I have basically said what I thought I needed to say about this year’s tournament, but as I was going back over my notes, there are a few things that have not made it to the blog yet, so I thought I would throw one more article out there. How’s that for a short intro…no B.S. Here are the final thoughts:
1. I Think Gus Johnson’s Act is Getting Tired Already. For starters, I love Gus Johnson. When he is doing a game, and it is getting more and more exciting with each passing moment, and he is getting more and more out of control with each passing moment…it probably does not get any better than that in the current sports landscape. But Gus, can you please reserve that kind of behavior only for moments that deserve it? When a team trailing by 19 goes on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 14 points with the other team’s 2 best players on the bench, we don’t need you acting like something exciting is happening, or even ABOUT to happen. Seriously, doing that kind of thing is not only starting to cheapen what you bring to the table, it is starting to grate against people.
2. Roy Williams is a Solid Division I Men’s Basketball Coach. That’s it. Sorry, but that’s all you get from me, Roy. You had a team with a legitimate shot at being one of the truly special teams in NCAA history, and you coached them to losses against Boston College, Wake Forest and Maryland. Granted, you had a little bad luck with Marcus Ginyard going down for the year and with Tyler Zeller being an absolute moron, but you absolutely do not get a free pass for losing to those 3 teams when they don’t even have one player that can start for your team. You will notice that I have given you a free pass for losing to BC in the ACC Tournament, because Ty Lawson was a spectator and you had already pissed away any chance at real greatness your team had. Don’t get me wrong, as a huge Tar Heels fan, I like that Roy has kept the magic going…I like the recruits he keeps getting (although an argument could be made that Dean Smith is about 95% responsible for every recruit that comes to Carolina)…and I like the assistant coaches he is able to attract. But I have never, not one single time in his entire tenure in Chapel Hill, seen him elevate a team beyond its potential. Not once was there a Tar Heel team that we thought had Sweet Sixteen potential and he took them to the Final Four. Sure, it’s kind of difficult when you have Final Four potential just about every year, but can we please stop treating this guy like he is one of the top coaches ever? He just took a team that could have easily been regarded as one of the best 3 or 4 teams in NCAA history and turned them into just another National Champion.
3. I am Starting to Turn the Corner on Tom Izzo. Michigan State exceeded their ceiling under the guidance of Tom Izzo. The mere fact that this happened during the 2008-2009 season puts Tom Izzo on a better “historically great” footing than Roy Williams. I think Izzo might just be the real deal. Anyone who has been following the blog knows that in order for me to think a coach is the real deal, he has to elevate his team on a regular basis…not merely meet expectations but exceed them. And that is EXACTLY what Michigan State did this year. I am not ready to put Izzo up there with the all-timers yet, but I am suitably impressed with his coaching this year. To add to his legacy even more, some of his former assistants are starting to make some noise. Look at what Tom Crean has done and continues to do. Everyone knew it was going to be a down year for Indiana, but no one knew how bad until the roster started to take shape…a member of the Indiana baseball team, an equipment manager, and a couple of guys that I think I recognized from my local pickup game Sunday mornings at the Indy JCC were all getting minutes as the season progressed. That team went 1-17 in conference and was competitive in a lot of those games, and they never quit or gave up on one single game along the way. Crean is a good one…and if he continues to coach his players to exceed their capabilities year after year, he will one day be mentioned with the all-time greats, like I think his mentor Tom Izzo might be as well, based on his performance and the performance of his team this year.
That’s it. Just a few thoughts that were swimming around my head at one point during the last few weeks of the college basketball season, at least enough so that I thought enough to write them down.
There you have it. My NCAA notepad for the 2008-2009 season is officially empty. Well, I think I feel a blog post coming on that is kind of a cautionary tale to Kentucky about their recent hire. They can ill afford any kind of violation or investigation, and the NCAA is going to send a message very soon that they are going to come down hard on people that bend the rules.
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