The Past Five Days

Sorry about the delay. Finals week has been hell. I never want to hear about the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus ever again. In case you're wondering, there are two parts to it. The first states: Let a function f be integrable on [a,b]. Set F(x) equal to the integral from 1 to x of the the function f(t)dt for some x on [a,b]. If f is continuous at some point c on [a,b] then F is differentiable at c and the derivative of F(c)=f(c). The second part is far less important because you need to know that anti-derivative of a function before utlizing it. Anyway, that's why you come to this blog.

Much has happened since the O's glorious win over the Winthrop juggernaut that everyone and their dog was falling for. Now the same is happening with with UNLV. Who could blame the pundits for jumping on the Rebels? Tarkanian is a great coach. They are loaded with talented guys like Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony, and Stacey Augmon, and they might just go undefeated. Oh wait.....that was like 15 years ago? Than what's the big deal? Oh, that's right, Lon Krueger is their coach. You remember Lon Krueger. He's another one of those Mike Montgomery-Rick Pitino-Tim Floyd types who thought their semi-success in college could parlay them into being the next Red freaking Auerbach. He's some kind of genius, so much so that Oregon has no shot against the Rebs. Not to mention the fact that they also have Kevin Krueger. What's the only thing more difficult than matching up with one Krueger? Matching up with two of them! Let's forget that Oregon went 8-5 against tourney teams. Sure, UNLV went 5-2 but their tourney teams have combined for one win in the Dance while Oregon's have combined for 13. It won't be a walk tonight, but I don't see Oregon losing. Not at this point. They'll get throttled by Florida but not by UNLV.

In other news, Josh McRoberts is headed to the NBA. What has the world come to? The worst part is somebody is actually going to draft this guy. I am no Duke hater. I like Coach K and I respect the program so don't view this as some anti-Duke view of the world. McRoberts is a stiff. He is 6-10 but has no go-to offensive move, can't play the post-up game, doesn't rebound, has no range (which you would hope for from a big guy who can't play big), very little defensive give-a-crap....in short, I feel bad for whoever drafts this guy. Speaking of which, Draft Express currently has J-Mac getting picked at #18 by Philly. Wow, that's great for the Sixers. Now they'll have not one but two Shavlik Randolphs, except this one is going to cost them a first round pick. Seriously, if Billy King drafts McRoberts, he should be forced to stand naked atop the Rocky statue banging a skillet with a wooden spoon chanting "I drafted Josh." Come to think of it, anybody who makes that pick should be relegated to that fate. Anybody who wants Josh McRoberts need look no further than Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Jeff Green, Julian Wright, Corey Brewer, and Al Thornton as guy who could do McRoberts' job about 1000 times better than McRoberts. I can't wait to see J-Mac starring in next season's D-league all-star game. He's the next Pops Mensah-Bonsuh!

As expected, Rick Barnes completed his "Sabatoging of Kevin Durant's career" mission by sitting idly by while USC's second half lead grew and grew and grew.....and grew and grew to 17 before he had the sense to call a timeout. I don't have the gamelog in front of me but it basically went "Texas turnover, USC lay-up, Texas miss, USC lay-up, Texas turnover, USC three-pointer" for about 6 minutes. This whole time, Barnes has a terrified look on his face as if to say "I sure hope nobody notices that I'm doing a better job of tanking this game than the Milwaukee Bucks are of tanking the rest of their season." Seriously though, Barnes is an outstanding recruiter. He has had top 5 talent every year. Look at some of the players he has coached: PJ Tucker, Lamarcus Aldridge, TJ Ford, Daniel Gibson, Kevin Durant, etc. Give that kind of talent to Tom Izzo and he's got two titles. With Rick Barnes, simply put, you don't have two titles. At this point, the University of Texas pretty much recruits itself. Anybody who has been to Austin knows what I'm talking about. At this point, I would seriously think about going another direction if I'm the UT brass. Look at all the quality coaches jumping ship. Steve Alford to New Mexico? Tubby Smith to Minnesota? These guys are leaving plum real estate for a studio apartment. There has got to be somebody out there (Tony Bennet, Chris Lowery, Mark Few?) who would be willing to take a job with the Hook 'Ems.

I think it might be time the NCAA ditches the domes for regional finals. They are necessary for the Final Four but not for anything else. Anyone remember last year in Atlanta for the Duke-LSU-Texas-West Virginia region. That place was dead, half-full, and dead some more. Same for Minneapolis for Florida-Villanova-Boston College-Georgetown. Meanwhile, the environments in Oakland and DC were electric. How about this year? The best game of the tournament so far has been Tennessee-Ohio State, but the Alamodome was about half-full for the amazing last ten minutes. Some of the problems could be that a) Tennessee didn't have any fans at the game, b) all the A&M fans left after the Aggies lost, and c) the game ended past people's bed times. Those are all valid. Hey, another reason might be that the game was being played in a cavernous behemouth meant for football!! As I said, they need it for the Final Four, which, like the Super Bowl, will draw not matter what. But the regional semi-finals and finals don't need that much leg room. The atmosphere suffers, the experience suffers. If you don't believe me, watch the games tonight. I'll bet my bottom dollar that the Meadowlands will be alive and then some, while the atmosphere at the Edward Jones Dome will suffer because of the echoes from all the crickets. See if you can't tell the difference.

By the way, I like Florida big over Butler, Oregon comfortably but not in a blow-out over former Blazer great Greg Anthony's alma-mater, Carolina to have way too much talent for the Conquest, and Georgetown to stay hot over Vandy. Yes, I picked all the higher seeds. Sue me. It has worked out pretty well so far this tournament. Remember when I was giving suggestions for picking the bracket and I told you to not chase Cinderella and play it safe? Damage control? I was right. Just thought I'd throw that in.