Looking at the Sweet 16 and Elite 8

After a weekend of basketball, we are down to sixteen teams.

Except Arizona, the Sweet 16 is looking like chalk city.

This is kinda a bummer. It's always good to see some Cinderella still dancing after the weekend.

But, I feel as if there is VERY good basketball still to be played.

Let's take a look at the matchups.


MIDWEST

1. Louisville over 12. Arizona
-The Cardinals are just too much for a weaker Pac-10 team and the Cats have their dream come to an end.

3. Kansas over 2. Michigan State
-This has the feel of a thriller already. I think Kansas gets the edge though due to some great inside play recently.


EAST

1. Pittsburgh over 4. Xavier
- Sam Young is making a point. He'll be tough to stop and this team that lost to Duquesne earlier this year shouldn't be able to stop the Panthers.

3. Villanova over 2. Duke
- This one will be a classic. In the end though I think the Nova guards will make some big shots and squeak a win out in overtime over the very game Blue Devils.


SOUTH

1. North Carolina over 4. Gonzaga
- The Zags just can't handle the speed of Lawson. UNC in a blowout.

3. Syracuse over 2. Oklahoma
-While the Sooners have been playing great, I just like the Orange in this one. It will be close, but expect Devenbarf to make some shots late and send the Cuse on.

WEST

1. Connecticut over 5. Purdue
-UConn is just the better team. Purdue won't have answers for Adrian or Thabeet. Huskies cruise into the Elite 8.

2. Memphis over 3. Missouri
- Memphis is getting hot at the right time. This one will be close, but I see the Tigers (of Memphis) pulling it out.

___ ___ ___


MIDWEST

3. Kansas over 1. Louisville
- Don't know why I like Kansas so much. But I think they are going to pull this thriller out. The Ville hasn't looked great so far, and I think they'll struggle against KU.


EAST

1. Pittsburgh over 3. Villanova
- Nova is one of only four teams to beat Pitt this season. I think the Panthers get their revenge and knock off Villanova in a close one to go to the FInal 4.


SOUTH

1. North Carolina over 3. Syracuse
- The Tar Heels are one of the best free throw shooting teams in the nation. Syracuse is one of the worst due to Onuaku shooting around 30% for the year. That will be the difference.

WEST

2. Memphis over 1. Connecticut
- An epic battle. This one will be great. I don't know much about the Tigers this year and I might know too much about the Huskies. But I'm going to take Memphis in a tight one.

___ ___ ___

So, there you have it. My Final 4 looks like this:

Kansas vs. Memphis

Pittsburgh vs. North Carolina

Oh the Madness

My bracket is crushed.
I watched 10 straight hours of basketball today.

Nothing happens during the day games. Something about those night games just brings the insanity.

Pitt tomorrow. Let's Go Pitt!

Let The Madness Begin

The brackets have been released and it is truly time for the best playoffs in sports to begin. March Madness brings excitement, surprise and entertainment to an otherwise dull month of March.

Louisville, Pittsburgh, North Carolina and Connecticut all received the #1 seeds.

Here's a look at the bracket (Click to enlarge):



I'm gonna make some opening round picks here...

Here is my main bracket (Click it):




Now as the tourney progresses and my bracket is surely destroyed, I'll discuss the matchups. I will say that my Final Four seems a bit chalk, and I am tempted to change it to go all chalk. I don't know if Memphis is as good as the hype and I know UConn can play for real.

Another thing I don't like about my bracket is that my highest seed in the Sweet Sixteen is a 7 seed.
THERE WILL BE A DOUBLE-DIGIT SEED IN THE SWEET SIXTEEN.
My money is on Maryland, despite having to beat California and Memphis to do so.

In the end, I find it tough to pick against Pitt, so I pick them to win it all. Will this happen? Probably not. Pitt having to potentially play the top three teams in the ACC in a row is going to be a challenge, as well as having to play Tennessee or Oklahoma State. Even Xavier could give the Panthers problems.

If Pitt makes the Final Four, I think they will take on the Tar Heels of North Carolina. UNC seems to have the easiest path to the Final Four. I would have liked to have seen Pitt-UNC in the Championship though.

I think Pitt beats UNC straight up in that matchup because the only guy who can play as nearly physical as Tyler Hans is DeJuan Blair. Levance Fields is just as good as Ty Lawson in my opinion. When it comes to making the smart decision and hitting the big shot, give me the guy who got tasered. Sam Young is just a man and I feel is set to have a big time performance in the tournament.

The only thing that could really hinder the Panthers is the officiating. If it's called close, Blair and the Panthers could be in trouble. If we get to a PItt-UNC game, expect there to be blood. Someone might die down low.

More to come on the tourney... Right now though it's off to French class. Parlez-vous Go Pitt.

P-I-T-T Let's Go Pitt!

The Pittsburgh Panthers mens basketball team has accomplished a lot this season. They went 28-3. They were undefeated at home. They beat the #1 team in the country... twice. They ascended to #1 in the polls, a first in school history.

Yet, none of that matters. Sure, it all looks nice, and a probable #1 seed in the NCAA tournament will be a a big deal for the team and school. But if this team is unable to at least get to the Final Four, it's all for nothing.

Luckily for the Panthers, this seems to be the best and most disciplined the University has ever seen.

Many people talk about DeJuan Blair and his physicality and how it is a game changer, and rightfully so. Blair is a tremendous talent. He is undersized for his position at only 6'7, but plays much bigger. Just ask UConn's Hasheem Thabeet, who has eight inches on Blair, yet was handled in both meetings between the Big East rivals this season.

Asides from Blair, this team boasts, in my mind, the best small forward in the nation, Sam Young. Young's ability to take over games with his athleticism and versatility makes him the biggest threat right now going into the post-season. He can knock down the 3, or take it to the hoop for the jam. His 31 points and 10 rebounds against UConn on Saturday showed just why every team in the nation should fear Young.

Even though I think highly of Blair and Young, I think the highest of Levance Fields. FIelds is also undersized, at only 5'10. He doesn't have the physicality or athleticism of Blair and Young, but he has something better: intelligence. Fields may be one of the smartest players I have ever seen at the college level. His assist-to-turnover ratio is the best in the nation and he rarely hurts the team.

The 'Big 3' of the Pitt Panthers is something special. But the role players are definitely noteworthy as well. Jermaine Dixon and Tyrell Biggs are great players, especially Dixon, who is the younger brother of Juan Dixon. Off the bench, the Panthers are one of the strongest teams in the country, with talent like Gillbert Brown, Ashton Gibbs, Brad Wannamaker.

The problem for the Panthers is if Blair gets into foul trouble, as they really have no one significant to come off the bench for him. In the Panthers three losses this season, Blair has fouled out of two of them and had 4 fouls at the end of the other. Pitt needs Blair to stay free of fouls, while still playing physical if they want to win a national championship.

With that said, I see that Panthers making a deep run in the tournament, as well as winning a Big East Championship. Anything less than a Big East Championship and a trip to the Final Four should be deemed a failure for this team, because they are THAT good.

Guerin

Yesterday, the Penguins acquired Bill Guerin. All they had to give up was at most a 3rd round draft pick.



Great trade.

Basically, in the last couple weeks, the Penguins have received Chris Kunitz, Craig Adams, and Bill Guerin. Their point totals add up to 82. Basically that means one of these guys will get a point every game.

All we really lost was Ryan Whitney. Whits was a good talent, but he missed much of the season with injury and was never really able to mesh back in with the group it seemed. He put up 13 points in 38 games this season.

They Pens have thrived with a new coach, a new system and Chris Kunitz. I think that the addition of Guerin and Adams only helps this cause. Both guys bring some much needed grit to the offensive game.

This team is very good right now and I can't wait to see what they can do when Sidney Crosby comes back to the lineup. The Penguins are going to be a tough out for any of the higher seeds come playoff time.

The State of the Penguins 2

1. Evgeni Malkin is the MVP.
2. The trade for Chris Kunitz was a great decision.
3. Firing Michel Therrien took balls, but it needed to be done, and was a good decision.


With that said... this team has been a disappointment. Yeah yeah, I know, they aren't the team from last year. I get that. But with the, in my opinion, two best players in the NHL on their team, battling for a playoff spot is not acceptable.

I write this in the eve of the trade deadline, fully expecting to wake up to big news.

However, I am skeptical about what Ray Shero is thinking about doing here. The main talks have been about Staal leaving. Jordan Staal is a great two-way talent who is still very young and has his best years ahead of him. If he is traded, it NEEDS to be for a major talent winger who can be secured for at least a couple years.

Shero should not trade Petr Sykora at all. Do I even need to show the SCF Game 5 winner?

I really don't know if we should make too many moves here. This team is starting to click at the right time, and pulling the trigger on a shake-up may not be the right move. Although, it did work last year, and who the hell am I anyways.

In Shero We Trust... I think.


I am going to attempt writing tomorrow, as I will be hanging with my shoulder surgery-recovering friend all day.

-Right now though, I have some questions. I don't want to get bashed by anyone here, especially on The Pensblog, because I am a big fan of everything those guys do.

I am a huge Pens fan too. Even to the extent of spending many hours crafting a tin-foil Stanley Cup last Spring. I'm a former season-ticket holder as well, well my parents were. Wish they wouldn't have given those up... I love the Pens and always will.

But, I am having questions about our captain. Sidney Crosby is a great player, one of the top three in the NHL. But recently, he doesn't seem himself. He doesn't seem to have fun at all and appears to get annoyed easily. Also, his durability is coming into question for me. He has been missing a lot of games the last couple years, and I wonder if it's holding him back some. Sid doesn't seem to have that explosiveness with the flair of elusiveness that he used to. He doesn't go charging to the net while cutting through defenders, and has yet to have one of those "Wow!" plays that we have grown used to. A little more effort from Sid needs to be expected.

Hopefully I'm not criticized for this, but if so, oh well. It's how it is. I'm a huge Crosby fan, I think he's a great player, like I said. But he needs to show me more if he wants my vote as the best in the league, because right now he's being upstaged by a member of his own team, as well as his rival Alex Ovechkin.

I have a feeling that SId will prove me idiotic, as is usually the case and be big down this stretch into the playoffs.

-If the Penguins get the 8th seed or 7th seed, they will maybe be the dangerous team at those positions in NHL history and could even win the Cup. No joke. You know the NHL is wanting that Pens-Caps matchup in the first round.

I suck.

Yeah, I've been gone for a while. No one reads, sue me. School has been rough, and I have felt a lack of creativity.

But, I'm back, and I'm feeling good. I'm ready to tear it up. Watch out.

In my absence...



the Steelers won the Super Bowl. Those were good times. My life went nuts then. I took like a week off school, it was worth it.

I feel that I have held a lot back in the past on this blog. No more. I have no reason to play conservative, and if you have a problem with it, bite me.

Let's kick the tires and light the fires.