An Update on Brackets and Some Late Game Analysis!
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What’s up SportsBlog? I survived Japan. It was a battle across the board: for my physique to stay in shape despite the ramen, for my liver to stay functional despite the sake, and for my reputation to create premium content on SnapChat and my Instagram story. Honestly, I probably succeeded best at the last one with a hodge-podge of incredible videos and pictures of odd happenings in Japan. Yes, this is self-congratulatory. Yes, I am patting my own back. But come on people, when you know you put good material out there, it should be commended and I’m just starting the train here.
Alright enough about my trip to Japan, let’s talk about an incredible weekend in college basketball. Ratings are up, upsets are happening all over the place, and there is literally no telling who is going to win this thing. My bracket is a sham of an attempt at educated guesses, but I still have Kentucky out there grinding and in the grand scheme of winning a bracket challenge, it almost always comes down to picking the winner. This upcoming weekend will be an absolute BATTLE for the boys in Blue as they take on UCLA first and most likely UNC next if they survive. My god it isn’t the teacup schedule I could have hoped for but we knew what we were getting into from the beginning. Go Cats.
My picks from Thursday’s games were not what I would call super accurate or effective. By my count I was 5-10-1 which SIMPLY WILL NOT GET IT DONE. I apologize to my fellow blog readers and know this is unacceptable. I will make pics with unbridled passion and sharpness this week, and we will right this ship. Really though, that’s what makes the NCAA Tournament so fun, is that really anything can happen. I mean, look at the state of your bracket now. Did anyone not have Duke or NOVA coming out of the East? Michigan looks like a team that might go to the Final Four? Who is on South Carolina’s team and my good god do they look like animals. This shit is about to get real exciting real fast coming up in a few days. I had a buddy who rented out a box for some clients this weekend at the Garden for the games. He is disappointed that it’s not gonna be Duke-Nova on Sunday. I told him forget that, March Madness isn’t about 1-2 playing for a trip to the Final Four, it’s about the teams that fought and clawed their way to have a chance. Choose yourself a battler and grab yourself some premium liquor drinks and whoop your way to an exciting Sunday afternoon. (I’ll be there too.)
We obviously have to discuss the Princeton-Notre Dame game which was an incredible start to the tournament. Honestly, I don’t think either team played up to their potential as far as rhythm and making shots, but that sort of comes with the territory of being the first game of the tournament and two teams that spent most of the game feeling each other out. I’m gonna give my personal analysis of the youtube clip above that is Princeton’s last two possessions and the missed free throws from Matt Farrell (who I really like as a player.)
First off is the out of bounds play, which I think is an incredible play from a coach who is thinking on another level than others out there. I have had several people come up to me and say that “the play was strange throwing the ball all the way across the court,” “they didn’t really get a great look,” etc. I was nice to these people and nodded and said something along the lines of “yeah it was a little different.” They were morons. The play was drawn up to be a little strange and executed perfectly outside of the three-point miss. First, the inbounds across the court, risky for sure. But the screener screens his own man and the defender chasing isn’t expecting that pass nor is in any kind of position to steal it. Yes, it looks a little awkward and dangerous, but it’s what sets up the angle for the next action. With the shooter coming to the inbounder, the defender is forced to trail, then relaxes when he sees the ball go over his head to the other side of the court. The immediate screen back onto his relaxed body allows Cook to shuck the defender and come directly across the court stepping into a wide open crease three pointer. Not only do you get a free run at the offensive rebound when both defenders are late to a contest (which ended up in two points off the miss), but you also end up with a senior leader who shot damn near 43 percent from three on the year with an open shot stepping into it. Great play drawn up, good look and no shame in the miss, also a good tip in to make it a one-point game.
Farrell gets fouled and I was quite frankly surprised he missed the front end. Guy is a tough kid who I watch at Barclay’s earlier this year and a tournament and was impressed with. Reminded me a little of Mike Brennan who was actually my assistant coach but used to dominate me in one on one pretty much all day every day when I was a young dumb freshman trying to put in extra work. Anyway, missed 1 and 1’s are what make the tournament fun, and that’s exactly what unfolds.
First things first, I have a ton of respect for what Princeton did this year, 16-0 in the Ivy League is so legit and none of this is in any way meant to be negative. I myself I think went like 1-7 from three I want to say when we played Texas my junior year in the tourney and most of those were wide open. I choked. That game was ours for the taking and our best shooters didn’t shoot the way we could.
The last play of this game isn’t a choke, it’s a pretty good look actually and a good shot that Cannady himself thought was going in. My opinion is that the difference in a knockdown game winner and a near make carom off the rim was one dribble. Amir Bell was great this year for Princeton, and on the last sequence, he crosses over at the time line, takes two more dribbles, and flips it back to Cannady for the shot. One less dribble, and it may have been a different look and a different game. I’ve been in this situation as the shooter, you see two defenders go with the ball after a screen or a rub off, and mentally you know the ball is coming to you and prepare yourself for the shot. It’s either an open catch and shoot, or a quick reversal for a teammate’s open shot as the help side comes to you. Cannady feels this, and makes up his mind that the shot is going to be an open one that is going to go down. That’s how great shooters think. It’s a really tough pass after one dribble, and it’s a pretty damn good pass after two dribbles, but because of the extra dribble, the defender is able to get a really good challenge on the shot. With four seconds left, it’s probably tough at that point to go pump fake and drive, maybe Bell’s defender helps off and he has an open shot in the corner, maybe you get a pull up, and maybe time expires. The decision was pretty good, and in the grand scheme of things, having one of your best shooters hoisting a semi-contested three for the win isn’t the worst thing in the world. The long rebound made it tough for a putback, and Notre Dame escaped. Still a great effort from both teams, and I was particularly proud to be a Tiger alum this year and am excited for the years to come. Thanks boys.
Alright, too much technical shit there but I have to pretend I know a little bit about the ins and outs of the game so you don’t think I’m just an attractive guy with great music taste. I’m pumped about the rest of the week, I will check in with you peeps here in a day or so and I truly apologize if you followed my wagering advice to a red number. I’ll make it up to you? (this was not said confidently.) Anyway, I’ll leave you with a song and a picture from Japan. It just seems right. Feels good to be back in the USA though. Excited about this weekend of Madness.
Song download of the week: This is probably the cheesiest one I have EVER put out in all my years of blogging (and trust me I have put out some cheese) but my Peloton class closed with a John Mayer “Free Falling” live version today and it really spoke to me. Yes, I said some combination of Tom Petty and John Mayer spoke to me and I’m ok with that. Seriously though, it’s a song with super chill vibe and I really never appreciated the lyrics until today.
Have an incredible day and don’t be afraid to comment people. ENGAGE me!
CJ
