If you were involved in a high stakes NCAA tournament pool, and if you had to decide which #1 seed to take with your hard earned money, which team would you take? Here’s a few reflections on this year’s likely #1 seeds:
Alabama: They’re the most talented of the bunch for sure but a few things scare me. Of course there’s the fact that Brandom Miller (aka KD Lite) delivered a car with a gun to a former teammate and that gun was then used in a homicide. So there’s that. But there’s also the fact that the two times they had to play against teams that slowed em down (Tennessee and Texas A&M), they lose both games. Whoever they face in the second and third rounds will absoluetly slow the game to a crawl because everyone knows you can’t outrun or outgun Alabama. They don’t like to play half-court and when they do, they can be beat.
Kansas: Hard to find a real weakness here except that Bill Self is sick and McCullars has been dealing with back spasms and sat out towards the end vs Iowa State. If he’s not 100% they lose their glue guy which would be pretty huge. There’s also the repeat factor here. We haven’t had back2back NCAA champs since Florida and I don’t think it happens again. Then again, it’s hard to see anyone beating Kansas right now. They have great pt. guard play in Harris and Wilson is the best under 7’5 player in the country. remember the movie the Warriors, where the gang had to make it back to their home in New York? That’s the way I see the Jayhawks quest for a repeat title. And i see that female radio host’s lips pressed right up against the microphone as she says real slow and sultry like… ‘Word on the street is the Cyclones dropped the ball. Nice job Jayhawks. Real nice. But you’re not home yet Rock-Chalk. Ya’ll be careful out there. It’s dangerous in them streets.”
Houston: I have to admit, I’ve been following this team all year very closely. Back in November, I wrote a piece on my blog, The Bad Gambler, where I parlayed Houston to win their conference with pretty much anything else I could bet on. And, well, they won their conference. Easily. I also drove two hours with a friend to see em play Oregon and came away thoroughly impressed with Kelvin Sampson. Sampson is a total throwback. First, he wears short sleeved collar shirts tucked into velour sweatpants which is such a dorky grandpa fashion statement, it’s almost incomprehensible. Have you ever in your life taken anyone seriously who tucks a short sleeve collared shirt into a pair of velour sweatpants? I mean, how could you? It defies logic. But here he is, all 5’9 of him, stalking the sidelines, yelling at his players with his shirt tucked in and his sweatpants hiked up. It’s embarrassing for the state of Houston, it’s embarrassing for this nation and I love it. Sampson is like a less homophobic (I hope), more racially sensitive Bob Knight in that he doesn’t take any shit or accept any excuses from his players. He’s not afraid to get in anyone’s face and tell them they’re not living up to his expectations. The players seem to love it. They love being pushed and coached hard. More than any team I’ve seen this year, Houston feels like a real family. And family is important. The only problem is this particular family struggles to score sometimes. Like today they were tied at 17 against East Carolina with 4 min left in the first half. They only managed 17 pts. against East Carolina! What happens when they play an explosive team? You can’t defend your way out of a lack of shooting. And they’re a little undersized with Roberts only 6’9 if that. Still I love their pieces, their connectedness and their family. And Jamal Shead (aka mini-Will Bynum) may be my favorite player in the country. No one crosses you over or explodes to the rim like Jamal Shead. Plus, the FInal 4 is in Houston, whatever that means.
UCLA: UCLA and Houston are eerily similar. Both great defensive teams that don’t have great shooters. And both have angry coaches. Mick Cronin always looks like someone just mugged his mother. I would not want to go through the Chipotle line with Mick Cronin. He’d ask for more steak, say it wasn’t enough and then make the poor kids replace the entire steak bin. Other than the Chipotle line, the other concern is they lost their best defender in Clark and now their ‘big boned’ freshman, Bona, went out of tonight’s game with an injury. Can Jaime Jaquez really lead a team to the promised land with that throwback Bill Walton-esque headband? Seems doubtful.
Lean Houston.
