Uconn-Butler championship game fitting end to a down college basketball season

By Kshell

As I watched UConn win yet another national championship in a game that put me to sleep I wasn't surprised. The game featured so many bricks you could build a house but that was to be expected as the women's game is pretty boring. Wait, wait this was the mens game?!! Yes it was in a game that set men's college basketball back to the pre-shot clock era. This game was a fitting end to an otherwise terrible display of basketball this year in mens basketball. Sure the NCAA tournament was great because of all the upsets but parity is only good for so long. Sports in general thrives on marquee teams and when you have cinderalla making a run every year that isn't a good thing. In this following post I'll explain why this was the worst year in the NCAA in quite some time. The first problem was the game has changed in the past 30 years especially in the last 10.

The talent pool has shrunk over the years due to players leaving early. In the 1970's and before that freshman weren't allowed to play. While you couldn't get a freshman year out of anyone most coaches often received two to three great years. Take the UCLA Bruins dynasty for an example as John Wooden won five titles with Lew Alcindor(Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Bill Walton. Now he didn't get either player for their freshman year but in today's game he would only get the freshman year of both. If players were allowed to leave straight out of high school back then Alcindor in today's game would be the #1 pick straight out of high school. The days of seeing elite players stay more than three years are over. Even as of 20 years ago elite players would stay like Tim Duncan stayed all four years at Wake Forest. Over 20 years ago you saw dynasties which is great for the game because either you love them or hate them. When Duke with Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley were going for a repeat title everyone had an opinion. Now you don't see that even the team they defeated in 1991 the UNLV runnin rebels doesn't happen today. UNLV had won the title and superstars Larry Johnson and Stacy Augmon came back. UNLV went undefeated in the regular season and were upset to the Duke Blue Devils. Duke in 1992 defeated Michigan's fab five which started five freshman. Now that fab five team like the 2010 Kentucky team all leaves but they chose to come back. That is the problem by the time you learn a kid's name he is gone to the next level.

Now college basketball is being forced to be carried by freshman. Sometimes you get a great class of kids and other times like this year you get nothing. Before the one and done rule was in place you saw Michigan State win the title in 2000 led by Mateen Cleaves who was the best player in college. In 2002 Maryland won the title with such "stars" like Chris Wilcox, Juan Dixon and Steve Blake. The game safe to say was pretty weak back then which saw #1 picks overall be Kenyon Martin and then non college players such as Kwayme Brown and Yao Ming. In 2003 the champion was the Syracuse Orangemen who were led by super freshman Carmello Anthony. Anthony could have gone to the NBA straight out of high school if he wanted too. That final four also featured cinderalla Marquette who was led by Dwyane Wade. Then in 2007 the NBA implemented a rule where high schoolers had to play at least one year in college basketball. That year was a good year for the NCAA as such players who normally would have left straight of highschool had to play college. The players were Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Kevin Durant and Spencer Hawes who were all lotto picks after their one season in college. Since then you have seen guys like Kevin Love, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Michael Beasley, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins make a huge splash as a one and done player. The problem with that is in a year like this year where there isn't that one and done type talent it kills the product.

In today's college basketball the teams who typically win are the teams without great NBA players. The last team to win a national championship with an elite player was the 2003 Syracuse Orangemen with Carmello Anthony. Ever since then look at the rosters of the winning team they feature good role players in the NBA. The last team to repeat the Florida Gators returned their whole team and only Joakim Noah and Al Horford are making an impact. While you look at a team like the Kentucky Wildcats who next year will have the #1 ranked recruiting class for the third straight season. Now if this was just 20 years ago Kentucky would probably go undefeated next year with a roster of John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones, three other first round picks and four McDonalds All-Americans coming in. Instead Kentucky for the third straight year will most likely fall short as they will once again have to rebuild that is the price you pay for being such a great recruiter.

Just look how the NBA landscape is different compared to college basketball. In the 1980's your stars were Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan. Those four players all played for a national championship and in the case of Thomas, Jordan and Magic they won the national championship. Bird played all four years in college, while Jordan played three, Magic and Thomas played just two which was unheard of back then. You compare that to today which saw just one guy in the All-Star game starting lineup win a national championship just shows how different the game is. Of the 10 starters only three played in a final four(Anthony, Wade and Rose) and two of those players played just one year in college. While in that same starting 10 you saw five guys never lace it up in the college game. Of the 10 all-star game starters only Tim Duncan who is from a different era than the other guys played all four years. The game's biggest stars Lebron James and Kobe Bryant never played college basketball. Over 20 years ago Bryant is playing for Duke and becoming the next Grant Hill while James as a senior is playing with freshman Greg Oden making one of the greatest college teams of all-time. Instead we get a year with no stars and no future all-stars in this title game. We saw Butler break WSU's record set in 1941 for worst shooting performance ever. The numbers were just sick 19-55(34.5%) from the field and 1-11(9.1%) from three point range. Those numbers are from the national championship UConn Huskies. Butler shot 12-64(18.8%) and 9-33(27.3%) from three point range and 8-14(57.1%) from the foul line. Butler was so bad they shot just 3-31(9.6%) from two point range. This is what college basketball has come to unfortunately.

All in all, there is nothing college basketball can do to stop this. You can't prevent or blame kids for wanting to make money. The NBA just pays their players too much money for a kid to want to stay in school. If you are a first round pick guaranteed you'd be a fool to stay in school. The fall back to that is you have a title game with an 8th seed who lost three starters from last year and a team who finished 9th in their own conference. This was the first final four with no #1 or #2 seeds and the games were poorly played. Nobody could hit a shot in all three final four games. Expect the NCAA tournament to continue to be wide open which is good for the smaller schools and non traditional powers. The problem is the basketball just won't be the same. You need a face and when your face is Jimmer Fredette who screams NBA bust then you know the game is in trouble. Hopefully next year some super freshman can come in and save the game. That is the problem college basketball is banking on some 18-19 year old kid to save the sport. If the kid is a junior or a senior odds are he won't be an elite NBA player or he would have left by now. This title game was epicly terrible and I don't expect another game quite like this. I also don't expect the game to improve ever again in my lifetime.

Huskies season ends in heartbreak to Tar Heels 86-83 in round of 32

By Kshell

The Washington Huskies(24-11,11-7) season comes to a disappointing end to the second seeded North Carolina Tar Heels(28-7,14-2) 86-83. The Huskies had high hopes to begin the year which you can read here. There was talks of Final Fours and this being finally the year. Instead the Huskies fail to reach the sweet 16. The Huskies lost a close game to a tough opponent in which was basically a road game. The Huskies blew an 11 point lead and never trailed by more than two points until two minutes left in the game. Due to costly decision making down the stretch the Huskies season is over. The Tar Heels were led by Tyler Zeller who scored 23 points and Harrison Barnes who scored 22 points. The Huskies were led by freshman Terrence Ross who scored 19 points. The Huskies bench once again was the strength outscoring the Tar Heels bench 41-5 but the Tar Heels starters overcame that by scoring 81 points to the Huskies 42. In the end the season will be viewed as a disappointment to some fans while others are just happy to make the tournament. The Huskies played hard and came out on fire to start the game.

The first half was a high scoring run and gun half for both teams. The Huskies were trailing 15-14 went on a 12-0 run to lead 26-15 over the second seeded Tar Heels. The Tar Heels then responded to even take the lead. Both teams fought back and forth in the first half ultimately ending with the Huskies taking a 45-44 halftime lead over the Tar Heels. The Tar Heels were led Harrison Barnes who scored 14 points on 6-10 shooting including two three's. Tyler Zeller scored 12 points on four for eight shooting and was perfect from his four free throw attempts. The Tar Heels shot 16-36(44.4%) from the field and made three for eight three pointers. The Heels also shot 9-13(69.2%) from the foul line. The Huskies were actually out playing the Tar Heels most of the half.

For the Huskies they were led by freshman Terrence Ross. Ross who didn't score in his first tournament game came out with 12 points on four for five shooting including two three pointers. Matthew Bryan-Amaning scored eight points on four for eight shooting with seven rebounds. Darnell Gant scored six points hitting two three pointers. Isaiah Thomas slumped scoring just four points on two for eight shooting but had three assists. Aziz N'Diaye who was inserted back in the lineup dominated the glass. N'Diaye scored two points but grabbed eight rebounds. The Huskies shot 18-40(45.0%) from the field, 6-13(46.2%) from three point range and were perfect in their three free throws. The Huskies dominated the glass 24-15 despite the Tar Heels height advantage. The Tar Heels in the second started to dominate the paint and closed the gap on the rebounds.

In the second half saw both teams take turns having momentum. The Huskies led 74-69 with under six minutes to go. The Huskies then had a 76-73 lead which saw the Tar Heels go on a 7-0 run to take a 80-76 lead. After a crucial N'Diaye putback to pull the Huskies within 80-78 the Tar Heels went up six with under two minutes to go. After a Huskies bucket to pull within 84-80 with under 30 seconds left Thomas found a wide open Scott Suggs who drilled the three pointer to pull the Huskies within 84-83. The Huskies then fouled Kendall Marshall who was going to shoot a one and one free throw. Marshall missed the free throw and the Huskies got the rebound. Instead of calling their last timeout the Huskies let Venoy Overton take the ball to the hoop as he got his lay up swatted with 10 seconds. Fighting for the rebound the ball went out of bounds with seven seconds remaining. Justin Holiday's inbound pass was tipped and Dexter Strickland was then fouled. He made both free throws to give the Tar Heels an 86-83 lead. Once again Overton made a poor decision as he was expectating a Tar Heel to foul him he threw up a half court shot with 1.2 seconds on the clock. The Huskies caught a break as the ball went off a Tar Heel. So with 0.5 seconds left the Huskies inbounded the ball to Thomas for three and he missed it. The shot could have been called goaltending but on the review Thomas foot was on the line so it didn't matter. The Huskies lost 86-83 ending their season short of expectations.

The Huskies lose a tough close game despite shooting 33-72(45.8%) from the field and 10-19(52.6%) from three point range. The Huskies were even perfect on seven free throw attempts. Despite giving up the size advantage the Huskies outrebounded the Tar Heels 38-33 including 13 offensive rebounds. In the end that wasn't enough for the Huskies as the Tar Heels were led by their five starters who scored 81 points. Led by Zeller with 23 and Barnes with 22. Marshall scored 13 points while dishing out 14 assists. For the Huskies they were led by Ross who scored 19 points on 7-10 shooting including three three pointers and six rebounds. Bryan-Amaning finished his career with 14 points on 7-14 shooting with eight rebounds. Thomas scored just 12 points on 5-15 shooting but did have eight assists. C.J.Wilcox came alive in the second half to score 11 points on four for nine shooting including three three's. Scott Suggs added eight points on two three pointers. Gant scored six points and six rebounds. Overton finished his career with five points and two assists. Justin Holiday continued his shooting slump scoring just four points on two for six shooting. Then N'Diaye provided a lift scoring four points on two for three shooting with 11 rebounds including five offensive. The Huskies played a good game but five bad minutes down the stretch can offset 35 great minutes which is the sad reality of sports.

Overall the Huskies played a good but they just simply lost to the better team. The Huskies now you could argue if they had taken care of business in the regular season they wouldn't be in this position. As for the game itself it was a clean game which the Huskies battled hard. Now the cold reality is three guys on this Huskies team will never wear that Huskies uniform again. The Huskies will be returning six guys from this team along with Abdul Gaddy and Tony Wroten coming in should be in a position to make some noise next season. As for this year the year that started off with so much promise including at one time a top 10 ranking is over suddenly. Nobody would have accepted a round 32 loss at the start of the year or even three weeks ago. The Huskies didn't achieve their goals and now must always wonder what could have been?

Observations:

- Years from now people will look back at this game as an instant classic. Unfortunately for Huskies fans they seem to be on the wrong side of those games. In this game you'll notice a young freshman who kept his team in it. No I'm not talking about Harrison Barnes who played great I might add.

Instead I'm talking about Terrence Ross. Ross who showed you why he is still a freshman at times but also showed how the sky is the limit for him. Given the situation of the game and the opponent I'd say this was Ross finest game of his freshman year. Ross started off hot in Pac-10 play averaging 16.0 points per game in his first four games. Then Ross like most freshman hit a wall. It was so bad he played four minutes against UCLA the second to last regular season game then didn't play against USC. Ross rebounded by averaging 15.3 PPG in the Pac-10 tournament being named first team all tournament team.

Then Ross took a big step backwards scoring zero points on 0-5 shooting in 10 lousy minutes against the Georgia Bulldogs. Ross found himself removed from the starting lineup today. Ross hit his first three point attempt in the first half. Ross, unlike Wilcox who can catch fire at any moment, you know what you are getting. Typically with Ross you can tell the game he will have in the first five minutes. Well today Ross grabbed six rebounds and made some nice athletic moves. He also showed he is a good shooter as well. Ross finished the year averaging 8.0 PPG while shooting 44.3% from the field, 35.2% from three's and 75.8% from free throw's. The future is bright with Ross and Wilcox being only freshman.

- The picture to my right is of Thomas giving support to teammate Justin Holiday who made a costly mistake on the inbound pass. Holiday has gone MIA the last seven games. Holiday who worked so hard to improve his scoring all year long. In the team's first 28 games Holiday averaged 11.9 PPG, shot 124-249(49.8%) from the field and 46-115(40.0%) from three point range. As you can see Holiday made great strides in his career but then in the last seven games he reverted back to how he was early in his junior season.

In Holiday's final seven games in a Huskies uniform he averaged just 4.9 PPG while shooting 14-48(29.1%) from the field and was 1-16(6.3%) from three point range. In four of those games Holiday played over 30 minutes despite slumping so badly. One can question why Holiday was even on the floor with those numbers down the stretch. I openly question that as well since as you can see Holiday has been an offensive liability. It is truly a shame Holiday's career ended the way it did. Hopefully the fans can remember the good he did for this school.

- Venoy Overton's career ends with two costly mistakes. Overton played just 12 minutes while scoring five points on one for three shooting. Romar smartly didn't play Overton much instead playing his three wings of Ross, Wilcox and Suggs. Yet with the season on the line on the two most important possessions the season was decided by Overton. Even Overton himself questioned that move after the game.

I'll talk about both plays and one play wasn't Overton's fault in my opinion. Down by one with 17 seconds left Overton chose to push the ball which I hated the decision. Even if he makes the bucket the Tar Heels still have 10 seconds to score the game winning shot. Now some may say Lorenzo Romar trusted his senior to make the right decision but that is just stupid. What makes Overton so great and so frustrating is how reckless he plays. Having said that with the game on the line you don't want that. Romar should have taken a timeout and put the ball in Thomas hands to let him decide the season.

On the half court shot Overton messed up big time. Up three with less than five seconds to go the Huskies expected the Tar Heels to foul them. Overton hoping they would foul him as he threw up that desperation three to earn three free throw's. What Overton should have done is not worry about them fouling him. Overton should have pushed the ball up court and quickly find a shooter. If they foul him simply make the first free throw then miss the second for a tip in or tip out three for the win. Once again remember this was after a made free throw why Overton brought the ball up the court instead of their best player and decision maker Thomas is a bit mind boggling. Once again hopefully the fans remember all the good that Overton did because like Holiday he didn't end his career on a high note at all.

- Pretty amazing the Huskies only lost by three points with Isaiah Thomas shooting 5-15 making zero three pointers. Thomas had just 12 points but did dish out eight assists. Most people figured if the Huskies were to win Thomas would have to have a big game which he didn't. Even with Thomas struggles you have to wonder why wasn't the ball in his hands with the game on the line. I know technically he took the last shot of the season but that was a catch and shoot situation.

Thomas the final time he brought the ball up faked a three and dished to an open Suggs who drilled the three to pull within one. Unlike last week where Romar put the ball in Thomas hands to win the game he elected to go with Overton. That decision fans will debate all offseason as they should. Thomas made great strides as an overall great player. Thomas was once again named first team all pac-10 finished his year averaging 16.8 PPG on 44.5% shooting from the field and 34.9% from three point range. The most important part is Thomas averaged 6.1 assists on the year the highest since Will Conroy averaged 6.5 assists in the 2004-05 season.

- Lorenzo Romar is a good coach for the Washington Huskies. That has been established with taking the team to the tournament in six of his eight seasons. He has a winning tournament record too at 8-6. He has won the Pac-10 tournament three times and the regular season once. He has also failed to take that next step in this program. It is becoming more painfully obvious he might not ever be able to take that step.

Now I felt for the first 35 minutes Romar coached great. There wasn't many stupid plays, the rotation was just fine. Then in the last five minutes just basic fundamental plays the Huskies couldn't make. The two Overton plays, Holiday inbound, Ross getting his pocket picked, having both Overton and Holiday on the court, etc. This seems to be a theme in the Romar era on tough losses that the Huskies don't lose because the other team beat them. They are losing by making stupid decisions late in games. This isn't to take away from North Carolina at all they were the better team playing basically a home game.

The Huskies are in a weird spot with Romar they truly are. Some fans and a certain KJR host seem to think he can do no wrong and are just happy with making the NCAA tournament. Those fans adjust expectations as the season goes on. Other fans know this program can do so much more with all that talent in the Seattle/Tacoma area. Romar is a great program builder as typically all his seniors get better. Only Mike Jensen and Venoy Overton appeared to have taken a step back throughout their careers. The Huskies need to land a big time recruit. I'm not talking about a player either I'm talking about scouting the country for an X's and O's geru at some D-2 or D-3 school. Ken Bone was a head coach at Seattle Pacific for 14 years and he left to Washington knowing he could move on from there. The question comes down to will Romar finally admit he needs help on offense or will the Huskies simply accept being a top tier team in a weak conference?

All in all this loss was probably the second toughest in the Romar era. I don't think any loss will top that Uconn game in 2006 but if there was a game this was it. This loss became even more depressing as 11th seeded Marquette(same team UW beat last year in tournament) upset 3rd seeded Syracuse. So the Huskies most likely would have been the favorites in a sweet 16 game instead their season is over. The Huskies future appears very bright but after seeing them underachieve in the regular season the last two years can you trust them?

The Huskies had to play basically a road game because they lost to Washington State twice, Oregon, Oregon State and Stanford. Win at worst four of those games the Huskies would have a 28-10 record going into this game and most likely would have been in Tucson. Instead for the second straight year the Huskies lost seven conference games in a weak conference. The Pac-10 has sent just three teams out of 48 teams to the sweet 16 the last three years. There is no excuse to lose that many games in a crappy conference like that. The Huskies if they wish to advance in the tournament must take care of the regular season. Look at North Carolina they won the ACC regular season and now their path to elite 8 looks pretty good. Win in the regular season and you obviously get rewarded with easier opponents and are closer to home. The Huskies hopefully next year finally play up to their capabilities. As for this year well it wasn't a failure but it wasn't a success either. I guess there is always next year which is the typical Seattle saying unfortunately.

Huskies win NCAA first game over Bulldogs 68-65

By Kshell

The 7th seeded Washington Huskies(24-10,11-7) survived a late rally by the 10th seeded Georgia Bulldogs(21-12,9-7) to win 68-65 in the first game of the NCAA tournament. The Huskies also set school history making this the first time they have won an NCAA tournament game three years in a row. The Huskies were once again led by Pac-10 tournament MVP Isaiah Thomas who scored 19 points while dishing out seven assists. The Huskies also received a big boost from their bench as the Huskies reserves outscored the Bulldogs reserves 28-0. The Huskies overcame a big game by Trey Thompkins who scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. The Huskies also overcame an early seven point deficit to the Bulldogs. The Huskies with this win have now won at least one tournament game in Lorenzo Romar's last five appearances in the NCAA tournament. The Huskies also won on the east coast for the first time in over a decade. The Huskies took care of business which is all you want in the tournament.

The first half saw the Huskies struggle making their shots. The Huskies found themselves trailing 23-16 after the Bulldogs went on a 9-0 run. The season was in danger of ending if the Bulldogs had went on another run. Instead the Huskies closed the half out on a 12-5 run led by Thomas attacking the hole and setting up his teammates. Despite being dominated in the first half the Huskies rallied to tie it at 28-28 at halftime. The Bulldogs had shot 11-27(40.7%) from the field and made three of six three pointers. They were led by Thompkins who scored 15 points on six for eight shooting with six rebounds. The Huskies had shot 12-38(31.6%) from the field and a disasterous 2-14(14.3%) from three point range. The Huskies were led by Scott Suggs who scored seven points on three for seven shooting with a three pointer. Matthew Bryan-Amaning added six points on three for seven shooting with four rebounds. Thomas scored just four points on two for eight shooting but had four assists. The Huskies bench outscored the Bulldogs 14-0.

In the second half the Huskies after giving up the lead went on a 12-2 run to go up 40-32. The Huskies the rest of the half led by Thomas controlled the half being up by 8-10 points the entire half. The Huskies also shot better shooting 14-22(63.6%) and made two for four from three point range. The Huskies also were 10-12(83.3%) from the free throw line in the second half. The Bulldogs did make the game interesting trailing by 10 inside two minutes the Huskies tried to give the game away. With turnovers, dumb fouls and missed free throws the Huskies found themselves up just two points with 3.7 seconds left. Freshman C.J. Wilcox hit the first free throw to put the Huskies up three. Wilcox missed the second free throw which was rebounded by Jeremy Price who threw an outlet pass which was broken up by Thomas. Thomas leaped up like Nate Robinson to deflect the pass forcing the Bulldogs to take a tough three point shot which was missed. The Huskies had survived to win the tournament game over the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs were led by Thompkins who scored 26 points on 11-14 shooting including two three pointers and 11 rebounds.

The Huskies were led by Isaiah Thomas once again. Thomas finished 6-14 shooting but a perfect seven for seven at the foul line. Thomas scored 19 points and dished out seven assists. The Huskies received great team scoring today as their bench outscored the Bulldogs 28-0. Leading the reserves was Scott Suggs who scored 10 points on four for seven shooting including two three's. Matthew Bryan-Amaning is still struggling scoring just eight points on three for eight shooting with just six rebounds. Darnell Gant who made the start this game overcame two quick fouls to score seven points on three for five shooting including a three. Then the Huskies had Justin Holiday, Aziz N'Diaye, Venoy Overton and C.J. Wilcox all score six points. The Huskies for the game shot 12-14(85.7%) from the foul line for the game. For the Huskies it was business as usual winning an NCAA tournament game. This is the fourth win for the Huskies in the last three years.

Overall the Huskies won an NCAA tournament game but that wasn't the goal. The goal heading into the year wasn't to win just one tournament game. The Huskies will now take on the University of North Carolina Tar Heels on Sunday. The Huskies took care of business when they had to in the second half to stretch the lead. That was mainly because of Thomas who scored 15 points in the second half on four for six shooting. Thomas was electric in the second half and then saved the game with his defense at the end. The Huskies won't have much time to enjoy this win. In just 36 hours after the game the Huskies will be taking on North Carolina. The opportunity the Huskies have in this game will be huge. Just don't forget to enjoy this win for at least a day.

Observations:

- Thomas playing in his sixth career tournament game was big once again. After a slow start Thomas finished with 19 points and seven assists. In the process Thomas passed Huskies Honks Eldridge Recasner for sixth all-time in Huskies history in points. Thomas is just 35 points away from fifth place so if the Huskies were to win on Sunday he could pass it this year.

Thomas in the NCAA tournament has played pretty well scoring in double figures in five straight games. For the tournament Thomas is averaging 16.5 points per game on 34-85(40.0%) from the field. He has also averaged 5.7 assists per game. Thomas isn't a player who freezes up in big games. Thomas along with Matthew Bryan-Amaning, Venoy Overton, Darnell Gant and Justin Holiday will tie Brandon Roy, Mike Jensen and Bobby Jones in playing in their seventh tournament game this Sunday. That will be a Huskies record for most tournament games played.

- The Huskies defense played really well after trailing early on 23-16. Thompkins scored 26 of the Bulldogs 65 points. The Huskies in the second half denied Thompkins the ball in long stretches at a time. The Huskies had six steals. Thomas and Holiday each had two steals while Bryan-Amaning and Terrence Ross each had a steal.

The stats are a bit skewed since the Huskies fell apart in the final two minutes. In the first 18 minutes of that half the Huskies really put the pressure on the Bulldogs. The defense pressure is what got the Huskies back into the game and then gave them the nice lead in the second half. The Huskies will need to apply that same pressure to North Carolina who played sloppy yet still scored 102 points. The Huskies won the Pac-10 tournament because they shot lights out. They won due to their great defensive play.

- Nice win for Lorenzo Romar as he improves to 8-5(8-6 overall) as Huskies head coach in the NCAA tournament. Romar once again changed the starting lineup starting Darnell Gant in place of C.J. Wilcox to defend the Bulldogs size. Romar also played Venoy Overton more minutes than Scott Suggs, C.J. Wilcox and Terrence Ross. Romar isn't afraid of being second guessed and made some head scratching moves that worked well.

The Huskies also won because of the trademark for Romar teams which is good defense and hustle. The Huskies shot terrible from three point range. The Huskies due to choking at the end against the Bulldogs have now won three straight games by five points or less after losing their first six. Romar has an experience tournament team which features five guys playing in their seventh tournament game and another guy playing in his sixth game this Sunday against North Carolina. Romar is the only coach to lead the Huskies to the NCAA tournament three years in a row has done that now twice. Well Romar is the first Huskies coach to win an NCAA tournament game three years in a row.

All in all the Huskies were favored and won the game they were supposed to win. In the NCAA tournament it doesn't matter how you look just as long as you advance. The Huskies have some area's to clean up as does North Carolina. The Huskies after playing in this gym should start having their shots fall. The Huskies also won a game in which they couldn't shoot well and only Thomas scored more than 11 points. This was a total team effort as eight guys scored over six points. Now the Huskies should enjoy this win as they set history winning a tournament game three years in a row. The Huskies will have a chance to achieve their biggest win in the last 50 years for this program. The Huskies have a chance to beat a historic program in their backyard. Just don't forget to enjoy this win is all. The upperclassman have done a great job leaving their mark at the University of Washington. It would be nice if they could provide the biggest victory of the Lorenzo Romar era this sunday.

My reaction to being interviewed by Jeff "the fish" Aaron

By Kshell

On Tuesday March 15th, 2011 for the first time in my life I was interviewed on live radio. In this following blog post I'll link you guys to that interview while also talking about the process leading up to the interview. In this interview I mainly discuss the NCAA tournament and in particular who was left out. I also talk about my bracket(which I recently changed by the way) and from a previous conversation with Huskies beat writer Percy Allen I discuss which hollywood figure has the greatest booty. Quite a thrill to have been interviewed for the first time as my thoughts shall be discussed.

This interview doesn't take place if I hadn't start my blog. I was bored one day and created the Seattle Sportsblog. I also created a facebook account where I added people who typically post on Dave "Softy" Mahler's page. By doing this I've met some people who liked my blog and enjoyed discussing sports with me. Facebook decided to delete my account twice but the people I got to know through this process I added to my personal facebook. Well one of those people recently became an intern for Jeff "the fish" Aaron. After talking sports with him for almost a year he figured he would have me be a guest on Aaron's show. After talking with Aaron he liked the move and it was decided that I will be on his show. As for the interview itself it was well done in my opinion.

The interview sounded like a normal conversation because Aaron had already called me twice prior to my interview. In the off the record conversations I had told him I agreed with his stance that there would be more MMA coverage in the Seattle papers. I also told him that I think Percy is crazy for saying Kardashian is #3 on the best booty list. So when the interview finally took place which you can hear(if you want to skip to me I'm roughly at the hour mark) right here by clicking on listen to show!!! we discussed this very topic from the start. I told him I felt Beyonce is still #1 while Kardashian is #2 and although J-Lo was the first famous big booty due to her age she is a distant #3 in my opinion. I never figured my very first interview topic would be discussing who has the best ass in hollywood but it was. That helped relax me and made the interview process pretty fun. Then after that it was time to discuss sports and in particular the NCAA tournament.

In the following interview I talked about who was snubbed in the NCAA tournament. The two teams I felt were snubbed were St. Mary's who went 25-8, won their conference and had an RPI of 46. If you compare them to VCU who went 23-11, took fourth in their conference and has an RPI of 49 I don't get how St. Mary's was snubbed. I also brought up how future Pac-12 member Colorado Buffaloes were snubbed as they went 21-13, had a SOS of 49 and won six games against teams in the RPI top 50. While a team like Clemson who is 20-10 had zero wins against teams in the top 50. I also brought up how Alabama should have got in over Georgia since they won their division and swept Georgia. I then discussed my final four who I said 6th seed St.John's, two #1 seeds in Ohio State and Kansas then #3 Uconn(Although I changed it to Duke for my bracket). I then said I had Kansas winning the tournament and they better not burn me like last year.

All in all, I've received nothing but positive feedback from everyone which I'm happy to hear. I also discussed how I was going to watch the Seattle Sounders for the first time and sarcasticly(while being correct) Jeff Aaron said the game would end 1-0. The interview was a great experience for me to further my own career. The interview was also pretty fun to do and I hope to be back on Jeff Aaron's show in the future. I'll bring up some topics we can disagree on for a point counterpoint. I heard Jeff is a big golf fan while I can't stand the sport so that could be a nice little start. I'll forever be thankful for this opportunity as this was a great experience. Thanks guys for the continued support of this blog and my interview.