New iVoryTowerz post

I've got a new iVoryTowerz post up about this being the best Final Four ever. I'm really enjoying writing for them. It's different than what I do here, but it's a lot of fun, and definitely a new challenge.

Davidson, Kevin Love

The argument for putting the ball in the hands of your best player is a strong one, but I thought Davidson coach Bob McKillop made three errors in crafting the Wildcats' final possession against Kansas.

The first mistake came immediately after Davidson got the ball back, down 59-57 with 17 or 18 seconds left. McKillop spent his final timeout immediately, which meant that the Wildcats would start the possession 90 feet from the game-tying or game-winning bucket. I would have preferred that he instructed his team to inbound the ball to point guard Jason Richards, had Richards rush the ball into the frontcourt, and then called time. The three or four seconds it would have taken Richards to move the ball upcourt wouldn't be wasted, as Stephen Curry spent at least that much time dribbling it up on the final possession, anyway.

I've seen all or parts of five or six Davidson games this year, and one thing other than Curry's brilliance has struck me each time I watch them; they excel at scoring out of bounds plays. I don't have exact numbers at hand, but I believe the Wildcats scored at least a bucket or two per game in the tournament on inbounds plays in the frontcourt. In fact, the possession before, Curry had gotten free for the three-pointer that cut the Kansas lead to two on an inbounds play.

Granted, most of those plays (including the one that led to Curry's three) originated with the ball under the basket, and the Wildcats would have been taking the ball out on the sideline, in front of their bench. But McKillop has shown great skill in drawing up plays that lead to easy shots for his team, and I have to think that having Curry run around off of screens would have had the Jayhawks scrambling defensively. Even if they couldn't get the ball to Curry, Kansas surely would have been preoccupied with him, and that might have led to an easy look for another Davidson player. Remember that the Wildcats didn't absolutely need a three-pointer -- a two would've sent the game into overtime. With Jayhawk defenders keeping one eye on Curry and the other on their own man, it's not unreasonable to think that a set play off the inbounds pass might've led to an open look for Richards or perhaps Bryant Barr (whose 11 second-half points, including three three-pointers. kept the Wildcats in the game). Or maybe one of Davidson's bigs would have gotten lost in the flurry of screens, and would have been open in the paint for a layup.

Having done so, McKillop's second error came in having Curry bring the ball up. Curry had to have been the focus in Kansas' defensive huddle during the timeout, and every Jayhawk on the floor would have had the thought, "Where's Curry? Where's Curry?" on his mind during the possession. McKillop made it easy on them, however. Giving Curry the ball allowed the Jayhawks to keep him in front of them, rather than constantly having to turn their heads to locate him.

As good as Curry has shown he can be off the dribble, the majority of his damage comes with him running off screens. His considerable shooting ability is what everyone points to when they talk to about him as a scorer, but his craftiness in reading the defense and getting open is what allows him to get those shots. And again, if he's running off of screens, there's more of a chance that a Kansas player focuses on him too much and allows another Davidson player to drift for an open look.

Finally, the high screen that Davidson ended up running with Curry was the wrong play given the situation. It's generally an effective play and one that Curry has capitalized on frequently, but it only works if the man defending the screener is worried about his man rolling to the basket and doesn't adequately cover the ballhandler coming around the pick. Holding a two-point lead, the only way Kansas could lose in regulation was to give up a three-pointer, so they were surely going to allow Thomas Sander to roll to the bucket if giving Curry a look at a game-winning three-pointer was the alternative. At the very least, using Barr as the screener and running a pick and pop would have given the Jayhawks someone else to concern themselves with. Instead, the Kansas D didn't have to worry about Sander -- a 23 percent three-point shooter -- standing wide open at the three-point line. They doubled Curry, forcing him to give the ball up to Richards for a difficult three.

And1 Kevin Love's outlet passing ability frankly hasn't merited the attention it has gotten -- it simply doesn't generate as much "extra" offense for UCLA as everyone seems to think it does -- but that doesn't mean it's not remarkable. On Saturday's broadcast, CBS aired tape of a UCLA practice that showed Love sinking two-handed chest passes from halfcourt, three-quarter court, and fullcourt. I don't know and I don't care how many tries it took for him to make it -- the fact that he can do it, and do it often enough to be trying it during a shootaround, is simply amazing. His ability to put the ball in a particular spot with an outlet pass like that is incredible.

First weekend

Quick thoughts on an incredible first two rounds:

-Stephen Curry's three (right around the 40 second mark, sorry about the ad) over Jeremiah Rivers to put Davidson up five late against Georgetown had me more excited about a basketball game than any shot since T.J. Sorrentine's 27-footer lifted Vermont over Syracuse in 2005 (about 1:00 in to that link). Just had a stupid grin on my face for a good 60 seconds afterwards.

Billy Packer had a nice tidbit -- Curry's 30-point performance against Georgetown tied his NCAA Tournament career-low (he had 40 in the opening round vs. Gonzaga, and 30 in last year's opening-round loss to Maryland). How about this one, though? In two tourney games this year, Curry is averaging 27.5 points per game in the second half alone. Amazing.

Georgetown guarded him well, too. You'd think that his second-half exploits could be attributed to defenders tiring while chasing him around the court, unused to defending the pro sets Gonzaga runs for him. But the kid had a defender on him and a hand in his face for most of the game Sunday, and it didn't matter down the stretch.

-I've been down on North Carolina because of their defense, but if they continue to play offense like this and like this, there defense won't matter that much.

-That Clemson-Villanova game was a microcosm of the two team's seasons. Villanova spent all year digging itself into holes before climbing out of them, and Clemson had famously blown it's opportunity to break a 52-game road losing at North Carolina earlier in the year with a similar second-half collapse. The line for the second half of Friday night's game was a pick 'em at halftime, and it had to have been one of the easiest bets of the tournament.

-I wrote in the past of Frank Martin's skill at going offense-defense with his star freshman, Michael Beasley, when the kid got into foul trouble. He did it again in the Wildcats' first-round win over USC. I haven't been very impressed with Martin in his first year as head coach, but give him credit for that.

-A lot of people will point to the turnover on the inbounds pass with 4 seconds left as the key play in Belmont's 71-70 loss to Duke on Thursday, but they wasted several possessions just a few minutes later, before they took the lead. Down three, there were at least two trips where they took bad threes, apparently thinking "If I can just make this shot, we'll be tied with Duke!" You can't waste possessions like that when you're trying to pull a big upset.

-Speaking of the Devils, no team should ever have a stretch where they go 0-15 from three-point land, as Duke did on Saturday in their loss to West Virginia. Once you miss 14 in a row, it's time to stop taking them. I think my buddy Kyle said it best: "The drive and kick offense needs someone to drive to get open shots." Well put.

-Don't know of a single American University alum who isn't proud of the way our boys played on Friday.

I broke my computer

I realize this page is becoming dangerously close to a "Reasons why I'm not blogging" blog rather than a basketball blog, but Wednesday night, as I was getting ready to do a tourney preview, I managed to crack my laptop screen, ruining it. Non-work computer access has been and will continue to be a bit difficult to come by until I get it fixed.

I'm also squeezed by a new writing opportunity. The folks at iVoryTowerz have been kind enough to let me blog about the tourney over there. You can read my most recent post here, and here's one I wrote about the selection committee. I'm not sure if it'll turn into a regular gig, but I hope so. If it does, I'll be writing about more than just college basketball, but all the same, I'll keep all of my Xing and Oing over here, and write about bigger issues there.

If I ever get my computer back, that is.

Finally!

American beats Colgate to earn the school's first ever NCAA bid...

Is it a sign that I’m getting old that I’d rather watch kids storm the floor than storm the floor myself?

It’s become a March ritual. Students fill the stands at men’s basketball conference tournaments across the country, with a precious automatic bid to the Big Dance – the NCAA Tournament – on the line. On the court, teams trade baskets and turnovers, digging in on the defensive end for the one stop that could give them the thing they’ve worked their entire lives for. At some point, one team puts enough distance between itself and the opponent that the outcome is no longer in doubt, and the bleachers bulge with 20-year-old kids – faces painted, voices hoarse. Then, the final buzzer sounds, and the students pour onto the court frighteningly quickly, a violent swell that breaks the tension that’s been building all afternoon and all season long.

It’s also a moment I’ve been waiting for since the fall of 1998, when I first set foot on the campus of American University in Washington, D.C. As passionate about basketball as anyone, I had long realized, at age 17, that my physical talents, such as they are, were far too limited to ever do anything on the court worthy of such a celebration. I had high hopes, however, that I’d one day be able to indulge in the ritual as a fan.

It never happened during my four years at the school, and I wondered if I’d ever have the opportunity to watch, in person, my alma mater earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament – a bid that had eluded the school in the 40-plus years it had participated in Division I basketball.

I’ve kept tabs on the team since I graduated, attending several games in each of the past couple of years. This season, life got in the way, and I never made it to a game, not even as the team triumphed historically over Maryland and won the Patriot League regular season championship. When we beat Army last Sunday to earn the title game on our home court against Colgate, I saw myself with one last chance.

I left work early today to get to the arena two hours before tip-off, to pick up my tickets and secure a decent seat in the general admission bleachers. Outside, students impatiently awaited permission to enter, chanting “Let’s Go Eagles!” and dancing to hip-hop music spun by a deejay. I observed the scene from several yards away, button-down shirt obediently tucked into khakis as young men and women had their bare torsos painted with familiar hues of red and blue.

* * *

With four seconds left on the clock, I knew what was about to happen. American was up five, and the game officials stopped play for an unnaturally long time to sort out some or other rule obscurity. Finally, the ball was back in play, and a final free throw yielded the game’s final score of 52-46. I allowed myself a quick glance at the scoreboard as the final second ran off, then turned my attention to the court as the swarm of students overwhelmed the security force meant to deter them, engulfing the players in a bouncing, jubilant celebration that lasted perhaps a bit longer than it should have.

Is it a sign I’m getting old that I’d rather sit at my computer right now, recording this memory, rather than going out and celebrating by getting so drunk that I struggle to hold the memory the next day?

Maybe. But I don’t care. I’m dancing.

Young or old, we’re all dancing.

The Patriot League (or, "Why I Love March")

Quick note for those of you who don't follow the mid- and low-major conference tournaments.

Patriot League quarterfinals were tonight. Top-seeded American got a three-point play with 18 seconds left to down archrival Holy Cross 62-60.

They'll play fifth-seeded Army, who traveled to Bethelehem, Pa., and defeated fourth-ranked Lehigh 64-61 in overtime.

Colgate, the third seed, relinquished most of a 17-point lead, but hung on to beat No. 6 Lafayette.

And in the game of the night, seventh-seeded Bucknell hit a three-pointer at the horn in triple overtime to down second-seeded Navy in Annapolis.

Four games, four overtime periods, decided by a combined eight points.

Is March great or what?