Why are you player hatin' Bill Simmons?

Bill Simmons, one of my favorite writer/personality at ESPN.com, wrote an article on Monday basically bashing the quality of the game in the 2005-2006 college basketball season. Its funny how quickly the tides have changed from one year to another. Most would have called last year one of the most thrilling NCAA tournaments in history because of all the upsets; but others want to see it as a watered down product because their beloved Dukes, UConns, UNCs, and other big conference favorites choked big time. The casual basketball fan had to love the fact that for once we didn't see the same teams advancing far in the tournament. Why is it exciting to watch the same teams advance in the tournament every year? I got tired of the last couple of Superbowls because I was sick to my stomach of...

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And the Nightmare Continues...

A year after George Mason upset UConn in the NCAA tournament you would think some of their former players, now in the NBA, would have a lot more on their minds this March. But the reality is that the nightmare they faced in last years tournament still dwells within them. Maybe its the reason that Marcus Williams and Josh Boone have had less than stellar rookie seasons to date. Both were first round draft picks by the New Jersey Nets and have 2 combined starts this season. Granted Williams is playing behind one of the best point guards in the game, he still has struggled and even been publicly called out by Jason Kidd. Boone has barely made it off the bench this season despite the Nets being thin in the front court due to injuries. Here's...

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Future Patriots

Two of Mason's 2007 recruits have been named to a local all-star team and will compete in the 34th annual Capital Classic basketball game next month at Comcast Center. Vlad Moldoveanu (St. Johns HS) and Cameron Long (pictured, Freedom-Woodbridge HS) will join some of the best players in the area on a roster that includes recruits from Maryland, UVA, Virginia Tech, and WVU. Vlad and Cameron have both had sensational seasons while they both led their teams in the state playoffs but fell to power house area teams. Vlad was able to average over 15 points a game while playing with a ball hogging McDonald's All-Star guard. Meanwhile 6'4" guard Cameron Long has been described by local newspapers as a men amongst boys and averaged over 18 points...

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Monday Bracket

My bracket took a couple of blows this weekend but I still have 7 of Elite Eight teams and all my Final Four teams in place. Southern Illinois is my dark horse for the Final Four which I am betting most people don't have in their brackets. And of course the media can't help but mention George Mason when they are describing this team; which should almost be an insult to them considering they were ranked almost the entire season and are a #4 seed. I should have bet against Texas and Kevin Durant, who is probably too distracted by the NBA dollar signs. I knew I was really taking a gamble having Michigan State beating UNC but Hansbrough is not the same player we saw last year at this time and was truly the difference. Butler is a team that I regret not having going farther in my bracket,...

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Duke Who?

Yesterday wasn't the greatest of days for me and my bracket. I thought I would be able to watch live streams from march madness on demand on my computer at work but unlike last year the site had some problems. The video would freeze up every 5 seconds! And on top of that there was only one upset the whole day; VCU handing Duke a first round loss that hasn't happened to them since 1996. UNC fans had to have celebrated this VCU victory last night in some fashion. UNC fans will especially appreciate this youtube of Paulus flopping during a VCU fast break. I did say yesterday that the only way Duke would win was if McRoberts had a big game; he did and the Dukies still went down. The difference was simply Eric Maynor, who showed that his...

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Eve of Madness

Tomorrow the games begin, and if you are like me you probably won't get anything done at work because you will be watching the games online via cbsSportline.com's March Madness on demand (it's free by the way). My bracket is filled out and once again I have confidence that I will dominate the 234598 pools I am in. Including my office pool where I hoping victory will land me a promotion or large pay increase; but most likely just bragging rights. Here are some games to pay close attention too:6 Duke11 VCUHaving seen VCU play a lot this season I really like them to "upset" Duke in this game. Duke really doesn't deserve a seed this high, but I guess anything less from the committee would have been an insult to Coach K. Duke doesn't have a lot of quality depth or a legit go to guy, they are...

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Left Out

The 2006-2007 season is over for George Mason and for some it could not have come soon enough. As much as I would love to see the Patriots continue playing they just did not have a case for an NIT bid, especially since they reduced the field from 40 to 32 teams. The team was wildly inconsistent and didn't really play together well until this March. But if anything, this season showed how the CAA is getting stronger and getting more exposure. ODU was able to get an at-large bid to the dance and Drexel got snubbed. Its really not fair for a Drexel team that did what all mid-majors have to do to get respect: go on the road and win. Drexel did that, winning 14 (NCAA-best) on the road including Syracuse, Villanova, St. Joseph's, and Creighton. The committee has always stated that you need...

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And the Madness Begins...

After taking some time to cool down from the CAA finals I can now start talking post-season for the league. VCU may have the automatic bid being the tournament champions but they won't be the only CAA in the big dance. ODU and Drexel are two interesting cases that the selection committee will be talking about before this Sunday. Resident "bracketologist" Joe Lunardi gives tournament projections all season long and has had the CAA with two bids for most of the season. Right now he has ODU as the at-large bid going with VCU. But its an interesting case in the CAA because of Drexel's out of conference success early in the year and ending up with the most road/neutral wins in the country. ODU beat the Big East regular season champ Georgetown...

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Collapse

The Patriots Cinderella Story Volume 2 was cut short last night. Late steals and nine straight points from Eric Maynor stole the game away from Mason who was leading most of the game. Dre Smith and Gabe Norwood went from heroes to goats in about 5 seconds. Smith who had been the teams leading scorer during the tourney coughed up the ball at mid court to Maynor who took it for a layup and was fouled. A three point play. On the very next play he stole the ball from Gabe Norwood and scored again with 1 minute 44 seconds remaining. Patriot fans including myself were sitting there with blank stares. How could this be happening? Mason took the ball down the court, Campbell had his shot blocked and Maynor took the ball down the court for another...

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Richmond Revenge

They may have been more Old Dominion fans chanting against the Patriots but it sure didn't seem to bother them much. The Patriots are one win away from getting back to the big NCAA dance. Since March 2nd we have seen a different George Mason squad; one that has been on fire and playing with confidence. Mason took a strong hold over the Monarchs and never let go on their way to a 79-63 victory. The score is almost misleading in the sense that Mason was up by at least twenty points for a large part of the game. Dre Smith again was outstanding scoring 14 of his 19 points in the first half fueling Mason's early rally that lasted into the 2nd half. Folarin Campbell added 18 and really took control of the game late, at one point he made 7 shots...

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Livin' on a Prayer

I don't have time to write much today as I am about to head to Richmond for the semifinals. This upset is exactly the kind of play fans expected from Mason all year but rarely got to see. Its almost as if a fire has been lit under them, as they led by 15 at the half; who saw this coming? Monroe bought his A game and Dre Smith continued to show his poise to use a 21-4 run at the end of the first half to build that lead. The game controlled by Mason's surges with 10-0 and 8-0 runs. They will need to keep up this tempo to beat ODU who hasn't lost since January 20th. Expect Monroe and Thomas to be the main focus of the offense but guys like Campbell and Smith are gonna need to continue knocking down three-pointers. ODU most likely already...

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The Dre Smith Show

Friday night it was Dre Smith's world and James Madison was just livin' in it. Dre made his first 7 three-pointers on his way to a career night with 26 points. The only three-pointer he missed came in the last 10 seconds as he shot a 30-footer while the Patriots were running the clock out not realizing the shot clock was about to expire before the game clock. No matter, Dre still was able to almost set a CAA tournament record for three-point shooting percentage. This is the Dre Smith we got a glimpse of earlier in the season against Florida International and at ODU. Smith was expected to step right in out of JUCO and be a contributer; for the most part he was but these were high expectations for someone who never previously played DI ball....

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