The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board Because that's our custom

Let’s get into the thing no one wants to get into

March 16, 2011 by Mike Casazza

Officiating.

I contend the state of that craft was such this season that critics were ready to pounce. They got their opportunity after the gaffe at the Big East Tournament. The incident wasn’t good for the game, but maybe the outcry was. Many questions were asked of the entire operation and a lot of eyes were directed to what most believe is a problem.

Well, here comes the NCAA Tournament, which is where you really see some incongruity in games governed by three guys who may have never worked together before.

“Those are hard games,” Brigham Young Coach Dave Rose said. “There’s no relationship at all, and you’re trying to get some kind of interaction. Some are good by nature. Others are like: ‘I’m in the tournament here. My call is the right call, so leave me alone.’ But those are real issues, and I don’t know how you address them.”

The 98 top officials selected for the N.C.A.A. tournament are randomly assigned, which often means an adjustment for coaches, players and the officials themselves.

There is a chance that a coach will not know all three officials and that the officials themselves have not worked together.

And with seasons, coaching careers and millions of dollars at stake, a delicate process must be played out under intense pressure on college basketball’s biggest stage.

“You have to quickly know what you can and can’t do and adjust,” Fisher said.

As they say at 7:30 am … housekeeping

by Mike Casazza

We’re going to attempt a chat tomorrow at 10:15 am. The internet here is shaky,  and while I’ve had no issues, others have and it’s a matter of time until WiFi finds out who I am and curses me. That start time also gives us some wiggle room to go long, but also lets me get to my seat on time. Here’s your link.

Secondly, there’s still time to join the blog’s bracket competition that features a fantastic prize.

Finally, a small bit of news I’ve been able to confirm today. Brady Ackerman is no longer with the university/athletic department. Oliver Luck said Ackerman was brought in to evaluate and offer advice on WVU’s academic setup in the athletic department. What seemed like a long-term position was, according to Luck, previously planned to be only for a finite period of time.

UCSB is burning

by Mike Casazza

Noted smack talker, soccer antagonist, horse enthusiast and radio/television host Jim Rome is a graduate of the University of California-Santa Barbara. The Gauchos are in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 15 seed here and play No. 2 seed Florida. Mr. Rome has, perhaps in jest, warned the Gators. UCSB has heard, but is not affected.

Q. There’s been a prominent member of the media who’s an alum, who all week has been basically predicting the upset. Comments like that, is that something that you use to motivate your players, or are you worried that might put your undue pressure on them?

COACH WILLIAMS: Are you talking about Josh or are you talking about Jim Rome? Which one are you talking about? Rome Is Burning? No, it doesn’t put pressure on our guys at all. It’s actually something that our University loves. We love Jim Rome, we love the fact that he throws our name out and he puts it out there, and we think it’s great.

At the same time our guys, there’s nothing that puts pressure on our guys. The pressure on our guys is when you walk out and you see Florida at the other end of the floor and you’ve got to play against those guys. Guarding those two little guards who are the best backcourt tandem in the country in terms of off the dribble and using ball screens, that puts pressure on your guys, not Jim Rome saying that we’re going to beat somebody.

UCLA and Princeton meet again

by Mike Casazza

Fifteen years ago this week Gabe Lewullis and the Princeton Tigers escaped through the backdoor and stunned — stunned — defending national champion UCLA in the first round of the 1996 NCAA Tournament.

Oh, and you’ll never guess who was calling that game.

The Bruins and the Tigers are both here and Princeton is again riding the momentum of another game-winning shot. The Tigers get Kentucky in the first round and the winner, of course, meets the WVU/Clemson winner Saturday.

You should know, though, that this Princeton is not that Princeton. (Warning: Great lead.)

And so it is: WVU v. Clemson

by Mike Casazza

This is the view from my room — and to the left … you don’t want to see what’s to the right — and the trip from my room to the lobby is going to be longer than the lobby to the St. Pete Times Forum.

Continue reading…

Everybody in the pool

March 14, 2011 by Mike Casazza

Every year I’m asked why I don’t put a bracket contest up for the blog and every year I have no explanation and can only reply, “Maybe next year.”

Well, this year is next year. Say hello to the inaugural blog bracket competition. The best predictor wins absolutely nothing except bragging rights. I hope that entices you to join. Your password is brackets.

Also, you can keep your email private in the “options” tab. You’ll be able to see it when you look at the players list, but it will show up as private to everyone else.

No updates today. I’m off to the airport shortly, but will be back if he news requires it. UAB and Clemson play around 9 p.m. tonight on truTV. The Mountaineers will be watching and, truthfully, not buying into the fatigue factor for their eventual opponent.

“After watching UConn win five games in five days, I think the idea that you get tired playing a couple games in a row, it’s hard to look at it that way any more,” senior forward Cam Thoroughman said of Connecticut’s Big East title run. “It just shows you that if you get momentum and get on a roll, good things can happen.”

Can another so-so offense go oh, so far?

by Mike Casazza

Duke made a little noise last year by becoming the first national champion since Syracuse in 2003 that didn’t rank in the top 25 in scoring, shooting and 3-point percentage. Actually WVU, Michigan State or Butler — the rest of the Final Four — would have set the same standard because none of them were in, or, in all but one  instance, even close to those top 25s.

We understand offense isn’t as efficient or as exciting as it once was and we roll our eyes at final scores from the CAA and the Big Ten and wonder what the Pac-10 has that others do not. Still, numbers in those three key categories are down from where they were even a few years ago.

Which makes you think …

Continue reading…

NCAA gets it right

by Mike Casazza

The schedule for Tampa was just revised and re-released and the Clemson/UAB winner will now have the 6 p.m. press conference and the 6:40 practice at the St. Pete Times Forum. That makes a ton more sense.

Getting to know your first, er, second-round opponent

by Mike Casazza

The UAB Blazers (22-8) were a bit of a controversial at-large pick. A very healthy RPI was hindered by a weak schedule. The Blazers, even with the Conference USA coach and player of the year, a regular-season championship and the first-round bye, lost to East Carolina in the first round of the CUSA Tournament. And yet, they’re in and, truthfully, not a bad little basketball team.

The Clemson Tigers (20-11) were a little surprising, as well. Some were surprised they got in, but probably haven’t been paying attention. Others were startled they got in the play-in spot. The Tigers, once 5-4, didn’t have an RPI like UAB, but played a better schedule in the better conference and lost only to Duke, UNC (twice) and N.C. State (yuck) since the beginning of February. The fourth-place team from a BCS conference that took UNC to overtime in the ACC Tournament has also lost its past five NCAA Tournament games

To review

by Mike Casazza

Clemson and UAB learned of their NCAA Tournament inclusion and situations last night at around 6:15 p.m. Both are due in Dayton, Ohio, for on-site media obligations this morning. That session, which includes just the teams playing tomorrow, is from 11:20 a.m.-2:15 p.m. I’m not sure who goes when, but they’re definitely in that window. The teams practice in the arena and before the public, as well, and then usually go off and work on their own somewhere in private.

The Tigers and Blazers play at 9 p.m. tomorrow, which we know is more like 9:30. The NCAA provides the transportation, so I’d assume a plane will be waiting for them after the game, but there’s a media process involved there, too.

They’re not getting out of Dayton fast — the game likely won’t be a blowout and you know both teams will stretch it out as long as they can if they’re trailing late; the locker room has to be open for a set amount of time after the game — and they’re not getting to Tampa, Fla., very early.

Doesn’t matter. The winner is due again at the on-site media session/practice session Wednesday morning and is actually up first with the 11:20 a.m. press conference slot. The winner plays WVU at 12:15 p.m. Thursday on CBS. That’s quite a stretch for the last two teams allowed into the event.