2009 Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament

[BillD1984]

Duke shipping back to Boston

03.25.09 at 5:11 pm ET
By Mike Petraglia

Mike Krzyzewski remembers the last time his Duke Blue Devils were in Boston.
And he’d rather not. It was, of course, not at the Garden but rather a few miles up Commonwealth at Conte Forum playing Boston College.
It was Feb. 15 and his team blew a five-point halftime lead and lost to the Eagles, 80-74. It was the second straight loss, coming just four days after getting humiliated by rival North Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium, 101-87.
After that game, Gerald Henderson replaced Greg Paulus as starting point guard and the Dukies have won eight of nine, including the ACC Tournament championship.
“The only reason that was different is that’s the last time we really played poorly,” Krzyzewski said on Wednesday. “But Boston College had a lot to do with that. But to me there’s no significance — actually, we didn’t play in Boston. And — I don’t think there’s any significance.
“I think as a coach you have to do what you think is needed to help our team. And when we got beat by Boston College, it wasn’t just that game, it was the six games that we had just played. And we won two of them. And one of them we had to come back from being 16 or 18 points down to win in overtime. So basically we’re 1 and 5. We were actually 2 and 4, but 1 and 5 in my mind in those six games.”
So to Coach K, even when the team is sometimes winning, they’re losses in his mind. And maybe that’s what keeps Duke sharp.
“How long are you going to keep doing what you’re doing?” he asked rhetorically. “And maybe we can go 1 and 5 again for the next few games. So we needed to do something different. And thank goodness that Elliot had been practicing so hard that he was able to pressure the ball and thank goodness we had a guy like Jon who could lead the team. And then all of a sudden — then those decisions work out a lot better.”

 

[BillD1984]

Welcome home Gerald Henderson

03.25.09 at 4:31 pm ET
By Mike Petraglia
Gerald Henderson is hoping to have the same success in Boston that his dad did.
We chronicled his father’s most famous moment when he stole the ball from James Worthy in Game 2 of the 1984 NBA Finals. Now let’s hear it from the man himself. Assuming he can stay awake for the 10 p.m. tip-off, Gerald Henderson will start at point guard for Duke on Thursday night against Villanova.
There are several ironies at work here.
First is the fact that his game will be played in the home building of the Celtics but not on the parquet or with Celtics banners above him because of NCAA regulations, meaning he can’t pay tribute to one of the banners his father helped put up in the rafters.
“They took the banners down. They took them down,” Henderson said with some genuine remorse. ” It’s pretty nice to be playing in Boston, where my dad had his best years as a pro. It’s pretty cool to be playing in the same place as him. I’m sure he’ll have fun coming back here and hopefully watching me having some of the same success that he had.”
Then there’s the fact that he grew up in Merion, Pennsylvania, right in Villanova’s backyard and nearly played for the Wildcats since Nova coach Jay Wright was hot on the recruiting trail.
“In the end Duke just ended up being the right situation for me,” Henderson said. “Villanova is a great place. I grew up around there. I have cousins and my sister is a Villanova alum. I have a lot of friends that go there, even on the team now. Coach Wright is great in recruiting and has always been good to my family. And Duke just ended up being the right place.”
Wright knew Henderson’s father ever since Henderson played for the Sixers when Wright was an assistant under then Nova coach Rollie Massimino. They stayed in touch as Wright moved onto Hofstra.
“Big Gerald brought him to Conshohockon, a Philly (amateur) tournament, nine or ten years old,” Wright recalled. “And he introduced him to me, This is my son, he’s going to play for you some day. I was at Hofstra. Little did I know I would be back at Villanova and recruiting him. He went to the same school my children went to, an Episcopal academy, kindergarten through 12, all at the same school. When he was in ninth grade I said, he’s going to be special.
“But he was one of those guys that was very athletic, but didn’t have his game refined yet. And he was playing a lot of golf then, too. So he didn’t totally commit to basketball. I think what you’ve seen now is a guy over three years that’s committed himself, he’s been well coached. His game is refined, it’s efficient. And I tell you what, this is a guy that’s still got a lot of room to grow, is going to get a lot better,” Wright said.

 

[BillD1984]

Pitt: No apologies


03.25.09 at 4:13 pm ET
By Mike Petraglia | No Comments
If you’re expecting Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon to apologize for his team’s underwhelming performance as a No. 1 seed in the East Regional in the first two rounds, here’s some advice - don’t bother.
Pittsburgh struggled mightily with No. 16 seed East Tennessee in round one and was tied at halftime with No. 8 Oklahoma State in the second round before winning by eight, 84-76.
“I guess it reinforces things,” Dixon told reporters about the close calls in the first two games. “We didn’t rebound well in the first game, and the second game we got better, and out-rebounded our opponent by 20, that was something, I think.”
With Xavier on tap on Thursday night, one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the country, Dixon knows his players need to bring their best to the glass to continue their march in March.
“I think it was what we learned was we can win — really that Oklahoma State game showed we can win offensively, we can win defensively in the second half. That was an interesting game, because you had two teams shooting, knocking down shots the first half. And the second half became a grind it out defensive affair. And we played that way, as well, played successfully in that half, as well. You learn you can play two different ways this time of the year.”
Moments after learning his team was a No. 1 seed for the first time ever, Dixon was asked by CBS-TV whether he was concerned about jinxes and comparisons to the Chicago Cubs.
” This team is different than any other team,” Dixon said on Wednesday. “And again, that’s — Sweet 16 is an accomplishment. If it was — if it wasn’t, teams would have got there more than we have. And there’s only two that have been there more than we have the last eight years, Duke and Kansas have been there more than us. There aren’t any buys into the Sweet 16. I think maybe it’s forgotten.”
And for the record, Pittsburgh has never beaten a team seeded higher than sixth in the NCAA tournament. Xavier is No. 4 in the East.
“Yeah, I think this team is different than the previous team from last year, and it’s definitely different from the team six years ago, five years ago, four years ago,” Dixon said. “All the times we’ve made it we have different players, we’re playing different teams. And at the same time we know we have a very good opponent to play tomorrow in Xavier.”

 

[salsadancer7]

Very interesting article about winning the NCAAs with good point guards.


Ranking the Sweet 16 teams by point guardsby Jeff Goodman

Updated: March 24, 2009, 5:23 PM EST

There's a reason why Michigan, Ohio State and Texas aren't around any more. You can't win in the Big Dance without quality point guard play.

Now, if you're talented enough in other places, you might be able to win a couple games. However, eventually it'll catch up with you.
It always does.

It's an easy way to separate the pretenders from the contenders when it comes to winning the national title.

"You definitely need great guard play and hopefully at least one of those guys is a point guard," said Kansas' Bill Self, whose Jayhawks are the defending national champs. "Last year we were fortunate to play three point guards — Russell (Robinson), Mario (Chalmers) and Sherron (Collins). If you go back over history, there's been a great point guard or multiple really good guards that could take the pressure off each other. You've got to have a primary handler or two or three guys that can serve and share."

Florida's Billy Donovan had it with Taurean Green when the Gators won consecutive titles in 2006 and 2007.

North Carolina had Raymond Felton in 2005. UConn's combo of Taliek Brown and Ben Gordon was plenty for the Huskies to win it in 2004 and Gerry McNamara complimented Carmelo Anthony and Hakim Warrick in 2003.

Steve Blake (Maryland), Chris Duhon (Duke), Mateen Cleaves (Michigan State), Khalid El-Amin (UConn) and Mike Bibby (Arizona) were all point guards who led their teams to national titles in the last decade or so.

"I don't think you can win it all with an average or below-average point guard," Donovan said.

You can't — which is why we've ranked the Sweet 16 and separated the contenders and pretenders. Don't take this to mean we're picking Jim Boeheim's team to win it all; we're just saying the Orange have a chance to cut down the nets in a couple weeks.


Contenders
1. Syracuse — Jonny Flynn is all the Orange need. He plays nearly 40 minutes every game, takes care of the ball, can score and is a terrific leader. We're giving him the edge over Lawson because of all the intangibles. Plus, he's 100 percent healthy.

2. North Carolina — When Ty Lawson is at full strength, he's arguably the best in the country. His perimeter shot has improved, his decision-making has been outstanding and there's no one quicker at pushing the ball in transition.

3. Gonzaga — The 'Zags are loaded with guys that can run the team. Jeremy Pargo and Matt Bouldin can both handle the ball and freshman Demetri Goodson comes off the bench as a quality backup.

4. UConn — Senior A.J. Price can play either backcourt spot and has the ability to both score and distribute. Freshman Kemba Walker gives the Huskies a speedy floor leader who pushes the ball in transition and is a pure point guard.

5. Pittsburgh — Senior Levance Fields isn't overly athletic, doesn't shoot it great and doesn't necessarily look the part. However, he's tough, makes big shots when it counts and just wins games.


Pretenders
9. Arizona — Nic Wise is one of the most underrated point guards in the country. He can score in a variety of ways and also can make life easier for his teammates.

10. Villanova — The Wildcats have quality guard play, but have only one true point guard in sophomore Corey Fisher — who is somewhat erratic. Scotty Reynolds is more effective off the ball.

11. Oklahoma — The Sooners have just one point guard in Austin Johnson and he's mediocre. The steady senior is an erratic shooter, but has done a nice job with his decision-making — especially early in the year.

12. Louisville — The Cardinals point guards have been shaky to say the least. Edgar Sosa and Andre McGee have had their moments, but the team's best playmaker is 6-foot-6 senior wing Terrence Williams.


FOX Sports on MSN - COLLEGE BASKETBALL - Ranking the Sweet 16 teams by point guards

 

[Paul Wozniak]

Anybody want to re-pick their brackets? If so, who did you like before, and who do you like now?

BTW, this is the first time that the top 12 seeds have ever made it this far. 14 of the top 16 remain in the tournament. Maybe the selection committee does know what it's doing. If they're completely right, my brackets will be shot by the end of the weekend.

 

[HD MM]

Anybody want to re-pick their brackets? If so, who did you like before, and who do you like now?

BTW, this is the first time that the top 12 seeds have ever made it this far. 14 of the top 16 remain in the tournament. Maybe the selection committee does know what it's doing. If they're completely right, my brackets will be shot by the end of the weekend.

I wouldn't have picked WVU to go to the Elite 8, but besides that, I aint doing too shabby.

 

[anders5189]

I could still get 7 of the 8 regional finalists. I'm good.

 

[Paul Wozniak]

That top right corner really cleaned my brackets. WVU was my undoing along with Texas.

 

[cosmo_kramer]

Anybody want to re-pick their brackets? If so, who did you like before, and who do you like now?

BTW, this is the first time that the top 12 seeds have ever made it this far. 14 of the top 16 remain in the tournament. Maybe the selection committee does know what it's doing. If they're completely right, my brackets will be shot by the end of the weekend.

No, I'm OK....

 

[HD MM]

No, I'm OK....

Once Villanova and Pitt go down, I'm gonna leap you in the standings my friend.

 

[HD MM]

Is everyone ready for March Madness?!

LET ME HEAR YOU SCREAM!!!!!!!!!

 

[cosmo_kramer]

Once Villanova and Pitt go down, I'm gonna leap you in the standings my friend.

I'm probably wrong, but I think Dook might be your downfall....

 

[HD MM]

I'm probably wrong, but I think Dook might be your downfall....

I'm hoping your wrong, but your right, I really went out on a limb with those Dookies.

 

[anders5189]

UConn up 30-25 at the half. Purdue's lucky to be in this game. Will they make Connecticut regret it?

Xavier with the early lead on Pitt. Looks like the X-Men came to play. Remember Pitt hasn't gotten past the Sweet 16 in 35 years. Xavier's been to the elite 8 twice this decade.

 

[SabresRule]

If Xavier beats Pitt, the Villanova/Duke winner will have a cakewalk in the East Final. You heard it here first.

 

[anders5189]

Xavier 37
Pitt 29

Halftime

 

[anders5189]

If Xavier beats Pitt, the Villanova/Duke winner will have a cakewalk in the East Final. You heard it here first.

dook might considering they beat Xavier by about 30 earlier this year. Villanova-Xavier would be pretty even IMO.

 

[SabresRule]

UConn beats Purdue and we have our first Elite Eight team.

UConn jumped out to a big lead, was never threatened, and coasted home. (They needed a miracle to get past Washington in the '06 Sweet 16 in contrast).

This UConn team is better than the much-hyped 2006 Huskies- they are handling their tournament opponents much better.

 

[anders5189]

What a garbage win by Pitt. They look more like a 10 seed than a 1 seed.

 

[SabresRule]

Pittsburgh gets the Sweet 16 monkey off their back.