My bracket got busted last night. I picked Gonzaga, Duke and West Virginia to win those games and watched as all three went down in flames. Well, I didn't actually get to "watch" the WVU game since CBS dropped the ball once again with their coverage and showed the entire Gonzaga-UCLA game, despite the fact that there was a 2-point game going on with only 1 minute to go while the other game would be on for an additional 5 minutes. Two buzzer beaters and a shocker.
LSU played an amazing game, playing the best defense I've seen against Duke all year. Reddick was about as frustrated as a player gets, chucking up shots any time he had the ball without a man glued to him. 3-18 shooting, and no fouls drawn until the final minutes of the game. Very un-Reddick like. Give most of the credit to the LSU defense, but a little to the refs who let Reddick get abused all game. When JJ hits the NBA next year, he'll be a great role player, hitting 3s from the corner and up top with ease.
WVU was my semi-Cinderella pick. I thought they had it in them to make the Elite 8, and they almost did. They fought back from a double-digit lead to tie the game with 5.6 seconds left. But in the end, those 5.6 seconds they left on the clock were the death of Pittsnogle and Gansey's college careers.
Now to the big one, Gonzaga-UCLA. This game looked wrapped up in the first 5 minutes while the Bulldogs dominated the Bruins. But UCLA didn't give up, they kept fighting and clawed their way back to within 5. Adam Morrison was 10-18 and had 24 points, but that was below his season average of 28 (if he'd had those extra 4 points, Zags would've won). He is something special, just knows how to get the ball in the basket. Unfortunately for him, JP Batista looked like he was betting on UCLA to win. The turn-over on their own end was even worse because Batista didn't pass the ball to Ravio (the PG) right under the basket, and when it was stripped from his unsure hands he didn't seem to make an effort to stop the Bruins from scoring. To top it off, he was given a very good chance at making the last shot from inside the 3-point line and he missed by about a yard. I had visions of Christian Laettner when he took that shot, but my Laettner quickly morphed into Eric Dampier chucking the ball without any finesse and missing the basket by feet. Morrison was so shocked and distraught by Batista's pathetic showing in the end that he couldn't hold back the tears.
Most people forget that Morrison is still basically a kid. He may be on ESPN all the time and on the cover of SI and TSN, but he's nothing more than a college junior who lives and dies on the basketball court. This might have been his last game as an amateur and losing it that way is devastating, no matter who you are. This is a kid who cares more for wins and losses than personal glory and I hope that the NCAA tournament brings us moments like the end of that Gonzaga-UCLA game for years.
LSU played an amazing game, playing the best defense I've seen against Duke all year. Reddick was about as frustrated as a player gets, chucking up shots any time he had the ball without a man glued to him. 3-18 shooting, and no fouls drawn until the final minutes of the game. Very un-Reddick like. Give most of the credit to the LSU defense, but a little to the refs who let Reddick get abused all game. When JJ hits the NBA next year, he'll be a great role player, hitting 3s from the corner and up top with ease.
WVU was my semi-Cinderella pick. I thought they had it in them to make the Elite 8, and they almost did. They fought back from a double-digit lead to tie the game with 5.6 seconds left. But in the end, those 5.6 seconds they left on the clock were the death of Pittsnogle and Gansey's college careers.
Now to the big one, Gonzaga-UCLA. This game looked wrapped up in the first 5 minutes while the Bulldogs dominated the Bruins. But UCLA didn't give up, they kept fighting and clawed their way back to within 5. Adam Morrison was 10-18 and had 24 points, but that was below his season average of 28 (if he'd had those extra 4 points, Zags would've won). He is something special, just knows how to get the ball in the basket. Unfortunately for him, JP Batista looked like he was betting on UCLA to win. The turn-over on their own end was even worse because Batista didn't pass the ball to Ravio (the PG) right under the basket, and when it was stripped from his unsure hands he didn't seem to make an effort to stop the Bruins from scoring. To top it off, he was given a very good chance at making the last shot from inside the 3-point line and he missed by about a yard. I had visions of Christian Laettner when he took that shot, but my Laettner quickly morphed into Eric Dampier chucking the ball without any finesse and missing the basket by feet. Morrison was so shocked and distraught by Batista's pathetic showing in the end that he couldn't hold back the tears.
Most people forget that Morrison is still basically a kid. He may be on ESPN all the time and on the cover of SI and TSN, but he's nothing more than a college junior who lives and dies on the basketball court. This might have been his last game as an amateur and losing it that way is devastating, no matter who you are. This is a kid who cares more for wins and losses than personal glory and I hope that the NCAA tournament brings us moments like the end of that Gonzaga-UCLA game for years.
posted by Dan Pasternack at 9:33 AM
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