Sadly, there are only 3 more basketball games left of the madness. But there is still over 2 days until we get back to watching the National Semifinals. So, the Lunatic is restless – he wants basketball to rant about – he needs basketball to rant about. And time is running out. So here is an extremely random rant.
There is still basketball being played – but to be honest I haven’t been as interested in it. But these teams do deserve a lot of honor for what they have accomplished in March. So – here is their brief moment.
- Congratulations to TCU – the winner of the NIT tournament. The Horned Frogs headed to Madison Square Garden, beat Central Florida in the semi-finals on Tuesday, and finished off Georgia Tech tonight in the Finals. Congratulations also go out to Georgia Tech, UCF, and CSU-Bakersfield (as an 8 seed) for making the NIT Final Four!
- The CBI finishes off its final on Friday – it has a unique best 2 out of 3 final. Coastal Carolina won at home on Monday by 10, but Wyoming won at home on Wednesday by 24 – so Friday’s game in Laramie, Wyoming between the Chanticleers and Cowboys will be for all the marbles.
- Friday will also be the final for the CIT – which will be between Texas A&M – Corpus Christi and Saint Peter’s
I noticed on ESPN’s site, that Mississippi State’s women’s team – who beat Baylor in overtime to make it to the Women’s Final Four have a cool tidbit. They will boast the first ever father – daughter combo at the Final Four – as coach Vic Shaefer will lead the Bulldogs, including his daughter Blair. There reward is unfortunately a date with Connecticut – so they have the daunting task of trying to do what 111 teams prior to them have not been able to do – beat the Huskies.
South Carolina’s men’s team is not the only team still dancing – the Gamecocks are sending both their men’s and women’s team to the Final Four. And while the men’s might have been a little bit of a surprise, the women’s definitely was not as they were their region’s #1 seed. They will go against #2 Stanford to see if they can get the right to lose in the championship to UConn. This is nothing against them – they are a great team. But the Huskies are so dominant right now, it is hard to imagine them losing at this point.
Back to the NIT for a second – how much does this say about the bubble teams that missed the tournament. They were given home field advantage to make it to the semi-finals in New York – and none of them could get there. Cal lost their first round game to CSU-Bakersfield, Syracuse lost their second round game to Ole Miss, Iowa lost their second round game to TCU, and Illinois State lost their second round game to UCF. Just another reminder of the fact that the Selection Committee got it right. While I understand that it has to be heartbreaking to just miss the tournament, and some teams were dealing with injuries, it is hard to believe these bubble teams would have gone far if they couldn’t win three home games against other teams who just missed the tournament.
Have to give my quick reaction / comments to the insanity of LaVar Ball – many have been commenting about how it is ridiculous about how much pressure he is putting on his sons. I even heard on the radio today that they think more parents should be like this and push their children hard to be winners. But he has crossed the line with his comments. Lonzo Ball might be a great NBA player – but saying that he will be better than Steph Curry is just ludicrous – if he is that good, why wasn’t he able to lead UCLA to the Final Four (heck, even the Elite 8 – Kentucky knocked them out in the Sweet 16). Then saying he is looking to get a $1 billion dollar shoe deal over 10 years for his sons – to put into perspective, LeBron’s deal is worth $1 billion for a lifetime. Two of his sons are not even out of high school yet. But then he talked about how his kids are riding around in $100K BMWs since he saved so much money on not having to pay tuition. It is one thing to think your child will be great – it is another to be saying he deserves to be compared to Steph Curry and LeBron James. You have to earn your accolades – so far, Ball couldn’t even lead his team out of the Final Four or get player of the year honors. But then to ask for money for your high school sons and talk about how your kids are rolling around in BMWs is above stupid. So are you saying that UCLA has paid Lonzo Ball to play this season, and that they will pay for the younger brothers when it is their turn. He is basically asking the NCAA to investigate them for improper benefits – which isn’t smart. I love being supportive of your child, but lets stay in reality.
Many of you might have heard that Indiana has hired Dayton’s Archie Miller as their new coach. To be honest, all things considered, I think this is maybe the best possible hire that they could have done. While they might have thought they could, they were never going to get Steve Alford (UCLA), Scott Drew (Baylor), Chris Mack (Xavier) or Chris Holtmann (Butler) to leave their programs from other Power 6 conferences to take the Hoosiers’ job. So, you had to figure it would come down to Miller – who is an excellent young coach, or Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall (who probably would have been harder to convince with all the talent Marshall has coming back next season for the Shockers). So, you have to consider that a success for the Hoosiers. But as good of a coach that Miller is, he has not had to get the level of recruits at Dayton that he will need to meet Indiana’s requirements. So, you are counting on the Hoosier’s brand. In an article on ESPN, they talked about how Miller will focus recruiting from an “inside-out” approach, making sure they get the best talent from Indiana. So, lets look at the recruiting rankings. This year, getting the top Indiana seniors would be pretty awesome, as you could get Kris Wilkes (13th), Jaren Jackson (16th), Paul Scruggs (28th) and Malik Williams (29th). But unfortunately, all of them have already done early commitments. So, we have to go to 2018 – there is Romeo Lankford, the 3rd ranked junior in ESPN’s Top 60. Well, Miller better get him – because if his focus is on the top Indiana talent and he loses Lankford, there are no more Indiana players in the top 60 – you are not likely going to win National Championships without top 60 players. So, now you see what the expectations of Archie Miller are – I hope he is able to succeed where Tom Crean did not, but as talented as Miller is, the odds are not in his favor when his success might lie on a recruit that is likely to get offers from Duke, UNC, Kentucky, Louisville and UCLA.
OK – enough ranting for tonight. The Final Four is almost here…..