Built Ford Tough

G'Town fouled too early there. They had the guy pinned in the corner. Should've trapped him instead of fouling.

Pft, that is nothing. In one of my brackets I have a Final Four team out (New Mexico) and if Georgetown doesn't pull a miracle comeback out of their asses, I have a finalist out in the OTR bracket. Scratch that, it is even worse than I thought now that I've seen the scores of the earlier games. I've probably got as many wrong as I've gotten right so far.

Haven't watched either of the last two games, but just by looking at the box score it is looking like Valanciunas is starting to come around offensively. It isn't just the fact that he has put up back-to-back 18 point games, but he is doing it efficiently. His touch around the basket was one of the things that I liked most about him as a prospect and there have been stretches this year where that touch seemed to completely abandon him. I don't know if it was because of confidence issues or what, but he was missing some real easy shots right around the basket that he usually makes. With his length and motor, he will be able to get 6 points or so a game simply by just being active around the rim and that seems to be the case over these past two games. Other than that, there is literally nothing that makes me want to watch this team. It really is a shame how much I've been turned off by this team. The only reason to even turn the game on is to watch Valanciunas. I

Lowe isn't "one of the best" he is, undoubtedly, the best. He is the LeBron James of basketball writers. The gap between him and everybody else is colossal. I'm really looking forward to seeing the second part of this that he'll be releasing tomorrow. This also gave a lot of insight into the behind the scenes friction of the Raptors. There have been rumblings for a while now that the coaching staff and front office, or, more specifically, Casey and Colangelo, aren't seeing eye-to-eye with each other and have very different ideologies when it comes to this team and this defiinitely brought some of those to light. The Valanciunas section being the most telling, but also the parts about Casey's love for long 2's instead of 3's and things like that. I believe Lowe is going to go into more detail about the discord in between management and coaching in his next piece. But yeah, this is one of the best articles I've read in a long, long time. Not only is it full of fantastic detail and advanced technology, but Lowe does a fantastic job of breaking it down to its fundamental parts that make it easy for anybody to understand, regardless of their analytical experience. Fantastic work.

Bo Ryan vs. Marshall Henderson is going to be glorious. I'm not a big fan of Gonzaga's bracket, though. It is going to be a tough to go through Pitt, Wisconsin and New Mexico/OSU. It is cool to see them get their first ever 1 seed, but I'd honestly rather have seen them get the 2nd seed in the East region than the 1 seed in the West. I still think Miami has the easiest road to the Final Four than any other school.

Mami is a 2 seed, yet based on soley on brackets, I'd say they have an easier path to the Final Four than any of the 1 seeds so far. EDIT: Just noticed that Oregon and Cal were 12 seeds and Colorado is a 10 seed. WTF? That is ridiculous. Although, Cal has a nice matchup against UNLV in San Jose.

Lol. UCLA gets a 6th seed and Oregon gets a 12th seed. That makes a lot of sense.... I thought UNC would get a 7th, but a Kansas/UNC rematch in the Round of 32 would be nice. That is assuming UNC gets by Nova, which is far from a guarantee. Michigan with a very, very tough draw as well. Their struggles to close the year really bit them in the ass.

Oregon a 12 seed? What the hell?

Getting underway now. Predictions for the #1 seeds? I think they go with: Louisville Indiana Kansas Gonzaga I'd have the same 4 teams, but I'd swap Gonzaga with Kansas.

I actually thought that Boynton 3 was going in when he released it, despite how awkward and off balance it was. It almost went as well as it rolled around the rim. Huge win for Ole Miss as I'm not sure they make the big dance if they don't pick up this conference crown. It is going to be fun to watch Marshall Henderson in the tournament. Now onto VCU/St. Louis. The way this has worked out has been fantastic. I've gotten to watch the entire UNC/Miami game, caught the last 4 minutes of the Florida/Ole Miss game and now the final 2 minutes of the A-10 Championship. I thought I'd have to choose one game and miss the other 2 finishes, but that hasn't been the case.

Good effort from the Heels but, ultimately, the more talented team won. There were some questionable calls that swung some momentum Miami's way, but, again, the 'Canes are the better team and that ultimately was the difference, not some suspect calls. Larkin took over down the stretch and put his team on his back. Impressive performance from him. Glad to see UNC compete like they did, though. I was sort of expecting them to lay over and get blownout like the previous games against Miami. Hairston and Paige were both fantastic offensively (Paige did really have troubles defensively with larkin, but Strickland did as well) but they needed more from Bullock if they were going to pull off this upset. So Miami locked up a 2 seed most likely. I guess there is a chance they bump Kansas and take that final 1 seed, but I don't think so. Where does this leave UNC? I imagine if they won they'd be a 5 seed, so this probably has them in that 6-7 range. Last I saw Lunardi had them projected as a 7th seed and I think that sounds about right. Maybe they steal a 6th seed, but I'd say 7th is most likely. Should be a nice finish in the Ole Miss/Florida game. Great 2nd half from Ole Miss with their season on the line.

2 straight weak foul calls on Hairston not only leads to 3 Miami points but, more importantly, leaves him with 4 fouls. Larkin starting to take over again. UNC just can't keep him out of the lane and it is opening up everything for his teammates. Kickouts to the perimeter, drop off passes in the paint or even mid range looks. If UNC wants to have any chance at coming back from this 5 point defecit in the final 5 minutes, they need to keep Larkin's penetration in check.

Shane Larkin is a lot of fun to watch. Unfortunately he is basically the single reason why Miami gained the lead, but it is still a lot of fun to watch him. That split of the double he had at the end of the half was ridiculous. Fun first half, though. UNC hanging tough down by a single possession, which is about as much as you could ask for at this point. They're going to need Hairston to continue his hot shooting, or have Bullock get going, to keep this game close and hopefully they can steal it at the end.

UNC off to a nice start agains Miami in the ACC Championship. In the previous two meetings, the game was already over by the first 10 minutes.

That move from Valanciunas is starting to become a nice weapon for him. He gets the ball on the left block, turns to face up and uses one dribble to the center of the paint and uses his length to just shoot the hook over the defender. It is basically his only offensive move at this point, though. Still nice to see the development of that hook shot throughout the course of the season.

Sunday in Toronto, obviously.

Valanciunas played about 2 minutes in the 4th! Progress!!! Best part of the game, by far...

Lol. Fields just launched a full court shot after the buzzer and drilled the guy moping up the floor right in the head.

Hey look Casey, you actually play Ross minutes instead of yanking him after the first mistake and he produces. I'm shocked!

Figured Kleiza can go 7-25 just as easily as Gay can.

WTF? I quickly flip the tv to the Raptors game after Burke got fouled and when I turn it back I see Indiana celebrating. I can't believe I just missed that ending, I can't believe how badly Michigan choked away that game at the line and I can't believe you give up a wide open layup at the buzzer. Wow.

Burke's finishing around the rim is suspect, but man, he is so good at getting into the paint. He is being guarded by arguably the best perimeter defender in all of college basketball in Oladipo, yet he has managed to shed him 3 times in a row and each time he has done it with a different dribble move. The first was a wicked crossover, the second was a nice change of pace hesitation move and the third was a nasty spin to his right. He only managed to convert on the second one, but it is opening up second chance opportunities for McGary and Morgan down low. 70-66 Michigan with a minute left and the ball, as well as the possession title. They win this game they get a share of the Big 10 title and the 3rd seed in the Big 10 Tourny. They lose it they get the 5th seed. Indiana wins they get sole possession of the Big 10 crown and likely get to stay in Indiana for much of their tourny. Huge stakes at play here.

I'm going to have to re-think this and change the odds to 50/50. Gay is out and Ross will be starting, so at least we know that Ross will play 1 second tonight. Anything more than that is too risky of a bet for my liking.

I never really thought about it until Kellog just mentioned it, but this game is absolutely huge for Indiana. If they lose this game it could be the difference between being the #1 seed in the Indianapolis bracket or being the #1 seed in a different bracket. These final 6 minutes could easily have Final Four implications.

Bargnani isn't playing because of an elbow injury so both Pietrus and Kleiza are dressing. What are the odds that both Pietrus and Kleiza play more than Ross today? Knowing Casey, I'll say 60/40.