Jayhawks Prevail Over Former Coach (Again)

Anyone who knows me knows this weekend was about as good as it gets from a basketball perspective for me.  The other two bloggers on this site happen to be UNC fans, yeah I know – I am not sure why or how, but I happen to be a big Kansas fan and yesterday my Jayhawks whooped the Tarheels.  To give you a little background, in case you don’t know, Roy Williams was the coach of Kansas until 2003 where he left to go coach UNC.  Well to say us Jayhawk fans were upset would be an understatement, we are in the top 3 winningest program in the country, so we don’t consider our program to be a stepping stone for anyone.  But then maybe the best thing could have happened; Kansas hired an up and coming star in Coach Bill Self.  In their very first matchup against each other, Coach Self and Former Coach Roy Williams matched up in the Final Four in 2008, Kansas ended up winning that (this will become a pattern) en route to a Championship that year.

This brings us to this past weekend where those same two coaches matched up again, only one player remains from that original match up, former walk-on redshirt senior Connor Teahan.  The first half was like a great boxing match, Kansas would go on a quick strike for 6 unanswered points, then UNC would answer back with a 8-0 run of their own.  The first half was played at such a high level, it was no wonder there were so many NBA scouts in attendance.  After 20 minutes, they were knotted up at 47 all.

Surprisingly I was confident going into the half tied up, because I was extremely happy with the offense I saw the Jayhawks display and I knew Kansas would start to clamp down on defense (something I felt UNC couldn’t do).  Well, this didn’t happen soon enough for me as both teams continued to exchange little 4 or 6 point runs and the score stayed even for much of the second half.  But then, Coach Self went back to their rarely used Triangle and Two defense, the same one that eventually slowed down Robbie Hummel and Purdue in the round of 32.

Once this defense was installed, UNC had no answer.  Kansas collapsed into to the paint, allowing no penetration or scoring by the Tar Heel big men.  UNC then settled for 3 pointers (11% for the game) and mid range jump shots (22% in 2nd half) and Kansas finished the game on a 13-0 run.  Even though I almost had a heart attack, that Kansas defense finally showed up.

This Kansas team is led by All American Thomas Robinson and streaky point guard Tyshawn Taylor and those two were the reasons that Kansas is moving on to the Big Easy for a chance to cut down the nets once again.  Robinson had a typical T-Rob day, with 18 points and 9 rebounds, while TT had 22 points.  No one would have expected this at the beginning of the season when the Jayhawks only returned one starter and depended heavily on a guy who only played 14 minutes a game last year.  Everyone else barely even cracked the rotation last year.  Bill Self probably said it best after the game, “This would have been a year, if we got to the second weekend (of the tournament), most Kansas fans would be happy. But that's not how those guys think.  They think this is their year, and I'm certainly not going to tell them anything different.” 

Now my Jayhawks are only 2 wins away from doing the improbable.  It will be a very tough road as they have to go through Ohio State, who just dismantled a very good Syracuse squad and likely a Kentucky team that may have 7 pros on its team.  But, this is March so anything could happen, who would have expected them to get this far.  Why not us?

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Family Over Everything

#RockChalkJayhawk

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Kansas-UNC: The Battle of Two Unique Styles

So I know it has been a while since I last blogged, and I know you missed it.  Well I am back by popular demand.  So I am going to preview one of the best days that a college basketball fan can have.  As you may or may not know, I am a huge Kansas fan and today my Jayhawks go up against some team that a few of my friends support, North Carolina.  Now not only is this is a big day for me, because I just despise the Tar Heels, but it is a big day for all Jayhawk fans because Roy Williams is going up against his old team.

In 2008, Kansas went through UNC and Roy in the final 4, this year they are playing for a trip to the final 4.  2008 was also the year Kansas brought the title back to Lawrence, maybe it is only fitting that they have to go through UNC again this year?  Does that mean another title in my future?  I sure hope so.

The only negative thing about this game is that All-American point guard Kendall Marshall has a fractured wrist for the Tar Heels; I can already hear the excuses coming from their fans.  Who is to say Kansas wouldn’t win even with Kendall?  Yes, I get that Kendall is important to the Heels, is that because he is that good, or just because they didn’t recruit another point guard?  If Tyshawn Taylor went down for Kansas, EJ would just slide over to the point guard spot and Connor Teahan would move into the starting lineup.  That would be ok with me.  If Thomas Robinson went down (arguably the most important player in college bball) then the Jayhawks would just slide in Kevin Young.  I wouldn’t make the excuse, I would just tip my cap.  The Heels have plenty of talent with Barnes, Henson, Zeller, Bullock and McAdoo, if they really are the better team we will find out today.

This matchup will be one of my all-time favorites because it displays two very unique styles, the Jayhawks play very physical defense, while the Tar Heels are all offense (and Henson).  We have already seen in last night’s games, physical defenses (see – Louisville & Ohio St) have advanced to the Final Four.  Today, Kansas and Kentucky play very physical defense, while Baylor and UNC don’t and rely more on their athleticism, which is why I am picking the two K schools to advance.  I can’t wait for today and I hope you are excited too.

I will leave you with this video to get you excited for today:

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IONA IS GOING DANCING

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES !

The committee answered my prayers this evening. Iona is in the tourney. First up is BYU in a play-in game in Dayton, OH. Winner plays Marquette.

I love all the analysts hating on Iona for getting in, saying Drexel should have been in blah blah blah. If Iona scheduled all their games against middle school basketball teams they could have had the 25 game win streak or whatever it was, also. Iona is the first MAAC team to get an at-large bid in 17 years.

I'm so jacked up right now. Only 48 more hours. Tuesday night cant come soon enough.

Now, I gotta go check and see if I get truTV...

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#IonaDeservesaNCAABid

Well, today is the day I have been waiting for since last sunday when Iona suffered a terrible loss to Fairfield in the MAAC tourney. Currently, Joe Lunardi has them in the first four out. Earlier this week they were in the next four out, so we have made some progress up the board. Xavier needs to get a win today to prevent St. Bonaventure from potentially bursting Iona's bubble.

We will find out on the NCAA Selection Show tonight at 6pm. I hope the committee gives them a chance, but they also didnt take care of business when it mattered most - so I can see them as a top seed in the NIT as well.

Come on NCAA committee, give me a chance. They havent been in the tourney since 2006, got shutout each year I was in school. Please.

#IonaDeservesaNCAABid

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Most Rewarding

I have been doing something that I absolutely love for the past 7 years now, that is coaching baseball.  I played baseball at Assumption for a year before I decided it would be better for my academics and my life after college if I give up playing the game that I have loved my entire life.  Growing up baseball was everything to me, I played 4 years of AAU baseball and we traveled to various tournaments throughout the country.  I have played as far south as Florida and as far west as Arizona for the best pastime out there. 

Baseball helped me get into college, but I decided that it wasn’t going to define me and there was going to be more to college than that, but I never lost the love for the game,  Then a wonderful opportunity fell into my lap my sophomore year, an assistant coaching position at the high school I went to.  I immediately fell in love with coaching and have been doing it ever since. 

With anything, there are certain highs and lows, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.  There are good experiences and bad experiences and there are good parents and there are bad parents (hint: the good parents don’t complain to the coaches ever).

This past summer I was given even a greater opportunity and was offered a head coaching positioning for a 15U AAU team.  How many 23 year olds can say that?  I was a little over a year out of college and just learning to finally do some things on my own and that opportunity fell in my lap.  I couldn’t say no.  So immediately I called up my family and told them the good news.  I then started scrambling, I need assistant coaches, I need to schedule games, and everything is now on my shoulders.  No more just being an assistant coach and not having to shoulder the load of everything.  Luckily I have a few friends that have played baseball just as long as I have and agreed to be assistant coaches for me.  I am still trying to put that schedule together, but we are getting there.

The biggest challenge for me was trying to plan everything and not too much in a single practice and not overwhelm the kids.  I was trying to teach discipline and strong work ethic but also to mix in a little fun, because remember they are 15 year olds and can be distracted really easily.  I am also lucky and so far it seems that I have very good parents that have let me do things my way.

We have been practicing for a little over a month inside and I am already seeing tremendous strides for the team and they have increased their work ethic tenfold.  I no longer need to always tell the kids when they are doing something wrong, a lot of them realize it and try and fix it.  My voice appreciates this and there is no greater joy when you see the kids finally start to “get it”. 

I hope everyone gets the chance to coach one day as it is just a tremendously rewarding experience.  Not only will you get great joy out of seeing the improvements from day 1, you will also have a great deal of respect for the coaches out there.  It’s not as easy as some make it seem, there are ups and downs, but to me there is no parallel.

-The Boss

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Despite Patriots Loss, Super Bowl XLVI Still Winning Experience

They say time heals everything. No matter how extreme a situation, giving emotions chances to settle and thoughts opportunities to collect allow individuals to reflect and draw meaningful conclusions. This goes for all facets of life, including sports.

Enter Super Bowl XLVI, the National Football League’s title match between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. The game watched around the globe, with the Feb. 5 spectacle boasting a world record as the most watched TV show in U.S. history when 111.3 million viewers cast their eyes on professional sports’ biggest stage.

As a Patriots fanatic whose family had season tickets to the cherished team for more than a decade, I—along with my family—traveled to Indianapolis hoping to see the Patriots capture its fourth championship. But once the game clock expired, celebrations erupted and confetti strewed—for the Giants. Instead of leaving Lucas Oil Stadium with feelings of elation, I left with feelings of dejection, anger and resentment as Boston fell victim to another New York victory.

No Patriots fans need recapping of the game that began with the Giants securing a safety and ended with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady throwing an incomplete Hail-Mary bomb to the end zone. Of course there were highlights of running back Danny Woodhead and tight end Aaron Hernandez scoring touchdowns that—at one point—looked to capture the Vince Lombardi trophy. Like a Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees battle, the Giants seized and sent the Patriots and their fans packing.

A season that began with heartache for Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who lost his beloved wife Myra, ended with heartache for Boston sports nation as a victory literally slipped out of the hands of the AFC championship team.

That’s when time heals everything. Five days later and more than 900 miles away from Indianapolis, I reflect. My Super Bowl trip had been a whirlwind of exhilaration from the moment arriving in downtown Indianapolis. Super Bowl banners hung at every street corner, fans decked out in their hometown colors poured the streets and celebrities such as actors Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg attended the event and ushered past screaming fans who aligned barriers.

And then seeing Lucas Oil Stadium for the first time sent tingles up my spine. Stepping inside the stadium transformed those prickles into anticipation and awaiting kickoff propelled that anticipation into euphoria. I was at the Super Bowl, hungry for the Patriots to win and ready to see the biggest game of my life—no matter the outcome.

This had been a-once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. While 111 million viewers witnessed the game via TV, only about 70,000 watched it live inside the stadium. Seventy thousand fans cheered from the stands for their favorite team. Seventy thousand fans had been given an experience that would last well after the victor’s crowning. I was one of them. I was lucky enough to be part of the crowd and that alone was pretty sweet.

I’m determined to not let the loss sack my overall experience. No matter how hard a loss, time heals everything.

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Is It Going to be An All Blue Final?

We are about a month away from the greatest event in all of sports.  No it’s not that thing that just happened that none of us will blog about, it is the NCAA Tournament.  You have 64 68 teams all fighting for the same goal, to cut down the nets in early April.  Obviously if you are a 16 seed, realistically you don’t have a shot, but just looking back at last year you had a Final Four matchup of 12^th seeded (and first 4) VCU and 9^th seeded Butler.  Before the season there was all this talk about the power conferences are back, but guess what, unless you have been under a rock this year, it’s the year of the mid-major and Kentucky.  With all these powerful sophomores in Perry Jones III, Terrance Jones, Jeremy Lamb, and Harrison Barnes all returning to campus, the blue bloods were supposed to be back.  Instead who do you have in the top 25? Creighton, UNLV, San Diego St, Murray St, Wichita St, Gonzaga, Harvard, and St Mary’s are there rather than expected powers of UConn, Texas, Vanderbilt, Villanova, and Pittsburgh.  So if there was ever a time for a 16 to beat a 1 seed, it would be this year.

Right now, every team is vulnerable and every team has weaknesses.  Just look at some of these home losses that should never happen at home, UNC to Duke, Ohio St to Michigan St, Murray St to Tennessee St, Creighton to Wichita St, Florida to Tennessee.  That was all in the last week, CRAZY!  What is going to happen in March on neutral floors, I can’t wait.

Now when I say every team has weaknesses, let’s just exclude one team, Kentucky.  This team is loaded, like my god are there freaks just all over the court for them.  When in doubt, throw a lob to Anthony Davis and he will dunk it.  Fear the Unibrow.  Their one weakness, Marquis Teague is all of a sudden turning into a legit threat as well.  In his last 2 games, he is scoring 12.5 points and dishing out 9 assists per game.  I haven’t even mentioned the most clutch three point shooter in Ray Allen Doron Lamb for the Cats, he is shooting almost 50% from 3 and just has a knack for hitting daggers against teams.  I don’t need to say anything about Michael-Kidd Gilchrist, for more on him click here.

Now after Kentucky, my prediction for the Final Four is a crap shoot.  Everyone knows March is all about matchups, so until you see the bracket you have no idea who is going to actually get there.  Even then you might as well pick like most girls do, by mascot name, the colors, or “Hey I know someone who went there.”  But you know what, I am going to give another prediction on my Final Four (read the original here), since it clearly seems like Baylor isn’t making a run for it with how lackluster Perry Jones III and company play that zone defense (if you want to call it that).

The safest bet I have to a sure thing after Kentucky is Kansas.  Oh yeah, that’s right, my boys from Lawrence.  The Jayhawks now have 3 legitimate options on offense in POY front runner Thomas Robinson, the mostly up Tyshawn Taylor and wait for it, wait for it, oh yeah it's Jeff Withey.  That three headed monster is unstoppable right now and the real x-factor isn’t Taylor or T-Rob, it's the tall lanky transfer from Arizona Withey.  If we exclude the Missouri game (which I am going to do to skew my argument) he has scored 10, 15, 25 and 18 points in his last 4 games and has 8.25 rebounds per game including the monster 20 rebound, 7 block, and 18 point game against Oklahoma St on Saturday.  Can you imagine that 7 foot monster in the tourney?  I sure can’t wait for it.

Everything else is a crap shoot.  Syracuse, Duke, Michigan St, Ohio St, Missouri, Baylor, UNLV, and UNC all have issues and I have to pick two more teams.  I know for sure I am not going with Duke or UNC and a lot of that has to do with the lack of toughness that either team has shown this year.  If you are UNC, how do you blow that lead at home to Duke and that is on top of a 33 point loss at the hands of team that lost to Boston College in Florida St.  Yeah, I’ll wait while you wrap your heads around that one for a second.  I’ll say it again, UNC lost by 33 points to Florida St who has lost to Boston College.  If we go by that logic, Boston College lost to Holy Cross by 22 and beat Florida St by 4, soooo that means Holy Cross could beat UNC by 59.  That doesn’t sound like a Final Four team to me.  And because Tyler Zeller routinely scores for the other team.  Duke, well to steal Mark Titus’ line has Austin Rivers’ Punchable Face and a few other guys that aren’t very athletic, that is always Duke’s problems when they cant advance in the tourney.  I will cross these two teams off my list.

The leaves me with a few obvious options in Syracuse and Ohio St to make the Final Four, but you know how March is, you just never know.  The Orange scare me because they don’t have a go-to scorer that you need in March to be successful and Ohio St is too injury prone for me.  We also all know March is crazy and relies on great guard play.  Guess who that leaves me with?  You guessed it, UNLV and Missouri.  I will start with Missouri.  It pains me to put two of my least favorite teams in college basketball with Kentucky and Missouri (I will never call them Mizzou – gross).  But my god, this team reminds me a lot of that 4 guard offense that Villanova had.  They have 5 legitimate scorers that can go off at any time.  Phil (Flip) Pressey is just unbelievable and is easily a top 5 point guard in America, youtube him if you haven’t seen him (okay I will make it easy for you - a link to Phil Pressey is here).  Marcus Denmon has Jimmer range and has serious guts.  I guess I could also mention that Ricardo Ratliff is shooting 74% from the field, yeah he is about to break an NCAA record for field goal percentage, no big deal. 

Moving on to UNLV, all I have to say is MIKE MOSER.  The UCLA transfer is just an absolute animal, just gets after it.  He is averaging 15 points and 11 rebounds right now and can light it up from 3 as well.  The Runnin’ Rebels are back.  If anyone thinks I’m crazy for putting them in, the Mountain West is probably a 3 or 4 bid league while the Pac-12 is a 1 or 2 bid league for the tourney.  This league is loaded with SDSU, UNLV, New Mexico and Colorado St.  I have nothing else to say on UNLV because you have probably quit reading this post by now anyways so I am just rambling to myself.

Anyways, it’s tough to leave out my sleeper of every year, Marquette.  They will continue to be my sleeper this year, Buzz Williams has got them rolling.  DJO is about as good as it gets from a guard in college ball and is as tough as they get.  I would also look to Wichita St, Saint Mary’s, and Florida come tourney time.  Now that football season is over, I hope you get out and enjoy the last month before the greatest event in sports.

-The Boss

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Hawaii - Let's Try This Again

Yeah I know this post isn't sports related but I thought I would show the world my videos I created.  This is from my family trip to Hawaii a couple weeks ago.  They both have the same pictures however the bottom one is longer and has different songs.  I apologize for the lack of posts lately, been really busy.  I plan to get back into it next week and maybe this weekend before the big game.

For now, enjoy these videos and if you have never been, you need to go to Hawaii.  Or go back!





Hawaii HD by Matt Lane

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Yo Soy Fiesta

The game is finally here! After a week off and some jabs back and forth...mostly by the Giants since Brady's comment was nothing more than the truth. Anyways, it all comes down to Sunday. Brady vs. the other Manning on Peyton's home field. Is it Sunday 6:30 yet?

This is going to be one of the better Super Bowls in recent history. You have the "favorite" in the Pats who are on a 10 game win streak and have a new found, motivated defense vs. the typical New York team, talking before the game has even started. Everybody is comparing this game to Super Bowl 42 and how the Pats are out to get revenge. This game has a totally different feel to me. 4 years ago, there was so much pressure on the Pats to go 19-0. We all know that didn't happen. This year, everybody is going against the Pats because they think the defense is weak and the Giants pass rush will put too much pressure on Brady. The Pats are being written off by all the writers and already giving the trophy to the Giants. Remember the last time this happened?

2001 season. Nobody was giving the Pats a chance because the Rams had too much firepower. They had a MVP caliber QB in Kurt Warner (Eli Manning), dynamic wide receivers in Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt (Hakeen Nicks and Victor Cruz), and a good running back in Marshall Faulk (Ahmad Bradshaw). The Rams came into the game thinking they already won the game and were way over confident. Very similar to what we have seen this week out of the Giants.

Onto the more important topic: Gronk. I'll keep it plain and simple. He will play and he will be effective. You're telling me that an ankle sprain is going to keep this man out of the biggest game of his life? No way. Imagine the pain threshold Gronk must have? My guess is he could break his leg during the game and not even know it. Okay thats an exaggeration but you get the point.

Gronk is the key on offense Sunday, along with Hernandez. If Gronk and get up field with out favoring his ankle, they will be fine. He needs to be able to stretch the field to open up the 5-10 yard passes for Wes and Aaron. The offense will be fine and you won't even know that Gronk is "hurt."

On defense, its big Vince. He needs to play the same way he did against Baltimore. Get pressure on Manning to force a quick pass. You can't let Nicks and Manningham get deep. Pass rush is going to play a huge part in this game if the Pats want to be champs. Get Eli off the spot and force him to make bad decisions. We all know what happens when Eli makes bad decisions...he throws the ball right to Asante Samuel who clinches the game with an INT! Oh wait, Asante didn't catch that? No wonder why he isn't here anymore. The man has a tattoo that reads "Get Paid" but he can't even catch a duck that was thrown right to him with the Super Bowl on the line. Sorry, another topic for another day.

Anyways, enjoy the game. It has the makings to be one of the best Super Bowls ever.

Pats 28 Giants 20. Parade Tuesday.

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