AND it's the Final Four. I'm having trouble being patient; I can't wait for the Carolina game to start.
Both games should be good ones. I obviously like Carolina to beat Kansas, for three reasons, two of which - Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson - are almost obvious. I know Kansas is a good defensive team, but I simply can't see any college team stopping both of these guys. Lawson is so fast and has been so smart and great with the ball, and Hansbrough is Hansbrough is Hansbrough. Not only is the guy talented and determined, the shooting exhibition he put on down the stretch against Louisville demonstrated that he is also locked in.
The third reason I think the Heels will handle the 'Hawks is that this year's squad can not seem to be beaten. Call it resiliency, tenacity, focus, toughness. Whatever you call it, Carolina has that intangible working in it's favor.
Finally, I also wouldn't be surprised if Bill Self and Kansas are emotionally exhausted, and just happy and satisfied to finally make the Final Four.
All of those players and factors will add up to Carolina winning by 10, ala the win over Louisville.
As some of you know, I like offense over defense. So in the first game I'm going with Memphis, and betting that the Tigers' offense will eventually overpower the UCLA defense. It will be a close game due to Kevin Love and the poor foul shooting of Memphis (though they shot it very well down the stretch against Texas), but I see Memphis winning by 7.
Final Four Feelings
- For the third time in a month Sports Illustrated (if you count SI For Kids) has Hansbrough on the cover. That's how good Hansbrough is - he's oblivious to the cover jinx.
- SI keeps picking against Carolina. In their tournament preview issue their bracket had the Heels losing to Louisville, and in the new issue the sports magazine of record has Kansas advancing. Looks like another tough weekend for Grant Wahl.
- Nice column on Hansbrough in Tuesday's Charlotte Observer by long time columnist Scott Fowler. The lead is "There are many things to like about Tyler Hansbrough. But one of the most important is this: He pushes himself outside his comfort zone." It's an interesting piece.
Nats Notes
The Nats lost for the first time this season, to the Phillies this afternoon at the Bank, to end their 3 game win streak. Still, a 3-1 start is great for this team, or any team whose opening day starter is Odalis Perez. The Nats scored 5 in the first, but Jason Bergman could not hold a 6-1 lead and fell apart in the 6th.
Pretty Random Greek Note
Greece rightfully voted to block the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's entrance into NATO yesterday. The Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was invented by Tito after World War II to solidify a dubious claim to an area that should probably be part of Bulgaria; the modern Macedonia language is a Bulgarian dialect, and the area belonged to Bulgaria prior to the Second Balkan War.
Anyway, a number of NATO countries supported Greece including France. And this is the random Greek note: Prime Minister Nicholas Sarkozy, in speaking out in support of Greece, mentioned his own Greek heritage. One of his grandfathers, his mother's father, was a Greek Jew from Thessaloniki who moved to France to go to medical school.
1 comment:
Good call on the unnamable quality of this year's Tarheels. A friend that coaches college b-ball pointed that quality out to me earlier this year. He said he can tell whether his team will win or lose by the look on their faces with 5 minutes to go. The Tarheels always look determined, no matter how the ball is bouncing. Contrast this with say, Stanford or Duke, whose players get this pouty, victim-of-injustice look on their faces when things don't go right. Dorsey from Memphis gets that look too. Watch for it this weekend when the Tigers go down to the Bruins.
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