It's a sad day in God's country...

Let me first address the statement I’ve heard going around of “well I guess that proves Tennessee didn’t deserve a one seed”. That is quite simply erroneous on all accounts.

Tournament play happens after seeding is set. The Vols may have struggled some after the Memphis win but their overall body of work still should have made them a one seed, plain and simple. This is not me making excuses, I can’t make excuses after the performance last night, I hardly even know how to describe it.

But getting back to my first point, the East region featured the best one seed, best two seed, and best three seed. I’m not sure I can explain why that happened but the explanation from the committee was that they wanted to put Tennessee as close to Knoxville as possible. Gee thanks.

Last nights game did not prove that Tennessee didn’t deserve a one seed. Frankly I’m not sure what last nights game proved. I honestly can’t think of a game I’ve ever watched in any sport that made me more frustrated. I don’t know what happened to this team. They still had the heart to win, but something was just off.

I don’t want to jump to conclusions here because I admittedly aren’t thinking completely rationally yet but upon my initial viewing of the game I would have to place the blame squarely on the shoulders of Bruce Pearl. I am about to elaborate and then defend him, which should further demonstrate why I am so torn up inside.

Guard play is essential in the tournament, it is argued by some to even be more important than post play. Prior to the tournament games Tennessee was 29-4. Things were working. Maybe not to the maximum capacity but they were working.

Our guard play was a little inconsistent to say the least but I felt like the team knew how to manage other aspects of the offense to minimize the loss at that position. Once we got into the tournament however Bruce moved JP to point and rotated Ramar in some. His reasoning was that he wanted to have his best playmakers on the floor the most time possible. That’s great, and I even agree with that logic, but you simply don’t wait until the tournament to start trying that. Granted it got us through a couple games, barely. But I don’t think anyone was too confident in the scheme, including the players.

I think this is a classic case of over-coaching. I feel like as the season wrapped up Bruce got harder and harder on the guys and saw potential for improvement (further evidence given in press conferences where Bruce repeatedly would say that we “have yet to play our best game”). He was right, there definitely was further room for improvement.

However he was wrong to wait until when he did to start trying to mix things up. And I’m not only referring to the point guard position. What was with Steven Pearl and Ryan Childress seeing minutes in the first half? For someone who justifies starting JP at point by wanting to have the most talented playmakers on the floor he sure did contradict himself. I realize we had foul trouble but we have good enough players to play smart. Steven Pearl and Ryan Childress are not a solution to anything.

Additionally I thought we made the same coaching mistake we have made the past several games. We over pressed and/or insufficiently pressed. I’m all about the full court pressure defense, and it does force a lot of turnovers and force opponents to play into our style of play, but when it is exploited over and over you have to pick and choose your times better. We gave up way too many easy baskets because of the full court pressure. I know we forced a lot of turnovers but I think that us pressing like we did also forced a lot of turnovers by us.

How many times did we steal the ball and then throw it away? A lot. I think we got too rushed and panicky early from the press and having JP running the point. Then Ramar would come in and play out of control. Ramar cutting to the basket is his strength, but that strategy was not what we needed when it was implemented. Padgett knew what was coming every time. Rammer is effective when we had been shooting well already and were in a rhythm. People would have to contest the outside shots harder thus opening the lane for him to slash.

I am just so disappointed in the overall performance. And I’m sure that Bruce isn’t solely to blame but the only other players I could look at and blame would be JP and Ramar and I thought that they were insufficiently guided at their position…or they played like it anyway. And what is with Jordan Howell not seeing one minute of playing time in his final game? I know the guy has been struggling, but if Steven Pearl and Ryan Childress are going to play in a game Howell should too. Bad streaks eventually get broken. What if it would finally have been the time? I just don’t know I agree with hardly any of your game plan Bruce…

Finally in his defense, I watched his pre-game press conference on Wednesday and he was talking about the amount of time and effort he and his staff had put into preparing for this game. He said it felt like they had matched the amount of effort put into every other game combined in just this one game. I know that he was confident in what he was doing was the right thing. And I trust him and his judgment. I certainly can’t argue with his record and accomplishments. But I think he may have outdone himself this time. I think they over analyzed this Louisville team and had the players up tight coming into it. They weren’t playing in any sort of rhythm and didn’t seem to be having fun like they were early in the year. I’m sure going to miss Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith, and Jordan Howell. It’s a sad day in God’s Country.

Motivators

I got bored and thought I would be creative...










More potentially to come...

If Only Glass Slippers Came in a Size 12...

The first two rounds are in the books. For the first time ever I watched more basketball in one week than I slept, literally. I’ve been told that’s nothing to be proud of. I say nay. The tournament provided what it always does; it dealt its share of upsets, leading to busted brackets, leading to the exposing of ignorant “experts”.

On the other hand I was quite pleased with my picks. In my official Sports Illustrated bracket I make every year I was 26/32 in the first round and 13/16 in the second round making me 81% so far. That’s not bad at all. Also most notably I had both Davidson beating Georgetown and West Virginia beating Duke. I still have all 8 of my elite 8 in. I’m rollin’.

In the Sweet 16 I would look for:

1. UNC to struggle some with Washington State but ultimately pull it off.

2. Tennessee to definitely struggle with Louisville and quite possibly lose even though it kills me to admit. On the contrary to the Tennessee negativism floating around the media, Louisville has only beaten Boise State and Oklahoma to get to where they are. Both were blowouts but Louisville has shown signs of inconsistent play over the season losing at home to BYU, Dayton, and Cincinnati as well as on the road at Seton Hall. That may be a little far fetched of an argument seeing that they've also now won 12 of their last 13 games (with the one loss being at Georgetown) but who knows. I'm just saying it happens. And maybe Tennessee's luck streak will continue to thrive and Rick Patino will collapse from malnutrition over on the sideline...I'm just sayin'...(I started to make a white suit joke here but Bruce likes to sport the orange sport coat a couple times a season so I'll refrain)

3. Kansas to manhandle Villanova after a close first half. Scottie Reynolds is terrific but he doesn't have enough of a supporting cast to get past a very deep and talented Kansas team.

4. Wisconsin to probably slide past Davidson but I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see Davidson slip into the Elite 8. Stephen Curry is obviously going to be the key. As he has proven it won’t matter how the first half goes. That kid can turn it on and shoot the lights out when it comes time for it.

5. Memphis to beat Michigan State fairly convincingly. The score may be fairly close (under 10 points) but I think Memphis will control the tempo and thus the game. Free throws once again will be the only thing keeping this game within reach for Michigan State but Memphis will be too powerful aside from that for the Spartans to find an upset.

6. Texas to squeak past Stanford in a very close one. The Lopez brothers will be just about enough to give Stanford a huge win, but not quite. The guard play for Texas is just too strong and too consistent for Stanford to be able to pull it out.

7. UCLA to cream Western Kentucky because, well, it’s UCLA verse Western Kentucky and Cinderella doesn’t wear a size 12 very often (though I would be thrilled to no end to see UCLA beaten by WESTERN KENTUCKY). If UCLA were to lose this game I would think it would have to be one of the biggest tournament upsets ever given UCLA’s joke of a path to the Final Four.

8. Xavier to roll against West Virginia. Coach Huggins and West Virginia put up a valiant effort and knocked out Duke but this Xavier team is much better than Duke in my opinion. Duke was a 2 seed because their jerseys say “Duke” and they had a “successful” season. Xavier should win in a similar way to Memphis beating Michigan State.

If you survive another couple rounds of the same mind numbing commercials over and over then it should be quite an interesting Final Four shaping up.

And what a Sports Illustrated cover if I do say so myself...

Dancing With the Stars

I’m glad it’s finally done. It’s official. Teams are no longer on “The Boeheim”. Man I hate that phrase. I hate ESPN’s relentless coverage of a mediocre Syracuse program. No one cares. I apologize for this tangent but really I’m just very happy the speculation is done and the teams deemed worthy can begin playing.

I could take the approach of griping about Tennessee getting the last #2 seed essentially, but I don’t really agree with that. I initially was shocked and frankly pissed. That did not seem fair and I hated the justification of the Vols started out in Birmingham and then going to Charlotte, both relatively close to Knoxville. I appreciate the thought by the committee I suppose, but Tennessee fans are legit and travel. Ultimately I’ve come to acknowledge that in the tournament the best team is going to win no matter how they got there. You are going to have to beat great teams eventually if you want to win the tournament. You are eventually going to have to either beat North Carolina or another team that was at least good enough to beat North Carolina. Honestly any of the other one seeds seem just about as dangerous to me too. So I’m not going to go that route. Had Tennessee beaten Arkansas in the SEC Tournament and then Georgia like they absolutely should have, they wouldn’t be in the situation to begin with. You earn your positions this time of year.

Quickly I would also like to mention something about the SEC Tournament that has been greatly overlooked. Had the Alabama player that hit the three to send the game into overtime that was being played when the tornado hit the Georgia Dome missed the shot…thousands of people would’ve been outside when it hit. Lots of people could have potentially died or been injured. I don’t know how that fact has managed to fly under the radar but I think that’s really interesting/scary. I would also like to say that I’m thrilled for Georgia. What they did was quite the accomplishment. Obviously I wanted Tennessee to win it but what Georgia did is what this part of the season is all about and it was exciting to watch. Way to rep the SEC.

Ok what I’m going to do now is pick my Elite Eight here, give a couple other little guys I think to watch for, and mention a few other games to really watch for surprises in.

The reason I didn’t post this last night is because honestly this is the first season that I have been dumbfound as to who to select in my bracket. I usually take a little while to really look through it all and compare different aspects of teams, then I eventually feel confident…but this season there are so many great teams. Not just as excess of good, competitive teams, but this year there are an excess of great teams.

My official Elite Eight are as follows:

1. East- UNC, Tennessee

2. Midwest- Kansas, Wisconsin

3. South- Memphis, Texas

4. West- UCLA, Xavier

Yea I know…lots of shockers. Honestly speaking, the biggest mistake people make in picking their brackets is picking lots of upsets. You are far more likely to succeed picking fewer. Especially once you get down to the Elite Eight. I think it’s a bad decision 100% of the time to pick an upset team to be in the Final Four. I would only have teams seeded 1-4 in the Final Four personally. That being said I’m a fan of upsets just like everyone else. I want to root for the little guys to get in there and stir things up too. Obviously I didn’t pick any to make it to the Elite Eight but that doesn’t mean I don’t think some have a chance…

Keep an eye on (and maybe pick to thrive):

1. East- None.

2. Midwest- Sienna (I think they’ll beat Vandy), Davidson (I think will beat Gonzaga AND maybe Georgetown…I’m still undecided on Georgetown but I’m considering picking that.)

3. South- St. Mary’s (I expect them to beat Miami.)

4. West- Drake (Drake was a team that I have playing in the Sweet 16. I want to have them beating UCLA but I just can’t logically do that to UCLA. I know Drake hasn’t really been under the radar this season but they still overall have no tournament experience at all and are likely to still get overlooked. I love their coach-Keno Davis-and their style of play. They definitely are a team I’d keep an eye on.) I'm also thinking that as always UConn is vulnerable to lose in the first round but I don't know if I'll pick that.

Other games worth noting:

1. Butler vs. South Alabama- I have no idea who to pick here. I want to go with South Alabama but Butler has an experienced Senior-led team and 29 wins on the season.

2. Gonzaga vs. Davidson- Should be a great game. As I mentioned above I’m going with Davidson here because I like that they have the point guard leading the nation in assists and Dell Curry’s son who can shoot lights out.

3. Marquette vs. Kentucky- Don’t underestimate Kentucky just because they lost Patterson. As a matter of fact don’t EVER underestimate Kentucky. Marquette is a streaky team and you don’t know who will show up. I think you can be sure that Kentucky will show up to play. I’d look for Kentucky to slow Marquette down and force them to play in a half court set. Free throws will be key here in my opinion and Kentucky has proven to be able to knock them down late when it matters most.)

4. Xavier vs. Georgia- Yep I’m going there. I personally have Xavier in my Final Four but at the same time Georgia is HOT and I have no clue what to expect from them come tournament time. I expect them to put up quite a fight but I doubt they'll win really...however I would be willing to sacrifice my bracket if Georgia could go as far as beating UCLA...that would essentially complete my life.

The five teams to represent Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament

I like to imagine that there is an email currently awaiting Kevin Stallings in his inbox that reads as follows:

Dear Vanderbilt,

Best of luck against Arkansas. Oh and beware the Ides of March. Seriously.

Sincerely,

Bruce Pearl

As we are approaching March Madness, a beloved time of year for sports fans, I would like to take the time to break down the potential teams representing the state of Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament. While some of this is a repeat of a former entry from facebook, I have updated it all and shifted more of my focus on what is to come instead of what has already happened because it hardly matters what happened in the first 30+ games of the season at this point.

The following 5 teams will be in the NCAA Tournament from the state of Tennessee:

1. Austin Peay

2. Belmont

3. Memphis

4. Tennessee

5. Vanderbilt

We’ll go in alphabetical order to ensure that the little guys get their due justice.

1. Austin Peay- Representing the Ohio Valley Conference in the NCAA Tournament, Austin Peay is hoping to be the little Cinderella that could. I hate to burst anyone’s bubble but I have no doubt that they will soon prove that, well they couldn’t. For those of you who don’t have the slightest clue where Austin Peay is located, it’s in Clarksville, Tennessee, (North/Central Tennessee) hometown of Lady Vols coach Pat Summit.

The Governors are in the tournament for just the second time in the past twenty one years, with the most notable appearance occurring back in 1987 when their victory over Illinois caused ESPN commentator Dick Vitale to stand on his head (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zr0271a6U8).

The one and only positive thing I see about this Austin Peay team is that all five of their starting five average over ten points a game. There appears to be good balance there, however if you keep going down the roster you soon realize that as soon as a starter is subbed out the game, production drops off big time. They have one of the shallowest rosters I think I’ve ever seen.

They have only won on game against a top 100 RPI team this season was back on December 19^th when they won at Belmont. Their only other noteworthy matchups were at Vanderbilt in the season opener where they lost by 14, and at Memphis where they lost by 22. So obviously the Governors aren’t a favorite to succeed in the Tournament at a projected 14 seed in the East Region of the bracket. Some optimists may say “you never know”, but that doesn’t really apply in this case, as I think we do all know they won’t have a chance in the world.

2. Belmont- The Bruins have made the field of 65 again for the third straight year after winning the Atlantic Sun title this past Saturday. They went 25-8 overall but their only somewhat noteworthy win was on the road against a mediocre at best Cincinnati team in their home opener. While Belmont may have a little bit more depth than Austin Peay, they absolutely don’t have the size or athleticism to compete with other teams that will be in the field of 65. Belmont has one “big guy” at 6’11” but he doesn’t even see significant minutes. Not to mention the fact that the majority of their team is white. Not to offend my fellow white folk, but come now…

At a probable 15 seed for the third consecutive year, Belmont will have to rely on the luck of the underdog to return this tournament after apparently seeing its shadow last season as there were a very very minimal number of upsets last year.

Maybe they should get this kid a jersey (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5J8brca4M8&feature=related). He obviously can hit the high pressure shots in front of HUGE crowds.

Sorry Belmont, I just can’t imagine you beating or even competing with any of the projected 2 seeds no matter how well you look in Cinderella’s shoes.

3. Memphis- Let me preface what I am going to say by saying this, I too grew up a big Memphis fan. Yet I have never disguised the fact that I am a Tennessee fan first; and Memphis fan second. The majority of Memphis fans that I have known through the years are unable to comprehend that concept. However I will try to be as rational as possible in discussing the Tigers.

First let’s now look at Memphis’ resume that their fans so avidly defend without knowing any of the facts… Memphis has played the following games on the road (literally meaning on the opposing teams home court) at: MTSU, Cincinnati, Marshall, Rice, Tulsa, Houston, UAB, and Tulane. Not once against a tournament team. I am however willing to consider the contest at UAB to be legitimate. But still, that’s one, with me being nice since UAB is after all ranked in the RPI top 50, at 48. You’re pushing it Memphis. And once again in the spirit of fair competition I will acknowledge that Memphis did win against Oklahoma, UConn, and USC on neutral courts.

Memphis does have a handful of impressive wins at home as well including: Georgetown, Arizona, Gonzaga and UAB. However I would really only consider two of those, Georgetown and Gonzaga, to be noteworthy. Arizona finished the regular season 17-13 going 8-10 in the Pac-10 and had multiple bad losses to Virginia at home and at Washington. And UAB once again is sort of a toss up but I do consider them a worthy opponent even though they are in the Conference USA.

All that being said, the vast majority of Memphis’ wins against Conference USA opponents mean little to nothing. That is a very much validated argument because of the fact that Memphis is likely to be the only team representing the conference. I know the argument that all teams at this level of competition today are athletic enough and somewhat talented enough to beat anyone on any given day, and I agree with it, but still…Memphis would have had zero excuses that I would have listened to for losing any one of their in conference games.

To their credit Memphis has also tried to join any bigger conference that will take them...but there have been no takers. Probably because of the whole Tiger High issue and the fact that the football team has both the success and popularity ratings of a Bush.

I admittedly have been very negative towards Memphis for the majority of the season but that is only because of the constant Red Herring using nature of their fans and my frustration in that regard. Honestly speaking though I think that the Tigers are in a good position having lost to Tennessee in the regular season because now all the focus has shifted from them, and their strive for perfection, to North Carolina and UCLA. That loss has nearly allowed Memphis to slip in under the radar. People have forgotten already just how much talent and depth the Tigers have and I think that they will continue to use that to their advantage come tournament time. As I have tried to say all along, I don’t necessarily think that Tennessee is a better or more talented team than Memphis, I just think that they are a more proven team. I also think that while Memphis may have a better five (starting five), Tennessee has a better overall ten.

And just for the heck of it continuing with the throw-back footage trend, here is a clip from the 1992 NCAA Tournament when Memphis had Anfernee Hardaway and David Vaughn (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF52Rb36xns).

4. Tennessee- As coach Bruce Pearl said in his press conference Monday, “I don’t know if we’re one of the top four teams in the country. But I guarantee you that we deserve the ranking.” Tennessee currently has the RPI “triple crown” as ESPN’s Bracketologist Joe Lunardi points out; they are number one in RPI, SOS, and Non-Conference RPI.

The Vols have road wins at Xavier (#9 RPI), at Memphis (#3 RPI), and at Mississippi State (#40 RPI). They also won on neutral cites against West Virginia and Gonzaga, although the Gonzaga game was basically a home game for the Zags since it was played in Seattle.

On top of those wins the Vols also won five other home games against teams in the RPI top 50 including: Vanderbilt (by 20), Ole Miss (when undefeated), Ohio State, Arkansas (by 22), and Kentucky. They also beat Florida at home by 22 points.

On the other side of things Tennessee’s only losses on the season were against Texas (neutral site early in the season), at Kentucky (against a finally healthy Kentucky team in need of a signature win), and at Vanderbilt (who didn’t lose a home game all season). Those are justifications, just notes that I consider worthy of mentioning.

Also taking a closer look at the Vanderbilt loss and comparing the two teams, let us not forget that on January 17th when it was Vanderbilt’s turn to first come to Knoxville, Vanderbilt got rocked 80-60 after shooting 37% from the field. Shane Foster struggled going 6 for 17 from the field including 1 of 11 from behind the arc. Call it what you’d like, but I would consider that a train wreck of a game for Vanderbilt. It was written off as just Vanderbilt having an off night and I was willing to settle for that because it happens.

Looking at the matchup at Vanderbilt where the Vols lost however Tennessee lost by three to a Vanderbilt team with revenge on their mind and a lot to prove. What was Tennessee’s field goal percentage? 33%. The Vols shot worse at Vanderbilt than Vanderbilt did in Knoxville and managed to lose by 17 less points. Chris Lofton was the only player on the team that met or exceeded his average in points. He tried to carry the team but one player can only get you so far. Not to make excuses but the team was clearly exhausted still from the hard fought Memphis game where you can't argue that they didn't leave it all out on the court. They had two days off before having to face Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt on the other hand hosted Georgia over the weekend...you do the math...

Since youtube videos have apparently become a part of this post, here is my favorite Chris Lofton highlight video, if you can find me a better college highlight video of any player in the country I’ll stand on my head like Dick Vitale (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuPpsYfY6Kc&feature=related).

5. Vanderbilt- Well since the win at home against Tennessee, Vanderbilt has again showed their true colors in my opinion losing at Arkansas and at Alabama. The Commodores have proven that they simply cannot win on the road. They finished the regular season at 25-6 and yet all six of their losses came on the road this past season. Coincidentally most of the six were against the best teams on their schedule. In one sense that fact can be used to say that Vanderbilt lost very tough games on the road as most teams do. However it also means that they didn’t prove the ability to beat a good team away from home once.

Further, aside from both times Tennessee and Vanderbilt faced off, Vanderbilt has played only two other ranked teams, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Vanderbilt lost by 16 in the game against Ole Miss. And that is to an Ole Miss team that is 7-9 in the SEC, no longer ranked, and that has loses to Auburn twice, Alabama, and LSU. Vanderbilt caught every possible break at home to beat Mississippi State at home in over time by one point. In addition to those two, the only other better than average team Vanderbilt has played would be Florida and they lost on the road by 22 to them (Tennessee beat Florida by 22 already).

While all of that sounds very negative, I kind of like Vanderbilt’s team. I want to say that I expect them to surprise people and really step up and play well in the Tournament but they simply haven’t proven the ability to leave home and win.

The Commodores have a great and talented starting five led by senior Shan Foster and freshman A.J. Ogilvy. However they lack enough depth to really be able to keep up with the deeper teams they are sure to face in the Tournament. This could also explain why they have been so unsuccessful on the road where you won’t catch as many calls in your favor.

Here is a very impressive video of Shan Foster’s 42 point game against Mississippi State near the end of the Commodores season (http://youtube.com/watch?v=qUQyS6M2DAA).

Also, provided that Vanderbilt can win it’s first two games in the tournament, and Tennessee can beat either South Carolina or LSU, there would be a third and final match up between the two teams on a neutral court that could once and for all settle things. As I first noted in my letter to Kevin Stallings from Bruce Pearl in the opening, I feel like the Vols are chomping at the bit for another shot at the Commodores.

That’s all for now, I just wanted to share my thoughts on each of the teams representing Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament. I think that overall Memphis and Tennessee are equally most likely to succeed, followed by Vanderbilt, Belmont, and then Austin Peay.

I’ll do another entry soon either commenting on the SEC Tournament or just breaking down the brackets with predictions after selection Sunday.