Couple of good links...

Carter sucks...
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/basketball/nba/03/29/bobcats.carter/index.html

Good highlights
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/ivp/index?id=2818481

Great comparison...
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-22-143/Tex-Winter-Compares-Kobe-Bryant-and-Michael-Jordan.html

Looks like Kevin Willis is about to ride the Mavericks bench to a title…

Reporter question: “So Donnie (Nelson, Mavs GM), how did Kevin Willis look in today’s workout?”

Answer: "He looked good. Body wise, he still looks like he's in his young 30s. We came away pretty impressed…”

Ah the Final Four…

Ohio State vs. Georgetown

Ohio State is good because…Senior SG Ron Lewis is clutch saving the Buckeyes twice in the final seconds in this year’s NCAAs…Freshman point guard Mike Conley Jr., who is averaging 11.0 ppg and 6.1 apg is the best athlete, best decision maker and best PG left in the final four…C Greg Oden (15.4 ppg, 9.5 rpg) is a defensive menace, with long arms and excellent athleticism, blocking or changing every shot within 10-12 feet of the basket, plus he’s a terrific help side defender and has a mean streak to boot…they are a team who can push tempo, make threes and score inside on drives to the basket…they change ends quickly, this sounds rudimentary, but they capitalize on turnovers or missed baskets well, especially Oden who runs very well for a 7 footer…

Ohio State struggles because…Oden gets in foul trouble and is a rudimentary offensive player, shooting a flat jump hook or dunking is the extent of his offensive repertoire…as a team the Buckeyes can go cold from the perimeter, which means defences pack it in against them…they do not have an in-between game, which could help space the floor…they are an average defensive team outside of Oden…they do not rebound as well as they should considering how athletic they are…

Ohio State X Factor…Ron Lewis…if he’s making threes, Ohio State will force Georgetown to guard more open space and open up drives to the basket, plus the younger players seem to feed off of his confidence…

Ohio State Coaching…I like Thad Matta’s ability to make adjustments…his teams are prepared, but do not always execute consistently, especially this one, mostly because of their youth…Matta will have to be prepared, because G-Town will change up defences a lot and the Hybrid Princeton is very hard to guard the first time your players see it…

Georgetown is good because…Jeff Green, who plays the point forward position in G-Town’s hybrid Princeton Offence (14.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 3.2 apg) is the team's best everything…passer, post scorer, defender and rebounder, he’s the New Jack Scottie Pippen…he’s just a winner who makes plays…C Roy Hibbert, at 7’2” (12.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg) is the first actual peer Oden has ever faced…Hibbert has learned to be a perfect position player on defence, playing with his hands up, showing exceptional footwork for a guy who is really only an average athlete, and not committing silly fouls…on offence he can roll to the basket into a classic hook with either hand, drop step to both sides and uses his size (and bulk) much better than Oden and he’s an excellent interior passer both in the high and low post…in short he more schooled and much more experienced…Guards’ Jonathan Wallace and Jessie Sapp supply shooting and strong drives to the hoop respectively…and more importantly do not take bad shots…as a team the Hoyas allowed opponents to score just 56.9 points per game this season, which ranked then fifth in the nation…

Georgetown struggles because…Hibbert does not change ends well in transition, Oden (well actually so could my sister) can outrun him all day…Rivers off the bench is turnover prone…foul trouble can plague strong defensive teams like G-Town…

Georgetown X Factor…while freshman DaJuan Summers is the trendy pick (probably their best athlete and when he scores well, they win), Patrick Ewing Jr. is the hustle guy, who brings tremendous energy to a team that is very controlled and focused on executing…if Ewing Jr. is making all the “little” plays, than that frees Green and Hibbert up for the big plays…

Georgetown Coaching…John Thompson III has his team playing the Hybrid Princeton offence to perfection…they defend well, and are committed to help side defence and switching on every player but the opposing C…they mix zones well with their man to man defensively…they execute better than any team in the nation…

Prediction…it’s very hard to play G-Town well the first time…today’s player is simply not used to a team that screens up high and cuts backdoor on EVERY possession…in the second half and overtime of the UNC game, the Tar Heel players were looking over their (sore) shoulders for the screener instead of focusing on the man they were guarding and the Hoyas executed their offence in overtime to perfection, outscoring the Heels 13-3…plus G-Town forces tempo so well…if they could slow down UNC, the fastest team in the nation, they can certainly slow down Ohio State… Oden clearly a better athlete than Hibbert and if he turns to face him up with a hard dribble drive, instead of posting him, he could destroy him for sure, same if Ohio State is able to run and make Hibbert chase Oden in transition…however, in the end, I think Georgetown will dictate tempo, execute on offence and win the game…make it G-Town 72, OSU 69

Florida vs. UCLA

Florida is good because…everyone can handle the ball…this might be the best overall ball-handling team since the 1989 Illinois tournament team…Taurean Green is a streaky shooter but can heat up fast (13.3 ppg, 3.6 apg)…Lee Humphrey can really shoot it an takes mostly good shots…Al Horford (13.2 ppg, 9.2 rpg) is a man amongst boys, using his Anthony Mason-esque game to dominate inside…Joakim Noah (12.2 ppg, 8.5 rpg) is like Mikki-Moore on crack, all manic energy and hustle, although he is very limited offensively…Corey Brewer is their best on the ball defender and can score in the mid-range, a rarity in the NCAA…Florida defends out to 25 feet with all 5 players…as a team they mix well on offence, with anybody being able to contribute 30 points on any given night…they are terrific rebounders, averaging 15.8 more boards per game than opponents through this year’s tourney…

Florida struggles because…they turn the ball over like crazy, with the Gators have turned the ball over 96 times in the tourney, and have forced only 77 turnovers…they do not pass well out of the double team, especially in the post where Horford is a turnover waiting to happen when doubled…

Florida X Factor…Corey Brewer’s defence on Aaron Afflalo…if Brewer makes Afflalo disappear, the Gators will win…period…

Florida Coaching…Billy Donovan has had another great year, however, in the loss to Vanderbilt, he was out-coached by Commodores coach Kevin Stallings who exploited the Gators with a lot of zone, closing out on the perimeter shooters, but leaving the bigs alone if they were outside of 8 feet, exposing that Noah and Horford are not great shooters facing up….Donovan will have these guys prepared, and they’ve been there before…

UCLA is good because…they play defence and can lock you down inside and out…they have great guards in Aaron Afflalo (16.9 ppg) who is as tough a guard (think Bobby Phills) as they come, a good scorer from anywhere, and very strong going to the basket, while Darrin Collison (12.8 ppg, 5.7 apg, 50% FG, 46% 3ptFG, 80% FT) is truly a remarkable player who combines his tremendous efficiency and speed with very strong on the ball defence and hawking in the passing lanes…in the post, Lorenzo Mata, Lu Richard Mbah a Moute and Alfred Aboya are all long, tough defensive players and excellent rebounders, especially on the offensive glass…

UCLA struggles because…the bigs are not scorers….Mata and Aboya’s hands leave something to be desired, while Mbah a Moute has regressed, reportedly from sore knees…Afflalo and Josh Shipp can go cold, and when they do there is nobody to pick up the slack…as a team they did well upping the tempo a little bit vs. Kansas, but generally like to slow it down…so when get sucked into a faster tempo, they end up being exposed as a very unbalanced scoring team…Collison sometimes gets impatient with his teammates who sometimes cannot keep up on the break because he is so fast…

UCLA X Factor…SF Josh Shipp, who sat out last season's NCAA tournament with a hip injury, is the glue guy and third scorer (13.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg) who can create his own shot and score in the midrange…with Brewer on Afflalo, either Humphries or Green will have to guard him, which is a mismatch, since he’s too big and strong for either…

UCLA Coaching…Ben Howland is a defensive coach at heart and has instilled the bruising, Big East-coast, defensive, ball control style he had success with at Pitt…he has never had a better defensive team at every position…he will need to use his timeouts judiciously to slow down any lf those patented Florida scoring sprees, but his team is experienced and eager to erase the memory of last year’s title game loss…

Prediction…My head says Florida is more talented, faster, and returns everyone from the squad that won it all last year…My heart loves an upset and thinks UCLA will be tougher, grittier and get a superlative performance from Afflalo, or even a wildcard performance from Mbah a Moute…my head wins, with Florida being too much for UCLA, which is a shame cause I’m really getting sick of all that poncey fist pumping from Noah…call it Florida 77, UCLA 62

Oh Michael Ray...what were you thinking...

Well, a few days after the Raptors sh_t the bed in a loss to the Celtics and in the process lost their glue guy, Jorge Garbajosa, to a devastating leg injury, they come up with a huge win last night at home beating Miami at home 96-83…the Raps were especially impressive because:

Chris Bosh only had 13 points and 17 rebounds…Bosh has now passed Kendra Davis as the all time leader in double doubles with 111…

Anthony Parker, who with Bargniani and Garbo out is the key as a scorer, had 20 points for Raptors

Toronto out-rebounded Miami 53-35…which is ridiculous…

The Raps shot 46 percent from the floor…

Afterwards, Shaq was not happy: ''Our problem is we're all shooting and we just keep shooting instead of mixing it up and going to the hole. I don't have to tell them, we should know. The Spurs know it, the Mavericks know it, so we should know it.''

Interesting press release from Starbury shoes: “Four-time NBA All-Star Ben Wallace is best known for a strong work ethic that has resulted in four Defensive Player of the Year awards, multiple NBA rebounding titles, and an NBA blocked shots title. With today's announcement that the Chicago Bulls center is the first athlete endorser of Starbury, he will put that legendary work ethic to use on and off the court by helping get kids and parents to join the Starbury Movement. Wallace - aka Big Ben - will wear Starbury basketball shoes on-court this season. Wallace's Big Ben signature Starbury sneaker is currently being designed and will debut next season during Wallace's games.”

Fantastic matchup of young wing players last night in the Bobcats 101-97 win over the Hawks…’Cats SF Gerald Wallace goes for 31 points on 12-of-16 from the floor, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks and 4 steals…while Hawks SF Josh Smith had 25 points, 15 boards and 6 blocks…

Everybody knows the Knicks are spending a lot of money for a very mediocre team, but check the numbers on how much they are spending on guys who don’t even play for them anymore: Jalen Rose - $14.6 million, Maurice Taylor - $7.5 million, Shandon Anderson - $7.2 million, Jerome Williams, - $7.0 million…that’s $36.3 million in total, which would be 50% or more of the total payroll spending of 26 of the NBA’s 30 teams…which is ridiculous…

Speaking of NBA Salary, the bigger you are, the better the gig…from USAToday.com the average NBA salary by position:

Point guard $3,672,966
Shooting guard $4,504,900
Small forward $3,767,771
Power forward $4,273,758
Center $4,666,934

Watched the McDonald’s All-America game last night, and it was a different game tan usual, as guys actually defended a little bit and it ended on a missed O.J. Mayo game-winning 3-point attempt in the final seconds…Michael Beasley, who’s off to play for Coach Hugging at Kansas State, scored 23 points for the West and was named the Most Valuable Player….Mayo was booed in pre-game intros, and the crowd chanted “O-ver-ra-ted (…clap, clap, clap-clap-clap)” for most of the time he was on the floor…Mayo pretended not to notice, but he missed six of his first seven attempts and finished with 12 points on 4-of-17 shooting….of course, he was often double-teamed…Oregon-born PF Kevin Love had 13 points and six rebounds for the West…Love, who is bound for UCLA, was my favourite player, a true post player with terrific hands and feet and a wonderful passer out of either the high or low post…

Oh my goodness…Former NBA All-Star Michael Ray Richardson has come a long way from his lifetime suspension from the NBA in 1986 for drug use. Richarson has been coaching in the CBA and is currently got his team, the Albany Patroons, in the playoffs…however, the team has suspended Richardson for the rest of the year for these comments he made to reporters who had asked him about his contract: "I've got big-time lawyers," Richardson said, according to the Times Union. "I've got big-time Jew lawyers.” When told by the reporters that the comment could be offensive to people because it plays to the stereotype that Jews are crafty and shrewd, he responded with, "Are you kidding me? They are. They've got the best security system in the world. Have you ever been to an airport in Tel Aviv? They're real crafty. Listen, they are hated all over the world, so they've got to be crafty. They got a lot of power in this world, you know what I mean? Which I think is great. I don't think there's nothing wrong with it. If you look in most professional sports, they're run by Jewish people. If you look at a lot of most successful corporations and stuff, more businesses, they're run by Jewish. It's not a knock, but they are some crafty people." Wow…ignorant? Yes…Prejudiced? Yes…Mean-spirited? Not sure…but considering how hard Richardson has worked to come back from the brink of disaster, very unfortunate…

Crazy rumour that just may be right: Pat Riley will step down after this season and be replaced by…Florida Gators coach Billy Donovan…wow…not saying it’s true, but if they win the NCAA title again, what else does he have to prove as a college coach? Not to mention his incoming recruiting class is not in the top 10…

In the category of weird…44 year old former Raptor (former everything if I remember correctly) Kevin Willis and his little dinosaur arms are going to work out for the Mavs today…

Word on the street (I hate that expression, but I really did talk to someone who knows on the sidewalk, which is close to the street…) is that Dirk’s Ankle injury is a lot worse than the Mavs are letting on…

In the category of very weird…Iowa has asked Tennessee permission to interview coach Bruce Pearl to fill the coaching vacancy created by the departure of Steve Alford to New Mexico. Why is this very weird? Think back to years ago when Pearl was working as an assistant at Iowa…Pearl was vilified for years in coaching circles for taping a telephone conversation with a potential recruit…on tape the kid alleged that (former) Illinois assistant Jimmy Collins offered him cash and cars to come to Illinois…at the time it was thought that Pearl had violated some sort of code amongst coaches and that he would never get a job as a coach because of it…strange now that he would even consider going back…

Interesting links:

Great article from Peter May of the Boston Globe on Garbo…pre-injury… http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/articles/2007/03/25/melting_pot_team_has_raptors_cooking/?page=full

Andy Katz of ESPN.com on the Oden-Hibbert Matchup… http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/ncaatourney07/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=2815442&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1

Krista Jahnke of the Detroit Free Press with a great article on Pistons strength and conditioning coach Arnie Kander…

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070328/SPORTS03/703280326/1051

Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star thinks Garbo’s a tough guy…

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/197269

My favourite game of the weekend was Georgetown’s 96-84 win over UNC…some observations:

With all the hype surrounding the Tar Heel guards it was Georgetown's backcourt of Jonathan Wallace and Jessie Sapp that played like stars, combining for 34 points (12-of-20 FG) and 15 assists (with only three turnovers) including the “dagger” three by Wallace that sent the game into OT…Carolina's vaunted starting guards, Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson, shot 4-of-20 and finished with 10 points combined…

Georgetown went to a 2-3 zone which Carolina could not do anything with…heck, with all of those McDonald’s high school All-Americans the only guy who can hit the 3 is Wes Miller…a former walk-on who transferred James Madison….

Jeff Green will be a terrific NBA player, he is the most well rounded player since Shane Battier, and a much better athlete…nuff said…

The Hoyas outscored the Tar Heels 15-3 during the overtime period…in fact the Tar Heels are now 0-7 in overtime games this year…why? Because they play such a flexible offence, and in OT you need to execute set plays, not have freshmen make decision or have options…The Hoyas just continued to run their offence, back screening and cutting to the basket exactly as they did at any point during the game…

The Hoyas are balanced…All five Georgetown starters scored at least 13 points….

Other game notes:

I wonder if Tigers C Joey Dorsey has completed his meal of crow…before the game with Ohio State Dorsey said, "This is the game I wanted…Oden is overrated as a big man...and he might be as good as Joey Dorsey…I think it's going to be David versus Goliath." So how did it work out? Oden went 7 of 8 from the field for 17 points, 9 rebounds, and 1 block all against Dorsey in the Buckeye’s 92-76 win over Memphis….Dorsey finished with 0 points, 3 rebounds and 4 fouls…he left the game with 3:47 remaining and Memphis down by 10 never to return…

Oh boy…Tajuan Porter scored only 10 points on 2-for-12 in Oregon’s 84-77…this on the heels of his 33-point performance in the Ducks' regional semifinal win over UNLV on Friday…and can anyone guard Taurean Green and Lee Humphrey? Humphrey scored 23 points and 7-of-13 long-distance shooting, while Green had 21 points on 4-of-8 three-point shooting

Randolph Morris is a New York Knick…the Raps tried to sign him…Morris is the first player to go from playing in the NCAA Tournament to being on an NBA roster in the same week. The 6-foot-11, 260-pound Morris originally declared for the 2005 draft but was not taken and had not signed with an agent. He returned to school and played two more seasons as a free agent who was ineligible to be drafted. Morris averaged 16.1 points and shot 59 percent from the field this season for Kentucky.

If you haven’t noticed, Kobe Bryant has lost his mind lately, leading the Lakers to 5 straight wins while averaging 53.6 PPG on 91-173 or 53% from the floor, 21-44 or 48% from three and 65-71 or 92% from the free throw line…which is bananas…of course for perspective, in 1962 Wilt Chamberlain averaged 50.4 PPG for an ENTIRE SEASON…

Huh? http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/144157.html

In case you didn’t notice, in 34 games with the Nuggets, Iverson is averaging 26.3 points on 45.4 percent shooting to go along with 7.4 assists since he moved to Denver…

Well, as the tournament continues, here’s how I see the next round shaking out:

Thursday, March 22

West

No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 4 So. Illinois 7:10 p.m.

The Jayhawks have now won 13 in a row…they hit 60.5 percent of their threes (23 of 38) against Niagara and Kentucky in the first two rounds…they are long, fast, athletic and have multiple scorers, however they only shoot 66% from the free throw line…the Salukis are the best defensive team in the nation…they held Holy Cross and Virginia Tech to an average of 49.5 points in the first two rounds…however, if Jamaal Tatum has an off shooting game, SIU suffers, as he is their only perimeter scorer…it’s a matchup of offence vs. defence on paper, but in fact the Jayhawks play pretty good D themselves and will limit the Salukis scoring opportunities just enough…I see it KU 68, SIU 61

No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 3 Pitt 9:40 p.m.

UCLA is a terrific defensive team, especially closing out on shooters, evidenced by their holding Indiana to 13 1st half points…however, their scoring has been spotty, they are poor foul shooters (66%) and they have no player taller than 6’9”…Pitt is big, tough and balanced…centre Aaron Gray is 7 feet and 280 lbs. and should dominate the smaller Bruins…they love to pass, having led the Big East in assists…however, they are prone to blowing big leads (a 19 point lead blown in the 2nd round against VCU) and have a bit of a rep for not being up for big games…I see Pitt’s size and strength being the difference because both teams play essentially at the same tempo…Pitt 74, UCLA 71

South

No. 2 Memphis vs. No. 3 Texas A&M 7:27 p.m.

The Tigers are very deep and very talented and were not challenged in the first two rounds by North Texas and Nevada…they play fast, defend hard and aver very fast and athletic…they are not good decision makers at the PG spot and often caught late in the shot clock wondering what to do…their go to player, SG Chris Douglas-Roberts has a sprained ankle…Aggies PG Acie Law is the New-Jack Sam Cassell, with the skills and the nuts to take and make any shot when it counts…plus playing in San Antonio (only three hours from College Station) will be a home game for them…I see a close game, but the long arm of the Law takes over in the final minutes…make it Texas A & M 81, Memphis 79

No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 5 Tennessee 9:57 p.m.

The Buckeye’s are big (Oden) and fast (Conley) but VERY vulnerable…if Ron Lewis does not make a ridiculous 25-foot three with a hand in his face, they lose to Xavier…Oden has not shown good decision making as a passer out of the double team…Thad Matta will have to make adjustments on offence in order to get good looks for his shooters, because Tennessee will pack it in on Oden…the Vols have one of the great shooters in the country in Chris Lofton, who has in-the-gym range…Vols are small, with former PG Dane Bradshaw (6’4”) playing the 4 spot in some sets…I see Ohio State being a little too big and too talented…call it Ohio State 79, Tennessee 73

Friday, March 23

Midwest

No. 1 Florida vs. No. 5 Butler 7:10 p.m.

The Gators, the reigning NCAA champs, have looked a little disinterested so far, especially centre Joakim Noah, who has been very ineffective through the first two rounds…however, this team has 3 guys who will be 1st round draft picks (Noah, Horford, Brewer) and 2 other starters who will play in the NBA (Green and Humphrey) so there is talent to burn…However, the Gators have put themselves in a 1st half hole twice in the tourney going 14-of-31 from the field in the first half against Jackson State and 8-of-22 (36.4 percent) and trailing 31-29 to Purdue at the break…the Bulldogs are right out of Hoosier’ central casting, in fact their home gym, the Winkle Fieldhouse, was in the actual movie…No active player stands taller than 6-foot-7, and PG Graves, their best player generously listed at 6-1 and 155 pounds…the advantage Butler has is that they execute better than any team in the nation…they commit the nation's fewest turnovers at 9.5/game, rank 7TH in free-throw shooting at 76%, 5th in scoring defence at 56.9 points per game allowed and 17th in threes with 9/game…however, Butler does not play anyone over 6’7”, so I think Florida’s size and speed will overwhelm them…Florida 78, Butler 72

No. 3 Oregon vs. No. 7 UNLV 9:40 p.m.

The Ducks have great guards including the most clutch player in all of college basketball in guard Aaron Brooks who has scored the game-winning or tying points in the final minute or in overtime six times this season and little (5’6”) TaJuan Porter who had 61 points in 3 games of the PAC-10 tournament and was named MVP…they have 2 other G/F’s that can score in Bryce Taylor and Malik Hairston…the 4 guard offence means they attack off the dribble constantly, run the floor with abandon, all while taking very good care of the ball (12.6 turnovers/game)…the Rebels have the psychic connection of the father-son coach-PG connection with Lon Kruger and his kid Kevin Kruger…athletic wings Wendell White and Wink Adams play in your pocket D and are always get the ball in good scoring position from Kruger…So it’s UNLV’s D vs. Oregon’s O…I think that UNLV, who is the much hotter team (they’ve won 9 of their last 10) takes it…UNLV 83, Oregon 77

East

No. 2 Georgetown vs. No. 6 Vanderbilt 7:27 p.m.

Georgetown is white hot having won 17 of its last 18 heading…the Hoyas also beat Vandy 86-70 earlier this season…for G-town it’s all about ball control, rebounding and defence…oh and centre Roy Hibbert who is a 7’2” shot blocker supreme…and SF Jeff Green who is a Scottie Pippen-esque player and a winner who can do everything and anything it takes to win…Vandy has Derrick Byars and Shan Foster (both top 10 in the SEC in scoring) who both lit up Florida earlier in the year…however, the Commodores do not rebound well, which is what Georgetown does better than anyone else…I think it’s a blowout…call it Georgetown 78, Vanderbilt 54

No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 5 USC 9:57 p.m.

North Carolina runs the devastating secondary break and is the best team in the nation at capitalizing on turnovers, with lightning quick guard Ty Lawson running the secondary break (sometimes by himself) to perfection…Tyler Hansborough had a monster game against Michigan State last round with 33 points and 16 rebounds and Rayshawn Terry and Julian Wright give the Heels lots of length inside…so they’re fast and long…the Trojans are very balanced with scoring and defence coming in equal parts from PG Gabe Pruitt, SG Nick Young and PF Taj Gibson…they play terrific defence, having let Texas phenow Kevin Durant do his thing, but shacking the rest of the Longhorns in a 87-68 drubbing in the last round…so is that what they do here? I think so…here’s your upset with USC 80, UNC 79…

I’ll preview the Elite 8 on Saturday…

Here’s a bunch of interesting articles I found about how coaches make themselves more money by having good tournaments:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/19/sports/19vandy.html?_r=1&em&ex=1174449600&en=6aa7d8854a12c617&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/tourney07/2007-03-20-coaches-incentives_N.htm

http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/10071660

http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/6591198

Wow…great tourney so far…I had 20 brackets and as of today, 18 of them are toast…here are some random thoughts on the 44 hours of NCAA basketball I watched since Thursday’s noon tipoff:

1st 2 days kind of went to form, with favourites emerging victorious in all but these three…

VCU beating Duke was an easy pick…the Dukies can’t dribble and Eric Maynor, VCU’s fabulous PG was top 5 in the nation in steals and HATES Duke, the school he grew up 10 miles away from but did not recruit him…fantastic game with the requisite chippy-ness (Duke has to be one of the all time dirtiest teams) and Maynor draining the winning jumper from 17 feet with 2 seconds left on a little right handed dive dribble and step back to the left move (think MJ’s pet move to go to the his jumper from the top of the key) was classic…

Davidson gave their all against Maryland losing 82-70 with Dell Curry’s kid Stephan going for 30 points and throwing up crazy jump shots ( he hit a three off of 1 foot in the 2nd half!!! It was like Rick Mount-esque) like Vernon Maxwell on his 6th can of Red Bull…

Winthrop beating ND 74-64 was a gimme…the Irish were putrid from the foul line going 4-13 (31%) and disgusting from three going 4-22 (18%)…As for Winthop they out-assisted Notre Dame 20-10 and out-rebounded them 40-32…it was domination…

Louisville obliterates Stanford 78-58 and you know Syracuse, Drexel, Appalachian State and Kansa State are sitting there fuming at being left out of the tournament…

Saturday

Boston College never had a chance in the 62-55 loss to Georgetown that was not as close as the score indicates…for the Hoyas, Roy Hibbert was too much especially in the second half where he scored 15 of his 17 total points, 10 boards and mad a nifty little interior pass to a cutting Patrick Ewing, Jr. for a very nasty reverse dunk in traffic and 1…but the star was forward Jeff Green, who dominated with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks, including a ridiculous tip dunk in the second half…Tyrese Rice continued his terrific PG play for BC, contributing 22 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists and BC forward Jared Dudley was his usual steady self with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals, but the missing piece was designated shooter Sean Marshal who basically disappeared…

Yawn…UNC beats Michigan State an 81-67 victory continuing its NCAA tournament dominance over the Spartans…UNC is now 4-0 lifetime against Mich. State in the Tournament…UNC PF Tyler Hansborough had a monster game with 33 points and 9 rebounds, but the game was never close…Hansborough might be the most annoying player in all of college basketball with all his yelling and fist pumping every 2 seconds…he;s so annoying, I’m still surprised Duke did not recruit him…

Ohio State survives Xavier 78-71 in overtime but only because Buckeye guard Ron Lewis made a loooooonnnggg three to send the game into overtime and then PG Mike Conley Jr. lost his mind in the overtime Conley dominated the extra period. He scored Ohio State's first seven points, then four free throws in the final 1:03….Super frosh centre Greg Oden fouled out with 9.3 seconds left on a weird bodyslam of Xavier forward Brandon Cole which should have been an intentional foul (2 shots and the ball) but ended up being a 1-1 which Cole making the front end to give Xavier a 61-58 lead with 9.3 seconds left, leaving the door open just a crack for Lewis’ loooonnnng three to tie…

Texas A&M’s 72-69 win over Louisville was the game of the tournament…Cards PG Edgar Sosa was en fuego hitting everything and anything totalling a career-high 31 points…however he missed a pair of free throws with his team down one with 29 seconds left and then missed a potential game-winning three-pointer at the end...the other star of the game, was Texas A&M's All-America point guard Acie Law, who had 26 points and hit 13 of 15 attempts from the line, including the final two at the end to seal the deal…he’s the closest thing to Sam Cassell since, well, Sam Cassell…

Pitt beats tourney darlings VCU 84-79 in OT…VCU’s full-court pressure ignited an amazing 19-point comeback over the last 12 minutes of regulation and sent the game into overtime, but the Panthers went on a 7-2 run to start overtime…Very balanced scoring for Pitt, but Canadian PF Levon Kendall, who fouled out with 3:42 left in overtime, had a terrific all round game with 8 points, 8 boards and 3 blocks, including a highlight real blocked layup in the 2nd half…

Butler beats Maryland by moving the ball, controlling pace and moving the ball via the pass on offence like they’re auditioning for Hoosiers or something…Playing the Role of Jimmy Chitwood was Butler PG AJ Graves who went for 19 points which included 4-9 from three…Maryland needed to hit Free throws to win and they only went 7-15, which in a close, ball control game, sealed the win for Butler…Interesting note, Maryland out-rebounded Butler 36-21, including 14-7 on the offensive boards…

UCLA beats Indiana 54-49 in the most boring game of the year so far, so boring that I watched about 30 seconds of it and flipped to the Food Network…that’s all you need to know, that and UCAL is not as good as they were last year, Pitt should destroy them in the next round…

Now Vandy beating Washington State 78-74 in double OT was a thrilla…for Vanderbilt Derrick Byars and Shan Foster (20points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals) were unstoppable in the 2nd half and OT, combining for 47 points, 27 of them by Byars (also 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 1 block)…the star was Byars, who was 5-of-9 from three-point range, and was so hot in the second half and OT that even a spectacular, game-saving block by Cougars F Ivory Clark of a Byars layup near the end of regulation did not cool off the should have been SEC Player of the Year…Byars made a game-saving left-handed block of his own on a Taylor Rochestie breakaway in the first overtime….

Sunday

UNLV’s 74-68 win over Wisconsin was the battle of the PG’s with Vegas’ Kevin Kruger (coach Lon Kruger’s son) going for 16 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists, while the Badger’s PG Kammron Taylor had 24 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists…Kruger junior shook off a shooting slump, a 1-of-15 in the NCAAs before he hit three straight late in the second half…By the way this was the best free throw shooting NCAA game I’ve ever seen with UNLV going 16-20 (80%...duh) and Wisconsin going 21-27 (78%)…

Kansas rolled past ninth-seed Kentucky 88-76…Kansas was too fast, too deep and too athletic for Kentucky as Julian Wright (21 points, 8 rebounds), Brandon Rush (19 points), Mario Chalmers (16 points, 8 assists) as Kansas led wire to wire, and was up by 20 at one point…the Tubby Smith watch begins now…I predict he’ll be fired by June 1st…

My goodness…nobody wants to play Southern Illinois…The Salukis incredible man to man defense held Virginia Tech to 2-of-13 3-point shooting while going 12-of-21 from three themselves in an easy 63-48 second-round victory over Virginia Tech…how good is the Southern Illinois man defence? They have not played 1 minute of zone all year…wow…

Florida beat a very game Purdue team 74-67 behind Al Horford and Corey Brewer (17 points apiece)…vaunted Florida centre Joakim Noah laid an egg (9 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks) while getting dominated by 6’7” Carl Landry (Purdue's tallest player by the way) who’s 18 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists had Noah looking for an ark…Noah’s whote to the press on Landry:”I give [Landry] a lot of respect…He's a warrior. There was not a single play when he gave up going for the rebound or for the shot. I feel bad for him because I know how hard it is to lose in the tournament." The people that should feel bad are the NBA team that drafts Noah in the top 5 this year…he’s basically Mikki Moore with an uglier jumpshot…listen, when you are an athletic 6’11” and a 6’7” guy is guarding you, you need to call for the ball and back him in…instead Noah spent most of the time on offence counting the animals two by two and not pressing Landry at all…

OK, enough with the Old Testament jokes…

USC destroyed Texas 87-68 …even with Durant going for 30 points and 9 rebounds, the Trojans got a balanced attack with 22 points from Nick Young, 20 points from Daniel Hackett and 17 points and 14 rebounds from Taj Gibson, who was dominant on the boards and also made 9 of 14 free throws…why was this such an easy win for USC? Because other than 20 points from AJ Abrams, nobody else from Texas showed up…

All you need to know about Memphis’ forgettable 78-62 win over Nevada (other than another Nick Fazekas Choke job…I’m telling you he’ll be Matt Bullard in the NBA, but that’s another matter…) is The Tigers came in making only 61 percent of their free throws, which is the worst among all tournament teams and in the bottom 10 of all 336 Division I schools…Memphis went 26-of-34 (76%) from the line in this game, which means they are playing over their heads right now and will crap out for sure in the next round against Texas A&M…

Tennessee beating Virginia 7-74 was all about the Vols PG Chris Lofton…Lofton hit all six of his free throws in the last 27.7 seconds, keeping Tennessee ahead and finishing with 20 points…it was an odd game for Lofton who went 4-of-16 from the field but 9-of-10 on free throws…it was a very tough finish for Virginia with guards J.R. Reynolds (26 points) and Singletary (19 points) playing well, but with Singletary missing an open three at the buzzer to tie…

Quick Raptors notes before we get to the tournament:

T.J. Ford had 19 points and 9 assists, while Chris Bosh had 26 points and 9 boards as the Raps pelted the Milwaukee Bucks 108-93 victory last night…Ford, who was obviously motivated against his old team, had 12 points and 6 assists in the first quarter...so, for all the doubters how’s that trade going so far this season…Charlie Villaneuva had 1 point in 10 minutes last night and did not play in the second half, as whispers of his dogging it in practice are starting to filter out of Milwaukee…oh and I loved Ford sticking his nose in there after Bucks centre Andrew Bogut gave Chris Bosh a 2-handed shove in the back as Bosh drove by him for what would have been an uncontested monster dunk…Bogut was immediately T’d up and ejected, but Ford got right in his face about the foul, getting a T of his own telling Bogut what a punk move it was…Stat-head note: this was Toronto's fifth road win by at least 15 points this season; they had only four such wins over the previous five seasons combined…not important, but the fellas at Elias have to do something to pass the time…

OK, now on to more important things, like the tournament…First off, Syracuse (lost at home to Wichita Sate), West Virginia (beat UCLA, but only 4-8 against the top 100 RPI), Kansas State (no big wins outside of Big 12) stop whining…you deserve the NIT, not the NCAA..

Now the real snubbees:

Drexel: The Dragons beat Syracuse, Villanova and Creighton all on the road and goes 13-5 in their conference and they don’t get in? Brutal…

Appalachian State: They beat Wichita State, VCU, Davidson, Virginia and Vanderbilt on the road…for a mid-major, that’s ridiculous…

These 2 teams should be in instead of:

Arkansas: a 7-9 record in a very average SEC, 2-8 in road games and the only significant win was Vanderbilt on the road…

Stanford: 18-12 overall and only 10-8 in their conference…

Good Article here about pro prospects for all 65 teams:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/chris_ekstrand/03/12/draft.prospects/index.html

Interesting results from a study of Division 1 basketball freshman graduation rates (FGR)…some highlights:

10% of Ohio State's basketball players received degrees at the school, according to a study that examined the freshman classes entering from 1996-99.

Using the yardstick Graduation Success Rates -- which accounts for players who transfer to other schools and receive degrees _ players entering from junior colleges and those who receive degrees more than six years after enrollments, 9 percent of Florida A&M players, 19 percent of Eastern Kentucky and 50 percent of Oregon players were graduated…

Other NCAA tournament-bound programs with low FGRs were: Tennessee (8 percent), UNLV (10 percent), Maryland (13 percent), Texas A&M (15 percent), Virginia Tech (17 percent), Gonzaga and Louisville (22 percent), Georgia Tech, Kentucky and Oral Roberts (23 percent), Memphis and North Texas and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (25 percent).

At the other end, the schools with the highest FGRs were Holy Cross (86 percent), Butler (82 percent), Creighton (78 percent), Davidson and Michigan State (75 percent). Penn and Air Force didn't report FGRs.

Based on the GSR formula, 68 percent of teams bound for the NCAA men's basketball tournament graduated 70 percent or more of their white players, but just 30 percent graduated 70 percent or more of black players. While 76 percent of white basketball players receive degrees, just 51 percent of black players do.

Lapchick said 41 Division I schools, including seven headed to the tournament, didn't graduate any black players. Twenty-one schools, including tournament-bound Eastern Kentucky, didn't graduate any white players.

Random info…

The Atlanta Hawks Joe Johnson will be out for up to a month with a right calf contusion suffered when teammate Estaben Batista kicked him in the leg during Monday's 88-81 loss to the Miami Heat…

Don’t know if you caught this but Don Nelson, the coach of Golden State Warriors, who makes $6 million (!!) a year had this to say in a press conference after the Warriors were pasted by the Bulls last week…Q: “Coach, were there any adjustments you were trying to make out there?” A: “I didn't know what to do." Huh? $6 mill a year and you don’t know what to do? Time for a refund…

Best quote I’ve heard recently from an in-game commentator came from Tommy Heinsohn during a Celtic’s broadcast…here’s ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons with his version: Coming out of commercial, we see a replay of Yao's finger getting bent back on a rebound and Yao screaming in pain, followed by Gorman reporting that Yao went to the locker room to get it checked out, then Tommy joking, "That was his chopstick finger, too, he may not be able to eat anymore!" and Gorman changing the subject as fast as humanly possible…oh my God, I may never stop laughing…

Look, I know nothing, and everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but for some context around Ron Artest being arrested Monday on suspicion of domestic violence and using force or violence to prevent a woman from reporting a crime….turns out the police have responded to five separate 911 calls from Artest's home since August of 2006 including two domestics between Artest and his wife…

With the NBA average salary at $4.5 million, there’s not too many bargains out there, but here’s a list of fantastic bargains…guys in the league making under a million but who are starting in the NBA:

Portland Trailblazers 6’6” SF Ima Udoka’s $744,551 salary, 8.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.9 SPG, 40.3 3PT%, 48.0 FG%...terrific defender and hustling “glue” guy who can stick the three…worked his way up from the D league…plays like an undersized Shane Battier…

Golden State Warriors 6’3” PG/SG Monta Ellis $664,209 salary, 17.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.5 SPG, 47.2 FG%...the best bargain of the bunch…a candidate for most improved player, his tremendous quickness and leaping ability give him great separation going to the basket, plus he can shoot it and is emerging as a terrific defender…at 20 years old he’s only going to get better…

New Orleans/OKC Hornets 6’5” SG Devin Brown $585,212 salary, 11.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 2.9 APG...hard nosed player brings championship experience from his days in San Antonio…ended up here after opting for free agency and grossly overestimating his value…Kevin Garnett makes this much money every two games…

Los Angeles Lakers 6’4” PG Smush Parker $798,112 salary, 11.8 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.5 SPG…a big guard in the triangle in LA, Parker is useful, but best known as Steve Nash’s bitch…In 2 games this year: Parker averaged 6 points, 4 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.5 steals on 33% from the field and 50% from the line…Nash averaged 19 points, 3 rebounds, 11.5 assists, 1.5 steals on 48% from the field, 40% from three and 90% from the line

Milwaukee Bucks 6’3” PG Charlie Bell $744,551 salary, 13.1 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.3 SPG…Bell has played well and came up from the minors and has come a long way from his being undrafted by Michigan State…

By now you’ve all seen the gruesome footage of Clippers guard Shaun Livingston’s knee injury, well the fabled torn ligament wizard, Dr. James Andrews operates on him today…Anders compares the injury to the one suffered by former NBA PF Tom Guggliotta, which if you remember him post injury, basically ended his career as an effective player… according to the latest reports Livingston tore the anterior cruciate ligament, posterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and lateral meniscus in his knee. He also dislocated his patella, and his tibia-femoral…

The main reason why Eddy Curry is better this year? Mark Aguirre…apparently after Curry’s overall production declined under Larry Brown last year, the Knicks sent to work with Curry for five day stretches a number of times over the summer…

Remember this trade? Boston acquired PG Sebastian Telfair, PF Theo Ratliff and a second-round pick in 2008 from Portland for PG Dan Dickau, PF/C Raef LaFrentz and the draft rights to Brandon Roy…let’s see how that’s working out:

Brandon Roy: 34.4 minutes, 15.6 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 4.1 APG, 44.7 FG%, 36.0 3PT%, 82.8FT%, 1.2 SPG
Sebastian Telfair: 21.3 minutes, 6.9 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 3.1 APG, 38.7 FG%, 28.7 3PT%, 83.5 FT%, 0.56 SPG

Yeah…way to trade Danny…

1 rebound…Chris Bosh had 1 rebound in the 129-109 Raptors loss to the Wiz last night…Defensively, the Raps were atrocious, but 1 rebound Chris? Yikes…

Did you see Ricky Davis last night in the Wolves double overtime 117-107 win over the Lakers? Ricky Buckets had 33 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists and that includes a perfect 12-12 from the free throw line…all of it accomplished in 56 minutes of playing time…

SI.com asked Shaquille O’Neal if he thought Ohio State phenom centre Greg Oden's impact would be as much as Shaq’s was as an NBA rookie…Shaq’s response: "No,'' said O'Neal, who averaged 23.4 points, 13.9 rebounds and 3.5 blocks as a rookie for the Magic. "Because of the way the game is played today, and because I really don't know how much he can do offensively. See, I was a freak of nature: I had always been a prolific scorer. I know he can play defense and block a couple of shots, but I don't really know what he can do offensively. Unless he has great feet and offensive moves, I don't see him being the type of force that I was.''

Quick NFL note…not counting repeat offenders (yeah, that’s you Pacman Jones and Chris Henry) over 50 NFL players have been arrested in the past year…

Tremendous sequence at the end of the Colonial League final on ABC the other day…Virginia Commonwealth University beat last year’s final four darlings George Mason 65-59 on the strength of an unbelievable 2 minutes of play by VCU point guard Eric Maynor…with two minutes left to play, George Mason was up 57-52 and was bringing the ball up the court off of a defensive rebound and the mostly pro George Mason crowd is going wild…all of a sudden here is what happens:

Maynor strips George Mason PG Dre Smith on a reverse dribble and gets the layup and 1 for an old fashioned three point play…

Five seconds later Maynor’s remarkably quick hands and anticipation come into play again where he reads the crossover dribble from Mason's SG Gabe Norwood, he pokes the ball away and dribbles in for an uncontested layup…tie game…

GM finally gets the ball over halfcourt, misses a short jumper and Maynor rebounds the ball and dribbles the length of the floor and hits a funky little “Jeff Malone” leaner to take the lead 59-57…

Now with 19 seconds left GM misses a wide open three and Maynor gets the rebound and is intentionally fouled…he makes both free throws for a 61-57 which VCU never relinquishes…

That’s a personal 9-0 run for Maynorin the toughest game of the year and the most critical part of the game…a truly superlative performance…by the way Maynor finished with 20 points, 7 boards and 4 assists in 37 minutes…

Great article here about hating the Dukies, which naturally I do…

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=neumann/070306&sportCat=ncb&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab6pos2

ESPN.com continues it’s greatest ever by position with the centres…I also added the past articles about the PG’s and PF’s

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-GreatestCenters

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-GreatestPointGuards

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2074360

Veteran Foxsports.com’s 10 things column continues to be a winner

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/6530552#1

Uh-oh…Ron Ron is suspended from the Kings indefinitely…and if the allegations are true, rightly so…

http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/133222.html

Check this boxscore…I know the Miami Hurricanes suck this year, but 45 points for Al Thornton? Can you say 1st round pick?

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=270622390

Did it look like a foul to you? In one of the most bizarre endings I have ever seen, the Wiz are down 106-104 with 2.9 seconds to play when Gilbert Arenas catches the inbounds pass near the top of the key, drives right to the basket, and as the horn sounds he lofts an off-balance 1 handed jumper which misses everything…but…a whistle blows, the refs huddle and the verdict is: foul on Golden State's Mickael Pietrus with .1 seconds left…Warriors coach Don Nelson immediately loses his mind and storms onto the court spewing profanities, his face a tortured mask of rage á la George Brett and the pine tar…he is immediately assessed a technical foul, resulting in Gilbert Arenas toeing the line for 2 free throws for the foul and 1 more for the technical…Arenas makes the first two, and then Golden State calls time out to ice him…no matter, Arenas calmly sank the third foul shot for the win…unbelievable…Arenas’ comment after the game? "It was bizarre," Arenas said. "You've got to thank the refs for that one."…indeed…

The other bananas game from last night had two players combine for 1 Wilt Chamberlain…the Bulls Ben Gordon scored a career-high 48 points last night in a 126-121 comeback/overtime defeat of the Bucks who got 52 points from Michael Redd in the losing cause…Gordon was en fuego making 18 of 32 shots, including six 3-pointers…he 20 in the fourth quarter to key the comeback from an 18 point deficit...For the Bucks it marked the second time Redd has scored 50 points in a losing effort this season…Coincidentally, Redd also made 18 of 32 shots, including eight of 13 3-pointers…

How good are the Mavs right now? Well, according to Elias, the Mavericks have won 50 of their last 55 games after starting the season 0-4. They are only the second team in NBA history to win 50 of 55 games within one season: the 1995-96 Bulls also won 50 of 55 games at one point. (By the way, no team in the history of either Major League Baseball or the NHL has ever won 50-of-55 in one season, either.) The next logical question is if the Mavs are the leagues best team, is Dirk Diggler the Mavs leagues best player? Well, here’s some food for thought:

Nowitzki has scored 30 or more points in 12 of the past 27 games, shooting a shade under 52 percent over that span…

The Mavs are 16-0 when Dirk scores 30 or more…

Nowitzki also has already eclipsed last year's total of 35 double-doubles, notching 36 and barely missing a 37th as he had 24 points, nine rebounds and seven assists Saturday night vs. Orlando.

Nowitzki is shooting a career-high 50.4 percent from the field and 42.3 percent from 3-point range after posting career-best percentages in both those categories a year ago, when he finished third in MVP voting for the second consecutive year.

Nowitzki is shooting an astounding 53 percent in the second night of back-to-back games, leading the Mavs to an 11-0 record in such games.

OK I’m convinced…

Here’s the 1st of many mock drafts, and for the record, drafting Durant before Oden is lunacy…http://www.hoopshype.com/draft.htm

Wow…the Raptors absolutely dominated the Rockets in Houston Wednesday night winning 106-90…some thoughts:

The Raptors were so unselfish last night…their passing, which included 6 assists each from Chris Bosh, TJ Ford and Jose Calderon, resulted in 26 assists on 44 field goals…folks anytime you get more than 50% of your field goals resulting from assists (59% in this instance) you’re playing a remarkably unselfish game…

Good passing makes for easy baskets, which puts away teams early…The Raptors, who led by as many as 22points, shot 57% (44-of-77) from the field for the game, including a scorching 69% (29-of-42) in the first half, which included and absurd 80% (16-of-20) in the second quarter alone…

When they out-rebound teams they win…last night they out-rebounded the Rockets 36-33…

Andrea Bargniani is the sure can shoot…8-12 from the floor, including 4-5 from three for 20 points…

Andrea Bargniani cannot however rebound…an athletic 7 footer who gets 2 rebounds in 33 minutes is embarrassing…

Chris Bosh’s effort is always there, but he’s also such an intelligent player…his line last night

Joey Graham’s minutes do not make sense…his last 10 games: 7, 9, 7, 19, 10, 3, 6, 8, 12, 1…the 10 before that? 28, 20, 11, 22, 15, 9, 21, 17, 15, 16…ver odd, although probably related to how he’s practicing…certainly couldn’t be a matchup thing, not with such a difference from one 10 game stretch to the next…

Although the Raptors are winning, including 13 of their last 17, so maybe I should stop whining and let Joey Graham take care of himself…

Did you hear what Boston Celtics radio analyst Cedric Maxwell said after a Violet Palmer call during the Celtics' 77-72 victory over the Houston Rockets on Monday? He said she should:”…go back to the kitchen…Go in there and make me some bacon and eggs, would you?" Oh boy…his weak retraction soon followed: "If I said anything that might have been insensitive or sexist in any way, then I apologize because she worked extremely hard to get where she is now, end of quote…This really has been a fire storm…” Maxwell the declined further comment…imagine the furor if Palmer had been gay…

Good link…I would pick Paul…http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/jack_mccallum/02/27/choosing.sides.paul.williams/index.html