Most Exciting Game

Slim pickings. Gonzaga v. Western Kentucky was dynamite though. Mendez-Valdez and Slaughter hit some tough shots but at the finish the defense was just scattered as all hell, allowing Demetri Goodson to essentially take a h-o-r-s-e shot for the win. Jeremy Pargo, the cat I thought was running the ball up the court there at the end, causing me to wrongly shout ‘freakin Pargo’, was feeling it a little in the second half. Pargo hasn’t played that good, well, all year.

Most Surprising Game

Purdue v. Washington. Purdue is about as interesting to watch play hoops as listening to Andy Rooney babble on about the history of erasable pens is. That saying about how offense wins games but defense wins championships could not better identify what Matt Painter is stressing with his Boilermakers.  They get after it. They have to, their offense is weak.  Although the second half defense they played against Washington was pitiful.  But for the most part I didn’t think JaJuan Johnson would be as Kevin Garnetty as he was. Johnson v. Thabeet will be something intriguing to watch for in the upcoming Sweet 16 matchup.

Best Individual Performance

I could argue that JaJuan’s 22 points, 6 boards, and 4 swats was the finest, or that Travis Walton’s (MSU) career high 18 points, 6′6 Terrence Williams’ 24 points and 15 boards, Sherron Collins’ 25 (11-19 fg), Nic Wise’s 21 (10-10 ft) and 8 feeds, Sam Young’s 32 points-8 boards and 3 rejections, Blake Griffin’s “quiet” 33 and 17, Ty Lawson’s 23 and 6 helpers, Matt Bouldin’s 20 points-8 boards and 6 feeds, Orlando Mendez-Valdez’s 25 and 7 assists, or Jon Scheyer’s heady save was the ultimate best.

But I won’t.

It’s Cole Aldrich.

The sophomore deserves the honor for his truly anti-Ostertag like TRIPLE-DOUBLE (13 points, 20 boards, and 10 blocks).

Would you like some Aldrich with that? (Image: Newscom)

Worst Moment

Buzz Williams acting like a mad man on drugs. Or more accurately, a mother ostrich.

You decide.

The runner-up Worst Moment would be the refs who repeatedly bent over to appease Blake Griffin on Saturday. I will leave it at that.

Game I Cared Most About

Well, besides the Michigan v. Oklahoma game, which was essentially taken over by the refs, I hoped Texas would punt Duke far far away. That didn’t happen, but Paulus only played two minutes and Singler made a really athletic play, so I guess that was refreshing enough to keep me from trolling on the Duke message boards for at least another night.

A Prediction For The Sweet 16

I will be glued to the T.V.

Post from: EveryJoe

Round 2 Wrap

But the news concerned a different Wildcat squad than the one previously mentioned.

It didn’t have to end up like this.

Prediction #2

2) Arizona will struggle to remain one of the top teams in the Pac 10 and shockingly, will miss the Big Dance. I see this team suffering through another season in which productive bodies off the bench are nonexistent. Last year’s Zona squad made Kentucky look like a deep group.

The top 15 recruiting class doesn’t look as enticing on paper anymore, but will somehow need to play way over their heads to give the team the extra depth.

Italy bound Brandon Jennings would have catapulted this team to a top 10 status. He would have made Budinger, Wise and Hill much better players and instilled the needed guard-like leadership foundation that was left void by Bayless. Giving up more than 27% of your scoring (Bayless) and in return swallowing a stat line of nothingness, which you thought would be abundant and flashy, is an obstacle too massive to overcome.

Losing out on Emmanuel Negedu hurts too.

And consequently, Chase Budinger will not be a top 20 pick.

Post from: EveryJoe

Missing in action

Here are the latest victims of the injury bug:

Florida State guard Isaiah Swann tore his left ACL in the Seminole’s victory over Miami on Wednesday night and will be out indefinitely. Swann was a regular starter for the Seminoles and his absence will definitely hurt the Noles in their ACC battles.

Oklahoma center Longar Longar broke a bone in his right leg and will be out indefinitely. Longar was the Sooners’ second leading scorer at 13.2 points per game.

Arizona point guard Nic Wise suffered a torn meniscus last week and underwent knee surgery on Wednesday. Doctors anticipate Wise could be out of action four to six weeks. Wise is the Wildcats’ only true point guard, and his injury will drastically change how Arizona runs its offense.

Post from: EveryJoe

Injury update – February 8th