2011 NCAA Tournament

[bigunreal]

I didn't get to see any of the disappointing Notre Dame game, just followed it a bit online. Looks like their shooting was horrendous. How "diverse" is Florida St.? Going to take a wild guess that they aren't very white-friendly.

Notre Dame has let me down so many times over the years. They made the Final Four once under Digger Phelps, in 1978. Recently, they've been particularly unimpressive in the NCAA tournament, and now they get upset (really blown out) by a much lower seed.

Mike Brey has obviously had a good number of white players. However, I suspect they might be getting a bit impatient with him at this point. If he is fired, is there any guarantee they won't bring in someone who will compel the university to lower their standards, ala Georgetown style?

Oh well, let's root for Wisconsin and BYU.

 

[Deadlift]

I'll give some blacks credit where it's due. Just because the 3-point-shot was invented, that really doesn't change the initial philosophy of basketball.. it still starts around the basket.

Florida State has "collected bigs".. Gonzaga and Wisconsin have done the same. IMO, that's generally a good strategy, especially if some of them are tough and can rebound/block shots and have an intimidating presence. Some teams' are clearly "thinner" at the big spots like Notre Dame and PITT, rather undeniable, and they have now been ousted from the Dance.

John Thompson understood the ROLE of the big, and I think it goes back to the "strong-arm mentality" that black males have when it comes to projecting force/strength. Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning were two excellent examples of this. And, now, Georgetown has been on the decline.. why is that? Having NON-INTIMIDATING bigs' - in recent years - is certainly a part of it. Maybe Roy Hibbert and Greg Monroe are playing "a little bit better" on the NBA-level, but they were CERTAINLY lacking when they were on Georgetown.. NON-INTIMIDATING!

If a team doesn't have passionate bigs that can provide muscle on the inside and scoring, they are essentially wounded and handi-capped, and one bad night of jump-shots (especially the "cool" 3-pointer) and they're gone.......

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

we don't talk about women's basketball very often, but i wanted to change that for one moment ...

Gonzaga's all-White women's team is led by phenomenal point guard Courtney Vandersloot, the 3-time West Coast Conference Player of the Year. Vandersloot became the first player (man or woman) in NCAA Division I history to score 2,000 points and dish out 1,000 assists. those are AMAZING numbers!

Gonzaga, an #11-seed, has knocked off #6-seed Iowa and #3-seed UCLA in their two NCAA Tourney games thus far. Vandersloot has come up big in both games, scoring a career-high 34 against Iowa and dropping 17 assists (along with 29 points) against UCLA.

with Vandersloot running the show, the Lady Zags are a lot of fun to watch.

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzMux_MGZ6A&feature=related[/tube]Edited by: Jimmy Chitwood

 

[guest301]

At least Gonzaga's womens team features a all-white starting lineup which is something that used to be true for the men's team just a few short years ago. Has anybody noticed how old Gonzaga coach Mark Few is starting to look, In two years time he looks like he has aged ten years, maybe due to all the "affletes' he is recruiting and coaching now.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

it's a shame that the Belmont Bruins faced off against Wisconsin in their opening game of the NCAA Tourney.Belmont (and their 4 White starters and several key White reserves) played a very fun up-tempostyle of basketball to watch, really took care of the ball and played outstanding pressure defense (they had an almost unbelievable+178 turnover margin for the year), and had a balanced unselfish bunch of players (11 players averaged 10+ minutes on the season and no one averaged more than 25 minutes). sadly, they weren't around long enough for America to see their brand of basketball.

and speaking of Gonzaga ... i wonder if during the BYU game the coaching staff waswishing they had more players like they used to recruit. you know, guys like Adam Morrison, Dan Dickau, Blake Stepp, Derek Raivio, Casey Calvary, and so on. because Jimmer surely reminded them of what they've lost in their pursuit of "real" talent.

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6mqFMdhDe4[/tube]

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

please enjoy the pictures of the NCAA Tourney thus far ...

best backcourt in the nation? BYU's Jimmer Fredette (left) and Jackson Emery

Aaron Craft scores

Brady Morningstar celebrates

Chandler Parsons dunks

David Stockton with the no-look pass

Deividas Dulkys with the swarming Florida State defense

Luke Hancock scores off the dribble

Juan Fernandez beats the trap

Jon Leuer with the slam

Jon Diebler for three

West Virginia's Deniz Kilicli with the rejection

Mason Plumlee with the facial

Matt Dickey with the and-1

Matt Howard scores over an afflete

Miles Plumlee finishes the alley-oop

Reeves Nelson with the aggressive finish

Ryan Kelly denies the shot

Ryne Smith is pumped up

Tyler Zeller skies for the block

Tanner Smith does a chin-up on the rim

Kyle Kuric with the athletic finish

strength through unity

unity is strength

our people celebrating their accomplishments

 

[Jack Lambert]

Great pics Jimmy!!!

Speaking of Gonzaga, I think Few's getting tired of his affletes he's recruited. From last year's class and this years, 4 out of 6 players are white, so hopefully he's getting back to recruiting the players that made Gonzaga good.

 

[white lightning]

Good job Jimmy. You always find the best pics!

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Really nice collection of pics to look through, JC! Thanks for posting them.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

the Sweet Sixteen tips off tomorrow evening, and unfortunately we once again see most of the predominantly White teams grouped together in a single region: the Southeast.


the Southeast Region plays more White athletes than the other three Regions combined. outside the Southeast, only two other teams in the Tourney start more than one White man: Duke (3) and Kansas (2). in fact, the remaining three regions have teams that regularly start a mere 10White men (out of 60 starters). compare that to the 12 starters in the Southeast (out of 20 starters).

of the four teams in the Southeast Region, three teams have majority White lineups.Butler usually starts three white men (Howard, Smith, Stigall), Wisconsin starts four (Leuer, Nankovil, Gasser, Jarmusz), and BYU starts 4 (Fredette, Emery, Collinsworth, Hartsock). all three teams also see additional White men playing significant minutes off the bench. the lone majority-black team, Florida starts just one White man (Chandler Parsons), but he is the team's best player.

in the Southwest Region, Kansas starts two White men (Morningstar, Reed), Richmond starts one (Geriot), and Florida State starts one (Dulkys). Virginia Commonwealth doesn't have a single White athlete on scholarship. the only other White men likely to see significant action play for Florida State (Loucks, Kreft).

in the East Region, Ohio State starts one White man (Diebler), Kentucky starts one White man (Harrellson), and North Carolina starts one White man (Zeller). Marquette doesn't have a single White athlete on scholarship. only one other White athlete will see quality minutes in this regional: Ohio State's freshman guard Aaron Craft, who plays a lot of minutes and is a key contributor for the Buckeyes.

in the West Region, Duke starts three White men (Singler, Plumlee, Plumlee) and has a fourth (Kelly) who plays a lot of minutes, Arizona doesn't start any White men, San Diego State doesn't start any White men, and Connecticut is unlikely to start any White athletes, although two White freshmen have started on occasion during the season (Giffey, Olander). neither are key contributors, though. only two other White athletes are likely to see thesignificant playing timein this region: Arizona's Natyazhko (who at 6-11 is somehow the invisible man for the Wildcats) and SDSU's Rahon (who provides offensive firepower andmajor minutes off the bench).

at most, only two majority-White teams will be able to qualify for the Final Four: a team from the Southeast and Duke. no other team is close to being considered a White team.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

here is a complimentary article about Butler's Matt Howard.
a couple of excerpts:

In a frenetic first weekend, last year's Cinderella twice waved the magic wand, pulling off two of the most stunning finishes of this NCAA tournament.


Both times it was Howard converting the pumpkin. Just before the buzzer sounded against Old Dominion, he corralled a deflection to score the winner, and in the upset of No. 1 seed Pittsburgh, the senior calmly swished the winning free throw.


Neither result comes as a surprise to people who follow Butler.

"He's made Butler better," Bulldogs coach Brad Stevens said. "How many guys can say that? That they've made a whole university better?"


The funny thing is, the kid who has made such an indelible mark on his university is about as pretentious as a doorjamb. He is nuts and bolts basic, the quintessential Midwestern kid from a big family (he's eighth in line in a family of 10) who was raised to be selfless and doesn't consider himself terribly exceptional.


Yet Howard is the very definition of the word. On the court, he leads the Bulldogs in scoring (16.7) and rebounding (7.7) and is both a former Horizon League newcomer of the year and player of the year.


And the finance major, who carries a 3.77 grade point average, recently was named the Academic All-American of the year.


"He's the best on the court, the best in the classroom. He's Mr. Everything," Nored said. "You'd hate him if weren't so nice."

"This team is tough because Matt Howard is tough." - (Butler guard Ronald) Nored

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Florida is red-hot to start the game. they've hit 8 of their first 9 shots. wow. meanwhile, BYU looks a bit out of sorts.

 

[Riddlewire]

Normally I would say there's no way that Florida will keep up their lights out shooting for the whole game. But shooting percentages are way up for the whole tournament. Pitt wouldn't have missed a basket if they had all been blindfolded in their first round game. Larger rims, maybe? The NCAA is an entertainment product, after all. And offense is more entertaining than defense. I can easily see the NCAA conspiring with the venue managers or ball providers to change a size by 1-2% to make baskets easier. They figure if they do it for everyone, it's all fair.

 

[Riddlewire]

BS foul call to end the half.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

BYU's defense (forcing turnovers)and rebounding are keeping them in the game despite Jimmer's cold shooting. also, it's nice to see the other players knocking down jumpshots when Fredette is drawing a double team. Florida is having a tough time running with BYU, as well. BYU appears to be faster than the Gators,while Florida has taken advantage of BYU's lack of heightwhen the Cougars are playingzone defense. all that being said, Florida is shooting lights out, Fredette hasn't found the range (5-14 from the floor), and the game is tied? if i'm the Gators, i'm worried.


a couple more observations ... isn't it "weird" how Kyle Collinsworth's athletic ability is never mentioned? here's a 6-foot-6 two guard that is once again probably going to lead his team in rebounding. he has 6 boards at the half.

Chandler Parsons has another shot at earning a triple-double. at halftime, he has 8 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds.

and i agree with Riddlewire. that was a total BS foul to end the half.

 

[Kaptain]

BYU is getting no calls in this game. It's getting ridiculous. The two fouls called against the nations best player were especially ridiculous.Edited by: Kaptain

 

[Kalo]

Yeah, the refs should just put on Gator's jerseys. . . . . .. . .

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[celticdb15]

JESUS, JOSEPH, AND MARY!! Can BYU get a foul to go their way?!?!? WTF sick of this biased officiating. The BYU players are getting nailed every time they attempt a shot and the refs refuse to use their whistles.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Fredette, the nation's top offensive player, gets tackled in the open court ... or "stripped" as the announcers described it ... and is literally left bleeding, but no foul is called. wow.

BYU is going to have to be mentally tough as nails from here on out, because they're not going to get an honest whistle it seems.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

A-MA-ZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[celticdb15]

Jimmer has ICE in his veins. This BYU team is not going away! Lovin the fight in this kid!

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

you can tell by the look in Fredette's face, that he is not only pissed; he's focused. game on, folks.

also ... tigers have Jimmer blood. (trademarked!)

 

[Kalo]

Damn, that's what you call Jimmer range!! He's about to go to the line with a chance to tie it up!!< id="gwProxy" ="">< ="jsCall;" id="jsProxy" =""><div id="ref"></div>

 

[Kalo]

Fredette needs to stop taking those long 3 pointers and just drive it in!!< id="gwProxy" ="">< ="jsCall;" id="jsProxy" =""><div id="ref"></div>

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

back-to-back misses from deep by Fredette. he's mad at himself. hopefully, BYU keeps their composure.