The NCAA March Madness Tournament is coming to an end. We have reached the Final Four round and it looks like both match-ups will be exciting to watch. Although my tournament bracket was destroyed early on, with the losses of Georgetown, Kansas, and eventually Kentucky, I still watch the tournament with tons of enthusiasm. Even though I no longer have a team to “root for”, I somehow still find a new team that I want to win. In this case I hope Butler will go all the way. Who doesn’t like the underdog? I’m not sure if they will, but I think that they have at least a decent chance of beating Michigan State, to make it to the championship game. Butler is still on a winning streak that is now up to 24 games. On the flip side, Tom Izzo (coach of Michigan St) has brought his team to the Final Four for the second year in a row, and would like to get another chance at winning the championship.
Everyone, lately, has been talking about Michigan States large variety of offensive plays that confuse the other teams by always keeping them guessing. Apparently, all of the other teams that have lost to Michigan St. can’t stay with the players, and when they do, they get picked and their man becomes wide open, and if they switch on the pick then it leaves another person wide open somehow. I’ve noticed that the players on the other teams (such as Tennessee and N. Iowa) seem to become lazy (give some distance between them and the man they’re supposed to be guarding) when the ball is on the opposite side. This is generally a good thing in basketball, because they are sagging to the middle so they can help out if need be. My suggestion to Butler is to just make sure to match up man on man, and play their men tight no matter where the ball is. This may allow a couple of easy baskets because they are sometimes beat, one on one, but I think that it would still decrease Michigan St.’s total number of wide open shots, and sometimes there’s just nothing a team can do to stop a player when they are hot. The following ESPN video clip demonstrates this by showing Draymond Green’s ability to put the ball in the basket.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EuQCQogoys
I’m not saying that this method would work for sure, but at least it’s something different than what the other (losing) teams tried doing. Tom Izzo (coach of Michigan St) has brought his team to the Final Four for the second year in a row, and would like to get another chance at winning the championship.
These final few games are always very entertaining to watch because they are always very close, and teams normally bring their best game to the table. The games are so close, that they often come down to a “buzzer beater” shot. Plus, it’s fun to have the guys over to watch the games, maybe place a litte wager on them, and eat tons of appetizers.
Man, I really need to get into basketball again — those highlights in the clip are intense.
Also, my high school’s men’s basketball team has apparently been winning state the last few years (obviously I’ve been gone a long time and don’t know any of the team members now), so maybe I’ll see some Sierra High School kids in some of the college or maybe even NBA drafts in coming years…
By: bolingj on April 6, 2010
at 10:40 AM
Damn, i was really pulling for the underbulldog yesterday. What a hell of a game though; amazing finish to a killer tournament. That buzzerbeater almost made it…go to hell Duke.
By: smdixon on April 6, 2010
at 11:29 AM
The championship game was something else! Butler stood among the rest of the field by beating some really good schools. Duke played really well, but I think Butler will be remembered for a long time after this and it looks like we may see them next year. Also, my bracket was destroyed this year as well as Kansas and Kentucky both got knocked out. Overall, it was a great tournament and it is always a fun month of March!
By: Kevin Marshall on April 6, 2010
at 11:39 AM