Hail to the Hawk.

[Cerebus]

Having seen all of one St. Joe's game this year -- yup, the one earlier tonight -- my deep appreciation to them for providing some wonderful entertainment against a locked and loaded Stanford club. 9 seed, my ass; if they had gotten a little less hate from the refs, this game could have definitely gone the other way, and being tied with a minute to play should do their recruting good. Assuming no one gets silly and goes pro or transfers, they should be in the Top 10 next year. (I'm now rooting for Stanford to go all the way, and for them not to even have a close game, to further emphasize just how good the Hawks were.)

All of which should not be construed to think that anyone should give a damn about college basketball for anything but the tournament, if simply for the reprehensible economics of it all. It's a guilty pleasure, and not even a good one: after all, Duke wins far too often, and while upsets rule early, you rarely if ever see the Gonzagas of the world get past the Sweet 16. But when the game is good, you can forget everything else, and that's true no matter what the sport, or the participants.

[elSicomoro]

Originally posted by Cerebus
Having seen all of one St. Joe's game this year -- yup, the one earlier tonight -- my deep appreciation to them for providing some wonderful entertainment against a locked and loaded Stanford club.

A great game indeed. I kept saying before the season that I would at least check one of their games out this year. Sadly, I didn't. :-(

(Incidentally, I've been playing St. Joe's on March Madness for PlayStation for some time now. Without any mods, they've won back-to-back championships. Coincidence? I think not! ;-) )

St. Joe's got a rough deal in the tournament and the polls because the A-10 was unusually weak this year, thanks to Temple's rough start and UMass. The A-10, although not a Big 10 or Big 12, is definitely one of the better conferences. No TAAC or Patriot League here.

All of which should not be construed to think that anyone should give a damn about college basketball for anything but the tournament, if simply for the reprehensible economics of it all. It's a guilty pleasure, and not even a good one: after all, Duke wins far too often, and while upsets rule early, you rarely if ever see the Gonzagas of the world get past the Sweet 16. But when the game is good, you can forget everything else, and that's true no matter what the sport, or the participants.

I had to watch my beloved Mizzou fall to Duke today. That hurt. :-(

The game to truly watch coming up is the battle of the Beltway--Maryland vs. G'Town. A good DC-rivalry game. And the second one in a week for the Terps, as they barely beat GMU earlier this week.

Each year brings us a team that you warm up to. This year, so far, we had Georgia State and Hampton. I particularly liked last year's tourney, particularly because a lot of the games were close. (And SEMO almost beat LSU--damnit!)

March Madness has always been one of my favorite sports times of the year. And now, I only have to wait for the NHL Playoffs...

[adamzion]

it's tough not to like Phil Martelli, with what he gets out of his kids. It's also worth noting how seemingly every kid who got a mention for St. Joe's came out of the Philly public league (Jameer Nelson was from Chester- a district which manages to make Philadelphia's look academically strong, and I think Marvin O'Connor was out of the Philly Catholic League).

I find it amusing that PSU just made its first Sweet 16 since my Dad was 9 years old, and who do they match up against? Temple. PSU regularly decimated Temple in football for the past, well, as long as I can remember, but this should be rather different.

The thing is, when I watched the 'Nits beat UNC, I realized that they were basically playing Temple's game: matchup zone defense, and make the other team play down to your level. That's the game which Temple has refined to a fine art (as close as ugly ball can come to art, that is). The matchup on Friday should be either fascinating or frightening to watch.

I'm betting on some combination of the two,
Z

[Cerebus]

Wadley and Greer are purty, and they have just shot lights out in the first half of both games. Giving an 11 seed a big lead, especially when that 11 seed has been there every year and has good guards, is just deadly. You wind up trapping, and Temple doesn't turn the ball over, regardless of who is in the uniforms.

To beat the Owls, you have to grind it out and get their people -- all of them, not just the big guys -- in foul trouble. From there, you start to get good looks at the basket, and the guards don't penetrate nearly as well. To do that, attack, attack, attack. I can see why St. Joe's beat them silly this year...