Saturday, March 24, 2007

Ghost Ridin' All The Way To The ATL.

UCLA 68, Kansas 55 - Arron Afflalo and Darren Collison have effectively punched their lottery tickets for next year's NBA draft, if they choose to redeem them after the season is over -- Afflalo in particular, who had a habit of not playing up to his skills in big games, had a big game when the Bruins needed it, and UCLA needs to make sure to lock up Ben Howland with an extension, because any coach that gets a team to back to back Final Four appearances is one who will win a championship, and needs to be shown the money. Tons of steals in this game, most of them from Kansas' Mario Chalmers.

Ohio State 92, Memphis 76 - Guess Joey Dorsey's smack talking about Greg Oden's lack of skills was hot air. Dorsey didn't score, and Oden put in 17 and 9 (not dominating, but needed) to contribute to OSU winning the South Regional. I'm still convinced that Thad Matta went down to the crossroads and got down on his knees, but it's working.

Predictions for tomorrow:
Georgetown over UNC. I'd love to see a Hibbert vs. Oden matchup, wouldn't you?
Oregon over Florida. Despite most of my predictions biting the dust post Sweet 16, I'm going to stick with this one and take the U. of Nike.

4 comments:

Sami Ghazi said...

It's amazing that Ben Howland's name doesn't come up more when talking about best coaches in college basketball. Two final fours in a row - not many have done that

twins15 said...

I don't think Howland will be going anywhere anytime soon. This is his dream job, and I have to imagine UCLA will be taking good care of him. What a coach.

As for Afflalo, I obviously love the guy, but I think he's still a fringe first rounder. He doesn't have a great deeper shot, and he's kind of a streaky shooter. He is a great midrange shooter and defender though. Of course, this could be my trying to convince myself that he and Collison will stay. That would be awesome. :)

rstiles said...

How come there are 2 sets of rules concerning Greg Oden...it is okay if the beast levels an opponent, but if someone fouls him hard, they are called for an intentional foul...

What's the deal???????

Signal to Noise said...

stiles - let's not start on the refs in the tourney again. I fail to see how all those Oregon players got all those ticky-tack fouls. Different referee set for Oden, I'm guessing. Like the NBA, some teams and players get calls others wouldn't.

I can't be the only one who thinks UCLA has a good shot at avenging their loss last year to Florida come next week.