On to the Sweet Sixteen and a date with the hometown Texas A&M Aggies. Of course, we’re all on edge to hear exactly how badly that sprained ankle of CDR’s is (at last report Monday morning it was characterized as a mild to moderate sprain which sounds good enough to play). Even without Douglas-Roberts, on a neutral floor at least, the Tigers would be the better team going in. Of course, when you’re playing a Sweet Sixteen game at home, well, I’ve made my comments on this. Regardless, the Tigers are still getting no credit. In fact, for next year’s Tiger Basketball posters, I say drop the team concept and just put a big old photo of Rodney Dangerfield and leave it at that. I don’t mind the not getting any credit, what I mind is the complete shrugging off of this team. In the studio, everyone is ready to write them off but as soon as the ball tips (and maybe this is because Billy Raftery and Verne Lundquist were calling the first two games and no one knows college basketball better than Raftery) and the Tigers let loose on their opponents, the team is really tough to beat. I’ll get to more about this subject later on in the column. For now, let’s look at a few of the things not being covered about this team.
We all know that 24 means one thing- as in how many straight games has the U of M won. That’s incredible and yet in gets relatively no ink outside of Memphis. Yes, it’s mentioned in every recap after the game, but how about a little credit for winning that many in a row. It’s not easy. Even if the Tigers played in the Sunbelt Conference, it would be tough. We’re not asking for much, but throw us a friggin’ bone every so often. To wit- "I've never coached in an NBA game, but from what I have watched of them it looks like we will be playing one on Sunday," Fox (Nevada’s coach) said after his team's 77-71 overtime victory against Creighton in the first round. Thanks Coach Fox. Thanks for recognizing what the experts couldn’t. Almost all of them.
By the way, how is crow best served?
If you want to know, please direct all emails to Seth Davis at CBS and Sports Illustrated. He has some superb recipes. Hey, when you get to practice at something that much, you’re probably going to turn out good at it. Well, unless your specialty lies in the NCAA brackets and picks. Don’t worry, Seth, I’ve got more for you down a little further. (Soon to be started- effsethdavis.com)
Good to know that Verne Lundquist didn’t bring up the Tigers foul shooting woes in the first two games. I can’t remember someone becoming so mum on a subject. I hope you can feel the sarcasm coming out of the screen as Verne only brought it up 3,873 times in a combined 80 minutes of basketball. Good on ya, Verne. To be honest, though, he was reporting the facts. Maybe he didn’t need that pile driver to get the point across, though.
I am now going on record to say that Billy Raftery should be contractually obliged to call every college basketball game. I know it would be tough, but Raftery’s got it in him. His call of Dorsey in the post late in the Nevada game was one of the great calls of the Tigers season and one of the funniest for Tigers fans. I couldn’t write it down due to continued laughing but it went something like this:
“Look at the guy, he’s a beast in the post…just eats up space…you gotta pay that guy rent down there!” If anyone can remember it better, please post it.
Along those same lines, can we, as Memphis fans, take up a collection plate and get Raftery to call all Memphis games? Is this possible?
By the way, it’s always a Dre Day. Here’s hoping that he comes out with a bleached blonde Mohawk for the A&M game. Who else could bring Wesley Snipes in Blade off the bench?
Calipari has done something all year that I’ve questioned. When given the chance to go for two for one’s late in the first half, he has pulled in the reins and kept the ball for one shot. I don’t understand it and if I get the chance, I’ll ask him about it and post it here, but it has happened too much to just be a coincidence.
My Uncle Glenn had this to say: “Who woke Robert Dozier up before the Nevada game?” I don’t know, but I’ve always seen Dozier’s contributions as much more than the stats. The offense, defense and the press run through him as well as cuts and picks. But, when he’s aggressive, as he was the entire game against Nevada and most of the game against North Texas, he’s a complete beast. The spinning layup/dunk move he had down the lane in the Nevada game was an NBA All Star move. The more he trusts his shot and the need of this team to get him involved the better this team will be. In fact, if Dozier becomes that kind of force in the Regionals, we’ll be making the trek to Atlanta.
On a completely unrelated note, I have tallied up my weekend and it goes like this:
46 hours watching basketball.
50 hours doing everything else.
Yikes!
And yes mother, my eyes are now square.
The Tigers have yet to unleash a real game yet. I think they played at about 80-85% efficiency on Sunday. If they can put together one of those three game runs we’ve seen this year, it will be hard for anyone to stay with this team.
It bears repeating: the Tigers are now 65-7 over the last two years with two consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearances and two consecutive 30 win seasons. On another note, if this keeps up, and there’s nothing to suggest that it won’t, the Antonio Anderson-CDR-Dozier class will play something like 140 games for the U of M with around 125 wins. I think the games played would be an NCAA record. If memory serves, the previous high was 123. I could be wrong and I can’t find the stats to back it up, but I think that’s right. If any of you out there have that information, please post it.
If you hadn’t heard, Coach Cal’s name has already been linked to the Michigan job. Somehow I doubt Cal is moving unless they decide to pay him Phil Jackson money.
The Beauty of Seth Davis…
SI.com: A couple of high seeds in No. 2 Memphis and No. 1 Wisconsin survived scares. Can you talk about those two games a bit?
SD: I give Memphis a lot of credit. The Tigers really know who they are. They share the ball well on offense and they come at you on defense -- then keep coming and coming. They never panicked and showed great poise. They beat a really, really great team. That game was a great example of North Texas having trouble because it plays the same style as Memphis. The Mean Green would have been better off trying to slow it down. Memphis now has a very tough matchup in Nevada. Nevada will have to play well to beat Memphis -- and the Wolf Pack played well Friday -- so I'll call that upset for you, too.
Give them a bone and then predict the upset. In the words of Borat- “So nice.”
“But Calipari got plenty of fodder Sunday night when several prominent college basketball analysts -- including Dick Vitale, Doug Gottlieb and Seth Davis -- predicted early exits for the Tigers.”
Dan Wolken Commercial Appeal
March 13, 2007
Is it the three wise men? Or the three blind men? And Gottlieb, you should know better. You only called, what, 10 of our games?
Re: Calipari’s bad joke about Seth Davis picking the Germans in WWII:
It might be disrespectful and intolerant, if Seth Davis weren’t such a smug, condescending smartass douchebag.
http://thebiglead.com/?p=1933
Left by kevin on March 13th, 2007
Sorry. Couldn’t resist.
Seth’s South Region Picks:
Sweet Sixteen: Ohio State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Nevada
Shocking.
From the Preseason Article Davis wrote on the Tigers-
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/seth_davis/10/21/memphis.postcard/index.html
“Calipari won't lead the nation in wins this season, but he might finish first in metaphors. He has always fancied himself the Father Flanagan type, so he's well-suited for yet another reclamation project. After losing senior forward Rodney Carney, sophomore point guard Darius Washington and freshman forward Shawne Williams from last year's Elite Eight squad, Memphis is once again starting over with a talented but extremely callow group. The good news is the Tigers go 11 deep. The bad news is eight of those 11 are freshmen and sophomores.”
“Unfortunately, even a great pressing team has to make open shots once in a while, and I have to say I didn't see a whole lot of splashing going on. In fact, of all the major college practices I've witnessed over the years, Wednesday's was one of the worst collective shooting displays I've seen.”
“Contrary to some of the local buzz, Memphis will not be as good as it was last year, but that doesn't mean it won't win a bunch of games.”
Really? And you get paid for this?
“Watching Memphis play this year should be a lot like tuning into an exciting car race. The speed factor keeps you glued, but you also want to look away because you're afraid someone's going to crash. It's a common maxim among coaches that you can beat a bad team with a press, but not a good one. Memphis will beat most teams it plays this season, but unless these young kids grow up really fast, it's hard to envision the Tigers beating any great ones. Memphis will get to the NCAA Tournament, but I don't foresee it making it to the second weekend.”
Keep it up, Davis. We’re all counting on you.
According to the unofficial count: Davis has only picked the Tigers to win two games (and one he was wishy-washy on) during the last two tournament runs- UCLA and North Texas. Shockingly, the wishy-washy pick was the North Texas game. Please, for all that is holy, don’t pick us to beat anyone Seth! Please!
If you have any more of Seth’s zingers, please post them. They’re always a ton of fun.
