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Hoops,
Anyone?
AQB
Reviews 'Championship Week' Coverage
By George Stahl and Randy
Williams
Notes
& Quotes about what we've seen and heard as March Madness
kicks off with coverage of college basketball's "Championship
Week." If you see or hear something we've missed, please
send us an e-mail and we'll
credit you for your comments on our site...
A
Great Call by Sims
Sunday, March 7 (Click
here for AQB's Selection Show coverage)
Call of the Week:
Kudos to ESPN's Dave Sims for a great call of Lamar Odom's
desperation three-point shot, which gave Rhode Island an upset win
over Temple in the Atlantic 10 tournament championship game Saturday
night.
A couple of weeks ago I criticized Sims and partner Jay Bilas for
not showing enough excitement in a thrilling overtime victory by
UMass against Xavier. What can I say? They've proved me wrong
the past two weeks with excellent work yesterday and in last week's
George Washington-Xavier tilt.
By the way, Bilas was good throughout the contest, particularly
after his hectic morning.
...During ESPN's North Carolina-Duke contest Sunday, Mike Patrick
said Tar Heels' coach Bill Guthridge "is as good as any coach
I've seen coming out of time outs."
...Dick Vitale, on UNC-Duke, was right on when he noted that
Maryland matches up better against Duke than the Heels do, citing
the Terrapins' ability to get back defensively in transition. AQB
also credits Vitale for his constant interaction with sideline reporter
Brad Daugherty, including some good questions posed to the
ex-UNC star.
...Good work by CBS' first team of Jim Nantz and Billy Packer
in the Big 10 title game. Nantz did a nice job of setting up his
partner's analysis and Packer made some solid points, noting
the disguised box-in-one defense on Michigan State star guard Mateen
Cleaves and mentioning Lon Kruger's smart substitution patterns
with Cory Bradford.
...Packer mentioned Valparaiso, College of Charleston and Siena
as three teams that could spring an upset.
...Credit CBS' Al McGuire for recognizing and describing
Arkansas' matchup zone in the second half of the SEC championship
against Kentucky.
...Cheers to CBS for features on 61-year-old Murray State rookie
coach Tevester Anderson; Mount St. Mary's coaching legend
Jim Phelan and Winthrop's first NCAA tournament appearance.
...Randy's wife, a Kansas alum, watched the Big XII championship
game with Ron Franklin and Jon Sundvold and didn't find them particularly
insightful. Ann's a big KU fan and gets so into the games she doesn't
have time to make her man a good lunch.
... Randy's sister, an Illinois alum, said "If (Nantz
and Packer) talk one more time about Illinois winning just three
games in the conference, I'm gonna shoot them."
Notes & Quotes From
A Full-Day Of NCAA Hoops
Saturday, March 6
You're Killin' Me, Dickie V.
Dick Vitale's schtick got old a while back but now listening
to him is just short of unbearable. His act used to include
valuable insight but now he rarely adds anything to a telecast,
save for noise.
Randy almost lost his lunch in the first half of Duke's rout of
North Carolina State as Vitale smooched the rear ends of coaches
Mike Kryzewski, of Duke; Herb Sendek, of NC State; ex-Pittsburgh
mentor Ralph Willard; soon-to-be Pitt boss Ben Howland, currently
of Northern Arizona; and Norm Sloan, the former NCSU head man, who
was in Greensboro, N.C.
Ralph Willard? The guy spent five years at Pittsburgh and was 63-82
with just one winning season and one postseason berth, a 1996-97
NIT bid. The Panthers were 81-70 in the five years prior to Willard's
arrival.
Particularly galling was Vitale's constant praise of Krzyewski,
applauding the coach for his "intensity" after his
first half technical foul let NC State back in the game. Later,
he talked of how Coach K. "has done a great job for this program."
Tell me something I don't know, Dick.
I know Vitale is a former coach who has close relationships with
many men in the profession, which probably makes it painful for
him to criticize coaches. But, it's time for him to put his friendships
aside and be honest with the audience.
Several notches about Vitale's performance was the work of Billy
Packer, who broadcasted CBS' Michigan State-Wisconsin with Jim
Nantz.
Packer
was quick to describe defenses and made an excellent point when
a UW defender jumped at MSU's struggling Mateen Cleaves 18 feet
from the hoop in the first half, noting that the Badgers should
let the struggling guard shoot.
Later,
in the Illinois-Ohio State game, Packer noted from the start
that Ohio State was not "playing hard-nosed basketball."
He also noted how Buckeyes' point guard Scoonie Penn got
open for a first-half jump shot, that Illinois' success in the Chicago-based
tournament would help the state school with recruiting and why Lon
Kruger's use of sophomore guard Nate Mast was so smart.
Fill-in
Award:
ESPN's Jay Bilas, in Philadelphia to call the Atlantic 10 Championship,
made an
unexpected drive down Interstate 95 to fill-in for a sick Nancy
Lieberman-Cline and
analyze Delaware's win over Drexel in the America East Championship
game in Newark, Del.
Bilas,
who worked with play-by-play man Dave Strader, did well considering
he probably didn't have as much time to prepare as usual. However,
was it just us or did it seem like Bilas said "Drexeler"
a few times instead of Drexel?
After
the game, which ended about 1:30 p.m., Bilas hustled north to get
back to the First Union Spectrum for the Atlantic 10 Championship
at 6 p.m. Bilas did a terrific job on the exciting game,
with sharp points about time management, the importance of pass
fakes and touching the ball after your team scores.
Overall,
he showed no hint of weariness but did date himself by comparing
players who were throwing irrational long passes to "Fran Tarkenton."
As his partner, Dave Sims, jokingly noted, the Vikings current passer,
Randall Cunningham, would have been a more contemporary and correct
analogy.
ESPN
will continue to test Bilas' mettle, though, by shipping him
off to Kansas City for Sunday's Selection Special. That's why Mike
Tirico joked during the Big East Championship that Bilas is reminding
him of the always busy Bill Raftery.
Things
that make you go hmm:
1. Packer called Ohio State legend Jerry Lucas the
greatest college basketball player in the history of the Big Ten.
Later, Packer noted that all 14 Buckeye All-Americans were homegrown.
2.
"That's why I think coaches shouldn't be able to call timeouts,"
Raftery said after Louisville prevented a turnover when officials
ruled that coach Denny Crum called timeout before his trapped player
walked with the ball.
3. ESPN's Len Elmore said Connecticut's stud junior Richard
Hamilton should stay in college another year to allow his game to
mature more.
4. ESPN sideline reporter Brad Daugherty compared the body
control of Duke freshman Corey Maggette to that of "number
23," in the Duke-NC State game. Number 23, of course, is Michael
Jordan, Daugherty's college teammate at North Carolina.
5. Before the North Carolina-Maryland game, Vitale privately
told partner Mike Patrick that UNC would win 81-79. The Tar Heels
won 86-79.
Glitches:
1. ESPN2 twice missed action in the final minute of Florida
A&M's surprising three-point win over South Carolina State to show
gratuitous shots of the coaches.
2. Bilas had microphone problems at halftime of the America
East game.
3. ABC had audio difficulties throughout its UCLA-Arizona
telecast. Why couldn't that happen during a game Vitale is doing?
Hustle:
1. ESPN announced at 12:50 p.m., 40 minutes before the game,
that Duke's Trajan Langdon would not play because of a foot injury.
2. Good work by ESPN to show viewers the end of the Oklahoma
State-Texas game and second-half action of Kentucky-Auburn during
breaks in Duke's victory against NC State.
Firm
Grasp of the Obvious Award:
ESPN's Digger Phelps said Illinois, 12-17, is in the NCAA tournament
if they win the Big Ten tourney. This compares with his statement
earlier this week when he said he thought UMass needed to win the
Atlantic 10 tournament to make the Big Dance. The Minutemen were
13-15 at the time.
Best Interview:
CBS' Saturday afternnon chat with C.M. Newton, head of the NCAA
selection committee.
Bracket
talk:
1. Packer suspects that Illinois would be a 12-13 seed should
it win the Big Ten tournament and get the automatic selection.
2. ESPN's Digger Phelps said Xavier and Mississippi State
are the two bubble teams that won't make the cut.
3.
ESPN's Chris Fowler is really pushing for Toledo in the final 64.
.
Good
Line:
1. "I didn't win 20 in a decade," CBS' Bill Raftery
joked while discussing the firing of Marquette basketball coach
Mike Deane, who averaged 20 wins a year during his five seasons
at MU. Raftery's partner, Sean McDonough, felt the firing was unjust
considering Deane's record at Marquette (100-55).
2. "This club [Utah] has blue blazer ability - its versatile,"
ESPN's Jimmy Dykes.
3. "The Rattlers have slithered into the NCAA Tournament,"
ESPN2's Chris Marlowe said after Florida A&M (12-18) upset South
Carolina State (17-12) in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship.
Do
you agree with our assessments? SPEAK
OUT and let us know.
back
to the list
AQB
Plays 20 Questions
Friday, March 5
As
ESPN's coverage of Championship Week begins to wind down, it's time
for ArmchairQB.com to begin asking some general questions about
the network's work this week.
- Isn't Digger
Phelps more informative and insightful without
Dick Vitale in the studio than with him?
- Does it annoy
you like it perturbs AQB that ESPN doesn't always show the score
of the game before it goes to commercials?
- Is there
any better way to start a game than to hear Bill Raftery
shout out the defense?
- How embarrassing
was Vitale's Denny Crum-Leonard Hamilton gaffe on Thursday
night?
- Are you also
tired of any commercial involving Dan Patrick?
- Has there
been a lack of dramatic endings this week?
- Is it AQB
or are Mike Tirico (Big East) and Mike Patrick (ACC)
not as sharp as they usually are?
- Is Tirico
better suited for the studio, where he may be the best in the
business?
- Aren't a
trio of less heralded play-by-play men - Dan Schulman (Big
East), Dave Barnett (Big Ten) and Bob Carpenter
(WAC) - enjoyable to listen to?
- Will hell
freeze over before Vitale criticizes a coach?
- Doesn't Chris
Fowler look odd without Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit
to his left?
- Have you
been as surprised as AQB with the improved work of Len Elmore,
Quinn Buckner and Brad Daugherty?
- Why does
ESPN occasionally choose to miss showing some action in order
to publicize an upcoming game or show?
- Can someone
find a couple of phonebooks for Brad Nessler to sit on
so he doesn't look like he's three feet shorter than 6'11"
partner Daugherty?
- Do you also
get frustrated when ESPN doesn't go to the end of a better contest
quicker?
- Are you looking
forward to hearing Vitale doing the color on the ACC games
Saturday and Sunday?
- Do you wonder
if Fox or Turner could cover "Championship Week" as
well as ESPN?
- Do you miss
the days when ESPN televised the first round of the NCAA tournament?
- Does it seem
like there are about 50 teams on the bubble this year?
- Is it Sunday
yet?
Notes:
... Mike Tirico reported that Connecticut coach Jim
Calhoun became a grandfather earlier today and that his daughter-in-law
called a couple hours before the game to know that all was fine.
... Dewayne
Staats and Leo Rautins did a nice job calling Lafayette's
entertaining win over Bucknell in the Patriot League Championship.
The telecast's biggest problem, which was not necessarily ESPN's
fault, was that
the heads and the hands of those in the rows in front of the main
camera often appeared in the shot.
... Nice job
by ESPN to switch to the end of North Carolina-Charlotte's upset
over Cincinnati in the Conference USA Tournament. But, considering
UConn's blowout of Syracuse in the Big East semifinal, couldn't
ESPN have switched sooner?
... Earlier
in the day, ESPN could have gone sooner to the end of the Oklahoma-Oklahoma
State game, which occurred during halftime of the Bucknell/Lafayette
game.
Do you agree
with our assessments? SPEAK
OUT and let us know.
back to the list
Click
here to e-mail AQB with what you've seen this week.
Click here
to go to Page Two of Championship Week notes.
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