Thursday, March 18, 2010

Under Pressure

This kind of game I don't need. I'm not sure how LeHigh only warranted a 16 seed, but we made them look better than they are at times with our usual episodes of sloppiness. This game was basically a carbon copy of rounds 1 and 2 in KC last week.

I guess the biggest frustration for me was defense. Yes, we held them to a low percentage, but we fouled incessantly -- they got 21 FT attempts to our 10. Some of that was bad officiating, but we got beat on defense a lot, in the 1st half especially.

The Midwest looks less formidable now with G-town out, but it doesn't get any easier in Round 2. No. Iowa is another one of those Mid-Majors that make these early rounds so miserable for the top seeds; we got past "Bucknell" (Patriot League), but can we get past "Bradley" (MVC) on Saturday?

Anyway, hats off again to Marcus and Sherron for scoring, Cole for blocks, Tyrel for clutch 3s, Tyshawn for facilitating the break, and X for doing a bit of everything.

And what a Day 1 it was. I just watched Texas take a 6-point lead in OT, and started to think to myself that they could knock off UK if they play like this -- and then, alas, they choked it all away.

8 comments:

  1. Survive and advance.

    I didn't think back to last week. I was reminded of our Patriot League struggles against Holy Cross - a much closer nail biter in 2002. And in 03, i believe we beat Utah State by 3. So, it really don't faze me at all.

    I can't root for complacency, but there's no need to waste a perfect effort on a 16 seed.

    Survive and advance.

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  2. I'm with Chris here.

    And can I just say that as much as I love a punchy story, the AP coverage strikes me as simply absurd?

    "Lehigh made its fourth NCAA appearance a memorable one, stretching the nation's No. 1 team to the brink of disaster."

    I mean, what? Are you kidding? We won by 16! I fail to see how anyone was near any brinks in this game.

    Unfazed, ready for UNI.

    Rock Chalk.

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  3. Looks like I shouldn't have picked GTown for the elite 8, Richmond for the Sweet 16, and Wisconsin is looking like an unlikely Final 4 pick.

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  4. OK, I'll tone down the negativity. I also didn't understand the LJW headline today, "Jitter Bugged." (?)

    Maybe we'll follow the pattern of last weekend and play better each time out. I just hope our guys have more respect for the Panthers than they did for LeHigh.

    My first round has been bad, as usual. I do have Cornell going a long way, but I also had Siena, Notre Dame, Vandy, Texas, Clemson, Richmond, and on and on.

    Georgetown is a riddle wrapped in an enigma. I could have seen them giving us a tough game in the Elite 8, and I'm also not shocked that they imploded in the first round. I've seen both of those Georgetowns this year.

    Perhaps a good omen -- the Hoyas also missed their Elite 8 appointment with KU in 2008. Hopefully their replacement won't be as good as Davidson.

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  5. Damn, if Texas hadn't choked, the Big 12 would be undefeated so far.

    I don't know if OSU will be able to take down G-Tech, though. That one's starting now.

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  6. Hanging with 'em so far (Cowboys, I mean)...

    My bracket sounds a lot like yours, dgl, though I did go with the Boilermakers. Huskies came through for me too, which helped.

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  7. And today?

    I expect that big freakish looking Panther to give Cole some trouble, but our depth + our talent should make this one less than close. What say you, Lees? And is anyone else out there?

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