• My internet is world-class terrible right now....Might not get another post in for tomorrow...on the record I think Texas beats Memphis in the best game of the weekend I hope...and Kansas dispatches of Davidson...I wish Bill Self would put Brandon Rush on Curry...that would be interesting to me and it's what I'd do...put a world-class athlete with length on him and see how he handles it

Enjoy all...

3/29 Madness and More

Here we are....

• Already touched on a couple games from last night....mildly shocked by Davidson, not that they won but at the ease of the victory (and Stephen Curry looked like he wasn't trying...and still had 33)....Nothing else surprises me whatsoever as the favorites hold and do it easily...Texas just outgunned Stanford outside and the only kind of "shock" I sustained was just at the halftime score of the Mich. St/Memphis game b/c I had never seen an Izzo team killed like that...like ever
• Games tonight! I think UCLA handles Xavier (shocking I'd have that opinion).....Louisville/UNC is the game everyone wants to see and I think it should be entertaining...the pressure won't get to Ty Lawson but UNC is fairly vulnerable to a team that can put points on the board and is capable of at least not letting them score at will....I think Louisville hangs and loses by under 10...Wouldn't shock me to see the upset

Other things....

• Kobe hangs a ridiculous 53....and loses....back to back bad losses for the Lakers; Don't know if it's cause for concern yet but it's getting there....Phoenix wins in Philly easily....learned yesterday that PHX hasn't lost 3 in a row all year...mark of a good team....
• More NBA: Hawks win again! Holding serve at home is critical for a team this bad on the road....another must-win at home Friday against NY at home.....1.5 game lead though, wow
• Hadn't commented on the Greg Oden pickup fiasco....I think it's borderline hilarious to visualize him playing on 9 foot rims at some health club....Outside of that, pretty dumb..but players play man

See you at 6:40 for the madness....Go Bruins

Welp...Davidson...

Okay...well I take it all back about Davidson...that was a behind whooping from the inbounds in the 2nd half....Curry is a man in that little body....Texas cruising against Stanford and the homecourt is evident (plus Stanford has no guards) up 16 as we speak late....2 uneventful 2nd halfs for the 1st session...Gus Johnson's been tame by no fault of his

Mavs Blogging Policy

So now Mark Cuban wants to open the Mavs locker room to ANY blogger that wants access? I mean...that pretty much opens the door for chaos I'd say...but hey, maybe me and Ryan should take a trip to Dallas and have access to the Mavs players? That sounds fun....A good point was made on Around the Horn today though (shocking I know), what's to stop someone from creating a blog for the sole purpose of gaining access to the Mavs locker room and acting a straight fool? That's my only issue...In theory this should work but that is assuming that anyone blogging is credible...which is false

Gus Johnson!

Forgot to mention many of you will be getting a full slate of Gus Johnson calling games tonight on the 2nd weekend...consider yourselves honored with the energy and fire that is March Madness....I actually like what they did here giving him the region with the "downer" games (Wis/David and Kansas/Nova) because he can provide life and there's nothing he can't bring excitement too....let's hope one of the dogs can give him something to go wild on....happy madness