You know that gif of the kid from Scared Straight getting woken up by the guards and he's terrified and shocked at how quickly his ass needs to get in gear? That's how I felt watching UNC/Baylor.
The first game of the day looked to be an evisceration as UNC dominated Baylor to the tune of a 25 point lead! 25 point lead against a 1 seed and defending champ! Brady Manek was lookin like Larry Bird out there as well. I know that's a lazy comparison but please, I'm open to another corollary. He was hitting every shot, dominating every phase of the game and even showed some edge. Maybe a little too much edge. Manek got kicked out for an apparent elbow to Jeremy Sochan and the game turned right then and there. UNC stopped playing while Baylor's championship mettle took over. Mix those two together, let it sit for a few minutes, maybe sprinkle some salt and pepper, add a lil oil and you got theater in that beaker. Monstrous comeback for the Bears as they forced overtime. I can't help but think that the refs helped them a great deal during this run. We see aggressive defensive possessions that are called fouls and Baylor was getting away with a lot. It did seem like the refs wanted to extend this game for them. As the game went to OT, I think the general consensus was that UNC was done. They had their shot and blew it. Bacot couldn't convert from the line and Baylor had all the momentum. But UNC picked themselves up off the mat, opened overtime with a 3, and finished off the champs once and for all. Just a stunning game that thrusted you into the action for the day. Also Leaky Black gave us one of the most unintentionally funny passes of the tournament. Hug for this game. Somehow, some way, UNC was not the story of the day. For the second time this weekend, it was Saint Peter's.
-Saint Pete with the theat! What else do we need to say? We've got our Topanga, we've got our Joey from Dawson's Creek. We've got our darling and she goes by Saint Peters. They never trailed against a Murray State team that won the OVC, was ranked earlier this year, and was coming in on a huge winning streak. These Peacocks and Shaheen Holloway have been marvelous. Boisterous, fun, confident and free. Those are all the terms that come to mind. But make no mistake, they are dangerous. I hope Jersey City comes to Philadelphia in droves to root these guys on.
-Rick Barnes and Tennessee fall short. Read it here. Sincere hug for The Shark. My only question is if this wasn't "the year" then you can't confidently say any other time in the future is "the year." I think you just gotta be a pessimist until a deep run actually occurs. No point in putting faith or guaranteeing a deep run. Just be pleasantly surprised if/when it happens.
-PC is still doing that thing where they shove it up America's ass. The most impressive thing about these Friars is that they were not caught with their pants down against a scorching hot Richmond team. This was a perfect game for them to play down to their competition. Instead, PC answered the bell and left absolutely zero doubt. They're the Big East champions going up against the 6 seed from the A10. This is the result that we should expect. However, this is March. The unexpected becomes the expectation. PC didn't allow that to happen. Next up is the Jayhawks. A small part of me hopes they win because then America really can't say a damn thing after that.
-The bear has been poked and it is now awake. UCLA is here, folks. After an underwhelming game against Akron, UCLA took a very good Saint Mary's squad to the cleaners. Tremendously balanced game from the Bruins and they easily advance to the Sweet 16. Mick Cronin has done such a great job in Westwood by the way. This is the UCLA standard at a bare minimum. Steve Alford made it a place where Sweet 16s weren't expected. Bruins are now a team that should be there pretty much every year moving forward. They just better hope Jacquez is alright. He turned his ankle pretty good. Get your appetite ready for a blue blood battle. UNC/UCLA in Philly.
-Muss Bus and his chaotic ride continues to the Sweet 16. Arkansas has played with fire these last 2 games but man their defense is truly elite. And defense is the one thing that will travel. They did a wonderful job on Teddy Allen and shut him down for the most part. Speaking of that, I saw a lot of UConn fans whining about his performance against Arkansas compared to his virtuoso performance against the Huskies. Newsflash! It aint just you. You're not some snakebitten "oh this only happens against us" type of program! In fact you're the opposite! You have 3 titles in the 2000s. These up and down performances happen against every team in the entire country. This isn't a "oh because of course Teddy Allen stinks against Arkansas but sliced us up" It's like crying about announcers being biased. Grow up. And maybe have Hurley scheme up a better defense. Tired of the victim mentality with some of these fanbases.
-Penny & Memphis come up just short. What an effort from the Tigers. They battled all game and even had a 10 point lead at half but Timme in the second half was possessed. That's when Drew Timme comes alive. He paces himself first half, you may hang around with the Zags and then Drew goes nuclear down low. I don't get it. I don't understand it. He has credit card hops. He's a YMCA all star. But you can't stop him. I do want to apologize to Penny and the Memphis guys. He deserves all the credit in the world for this Memphis turn around. He also deserves the blame for the first half of the season but he can absolutely coach despite what I said on the podcast. I was wrong. The next step is to have Memphis play like this consistently starting at Thanksgiving.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to clean the pipes before Arizona puts me through hell.
