Tag: basketball

What Mater’s Most

/ Derek Mueller / 1 Comment

In a rare basketball exhibition last night between mater1 and mater2,
mater1
won,

103-99, in overtime.

Because they’ve never played, the significance of this result–even for an
exhibition–is that a modest NAIA program won a dab of respect by outshining the
only NCAA Div. I program between Columbia and Lawrence, even if the Roos are a
low-mid major practically unknown to the world outside Kansas City. Park has a
second-year coach, two transfers from CMU, and a few other guys I coached, knew as
campers, or played with during my seven year stint working in athletics at mater1.
Of course, it’d be equally satisfying for mater1 to bounce Wm. Jewell
this weekend, now that my expectations for a good season have been piqued.
Apparently that’s what winning does, converting impassivity to alumni pressure
overnight.

Chicago Has Ben

/ Derek Mueller / 6 Comments

Just as long as it’s clear that when we call for hack-a-Ben, we send
Ben Wallace to the foul stripe, not Ben
Gordon. The upstart Bulls will look pretty good for next season with the
addition of Wallace, and as a Detroit devotee, I admit to being disappointed
that the difference came down to a few million chips. I mean, when
offering 49-50 million, what’s another one or two? Woe, Detroit
basketball. Of course, I enjoyed seeing the Bulls rise as over-achieving
underdogs this season, and, if it had to happen, I’d rather see Wallace with
Chicago than with, say, the Pacers, the Nets, the Knicks or the Heat.

I suppose this introduces new pressure to the Bulls. They exceeded
expectations late last season, even mightily testing the eventual NBA Champion
Heat in the first round of the playoffs. But now they must finish
among the top three in the Eastern Conference to keep everybody happy, including
some of the hungry young players coming off the bench. Their depth and balance
at multiple positions might be unmatched, which means they should be
really good. Right?

Back in Motown, I say Pryzbilla. Or give
Darko another chance. He
was picked to ahead of some decent
players after all. Gotta end before tears well up.

Added: Trouble for Benny the Bull.
Added: Good on the Pistons for filling in with Nazr Mohammed.
Added: You’re reading Earth Wide Moth entry #600. Guess I should make a wish or something. I wish I had an idea for entry #601.
Added: Ph. is talking about it over here. Nothing to worry about, he says.

Like a Cold Compress for a Basketball Fever

/ Derek Mueller / 12 Comments

Open invitation: If you’re reading this, you’re in time to join in this
year’s NCAA pick’em fun. Prepared to fill out a bracket against the best in all
blogspace? For the
third
year, I’ve set up a tournament group at Yahoo! for the upcoming NCAA Men’s
Basketball National Championship Tournament. You are invited to join the
Bloggers’ Mad Dance III (ID# 37991). It’s all free, no $
involved (but do bring your braggadocio). Flip me an email behind the back if you have any questions: dmueller at earthwidemoth dot com. All are welcome, bloggers and non-bloggers
alike. Group capacity: 1 winner and 49 losers "champions at
heart." At stake: admiration, glory, etc. And of course you can promote this
to anybody you’d like to join (on your blog, via email, whatever); pass it on,
in other words.

Yahoo!
Tournament Pick’em
Group: Bloggers’ Mad Dance III (ID# 37991)
Password: ewm
Set your picks after bracket assignments on Sunday, March 12. Sign up before the start
of round one, five minutes before tip-off this Thursday, March 16.

Orangin

/ Derek Mueller

If yesterday’s
nail-biter against eight-seeded Cincinnati wasn’t enough to secure the
Orange a spot in the NCAA tournament, today’s squeaker in OT against #1 UConn
was, pretty well locking up a place for SU among the 34 teams to be chosen
by the committee this Sunday. Following Boeheim’s post-game tongue-lashing
of the local media coverage yesterday, the tiresome coverage that for weeks on
end has in at least one case charactered senior point guard Gerry McNamara as over-rated, I
admit that I was surprised. Not really necessary, I thought, to waste a
precious press-conference f-word after a win, especially when referring to the
Daily Orange, a student-run paper that has done much of late to gain a reputation
for unscrupulous reporting. But whatever else Boeheim said–to the team
most especially–worked (uh…did you hear him today acknowledge that both his
wife and the chancellor are upset with him…?). The Orange have been
sloppy at times (even during these wins…astoundingly sloppy in crucial
moments), but today more than ever I thought we had a glimpse at how well
coached this team is. What I’m getting at is that a team that goes from a
39-point loss at Depaul to a two-point overtime win against UConn in a single
week is a team that gives a coach absolute fits. Who wouldn’t be prone to
letting slip with f&%^ coaching this team? No, of course, not that it’s
excusable to say such things, even when you’re expressing contempt for those who’ve been publicly bagging on the senior who has tossed in two amazing shots to carry you into the semis of the Big East tourney.

I can’t remember any sequence of games in March where a team so completely
doubted and so rickety at times came through with two bigger shots (by the same
guy, no less) than SU and Gerry McNamara yesterday and today. I should
admit that I was a skeptic in recent weeks, figuring, as I have all along, that
this group would be as good or as bad as its bigs because the guard play is
relatively reliable by comparison. I wasn’t convinced of the toughness of
the frontcourt, and I’m still not sure they’ve got the depth to put together the
string of miracle wins needed to advance very far in the tournament of 64…er
65, considering the foul trouble Roberts and Watkins keep getting into.
This is only to say that the last two days of early-afternoon match-ups in the
Big East tournament have been overspilling with Marchy goodness, and I will be
watching again tomorrow for their contest against G’town or Marquette, even if
it means listening to Bill Raftery’s ridiculously over-inflected declaration of
"onions" every time somebody hits a big shot in the last five minutes. Or,
OniONS! (Because they make an eye tearful?) The rest of the tournament(s)
will have to feature a heavy load of intense scenarios to top the last two days of
Syracuse hoops craziness.

Genu Muchwobbly

/ Derek Mueller / 4 Comments

No swollen joint photos to document this case of pain from the hardwoods, but
in my weekly Friday afternoon basketball game(s) I did something tendenciously nastytastic to
my left knee.  I’ve never suffered knee problems before (all shoulders and
ankles, my long-ago surgeries), but I’ve observed more than a teammate or two
who suffered season-enders with bad knees.  Only one of them was able to
walk off the floor with a torn ACL (must’ve been partially torn), and he was
back to playing just a few weeks after surgery if I remember correctly. 
Notably, he was also a guy who referred to sprained ankles as "sprung ankles,"
and so, because I’m not a doctor yet, I think it’s excusable to adopt just this
kind of neologism to lighten the self-diagnosis: sprung left knobbler. If, by tomorrow morning,
the pain intensifies, maybe it’s worse than I’ve determined.  But I can
hobble on it, so I’m counting on the injury to be much less severe than some of
the worst cases I’ve witnessed.  Prognosis for watching Superbowl XL:
Probable.

Bigger East

/ Derek Mueller

With NCAA hoops conference play underway, I have to say I’m more than a
little pleased to be in
Big
East Country for the upcoming college basketball season. The only
shortcoming of the conference’s schedule this year is that with sixteen teams,
every program doesn’t get a home and away match with ever other program. Our own
Syracuse Orange aren’t likely to be heading up the conference elite this season,
and their chances of reaching the conference tournament championship: slimmer
than last year (although they’ll still pick up a few wins against the top teams
and finish in the top six–behind UConn, Louisville, Nova, WVU and Pitt?).
All the same, it’s really hard not to be encouraged about Villanova’s outlook.
They posted a convincing road win at Louisville in the Big East opener for both
programs the other day. I was lucky enough to attend the ‘Nova-UNC
game in the regional semifinals at the Carrier Dome last spring. It might
have been North Carolina’s toughest game in the entire tournament. Villanova had
a legitimate shot at winning (game ended in favor of UNC, 67-66), except for a
few late 50-50 calls going the other way. So save me a seat on the ‘Nova
‘wagon this year, at least to the Final Four, given everyone’s healthy. If
pressed to formalize other early hunches, I’d say they’ll be joined by Illinois,
UConn and Duke (yeah, the new Big East gets two to the FF this year). Want
eight? Add in NC State, Florida, Memphis and Gonzaga.

We’ll see if any of this holds over the next two months.

What Would Carmelo Do?

/ Derek Mueller / 6 Comments

Wear your
blended
religiofanaticism openly with one of these devotional sports jerseys from
Christian Throwback Jersey–"a
proud sponsor of Jesus Christ" (via).
With one of these, you too can give deeper significance to pointing a proverbial
#1 digit skyward on behalf of your favorite sports team, add psalming the ball to
your repertoire of hoops skills, and find forgiveness for taking The Referee’s
name in vain.  If I had to pick, I’d go for the Denver Nuggets "Genesis" mix
with Carmelo Anthony’s number. Of note: the Lakersesque "Luke" is matched with
Kobe Bryant’s No. 8.  Wow.  Wonder what Luke Walton thinks about that. 
And what, no New Jersey Devils remakes among the hockey tops?

Hyperbolic, Paraboloid, Transitional Floater Zone

/ Derek Mueller

Seems Pistons head coach Flip Saunders is gazing at Detroit’s upcoming season
through Darko-colored glasses (via,

via).  One can only hope Milicic begins to assert some kind of court
presence this year. 

Those who watched his struggles the last two seasons can say he looks like
a different player, much more self-assured and assertive.
"I can only judge what I have seen," Saunders said, "and based on that, I
wouldn’t say he lacks any confidence.
"He’s got guys banging him and he’s calling for the ball and making some moves
in there. He had a couple of great moves today.
"The thing he’s done really well is defensive-rebound. He’s a big-bodied guy,
a real quick jumper and he’s long."

I have mixed feelings about the NBA in general, and it’s much too soon to
tell how Detroit’s frontline will shape up. Nonetheless, like Henry Abbot says
in his title, this is a rare piece of praise for Milicic, perhaps even a
first.  Interesting for that alone.  The notes from the Detroit
News also give the name of Saunders’s defensive scheme: hyperbolic,
paraboloid, transitional floater zone.  That’s got to be a better name than the defensive system used by Miami or
Indiana or San Antonio. I’m sure it’s more intricate than anything I ever tried,
but the name reminds me of some our scramble/chaos schemes in college–those keep it
wild and unpredictable models of three-quarters-court defense.  Or attitude.  Or
research methodology. 

Just for kicks and because I don’t really have anything to say about these
finds beyond "cool," here are a couple of links:

Google Maps Transparency and
Memry,
the classic memory game now involving Flickr.  Go on…you deserve a
ten-minute break from whatever you’re doing.

Acknowledged: The Sport categoricon is seasonal.

Good to Better Friday

/ Derek Mueller / 2 Comments

I have no idea what I did to deserve it, but I just lucked into a single ticket to
the games at the Carrier Dome later tonight: NC State vs. Wisconsin and UNC vs.
Villanova.  For my brackets, I need both teams from North Carolina to win. 
But I wouldn’t go away unhappy if I witnessed ‘Nova showing up Roy Williams and
crew.  If you’re watching at home, I’ll be under the basket, sixth row in

section 113.

Madder Than Ever

/ Derek Mueller / 9 Comments

Was

last year (a second-to-last finish) a fluke?  Join the bracket to find
out.   

Yahoo! Tournament Pick’em
Group: Bloggers’ Mad Dance II (ID# 1766 for Yahoo! only)
Password: ewm
Set your picks after bracket assignments on March 13.
Sign up before the start of round one March 17.

I’ve set up a tournament group at Yahoo! (men’s tourney). You are invited to join the
Bloggers’ Mad Dance II (ID# 1766 for Yahoo! only). It’s all free, no $ involved. The password is ewm. Shoot me an email if you have any questions:
dmueller at earthwidemoth dot com. All are welcome, bloggers and non-bloggers alike.
The group will hold 50 people. At stake, pride and infamy, all of which went
the way of the pool’s last winner, dr. fabulous, a year ago. 

For whatever it’s worth, I set up a women’s tourney bracket last year and it fizzled with just two sign-ups, so I’m not bothering this year.  Build one of your own and let me know about it, though, and I’ll throw a set of picks in the mix.