Elite Eight Picks

Tomorrow, the first two Final Four tickets will be punched. A lot of interesting story lines and I hope for good games. Generally, the Elite Eight tends to bring second-tier games compared to the ones we have had in the past weeks. I hope for the best especially since the Law of Gus will be in effect.

8.) Butler v. 2.) Florida- Common sense would tell you take Butler because they always find a way to win. One thing that is beginning bother me is the consistent praise by the national media like they are the little brother of the NCAA.

Nope, they are a top 20 program and expectations should be set. Matt Howard isn't stopped by anybody and it seems Andrew Smith will be okay to play Saturday. I see Chandler Parsons being a huge matchup disaster for the Bulldogs because Howard will have to go inside against Alex Tyus who will also be a problem.  I think the guards are pretty even both sides, but Parsons ends up being the difference. UF 70-65

5.) Arizona v. 3.) Connecticut- Deron out of Jersey made a mention how this Wildcat team reminds him of the 1997 team who were not expected to win it all (MY GOD THAT'S MILES SIMON'S MUSIC!!!!). He is right and honestly, anything is possible for the Cats. Derrick Williams is unbelievable and it's hard to bet against guy who is named Mo-Mo Jones. The question is will the Wildcats have an answer for Mr. Walker? Kemba has made everyone look silly in the last 8 games. Kemba needs to keep Jeremy Lamb in the mix if  they want to win this one. But I think this will be a classic. Williams is unguardable right now, I haven't seen enough defensively from Alex Oriakhi to put money on him. The Cats take it late in the second half UA 82-79

-Charlie.

The Good, The Bad, and The Dukies

Before the Sweet Sixteen started, I sat with a bracket that was in the 96 percentile. I started having dreams of getting a 10,000 dollar check from Yahoo! and laugh my way to not having a summer job this year. But Thursday hit me like a ton of bricks. There were some things I liked, but most of it was bad.  Thankfully the Black Rose on Oakland helped me drown my sorrows.

The Good

-Florida deserves all the credit in the world for how they played defense against Jimmer Fredette. It seemed every shot took a ton of effort to get off, and they completely gassed him by the overtime period.

-Since Jimmer is now gone, Derrick Williams is the new face of March Madness 2011.  The only comparison I have for him is a stronger Lamar Odom. He throws down some nasty dunks and can step outside to hit big shots.
-Let's not forget about the Kemba Walker Show, he scored 36 in a win for the Huskies. But like I talked about earlier this week, he got others involved such as Jeremy Lamb who dropped 24. Big time excited for Williams v. Walker on Saturday night.  
-Butler is the better version of Gonzaga, no longer underdogs.

The Bad

-Wisconsin did their usual Badger thing bowing out in the Sweet Sixteen. I know that will upset some Badger fans, but for whatever reasons, they cannot get to that next level. Additionally, this fourth time in five years that they have lost a lower seed. Questions have to start coming out about Bo Ryan. I thought Jordan Taylor forced a lot of shots like last Saturday. Also there is a missing person report out for Jon Leuer in New Orleans because you couldn't find him on the basketball court. This is something I saw on Twitter via the Big Lead about the Badgers recruiting budget, which is unbelievably low and makes more impressive of what they do every year. Think if they increased that by 50 percent. 


-You could tell San Diego State got tight in the final minutes. They couldn't do anything after the technical with 10 minutes left.  It seems like they froze up and didn't create the shots as they had in the first half.
-Jimmer got infected with the SI curse. Now, it understood the curse outweighs the Law of Gus. 

Dukies

-We here at SnoTap told you so. I felt uneasy about my National Champion pick after seeing the chemistry with Kyrie Irving. I wish I would have just went chalk with Ohio State, but now it's up to Kentucky to save my bracket. Eric nailed this a week ago and deserve credit
-Eric also had the comment of the day "Last night was a complete DOY game from Arizona." Agreed, human highlight reel from the Cats. 
-Duke decided to quit. No one can tell me otherwise either. Arizona had this epic run, but Duke did nothing to punch them back in the mouth. If I were one of the Plumlees' I would put Mo-Mo Jones on his ass during this run to show Duke was there.   
-Reminded me a lot of LSU knocking out Duke in 2006, but the Blue Devils were favored more in that tournament.
-Nolan Smith did not look like himself in the last two games, and that sent Duke off the tracks.
-I wouldn't call this a black mark on Coach's K career, but he could have saved this season if he limited the play of Kyrie Irving. It's more his fault than anyone else.

-Charlie.

My Sweet 16 Picks (Southeast/West Region)

The second weekend of March Madness provides great theater because we all wonder if Cinderella's slipper will still fit on Thursday or Friday, and what new storylines will develop for the weekend. Due to the new format being able to see every game, I feel more involved with this tournament than ones in years past. 

West Region

3.) Connecticut vs. 2.) San Diego State- I read an interesting stat via The Big Lead: "UConn Huskies are 0-7 since 1992 in NCAA Tourney games in opponent's state".  That makes me feel uneasy, but did anyone ever consider Kemba Walker?  D.J. Gay will struggle trying to get shots off against Walker for damn sure.  But I worry about who will actually defend Kawhi Leonard on the Huskies. They have a couple big bodies, but nothing at Leonard's level. I feel it will be a pro-Aztec crowd, but I am confident the Huskies will win. The Aztecs have not done anything remarkable, just beat teams they were supposed to. I think Kemba and the crew is on another level.  UCONN 77-68

5.) Arizona v. 1.) Duke- A lot of people do not think Arizona belongs here because of some bad calls in their last game against Texas. But Derrick Williams and his crew does not care. He is an absolute monster, and I do think Duke will have some problems against him. Williams could get the Plumlee brothers and Ryan Kelly into some serious foul trouble. Don't think I missed Coach K's comments about trying to get Kyrie Irving being more involved, which scares me because one of the best coaches is trying to sabotage a National Championship contender. The Dukies will get it together and get a big game out of Seth Curry, just feel it's his time to shine.  DUKE 73-66 

Southeast Region 

3.) BYU v. 2.) Florida- Jimmer got the SI Curse. It sucks when he will shoot about 10 for 32 with 18 points. The Cougars have faced two teams that are very similar to their style of play leading to much success. But now they run into the big bad Gators who are nothing like them. By the way, anyone else find it hilarious that they are a bunch of Mormons roaming Bourbon Street as we speak? What could they do there? Anyways, the Gators have a great combination of size with Alex Tyus and Patric Young plus the guard play of Kenny Boyton and Erving Walker. I believe the Gators will have too much size and speed for the Cougars. Sadly, this is where Jimmer time comes to end.  UF 81-67 

8.) Butler v. 4.) Wisconsin- A white boy wet dream!  Just kidding.  This game could go several ways, and I am stealing this thought from my buddy Ron. He told me last week his wish would be for Bo Ryan to have deep conversation with Rob Jeter about UWM's success against Butler. I personally think the Badgers need to go inside much more than they have been doing in the first two games.  The two biggest things I would like to see if I am a Badger fan would be to get Matt Howard into foul trouble and lock Shelvin Mack down. This will be a complete nail-biter with Jordan Taylor hitting the big shot in the final seconds.  UW 64-62

-Charlie. 

Gator Boys 3.0?

Before I start, I know the Wausau contingent will appreciate that video more than anyone else who reads this blog post.  The Florida Gators are back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since they won the back-to-back National Championships. People seemed to forget about the recent success coach Billy Donovan has had in the month of March when filling out their brackets this year. But they are back in the Sweet 16, ready to make some noise.



Erving Walker caused at least 5 heart attacks in Gainesville yesterday with a bunch of ill-advised shots that somehow fell in for him. Walker who cannot be taller than 5'5 took big shoots against the trees of the Bruins, and hit a big balls three to seal the game versus UCLA.  In my opinion, his confidence reminded me like Nate Robinson, which is probably the easiest comparison to make, but it's true.  Walker is the type of guy I would like to have on my team, but at the same time, I would nominate him as the top candidate to cost the Gators a chance at th National Championship.  

The Gators also got great energy from freshman Patric Young.  He made some great plays inside on the defense, and I liked what he did on the offensive end.  Him and Alex Tyus could be a real problem for the BYU Cougars next Thursday.

-Charlie.

This Is Garbage, Will Hill

Will Hill had one of the funniest athlete's twitter accounts that I have seen and claimed it was hacked by some blogger trying to make a name for himself. Hill is now embarrassed that people came across it, Barstool New York touched on it last week and it seemed like it took off from there. Sports by Brooks set up a nice video of different tweets he sent, and then explaining why he deleted his Twitter. C'mon Will, we all know it was you.

-Charlie.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

The college basketball coaching carousel has reared its ugly head once again, this time in the form of Billy Donovan leaving Florida for the Orlando Magic head coaching job. There are two moral questions here, the first of which is whether or not Donovan did the "right" thing by leaving Florida for the Magic job. The answer to this is simple: Donovan is free to take whatever job he wants. America is a free market economy, and Donovan's skills will be more highly compensated by Orlando. Case closed. The second question though, is where the waters begin to muddy: did Donovan handle his departure in a moral way? The answer to that one, is a resounding no. Donovan took a page or two out of the Billy Gillespie/Bob Huggins handbook with his exit strategy, saying just last week that he wouldn't be interested in an NBA coaching position, and also sticking around just long enough to sign Jai Lucas two weeks ago. When interviewed yesterday, Jai had this to say:

"That's a big blow, because you know, that's who I was coming in and expecting to play for. ..."

"It's kind of weird, because (Donovan) told me he wasn't going anywhere. But things happen, and I'm sure if he does take it it's the best thing he could do for his family."

There is the rub. It isn't wrong of Donovan to take a better job: it is wrong of him to mislead both the media and recruits. This development is especially dishertening in Lucas' case, as his prolonged recruiting process was a result of him trying to avoid this exact situation.

So now the question is thus: Can Florida hold together this recruiting class? This is not a simple question, as it depends greatly on who Florida brings in as their new coach, but it is indeed an extremely important question. With the loss of Noah, Humphrey, Horford, Green, and Brewer, the incoming freshman class is going to be relied upon to be the backbone of the 2007-2008 team and any defections could severely hamper any chance that the Gators have at making the NCAA tournament next year. The Gator's class has five players, so here is a quick look at each of their situations:

Nick Calathes: Calathes is the best prospect in the group, an athletic guard that can play both the 1 and the 2. He also happens to be the recruit most certain to stay, as he has had an oral committment with Florida since his sophmore year and is a Florida native.

Chandler Parsons: Parsons, a 6-8 small forward with a good shooting touch, will probably follow Calathes lead. Parsons is also an in state recruit, and it is very unlikely that he would jump ship.

Alex Tyus: Tyus is a power forward, more in the Noah mold than the Horford mold. He is from Ohio, and there is some speculation that he might reopen his recruiting. Tyus was also offered scholarships at Arizona, Illinois, Kansas, Miami, Ohio State, and Washington.

Adam Allen: Allen is the least highly regarded recruit of the class, a shooting guard and a Florida native. He was qouted in a New York Times article as saying that he would likely stay with Florida since they were leaning towards hiring VCU coach and former Florida assistant Anthony Grant. Speaking of Grant, Allen said "He’s a great coach and I have a lot of respect for him". If Florida gets Grant, Allen stays.

Jai Lucas: Now here my friends, is where the plot thickens. Lucas would fill the Gator's need at point guard, and allow Calathes to play out on the wing. If Lucas were to leave, it would put Florida in a very bad point guard situation and also might influence Tyus to depart. If Lucas were to leave, it would seem that the obvious choice for his next destination would be Kentucky. Kentucky is in need of a point guard as well, and Lucas would join an extremely talented recruiting class featuring blue chip prospects Patrick Patterson and Alex Legion. Lucas' father has been quoted as saying that Jai will "see who the new coaches are and re-evaluate the situation".

So how is this going to pan out? Will it be a replay of the Kelvin Sampson situation when he departed Oklahoma? It seems to me that the dominoes all begin in one spot: Richmond, VA., and more specifically VCU's campus. If Anthony Grant signs on quickly then Florida will likely be able to hang on to at least four of their recruits if not all. (Lucas being the lone defection in that scenario) Now, there is a somewhat unsettling quote in the New York Times article:

“I am just so excited about what we were doing here,” Christina Grant said in a telephone interview. “To move, it just wouldn’t ... ” She paused. “I feel tight right now. We have so much to do here.”

So what if Grant did not take the job? That is the doomsday scenario for Gator fans, as they would then be facing a future where they could lose two to three of their recruits and be looking at the very real prospect of missing the NCAA tournament next season. So how will things play out? Nobody knows for certain, but is likely that the coaching situation, and as a result the recruit situation, will be resolved before the end of next week. Until then, the eyes of Gator nation will be on Richmond.