WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

“I think our guys learned tonight that nobody is going to be intimidated by you just because you’re 19th in the country, you’re feeling good about yourself and you’re playing in front of a great home crowd. Doesn’t mean jack unless you bring it, and we didn’t bring it from the get-go and that’s my fault as a coach.” –Tad Boyle

SUNDAY’S SHOOT-AROUND

I watched a ton of college basketball on Saturday; 12 hours worth.  Not to mention highlights from many other games not included in my cable subscription.

Yes, I’m a junkie.

I need my fix.

I love this game.

This is a great time of year if you’re a basketball fan.

The first game started in the morning, 11:30 to be exact; how great is that? Memphis and Marshall in the Conference USA finals. The Tigers ran away with this one 83-57; their second straight Conference USA tournament championship.

Geoff Calkins of the Commercial Appeal on Josh Pastner’s crew that have really come together this season. They have won 20 of their last 23 games.

CBS went a little “ESPN-ish” on us yesterday during the game. They tracked ‘Demonstrative Reactions’ between Pastner and Marshall head coach Tommy Herrion. Come on CBS, no reason for this nonsense. Every coach has their own personality.

With the way the Tigers were running the lanes yesterday and all the breakaway dunks they threw down, Memphis reminded me of the University of Houston from back in the early 80′s when they squared off with Louisville in the NCAA tournament.

Second game was Michigan State and Wisconsin in a Big Ten semi-final game in Indy.

Joe Rexrode of the Lansing State Journal on the Spartans third straight win this year over the Badgers.

Third game of the day was the other Big Ten semi-final, Ohio State and Michigan.

Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press on OSU’s 77-55 win over the Wolverines.

There was an official in the game who is also an NFL referee, Gene Steratore. Steve Kerr, CBS analyst made it a point to note Gene’s impressive physique. Dude’s in great shape.

Spartans and Buckeyes for the Big Ten conference tournament championship today. The teams split this season; both winning on the road.

Jeff Mills of the News and Record on Florida State’s win over Duke yesterday to advance to the ACC finals today against North Carolina.

The Columbia Missourian on Missouri and Baylor; which was an all-out up and down game. These cats were flying downhill making plays all night. Bob Knight was on the call for ESPN He came up with some great stuff. Loved the shot of him licking an ice cream cone during the game. Knight had some solid defensive nuggets too for all the young players out there; ”The brain can’t handle the mistakes the hands make on defense.”

Howie Stalwick of the Olympian.com on the Colorado Buffalos, who the media picked to finish tied for 10th in the pre-season. Tad Boyle’s team beat Arizona yesterday in the Pac 12 conference tournament. The Buffalos won 4 games in 4 days to reserve their spot in the big dance for the first time since 2003.

Tom Withers of the AP on Ohio U and Akron; they squared off in Cleveland last night in the MAC Championship. John Groce, head coach at OU is a good guy. The Bobcats pulled it out. Groce, a math major from Taylor University went with the numbers in this one at the end of the game; up 3 he decided to foul while on defense, it worked.  Bob Wischusen play-by-play guy for ESPN worked the game…dude does a solid job but he needs to brush up on his CAA and America East member schools.

USA Today on Pat Knight at Lamar; they won their 1st Southland title since 2000; Knight’s team finished 6-0 after his press conference rant.

Cesar Davilla of the New Mexico Daily Lobo on Steve Alford and his Lobo’s. – Alford’s team beat San Diego State yesterday to capture the Mountain West Conference tournament.

Then we had Louisville and Cincinnati from Madison Square Garden.

Jim O’Connoll of the AP on the game and a classic line I heard last night from Jay Bilas of ESPN who was working the game, ”Move the ball from one side of the floor to the other, you have a better chance to score…”

From a friend on Twitter about the game; @ktorch14: Good news…I fell asleep during that awful #BigEast Champ game. Bad news…its 4am and now I’m wide awake.

Patch.com on the Nightcap; UCSB and Long Beach State. Dan Monson has done a great job in Snoop’s old stomping grounds. At one point the game was wild…on one sequence guys were not getting back on defense, barely making it past half-court. But an entertaining game no less. Kudos to Jeff Goodman. In his pre-season preview for the Sporting News he had Long Beach and UCSB 1-2 in the conference.

Great move by ESPN having Fran Fraschilla in-studio breaking down games. Speaking of in-studio guys, Dan Dakich said Baylor is the most talented team in the country. Has he not seen Kentucky this year?

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