Five things we learned on Sweet 16 Thursday

2009-03-28T23:22:49-04:00

2009-03-27T02:13:54-04:00

2009-03-27T18:58:06-04:00

wyngate warrior

coraopolis 517032

34 wow, all these Pitt haters. Makes me feel good that this team is being talked about so much, LISTEN HERE HATERS A WIN IS A WIN!!!!!!!!! Pitt can look this bad all the way to detroit. 4848784

2009-03-28T23:22:49-04:00

mcaron

monument beach 308740

wow, all these Pitt haters. Makes me feel good that this team is being talked about so much, LISTEN HERE HATERS A WIN IS A WIN!!!!!!!!! Pitt can look this bad all the way to detroit.

37 pitt lost to the third best team in the big east. don't know if pitt should have even been in the tourney 4857200

2009-03-27T11:25:49-04:00

Cropper86

Seabrook 745339

I attended the Xavier-Pitt slugfest as a neutral observer, both teams played incredibly intense defense but the difference in this game were the officials. They repeatedly called a different game at each end of the floor....and even received a long bronx cheer when they finally called a foul on a Pitt defender midway through the second half. Furthermore, Blair was exposed as basically a one trick pony. He fights hard for rebounds, period. He can't get his own shot off no matter how close to the bucket he is. On more than one occasion he stood literally three feet from the hoop and couldn't elevate, nor move into a shot taking position. He merely jumps and gets his shot blocked. Of course he is a monster on put-backs, tipped balls, etc. but he will leave the Pitt backers disappointed in the next round (dizzying balanced team) as well as the team who eventually drafts him. As for the X men....they seemed to be on a mission in the first half (despite their missed opportunities) and won the Boston crowd over very quickly. Too bad the NCAA decided to take down every single Garden banner, remove the parquet floor, basically neutering the entire facility so much that when I walked in I thought I was in another dimension. Does the NCAA have that much money to waste in bringing in an entirely new floor for three games? And what is wrong with seeing the great tradition of years of basketball history hanging in the rafters during a ......basketball tourney?There is no argument which can persuade me that "cleansing" the Garden added to this night of intense college hoops. Simply put, I enjoyed watching both games but left with one additional sense that the NCAA is run by idiots.That said, Nova will kill Pitt tomorrow night while Xavier returns a large portion of their highly underrated program. I am now a X fan.

23 Doesn't sound like a 'neutral observer' to me. It sounds more like sour grapes from someone who doesn't like the team from Pittsburgh. You're proabably a Pats fan too who is still salty from all of the recent whippings that the Steelers have put on you. And to admit that you're now an X fan, lol. 4841231

2009-03-28T01:02:24-04:00

mcaron

monument beach 308740

Doesn't sound like a 'neutral observer' to me. It sounds more like sour grapes from someone who doesn't like the team from Pittsburgh. You're proabably a Pats fan too who is still salty from all of the recent whippings that the Steelers have put on you. And to admit that you're now an X fan, lol.

36 maybe if you actually went to a game (or does your mother lock the basement door) you would observe that Pitt is not only overrated, but posess 1/10th the class of an Xavier team. As far as introducing your Steelers, I could give a rats ass about football, though I fear they couldn't get their rings onto their swollen steroid laden fingers anyway. Pitt will lose to Villanova again. 4852313

2009-03-27T19:25:48-04:00

Memphanmalone

Hot Springs National Park 745543

35 I'm a Huge Memphis fan and I have had doubts all year as to how good this team really is. Simply because Memphis did not have the offensive talent to consistently play well. When Memphis is on they are as good as anybody. But they have way too many off days to make it to the final 4. And to the KU guy, Memphis would love to be in a better league. In fact, Conf USA used to be as good a BBall conference as there was. But the Big East expanded and took all the good teams except Memphis out of the league. Memphis cannot make UAB, Tulsa and Houston play better. But next year we will have the offensive talent to carry us to at least a good shot at the finals. Why does KU hate Memphis anyway. We have only played once and KU won. What gives? Calapari is not going to Kentucky. It would take him years to rebuild the program and Memphis already has signed 2 of the top 3 recruits for next year and have a very good chance of landing the top remaining recruit. 4848950

2009-03-27T18:58:06-04:00

wyngate warrior

coraopolis 517032

34 wow, all these Pitt haters. Makes me feel good that this team is being talked about so much, LISTEN HERE HATERS A WIN IS A WIN!!!!!!!!! Pitt can look this bad all the way to detroit. 4848784

2009-03-27T07:19:01-04:00

wammy

Bellville 53223

1 Xavier should have won the game easily if they make their bunny shots. They missed about 8 point blank layups in the first 5 minutes of the second half. Both teams shot poorly, but Xavier TRULY shot poorly, Pitts defense wasn't to blame. On the other hand, Pitts poor shooting preformance was due to Xavier's in your face defense and shot blocking ability. Blair's big second half surge can be attributed to an officiating crew that clearly wanted the big man to remain in the game. Everyone knows his rep for getting in foul trouble and it was evident in his style of play once again last night. He should have easily fouled out by the 13 minute mark of the second half. Even the CBS announcers were describing his over the back fouls on some of his rebounds, not to mention the ticky-tack fouls called on Xavier that were not called on Pitt. The "ticky-tack" was a direct quote from the CBS announcing crew covering the game. If Xavier shoots their season average they win by double digits with or without the poor officiating, plain and simple! Pitt didn't beat Xavier...Xavier beat Xavier! 4837223

2009-03-27T18:13:02-04:00

joepnthr

Fairfield 745552

Xavier should have won the game easily if they make their bunny shots. They missed about 8 point blank layups in the first 5 minutes of the second half. Both teams shot poorly, but Xavier TRULY shot poorly, Pitts defense wasn't to blame. On the other hand, Pitts poor shooting preformance was due to Xavier's in your face defense and shot blocking ability. Blair's big second half surge can be attributed to an officiating crew that clearly wanted the big man to remain in the game. Everyone knows his rep for getting in foul trouble and it was evident in his style of play once again last night. He should have easily fouled out by the 13 minute mark of the second half. Even the CBS announcers were describing his over the back fouls on some of his rebounds, not to mention the ticky-tack fouls called on Xavier that were not called on Pitt. The "ticky-tack" was a direct quote from the CBS announcing crew covering the game. If Xavier shoots their season average they win by double digits with or without the poor officiating, plain and simple! Pitt didn't beat Xavier...Xavier beat Xavier!

33 Spoken like a true loser 4848377

2009-03-27T15:31:10-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/744/865/thumb/skyline_20philadelphia_201024.jpg 1 VA

Maximus7834

Richmond 745525

32 I dont really understand how Pitt fans are feeling "DISREPECTED" By the notion of Villanova beating them on Saturday....If I remember correctly...Villanova DID BEAT Pitt this year. Also Villanova just completely annihillated two of the greatest college basketball program in history with UCLA and the mighty Duke. And the way that Pitt is playing right now, they better bring their A+++++game with Nova. Because the last couple of games, Pitt looks REAL suspect 4846096

2009-03-27T14:59:18-04:00

162

Lex from NorCal

San Francisco 14569

31 It's too bad there was only one good game out of four. Starting to look like last year's blah later rounds. Now I know XU would beat Pitt 6 out of 10 times. They're fairly even matched teams. Pitt's guy hit the big 3pt shot and their big man made a key steal to lead to a layup. XU must have missed a dozen point blank shots. 4845521

2009-03-27T14:23:15-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/218/862/thumb/whodey.jpg 4 OH

Royale with Cheese

Liberty Twp 219162

30 Couldn't agree more Jeezy. Whammy ate some sour grapes. If....If....if....if your aunt had b*lls she'd be your uncle. Pitt would beat Xavier 9 out of 10 times. Simple as that. They played a HORRIBLE game and still beat them. Bring on Nova. 4844897

2009-03-27T13:13:51-04:00

chiefsdm09

Fort Scott 687487

29 Just to highlight the fact that the second post was by a Jayhawk fan and i'm not suprised that they wouldn't give Mizzou credit for making Memphis look sloppy and not playing D. That's what Mizzou does to you, they make you look and play horribly on both sides of the ball and Mizzou made it look like no D because their the most efficient Offense in the NCAA's. KU will beat by 13 or more again by Michigan State and that's because Collins is no savior, he's a 10th man on an NBA roster, wait i'm sorry he's a "career" 10th man on an NBA roster. Face it Mizzou's a solid basketball team so swallow that and get over yourself!!!!! 4843463

2009-03-27T12:42:40-04:00

ssutto4

Cordova 24995

28 Missouri straight up dominated Memphis, and it wasn't because they were playing like "crap". Missouri's pressure D is designed to do exactly what it did: And that is having Memphis sucking wind from the 15 minute TO of the first half until the end of the game. Did anyone notice the fact that Memphis wasn't bricking shots, they were all coming up short. Free Throws, 3 pointers, EVEN DUNKS were coming up short. Memphis was tired. I am a KU Alum, and I know that no self respecting Mizzou fan will accept my compliment, but that was an utter beatdown. I think Mizzou beats Memphis 8 of 10 opportunities, because with the exception of Tyreke Evens, the entire Memphis team looked like they were pack a day smokers after 5 minutes of Mizzou's press. In my humble opinion, Memphis should never be seeded higher than a 4 until they play in a real conference. Congrats Mizzou. are you kidding?? no better than 4th?? Did they or did they not make the NC last year by dominating everyone?? this team is simply an enigma to all the BCS school supporters, they are simply better than almost everyone and that won't be changing for a while, so just suck it up and deal with it. they are on track to have an amazing recruiting class that includes the top SG, top PF, and potentially the top PG. tyreke can go pro if he wants, they won't need him next year anyway. While i agree that memphis got tired, they still nearly pulled off a great comeback, when Mizzou seemed to run out of gas in the second half, like the stretch from about 14 minutes to 6 memphis was running them ragged. so before you go anointing these guys as decathalon athletes go look back at that 8 minute stretch when memphis trimmed the lead by 18. Overall Mizzou played very well, Memphis didn't, and both teams need to work on free throws. and that's what its all about. 4842840

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/30481/fields.jpg" alt="Fields" width="298" height="500" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">As usual, Levance Fields came up big in the clutch. Damian Strohmeyer/SI</div> </div> 1. The enduring highlight from No. 3 Missouri's 102-91 upset of No. 2 Memphis will be Marcus Denmon's 65-foot miracle shot that ended the first half -- a heave best seen from CBS' end-to-end angle, with the Mizzou freshman releasing the ball from well behind the outsized NCAA logo at half court, and the ball arching over a backdrop of an eerily empty football stadium in Glendale, Ariz., before finding the bottom of the net. It gave Mizzou a 49-36 lead and added to John Calipari's misery, but the telling moments in this game, which ended his 27-win streak, might miss the highlight reel: Late in the first half, Doneal Mack front-rimmed a dunk; Tyreke Evans, who had been having an AAU-style field day against Mizzou's D, slowed down and caught his breath for a few minutes; senior warrior Antonio Anderson was subbed out for the first time and sat down, heaving. I didn't think it could happen, but the intensity of Mizzou's press exhausted Memphis, and the No. 2 seed dug itself a hole from which it was impossible to climb out. The assistant coach who gave us <a href="/si_blogs/tourney/posts/59425-sweet-16-scouting-reports-west-region">Thursday's prescient scouting report on Mizzou</a> said of guard J.T. Tiller, "He just doesn't ever wear down," and while Memphis did wear down, Tiller was an unlikely hero on offense, scoring a career-high 23 points despite averaging just 8.0 per game. The fact that Mizzou put up 102 on the <a href="http://www.kenpom.com/stats.php">nation's most-efficient defense </a>was the most-shocking development of the night, and perhaps the whole tournament. When I <a href="/si_blogs/in_the_paint/posts/44124-the-week-in-hoops?eref=fromSI">called unranked Mizzou a sleeper team</a> on Jan. 26, I thought it was maybe Sweet 16 good, but not this good. If it can run Memphis ragged, it is certainly capable of wearing out UConn and reaching the Final Four. The Huskies will only reach Detroit by surviving 40 minutes of <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/joe_posnanski/03/25/missouri/index.html">whatever Mike Anderson calls his attack now</a>. Regardless, it will seem like hell. 2. When tuning into Duke-Villanova, did anyone else get the feeling that, instead of watching a quality 2-3 game in the Sweet 16, you were seeing one of those first-round mismatches CBS never even returns to after halftime? It was almost as if mighty Duke chose to impersonate lowly, 15-seeded Binghamton, the Blue Devils' flustered opponent from the previous Thursday, while Villanova played as if it were the No. 1 team in the East Region. If anything, the game, which ended with a score of 77-54, was a statement about the power of the middle of the Big East. The league produced three No. 1 seeds but also two of the hottest teams in the bracket -- 'Nova and Syracuse -- as No. 3s, and No. 6 Marquette took Mizzou to the wire despite not having its point guard, Dominic James, for more than a few minutes of action. There is now a very realistic possibility -- especially if Ty Lawson's toe doesn't heal -- that we could have an all-Big East Final Four of Louisville, UConn, Syracuse and Villanova. 3. Levance Fields should be the spokesman for the <a href=""http://www.onions-usa.org">National Onion Association</a>. Pitt's stocky, stringy-braided point guard is not a great shooter, and yet in the final minute of close games of some magnitude, he becomes the college hoops version of Robert Horry, driving daggers into the hearts of the opposition. With 50.9 seconds left and Xavier leading 54-52 Thursday, Fields did his default space-creating move -- a dribble right, then left through his legs -- and hit an NBA-length, fallaway three. For this, Fields received the deserved "Early Onions" designation from CBS' Bill Raftery; 27 seconds later, Fields closed out the game by jumping Musketeers guard Brad Redford on a screen that had been disrupted by DeJuan Blair, stealing the ball and going for a breakaway layup. When Fields describes these moments, as he did on CBS after the game, he exudes a very Brooklyn-ish level of confidence that suggests he always knows he's going to make the big shot. This is in stark contrast to how his coach, Jamie Dixon, acted when he had his <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e56RL-fF7Jg&feature=player_embedded">Onions Moment in a TCU buzzer-beater in 1986</a>. Dixon's natural reaction was more of the "aw-shucks, I can't believe this just happened" variety, and included the line, "I didn't even see the basket." (That has to be one of my favorite college postgame interviews, ever. You can't watch that and not come away liking Jamie Dixon.) 4. There's a point at which Fields' heroics won't be able to save Pitt, though. The Panthers can't keep tempting fate like this. They've played poorly in the first half (and parts of the second) of every tourney game thus far, and as the competition keeps getting better, the margin for error keeps shrinking. As Blair admitted after Pitt's first-round win over East Tennessee State, "We're the type of team that likes to slow the game down and let the game come to us." If they think Villanova will squander an eight-point halftime lead as easily as Xavier did, well, good luck with that. The Wildcats are playing better ball over the past two rounds and should now be considered the favorites to reach Detroit out of the East. 5. UConn was judged harshly from its two losses to Pittsburgh, but against any team not named the Panthers, the Huskies have looked like national-championship material. The fallout from the potential recruiting scandal reported by Yahoo! Sports earlier in the week didn't distract UConn against Purdue. Center Hasheem Thabeet delivered a command performance with 15 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks. The player who matters most for the Huskies, though, is swingman Stanley Robinson, who could be the X-factor of the entire tournament. He re-joined the team midway through the season and was never a consistent force in Big East play, but he's been huge through the first three rounds, scoring 24 against Chattanooga, 12 against Texas A&M (while helping lock down Josh Carter) and had 10 and 11 boards against Purdue (while holding Robbie Hummel to just two second-half points.) UConn took a step back when it lost Jerome Dyson to a knee injury, but Robinson is finally filling the void as part of a bigger starting lineup.

Luke Winn

New York 4563 59501 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/30481/fields.jpg" alt="Fields" width="298" height="500" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">As usual, Levance Fields came up big in the clutch. Damian Strohmeyer/SI</div> </div> 1. The enduring highlight from No. 3 Missouri's 102-91 upset of No. 2 Memphis will be Marcus Denmon's 65-foot miracle shot that ended the first half -- a heave best seen from CBS' end-to-end angle, with the Mizzou freshman releasing the ball from well behind the outsized NCAA logo at halfcourt, and the ball arching over a backdrop of an eerily empty football stadium in Glendale, Ariz., before finding the bottom of the net. It gave Mizzou a 49-36 lead and added to John Calipari's misery, but the telling moments in this game that ended his 27-win streak might miss the highlight reel: Late in the first half, Doneal Mack front-rimmed a dunk; Tyreke Evans, who had been having an AAU-style field day against Mizzou's D, slowed down and caught his breath for a few minutes; senior warrior Antonio Anderson was subbed out for the first time and sat down, heaving. I didn't think it could happen, but the  intensity of Mizzou's press exhausted Memphis, and the No. 2 seed dug itself a hole from which it was impossible to climb out. The assistant coach who gave us <a href="/si_blogs/tourney/posts/59425-sweet-16-scouting-reports-west-region">Thursday prescient scouting report on Mizzou</a> said of guard J.T. Tiller, "He just doesn't ever wear down," and while Memphis did wear down, Tiller was an unlikely hero on offense, scoring a career-high 23 points despite averaging just 8.0 per game. The fact that Mizzou put up 102 on the <a href="http://www.kenpom.com/stats.php">nation's most-efficient defense </a>was the most-shocking development of the night, and perhaps the whole tournament. When I <a href="/si_blogs/in_the_paint/posts/44124-the-week-in-hoops?eref=fromSI">called unranked Mizzou a sleeper team</a> on Jan. 26, I thought it was maybe Sweet 16 good, but not this good. If it can run Memphis ragged, it is certainly capable of wearing out UConn and reaching the Final Four. The Huskies will only reach Detroit by surviving 40 minutes of <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/joe_posnanski/03/25/missouri/index.html">whatever Mike Anderson calls his attack now</a>. Regardless, it will seem like Hell.