March Madness: April Edition

Hear it here!

 

March Madness was strictly ho-hum for the first two weeks.

The usual array of upsets and dramatic game-winning baskets at the buzzer were nowhere to be seen.

When the Final Four arrived, the four top-seeded teams representing each region were left standing. So, what kind of surprises could emerge?

That’s what makes March Madness so special. There’s always something lurking that no one expected and that proved to be the case when the top rated schools got together in San Antonio to fight it out for the national championship.

Of the quartet that remained, Duke was the odds-on favorite to win another title.

They had an amazing group of young stars, led by their big guy Cooper Flagg, an air-tight defense, and a swagger that reminded observers of the best of the Blue Devils championship teams of the past.

But it didn’t happen for them.

Instead, the Houston Cougars knocked off the Blue Devils in one of the memorable shockers that will stick in the minds of hoop followers for a long, long time, maybe longer.

In the other half of the draw, the Florida Gators beat the regular season SEC champion Auburn Tigers. Florida got to the final by beating four straight strong entries including defending champion UConn.

The lesson learned from the Final Four was clear: Don’t turn your TV off.

In both of the semifinal encounters one team took command for a half, even more, only to see sensational rallies by the trailing team that resulted in victory.

In the championship game, the same story.

In this case, Houston, seeking their first title after several near-misses, led Florida by as much as 12 points early in the second half, holding their star, Walter Clayton, Jr. scoreless for more than five minutes into the second half. This was the same Walter Clayton who had a career high 34 points in the semis against Auburn and was the leading scorer in the entire tournament.

But the Gators cut down on their turnovers, tightened their defense and captured their third national championship 65-63, despite holding the lead for only 64 seconds in the game. But they were in front when it counted the most. Head coach Todd Golden, at 39, became the youngest coach to win the NCAA crown since the late legend Jim Valvano at N.C. State in 1983.

It was a thrilling championship battle, but it might take a backseat to surprising turn of events that marked that semifinal matchup between Duke and Houston.

When you get to the final four teams, obviously, anyone is capable of winning.

But when the one regarded as the cream of the crop is in command, with a comfortable advantage, well into the second half, and then couldn’t do anything right, that’s a stunner.

The Blue Devils led by 14 with a little more than eight minutes to play.

Then Houston’s L.J. Cryer sparked a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to four points.

Even then, Duke managed raise their lead to 9 with three minutes left.

But the Cougars were relentless and the finish became frenetic.

Yes, there was a controversial loose ball foul on Flagg who couldn’t connect on a key shot, and Houston hung in there, forcing a turnover and making its free throws and wound up beating mighty Duke, 70-67.

There are countless fouls called in a game that are questionable. This one had a few.

The call on Flagg was certainly one of them in my opinion. But teams don’t lose because of one officials’ call. If you looked at some others down the stretch, including a 5-second violation for not getting the ball inbounds that might have cost Duke a possession, that one might have made a difference as well.

They can’t review 5-second violations and other close calls. I think there are too many instances of officials marching to a TV monitor to look at a replay.

Coaches are human, players are human and so are officials.

Let’s stop killing the momentum of a game with so many stoppages. Play on.

The fact is, Duke let Houston back into the game in the first place, they failed to protect their big lead.

It was surreal the way the Blue Devils, once in control, were ultimately upset.

Florida took down Auburn in the other semifinal when it appeared the Gators had played themselves out of it with a first half that saw the Tigers overpower Florida down low close to the basket. Auburn was the SEC conference champion and Florida won the SEC post-season tournament so it was a fitting collision. But Auburn’s big men dominated in the first half. That’s when Walter Clayton Jr. became the hero, on and off the court. At halftime, he lifted up the beleaguered big men in the locker room and encouraged them to turn the tables in the second half. They did just that. Clayton, meanwhile, scored his 34 points with acrobatic layups and timely 3-point baskets to put the Gators in the championship game.

Hats off to the new women’s national champion UConn.

Once upon a time it wasn’t anything new.

In the 16 year period starting in 2000, the Huskies dominated the sport with 10 national titles. Then followed a drought of 9 years before Geno Auriemma took them to another crown, beating South Carolina handily in this year’s final.

Auriemma’s greatness as a head coach is a given. However, it used to rub me the wrong way how the coach would leave his starters in the game with leads of 20 or more points.

But in this championship, Auriemma went to his bench to avoid embarrassing the Gamecocks who were the queens of the court three times in the previous eight seasons.

Watching all the action, it became more apparent to me Jeff Van Gundy’s philosophy of the game he coached so well at the pro level.

He once summed up basketball succinctly declaring, “it’s make or miss, that’s what it’s all about”.

Truer words were never uttered.