We’ll be posting a running log of our thoughts today. This will be a collected effort by all of us (i.e. we will each take a break slacking off from work today)…

[12:23 pm] (Georgetown 20, Villanova 10): Like last year, Georgetown jumped out to a big early lead against Villanova. Unlike last year, though, Georgetown is totally prepared for the Nova press — they’re beating it by throwing long cross-court passes, thus starting their offense early into the shot clock. Also, they’re shooting the lights out from three. From what I’ve seen early on, this will continue to be a blowout (unlike last year, when Villanova came back to make it a five point game at the end).

[12:35 pm] (Georgetown 27, Villanova 17): Jonathan Wallace has 16 points already. It doesn’t hurt when he shoots like this:

It looks like Georgetown hasn’t fully figured out Villanova’s press, but if you can make threes like this, you don’t have to worry about beating any stinkin’ press. How amazingly demoralizing for Villanova.

[1:18 pm] (Georgetown 40, Villanova 34): Roy Hibbert, the magician — 0 points, 3 fouls, 1 field goal attempt. Could Villanova be turning this into a game?

[1:23 pm] (Georgetown 40, Villanova 37): It’s official. We have a game thanks to Reynolds and co. Apparently they too have been known to stick the three.

[1:51 pm] (Georgetown 65, Villanova 55): If Georgetown loses this game, it’ll be an embarassment. Shouldn’t it be a rule in basketball that if you shoot 15-25 from three, you win the game? By the way, shout-outs to my man Jay Bilas, who apparently has been nominated for an Emmy. He’s the man.

[1:54 pm] (Georgetown 67, Villanova 58): 17 threes in total, Roy Hibbert with 0 points. I guess that’s one way to win. By the way, this banter between Bilas, Raftery, and McDonough is pretty hilarious — they keep giving him shit for being nominated by an Emmy.

[2:03 pm] (Georgetown 75, Villanova 58): Georgetown: 26 field goals on 24 assists. This has *got* to be a record. That statistic is just insane.

[4:41 pm] (WVU 67, UConn 58): Should WVU hold on for the win, the Big East will officially have 7 teams in the Big Dance. How’s that, Doug Gottlieb?

[5:03 pm] (WVU 78, UConn 72): I should never, ever doubt Dan’l B. That man is smart. From earlier this year:

But the one I’ll be watching will be West Virginia. They’ve got a #48 RPI, a 12-seed from Joe Lunardi, and a resume full of quality play all year. Barring a disaster the rest of the way, they’re going to slip into the tournament in the #8 to #12 range and will have a great shot at the Sweet Sixteen as “underdogs.”

[5:24 pm]: For The Mountain Top‘s log of the game, click here. An errant thought: maybe it makes sense that Aeropostale is the sponsor of the Big East tournament this year. With the way Joe Alexander has been playing (34 points today, 22 points yesterday) and his good looks, he’d make a perfect Aeropostale Big East Tournament MVP. Can’t you just see him frolicking with those other models?

[7:32 pm] (Pitt 21, Louisville 22): I’m rooting for Louisville here, just because we don’t need to see Pitt in the finals yet again. But honestly, I don’t care much for this game — I’m still one of those old school Big East guys and seeing Louisville in MSG is still strange to me. By the way, have you noticed that Big East commercial where they have the Big East teams and the year they joined written on some old gym wall? Isn’t it funny how they don’t include BC, Miami and Virginia Tech at all?

[9:19 pm] (Pitt 72, Louisville 64): Not sure if I should be happy or sad for Old Big East. Helluva performance by Pittsburgh, though. They’re all healthy and looked damn good. Blair gave fits to Padgett all night long.

[11:53 pm] (Marquette 89, Notre Dame 79): Sort of fitting for the Big East that all top seeds except for Georgetown went down. I’ll be rooting for West Virginia and Marquette tomorrow, so you’ll likely see a Georgetown-Pitt final.

Categories: Commentary
3 Comments »

Granted, PC made several terrible plays throughout the game, but considering the game was so close late, you have to give credit to the Mountaineers for WINNING the game. Their defense was tremendous, and they were effective on every single possession in the last 1:00 of the game, both offensively and defensively. West Virginia definitely deserved this win considering how well they played in the last minute.

Categories: Commentary
1 Comment »

Seeding? Yup.

Building Momentum? Yup.

Winning a conference championship? Hell yea!

Earlier on ESPN the question of “What does Butler have to play for tonight since they are already in the NCAAs?” was asked to an analyst.

The answer was that they are playing for a higher seed. That was the wrong answer. As I said in my post just about last year this time, like all our Big East teams, Butler is playing for a Conference Championship. 20 years from now, Butler players will not care whether or not they were a 4-seed, or a 6-seed. But they will remember if they are conference champs. These conference tournaments matter so much more than most college basketball analysts will allow you to believe.

Such is life in the Big East. We have 11 pretty good teams beginning play at MSG tomorrow, and Seton Hall. Winning this tournament will be quite an accomplishment, and since we don’t have what looks like a top-notch contender for the NCAA crown this year, this tournament looms even larger. Back in November, I gave you my season predictions, and for the most part, I was pretty accurate. Except three clear misses.
1. Providence disappointed me. I thought they would be better, and be in the NCAA Mix. I was wrong.
2. I had Notre Dame a little low. And courtesy of Pitt’s late slide, I think Mike Brey needs to win Coach of the Year.
3. I also had Cincinnati low. The Bearcats turned in solid season and should be even better next year. Hopefully for them, they can create some momentum this weekend that’ll carry over to next year.

So what should we look for in this tournament?

First, if the Big East is to get 7 teams in, Pitt will need to beat Cincinnati, which I believe they will. Second, if they are to get 8 in, one of Cuse, Nova or Cincy will have to win 2 games, which will likely not happen.

Do we have a Gerry Mac in the field? Scottie Reynolds, maybe? Actually, if there is a sleeper pick for the Gerry Mac award, I’ll take Joe Alexander. If anyone can take this tournament over in a one man show, give me Joe.

Finally, how will this tournament play out? Thursday should be a great day. Cuse vs Georgetown. UConn vs West Virginia. L’ville vs. Pitt. ND vs. Marquette. Wow, if we get chalk on Wednesday, we’ll have a great, great Thursday of hoops. Then heading towards the semis, four teams had separated themselves all year, and I think all four could advance, although Marquette upsetting Notre Dame would not be surprising. Who will win? Well, Louisville’s been my horse in this race all year, so I’ll stick with them. Watch for the Cards to knock off the Huskies is a great game Saturday night.

And remember, our last two Final Four teams sparked their postseason runs by winning this tournament. And I belive Louisville last Final Four run began by winning their old tournament. Watch who gets hot early on Wednesday and Thursday, it could start a trend that leads deep, deep into March.

Categories: Commentary
3 Comments »

So you consider yourself some sort of Big East history buff. You remember the days of Tate George and Sherman Douglas fondly. Or perhaps you go back even farther and reminisce about Corny Thompson or Michael Jackson.

If so, try this quiz question on for size:
What does the following picture have to do with the Big East tournament?

Categories: donald
3 Comments »

For what it’s worth…. here are my awards for the season.

Player of the Year – Luke Harangody  No one could have picked this preseason but he is POY hands down. He took the Irish from a 9th place prediction to a tie for 2nd.

Defensive Player of the Year – Hasheem Thabeet  Not so much for what he did on the floor, but for what he made opposing coaches do to their game plan. Blocked shots are great…but only if it causes a change in possession. Not many of Thabeet’s blocks did that. However, teams had to completely change game plans when facing the Huskies.

Rookie of the Year – Donte Green  I can’t believe most newspapers reporters are picking Jonny Flynn. No way! Flynn is good but Green is the one who SU needs to play well to win.

Coach of the Year – Mike Brey Again. Lost his two top scorers, picked 9th, finished tied for 2nd. Enough said.

All Big East – Luke Harangody, David Padgett, Sam Young, A.J. Price, Joe Alexander, Kyle McAlarney

All Rookie – Donte Green, Jonny Flynn, Dominique Jones, DeJuan Blair, Dar Tucker, Jeremy Hazell

Sportsmanship Award – Jim Calhoun  Leading 90-38 with 4 minutes left over a Cincinnati team stranded in a snowstorm for a day, Calhoun had his five starters on the floor. TV commentators continued to remark about reasons for this but couldn’t find a good one. Calhoun finally put his No Names (walk-ons at UConn don’t rate to have their names on jerseys as do scholarship players) into the game with 1 minute left and told them not to shoot. I’m sure Mick Cronin would second my pick here!

Categories: Coach O, Commentary
8 Comments »