Archive for the ‘At the Arena’ Category
Zags’ unlikely game-winner is gift that keeps giving
By Andrew Greif
PORTLAND, Ore. — Call it Demetri’s Dagger, redux.
When they were herded into the Gonzaga locker room 10 minutes after the Bulldogs’ last-second, 83-81 win over Western Kentucky, reporters found the entire team congregated around a single 18-inch monitor replaying the series of events that led to a wild Zags celebration at midcourt of the Rose Garden.
Western Kentucky got a tip-in with 7.9 seconds left to tie it at 81. Down nearly the entire game, the Hilltoppers had to keep Gonzaga from going the length of the court, without a timeout, to reach their second straight Sweet Sixteen.
They didn’t.
As the Zags watched on the TV monitor, freshman reserve Demetri Goodson drove the entire court, passing Orlando Mendez-Valdez at the 3-point line on a hesitation move, and shot a floater from the left side that banked in with 0.9 seconds left on the clock.
Diary of a bench player
By Andrew Greif
PORTLAND, Ore. — When Purdue plays top-seeded Connecticut in Glendale, Ariz., next week in the Sweet Sixteen, Ryne Smith will be on the bench.
Not that he wouldn’t be. He’s been there all season.
His freshman season, out of Whitmer High in Toledo, Ohio, hasn’t been along the same lines of a Derrick Rose or even of Purdue teammate Robbie Hummel, but say this for Smith: His seat is much better than last year’s.
“Last year I was sitting at home watching it with my dad on the couch,” Smith said. “Now I’m sitting on the bench front row.”
At the Arena: Cozying up
Andrew Greif of the Oregon Daily Emerald reports from Portland:
Outgoing Oregon athletics director is good friends with Gonzaga coach and Oregon alum Mark Few, whose parents still live in his hometown of Creswell, 9 miles away from Eugene. Few has been the source of rumors for the past three seasons about becoming the probable object of Oregon’s affection when they search for a new head coach.
Few sat on Gonzaga’s bench Thursday night only 10 feet away from Kilkenny’s spot at the scorer’s table. Kilkenny has said he will meet with Oregon coach Ernie Kent this week to talk about the future, after he fired the women’s basketball coach at Oregon on Monday. Sitting this close to Few, no matter how unavoidable, has been magnified by media all week.
At the Arena: Can you hear me now?
Alex Prosperi of the Michigan Daily reports from Kansas City:
With five minutes left in today’s second round matchup between Memphis and Maryland, the Tigers fans starting cheering “ACC! ACC!” as their team led 86-57. 30 seconds later they did it again, but Memphis coach John Calipari turned to the section behind his bench and told them to stop.
Maryland fans clearly didn’t like the chant, and the Kansas fans didn’t either. Jayhawk fans in attendance started doing their Rock Chalk Jayhawk chant, reminding Memphis fans of last year’s title-game victory.
UPDATE: Two Memphis cheerleaders are wearing Calipari cutout masks as they go through their celebratory postgame cheers. It’s really, really creepy.
At the Arena: Our new overlords
By now, you’re accustomed to corporate sponsorship of every aspect of this “college” tournament. Bryan Roy of the Arizona Daily Wildcat reports from Miami on life under the thumb of Coca-Cola:
At every NCAA tournament site this season, all sideline cups, jugs and coolers have purple Vitaminwater logos visible in almost every CBS camera angle.
While the fresh logos are new to the NCAA in 2009, it’s still a Coke brand on the sidelines: The Coke-owned Vitaminwater replaces Coke-owned Dasani’s sideline sponsorship this season after Coke acquired Glaceau for $4.1 billion in 2007.
At the Arena: Huggy Bear bares his claws
Will Hanlon of the Flyer News reports from Minneapolis that Bob Huggins is not happy:
“They got better players than us,” West Virginia’s coach yelled in the first half against Dayton. “They have so many better players. They drive and make fucking layups and we can’t even make a pass!”
At the Arena: Mascot Madness
Alex Espinoza of the State Press has been watching the mascots a lot in Miami:
The Stephen F. Austin mascot, a lumberjack, was a huge guy with sleeveless shirt and a large purple axe. He looked like he should have been included in the Mitchell Report.
Sparky, Arizona State’s mascot, came out of the locker room with his jersey on backward. He’s also deft at walking on his hands, as he showed at halftime.
The Temple Owls’ mascot has a robust silver beak. Much shinier in person.
At the Arena: Husky heartburn
Brandon Wright of the Reflector reports from Portland:
– Jon Brockman, Washington’s bruising center, took a hard spill while grabbing a rebound in the second half, causing his mother some anguish in the stands. That’s nothing new, though. “She stays worried the entire game,” Brockman said. She can hardly watch it.”
– UW fans went to great lengths to obtain tickets to the games in Portland. Mississippi State tried to prevent tickets from falling into the wrong hands by selling them only to Bulldog Club members. According to a club spokesman, membership was up by about 50 members (minimum donation $100) by the time all the tickets sold out.
At the Arena: Tough, love
Alex Prosperi of the Michigan Daily reports from Kansas City on the Michigan-Clemson game:
– Michigan coach John Beilein is a master of words. After sophomore guard Kelvin Gray airballed a jump shot with the shot clock winding down in the first half, Beilein ripped into him about his shot selection. But then he complemented the point guard on his ability to break Clemson’s quick full-court press.
– The NCAA must regulate the number of personnel allowed on the bench. Michigan redshirt freshmen Ben Cronin and Corey Person as well as a team manager are both sitting first row in the section across from the Wolverines’ bench. Director of basketball operations Brian Townsend is sitting a few rows up behind the Michigan bench.
– Down three at halftime, Clemson shooting guard Terrence Oglesby walked off the court looking like he had just seen a ghost. The sophomore, who shoots nearly 40 percent from 3-point range, was a mere 1-for-6 from behind the arc in the first half.
At the Arena: Oski does his thing
Alex Prosperi of the Michigan Daily reports from Kansas City:
– During a timeout, Cal’s mascot, Oski, went over to someone on press row who was sleeping. The bear clapped his hands a few times and the man woke up. About 100 fans saw this and applauded.
– Cal point guard Jerome Randle is listed at 5-10. If that’s his height, then I’m Yao Ming. When he ran out during warmups, he was just a little taller than the cheerleaders. But he sure is quick.
