- Joined
- Feb 28, 2013
- Messages
- 279
- Reaction Score
- 482
Steve Serby's column today:
And now our Final Four — before the Final Four — Friday and Sunday when the East Regional comes to the Garden:
UConn vs. Iowa State.
Michigan State vs. Virginia.
Since St. John’s decided to stop in on the NIT for a cup of coffee, and Manhattan gave it the old college try before falling to Louisville, UConn will arrive for the East Regional as the adopted home team. And the Huskies will wear the mantel proudly.
The Garden, after all, was the scene of the epic six-overtime Big East Tournament death struggle UConn and Syracuse staged in 2009, won by the Orange. The Garden, after all, is where Jim Calhoun brought all the greats with him on the road to three national championships — Rip Hamilton … Ray Allen … Emeka Okafor … A.J. Price … Kemba Walker … and now, Shabazz Napier.
The Huskies are Big East wolves in American Athletic Conference clothing. The battles endured and the lessons learned in the old Big East have served them well. It is no wonder they regard the Garden as their home-away-from-home.
Calhoun will be coaching from the stands this time, cheering on his successor, Kevin Ollie, a tough-minded former Husky guard who has followed in Calhoun’s Hall of Fame footsteps as seamlessly as Joe Girardi followed in Joe Torre’s footsteps in 2009. Napier and Tyler Olander were freshmen when Walker carried the Huskies to hoop heaven three years ago. This is Napier’s team now, his chance to get UConn back to the Final Four.
A pro-Husky crowd making the short trek from Storrs, Conn., will greet the Iowa State Cyclones, who displayed their mental toughness and resilience in an 85-83 victory Sunday over North Carolina.
The Big 12 Tournament champs gallantly withstood the loss Friday night of point forward Georges Niang (broken foot) and his 16.5 points and 4.4 rebounds. It meant 24-year-old transfer point guard DeAndre Kane, whose last-second lay-in eliminated the Tar Heels, and Big 12 Player of the Year Melvin Ejim will have to pick up the slack for coach — let’s see if you know your college hoops, guess who it is — if you said Fred Hoiberg, nicely done.
Kane was a hothead at Marshall, but has flourished under Hoiberg, a former Iowa State gunner who is so popular in Ames he is nicknamed The Mayor. He is also on the radar of NBA teams. The 3-ball crazed Cyclones have attempted over 40 percent of their shots from downtown Ames. To Hoiberg, there is no such thing as a bad shot, or a position. Assistant coach Matt Abdelmassih is a 28-year-old former student manager at St. John’s. In fact, he recruited former South Shore High School point guard Terrence Samuel, who instead chose … UConn. Junior forward Justin Hogue hails from Yonkers.
The favorite to survive and advance to the Final Four will be Michigan State, which is as healthy as it has been all season and is peaking at the right time. The congenial Tom Izzo is in the conversation with Mike Krzyzewski and Rick Pitino when you talk about Messrs. March. Izzo won a national championship in 2000 and has his sights set on a seventh Final Four. Don’t be surprised if the greatest Spartan of them all, Magic Johnson, shows up to lend his support.
He will bring an experienced band of Spartans, led by the splendid Gary Harris and big man Adreain Payne, both of whom ignored the siren call of the NBA. The return to health of floor general Keith Appling (wrist) and Branden Dawson (hand) has helped make this a much more formidable team than the one that barely survived Columbia in November. Izzo, in the absence of a Mateen Cleaves, has not appointed a captain. But there was plenty of leadership on the bench in the tense, desperate minutes at the end of the Harvard game. Izzo has had tougher, more physical teams where rebounding was considered a religion. But no one should want to play this one right now.
The Spartans learned late Sunday night they would draw No. 1 seed Virginia, a winner over Memphis.
The ACC regular-season and tournament champion Cavaliers (55.4 ppg) are the best defensive team in America. They relish playing what they like to call knuckle-busting defense, or pack-it-in defense that invites the 3-pointer. They survive and advance by imposing their will and pace and keeping games in the 50s and 60s. They’re only a 66 percent free-throw shooting team and will be in trouble if they are forced to play catchup. Not terribly fun to watch, but not terribly fun to play either. If Iowa State is the hare, Virginia is the tortoise.
All-ACC Malcolm Brogdon and ACC tournament MVP Joe Harris lead the way for rising star coach Tony Bennett, who played at Wisconsin-Green Bay for his father Dick Bennett. California-cool freshman point guard London Perrante is poised beyond his years and a deadly 3-point shooter. This will be the ‘Hoos’ first Sweet 16 appearance since 1995
And now our Final Four — before the Final Four — Friday and Sunday when the East Regional comes to the Garden:
UConn vs. Iowa State.
Michigan State vs. Virginia.
Since St. John’s decided to stop in on the NIT for a cup of coffee, and Manhattan gave it the old college try before falling to Louisville, UConn will arrive for the East Regional as the adopted home team. And the Huskies will wear the mantel proudly.
The Garden, after all, was the scene of the epic six-overtime Big East Tournament death struggle UConn and Syracuse staged in 2009, won by the Orange. The Garden, after all, is where Jim Calhoun brought all the greats with him on the road to three national championships — Rip Hamilton … Ray Allen … Emeka Okafor … A.J. Price … Kemba Walker … and now, Shabazz Napier.
The Huskies are Big East wolves in American Athletic Conference clothing. The battles endured and the lessons learned in the old Big East have served them well. It is no wonder they regard the Garden as their home-away-from-home.
Calhoun will be coaching from the stands this time, cheering on his successor, Kevin Ollie, a tough-minded former Husky guard who has followed in Calhoun’s Hall of Fame footsteps as seamlessly as Joe Girardi followed in Joe Torre’s footsteps in 2009. Napier and Tyler Olander were freshmen when Walker carried the Huskies to hoop heaven three years ago. This is Napier’s team now, his chance to get UConn back to the Final Four.
A pro-Husky crowd making the short trek from Storrs, Conn., will greet the Iowa State Cyclones, who displayed their mental toughness and resilience in an 85-83 victory Sunday over North Carolina.
The Big 12 Tournament champs gallantly withstood the loss Friday night of point forward Georges Niang (broken foot) and his 16.5 points and 4.4 rebounds. It meant 24-year-old transfer point guard DeAndre Kane, whose last-second lay-in eliminated the Tar Heels, and Big 12 Player of the Year Melvin Ejim will have to pick up the slack for coach — let’s see if you know your college hoops, guess who it is — if you said Fred Hoiberg, nicely done.
Kane was a hothead at Marshall, but has flourished under Hoiberg, a former Iowa State gunner who is so popular in Ames he is nicknamed The Mayor. He is also on the radar of NBA teams. The 3-ball crazed Cyclones have attempted over 40 percent of their shots from downtown Ames. To Hoiberg, there is no such thing as a bad shot, or a position. Assistant coach Matt Abdelmassih is a 28-year-old former student manager at St. John’s. In fact, he recruited former South Shore High School point guard Terrence Samuel, who instead chose … UConn. Junior forward Justin Hogue hails from Yonkers.
The favorite to survive and advance to the Final Four will be Michigan State, which is as healthy as it has been all season and is peaking at the right time. The congenial Tom Izzo is in the conversation with Mike Krzyzewski and Rick Pitino when you talk about Messrs. March. Izzo won a national championship in 2000 and has his sights set on a seventh Final Four. Don’t be surprised if the greatest Spartan of them all, Magic Johnson, shows up to lend his support.
He will bring an experienced band of Spartans, led by the splendid Gary Harris and big man Adreain Payne, both of whom ignored the siren call of the NBA. The return to health of floor general Keith Appling (wrist) and Branden Dawson (hand) has helped make this a much more formidable team than the one that barely survived Columbia in November. Izzo, in the absence of a Mateen Cleaves, has not appointed a captain. But there was plenty of leadership on the bench in the tense, desperate minutes at the end of the Harvard game. Izzo has had tougher, more physical teams where rebounding was considered a religion. But no one should want to play this one right now.
The Spartans learned late Sunday night they would draw No. 1 seed Virginia, a winner over Memphis.
The ACC regular-season and tournament champion Cavaliers (55.4 ppg) are the best defensive team in America. They relish playing what they like to call knuckle-busting defense, or pack-it-in defense that invites the 3-pointer. They survive and advance by imposing their will and pace and keeping games in the 50s and 60s. They’re only a 66 percent free-throw shooting team and will be in trouble if they are forced to play catchup. Not terribly fun to watch, but not terribly fun to play either. If Iowa State is the hare, Virginia is the tortoise.
All-ACC Malcolm Brogdon and ACC tournament MVP Joe Harris lead the way for rising star coach Tony Bennett, who played at Wisconsin-Green Bay for his father Dick Bennett. California-cool freshman point guard London Perrante is poised beyond his years and a deadly 3-point shooter. This will be the ‘Hoos’ first Sweet 16 appearance since 1995