Saturday's Notes on March Madness


 * Boston College finally found their groove! After watching them play some great ball during the ACC Tournament I was shocked to see the team come out flat Thursday. In the first half the Eagles fed of Craig Smith had 16 points and 12 boards at the half while in the second half they switched gears and fed Jared Dudley and Tyrese Rice to take over the scoring load. While the Grizzlies tried to contain Smith in the second half the Eagles were happy letting Smith drop 10 points and Rice to bomb away from the perimeter (4-6 from behind the arc). If Boston College is able to continue to score inside and out they should continue to play deep into the Tournament.


 * With today’s win Boston College broke their “streak” of losing in the second round of the tournament their previous five straight appearances


 * Adam Morrison was ice cold shooting the ball as he went 2-13 to start the game. Despite the poor shooting by their star player Gonzaga was able to advance to the second round for the first time since 2001


 * Heading into this game Adam Morrison had attempted more free throws this season than Indiana’s top three scorers combined. Tonight a frustrated Morrison went 4-7 from the charity stripe.


 * This was my first chance to watch Tyrus Thomas and I was impressed with how the sophomore played. Thomas didn’t have great stats - 7 points and 3 boards - I was impressed with his ability to block shots (2) and his maturity. During the season Coach Brady approached Thomas and told the sophomore that he wants him to come off the bench because it gives his team a spark Instead of pouting about being a sixth man despite being a NBA Lottery Pick, Thomas has realized that he’ll get to play at the end of games and still play the same amount of minutes. We’re raising a bunch of spoiled kids who are worried about “getting mine” and it was great to hear announcers talk about Thomas being willing to come off the bench for the Tigers.


 * I want a mulligan on my brackets! The Florida Gators are tearing through the competition and should be able to coast into the Final Four. As this season has progressed Gators fans have seen steady improvement from Noah. Florida’s Joakim Noah finished the season averaging 13.9 points and 6.7 boards per game but if you look at his monthly averages you’ll see that the big man improved each month of the season. In November he averaged 9.3 points and 5 boards per game while in March he elevated those stats to 16.7 points and 9.2 boards per game. In Florida’s first two games of the tournament Noah has averaged 16.5 points and six boards but he’s also exploded for 10 blocks in those two games. Today he only played 18 minutes against Wisconsin-Milwaukee yet was able to score 17 points and swat five shots! While all of the talk heading into the Tournament has focused on Adam Morrison’s hair, Rudy Gay’s athletic ability and J.J. Redick’s scoring records I think it’s Noah that has become the most intriguing player in college basketball.


 * Throughout the Illinois-Washington game the announcers gushed over Dee Brown being a rock star around campus. Sorry to break the news to you Dee, but as soon as you missed the three that could have pushed the game into overtime you lost your rock star status and officially became a bum according to Illini fans.


 * Add another clutch shot to the March Madness collection! LUS’s guard Darrel “The Silent Assassin” Mitchell nailed a huge shot with three seconds left to lift LSU to victory over Texas A&M. Huge onions by Mitchell!


 * PJ Cousinard from Wichita exploded this afternoon for the game of his season. Couisnard was able to “Shock” Tennessee for a team high 20 points, 9 boards and 5 dimes (all above his season averages). You can add Couisnard to the list of great young player from Texas like LeMarcus Alrdidge, Chris Bosh and TJ Ford that are taking over the game of basketball.

Date
Sun 03/19/06, 2:47 am EST

Source

 * [HoopsAddict.com HoopsAddict.com]