"Hello? Yeah, can I speak to Tom…Tom O’Connor please?" "Sure, tell him it’s Mike Brey from Notre Dame." "No, he’s not expecting my call." "Hey Tom." "Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you too." "Yeah, hey Tom I’m gonna cut to the chase here. Whose idea of a cruel joke was it to give us George Mason in the first round?" "Don’t give me that line. Lightning CAN strike twice! … [Read more...] about Mike Brey’s Blues: The East Bracket
NCAA Hoops
Bracketology 101: The Midwest
Now that we have the brackets in front of us, we get a chance to analyze, synthesize, digitize and…and discuss ad nauseam. For no particular reason let’s consider the Midwest. Two teams from the Big 12: Kansas and Kansas State. Two from the Big East: Villanova and Georgetown. Clemson is the lone representative from the ACC, Wisconsin from the Big Ten, and Vanderbilt from … [Read more...] about Bracketology 101: The Midwest
NCAA Hoops: Rating the power forwards
Big guys with a mid-range game - these hoopsters can get it done with their backs to the basket, or they can step out and knock down the foul-line jumper. When Bill Raftery says: "with the kiss," the shot usually comes from these guys: the POWER forwards. Tyler Hansbrough - Junior/ UNC 23.4PPG, 10.5RPG - Hansbrough is a contact magnet and knows how to make to the contact … [Read more...] about NCAA Hoops: Rating the power forwards
NCAA Hoops: Crunching the Numbers
Time is ticking on the NCAA Men’s Hoops season – conference tournaments are set to begin in the next two weeks, leading to Selection Sunday, March 16th, and the Sweet Sixteen determined a week later. Enough time has passed where teams have shown their strengths, weaknesses, tendencies, and what they avoid. Statistics can reveal trends otherwise overlooked. There are those … [Read more...] about NCAA Hoops: Crunching the Numbers
Beilein’s Basketball Odyssey
By Paul Gotham It should have come as no surprise to see John Beilein in a basketball gymnasium Friday night. Beilein after all has been coaching hoops now for over thirty years. It’s just that the gym was Henninger High in Syracuse, New York, and Beilein now presides over the basketball program at the University of Michigan some 450 miles away in Ann Arbor. Beilein … [Read more...] about Beilein’s Basketball Odyssey