Tuesday, April 6, 2010

THE BALL IS DROPPED: I'm not the only one who wants Luther back next year. From Wikipedia (and sure to be edited soon):

Notable artists to sing "One Shining Moment"

Barrett was the original artist, but CBS has also broadcast remakes by Teddy Pendergrass (1994-1999) and Luther Vandross (2003-2009). It is believed to be the last song Vandross recorded before his stroke and subsequent death.[citation needed] A version by Jennifer Hudson was unfortunately used for the 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. It ruined an otherwise great tournament. Whoever produced the video in 2010 felt the need to show Hudson as if it were a music video, and it should cost CBS the rights to future tournaments if there's any justice in the world.

Great game and great tourney last night. As much as I wanted to see Butler pull off the upset, I was rooting for Jon Scheyer, who graduated from the same high school as I did, albeit, 20 years later. Scheyer will probably be a second-round pick in the draft and should he make a team in the fall he could increase the MOTT in the NBA to three.

And one last note, I thought the key to the game was Coach K's decision to have big Brian Zoubek guard Bulter's inbound pass with something like 10 seconds to play. Gordon Hayward was unable to get a pass off and forced to call timeout, burning the Bulldogs' last timeout, which would have allowed Butler to reset for their final possession following Zoubek's free throw miss. Love him or more likely hate him, Coach K knows a thing or two about the sport.

14 comments:

  1. girard312:15 PM

    Better yet, let's just get rid of the damn song. Seriously. It's 2010, and that song sounds like 1986.

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  2. If I didn't have money riding on it I would have been rooting for Butler. But I did and I won the pool I was in, so thanks, Duke!

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  3. I was going to post about this last night.  Let's kick it 1987 style instead:


    http://www.youtube.com/v/0LjU0VTNTb0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="170" height="140

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  4. Alex Gordon2:35 PM

    good stuff

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  5. Professor Jeff3:18 PM

    Alex: Agreed on Coach K's savvy strategery using Zoubek on the inbounds.  But here's another key play (debated ad nauseam this morning by Mike & Mike on ESPN radio): Zoubek gets the rebound of Hayward's first attempt at a winning shot and is fouled with 3.9 seconds left.  He makes the first free throw, putting Duke up by 2.  The question is, should he have intentionally missed the second free throw, as he obviously did (presumably at Coach K's instruction)?  Schools of thought:

    PRO: Intentionally missing the free throw means either that Duke gets a shot a rebound or (more likely) that Butler has to dribble halfway up the floor, with the clock running the whole time, simply in order to get off a desperation half-court heave.  Yes, that 3-point heave could beat you, but if you're playing the percentages here, it's the smarter call to clank the free throw and take your chances that you lose to a miracle shot.

    CON: You should try to make the free throw, in order to put yourself up by 3.  Yes, if you do that and make the free throw, Butler gets a chance to run the baseline on the inbounds, maybe even execute a planned play that sets up an open 3-pointer closer to the arc.  But the worst that can happen here is that Butler ties the game and forces overtime.  Why would you even think of leaving the door open to getting beat (in regulation) when you have the chance to close it?

    I can see both sides here (though opinion on Mike & Mike was running heavily pro-clanking, much to Greenberg's frustration, since he voted con).  Thoughts?

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  6. Fred App3:47 PM

    Putting Zoubek on the inbounds pass was smart, but hardly genius. Coaches have been using big men to guard the inbounds pass for decades (Red Holzman always did it with Phil Jackson). Besides, Ben Stevens countered by having Matt Howard inbounds the ball instead, which meant Hayward got the inbounds pass, which meant Hayward had the ball in his hands, isolated, with 13 seconds left, and a chance for the game-winning shot -- which is exactly what Butler wanted.

    Besides, you can argue that without the timeout, Butler had a chance to race the ball upcourt without Duke being set on defense, which is why Duke's man was so easily picked off and Hayward got a pretty decent look for a desperation half-court heave. I'm not sure that running a set play off a baseline inbounds would have gotten them a better shot.

    And I think telling Zoubek to intentionally miss was overcoaching. Why not have Zoubek hit the shot, then foul Butler before they could even attempt a three-pointer to tie the game? Isn't that a higher-percentage play?

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  7. girard313:56 PM

    You know what? "One Shining Moment" doesn't even work in 1987. Who at CBS greenlit that idea? Now I'm thinking Butler lost because they didn't want an insipid ballad to represent their season.

    Here's an idea: have the producers talk to all the teams in the final four and find out what songs the players listened to to motivate themselves during the season and come to a consensus based on that. But seriously that "One Shining Moment" crap has got to die a painful death.

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  8. girard313:58 PM

    By the way. did anyone else see Singler get floored going back to cover Hayward? Somebody nailed him but good. I didn't see who. It was probably the guy who wrote "One Shining Moment"

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  9. Jay G.4:02 PM

    I think Coach K did the right thing.  Let's say that Zoubek makes it, and Butler inbounds.  Of course, the clock doesn't start until the ball is touched by the receiving player.  I'd roughly estimate that the odds of hitting a 3 in that situation is around 10-12 percent.  While missing the free throw gives you the chance to lose in regulation, the odds of hitting a prayer from halfcourt or beyond (the shot Hayward got was about the best that could be hoped for) is probably at best 2-3 percent.  I'd rather have a 2-3 percent chance of losing than a 5-6 percent chance (assuming a 50/50 split for OT).  As for intentionally fouling -- while I'm generally a proponent -- the odds of screwing it up by fouling in the act of shooting or getting called for an intentional (admittedly unlikely)would be too high for me.  Great game.

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  10. Duvall4:23 PM

    Besides, you can argue that without the timeout, Butler had a chance to race the ball upcourt without Duke being set on defense, which is why Duke's man was so easily picked off...

    Well, that and the cross-check.

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  11. Scheyer wouldn't be a 100% increase in tribesman in the NBA.

    I'm guessing Jordan "The Human Dreidel" Farmar isn't the only current Jewish player in the league given that Omri Casspi of the Kings is Israeli. The site you linked needs to update, how hard is it to stay current with a headcount of Jewish players? Not like they're counting the number of players with tattoos (or number of tattoos on NBA players, that count would take a robust database to keep track of)...

    One might argue that playing for the Kings doesn't count as being in the NBA, but I think that's just a quibble.

    Speaking of former Bruins (like The Dreidel) Tyus Edney could have made it to the rim in 3.6 seconds...

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  12. Alex Gordon10:14 PM

    Forgot about him, but good point about the Kings.

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  13. bad dad9:20 AM

    I was so disappointed that O.J. Simpson was not in the Jew or not Jew database...

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  14. Reggae11:29 AM

    I thought the key to the game was that only 4 of Zoubek's 12 fouls were called.

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