Quote:
Originally Posted by jledou
Here's to 4 more good games tonight ... hopefully I can stay awake to watch my hawks this evening!
Rock Chalk!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DaBear
Get the box of tissues ready, you'll need em. 
GO PACK! |
And that's all I'll say about the game for now.
Last night's games, save for one, went about the way one may have expected. The Orange survive another headshot, for the umpteenth time this year. Ohio State just outmanned the Bearcats. The "good" Gators showed up, and took Marquette to the woodshed. The one shocker:
Louisville 57 - Michigan State 44 = One ugly, ugly game. Pitino's Cardinals were bad on the offensive end. Izzo's Spartans were just horrible. I have never seen one of Izzo's teams play as poorly in a big game as that. Yeah, my Heels blew them off the court in the final back in '09, but that was a great Carolina team that took advantage of some poor shooting by MSU. Last night they could not shoot, did not rebound, did not hustle, and pretty much did not even show up. This team should be relieved the season is over, for if not Tom Izzo would be running them to death today. Lord knows, he might be doing that anyway, even to the seniors.
The games tonight will round out the regional finals:
Xavier vs. Baylor = It is possible that Tu Holloway of the Musketeers will go off on the Bears tonight and send them shuffling back to Texas. If nothing else, the X-Men are tough hardnosed competitors. And me, I've been dissing Baylor all year as being overrated, with a good amount of talent that play together about as well as a yardful of spoiled kindergarteners hyped up on sugar, with only one ball between them. I'll stick to that, even though they have done a little better of late. But they do have more talent, and that should make the difference. I give Xavier a shot, if they play a near-perfect game. If not, Baylor could walk away with it.
Indiana vs. Kentucky = Tom Cream is the only coach who was able to beat Calipari's team during the regular season . . . and may be regretting that signature victory today. You just KNOW the 'Cats want some revenge for that, and the way they have played so far you also know they are fully capable of dishing some out. Yeah, I would personally like to see the Hoosiers knock UK out tonight, for a full fistful of reasons. Yet my expectations of this occurring are equal to my expectation that it will be over by the break, with Kentucky coasting to the buzzer.
Ohio vs. North Carolina = With Kendall Marshall almost certainly in a suit and tie tonight, it will be a different style of play for my Tar Heels this evening. The Bobcats will have an edge on perimeter speed, and may be able to utilize that to get open shots from outside. If they hit them, it will be a very interesting contest. If they do not hit all that many, it will probably get ugly for them very quickly. Carolina should own the glass on both ends of the court, so their outside misses may lead to 2nd-chance stickbacks. But you never know how a team will react when a key piece is missing. I'll let you know about 10 PM tonight . . . though I won't click "submit reply" until tomorrow afternoon.
N. C. State vs. Kansas = OK guys, I told you I'd get back to this one. I could see this one being close, start to finish, and I can see the Wolfpack losing it late and blaming the refs for it. They are talented, but not all that deep, and they are prone to get themselves into foul trouble. Plus, they seem to have a tendency to miss their FTs when it matters most, so that's why I feel the whistle will determine the Jayhawks the victors. And understand, this is not a Tar Heel putting down the Wolfpack, either as an ACC rival or due to some sort of "connection" between Lawrence and Chapel Hill (real as that might be). Plus you should also know I fully understand why they are so excited by this down in Raleigh. Not only has it been nearly 30 years since Lorenzo Charles put in that "pass" from Derek Wittenberg at the buzzer, with Jimmy V running around the court looking for somebody to hug 'way back in '83, but it's been nearly as long (1986) since they've even been in a regional final, much less a national one. I would not be shocked if they can harness the emotion and make it to one tonight, but I fear that they (like some here) may be looking past KU at another shot at UNC for a trip to New Orleans. Look past the Jayhawks at your peril, 'Pack . . . they were listed near the top of the rankings all year for a reason, believe it or not.
Can I go out now and have a quick smoke? I need it, for even if Jerry and the Bear are not getting nervous about their game, I'm getting a bit antsy about mine.
