italiansportsguys.com Blog

ESPN Flashback story about Chris Paul - scoring 61 in high school to honor his grandfather. Class act with a great role model.

Reports in the media and online are indicating that Trent Johnson will leave Stanford after 4 seasons to take over the LSU basketball head coaching job left open when John Brady was let go last month. More to come.

Congrats to Ms. Michelle Ginsburg for taking the ISG NCAA Tourney Challenge Pool with all 4 Final 4 teams, the final 2, and the champion correct.

Kyle here:
As for our pool, looks like there was some big movement from some former linemen (Campen, Frisard & Turcotte)who cut their teeth in the trenches….not a one of them goes under 250 lbs, or below 6 foot 2, save the Guillot Kid…..

Memphis brings back memories of Phi Slamma Jamma. Unbelievable….and it’s not like Texas doesn’t have any schloarship players, and Memphis ran away from them from the opening tip. One question, though: How many championships did Phi Slamma Jamma win??? Exactly. Hansbrough and Kevin Love get all the pub, but Memphis’ Joey Dorsey is a beast and the better athlete of the tree, ya hear. he just needs to play within himself and keep his emotions in check. He tends to fuss when things don’t go his way. If UCLA is to beat memphis, they better jump on them early.

So you’re kicking yourself, saying you knew you should have just stuck with the favorites? Well those who did fared pretty well. The Cats did me and a few others in. Campen makes a big move, Turcotte will go as far as Memphis goes, Mike Guillot, N.O. native relocated to Tar Heel country makes up ground with N.C., and Don Jay Frisard from the Destin, FL territory moves into contention.

Davidson almost knocked off Goliath. As phenomenal as Curry was in rounds 1-3, it seemed to me that he forced too many shots in a 9-25 effort against Kansas. Kevin Love was a beast against Xavier. As great as Hansbrough played, this Lawson guy kicks the Tar Heel offense into another gear. Memphis has an unbelievable mix of size and athleticism.

How about a few close games next week.

The Big Ten decided to fold their tents and to go home and watch the rest of the tourney on TV. Is WI and MSU the best you’ve got? The Davidson run continues (Cinderella story), and Curry continues to be the story of the tourney with another 30+ game. Looks like the Memphis Tigers are a little tougher than most gave them credit for, but free throws in blowouts and free throws in close games are different animals - let’s see how they do against the Longhorns.

Like a bunch of hit men with machine guns at the toll booth, the Tennessee Vols did in my boy! (Mikey Mikey Vincenzo’s (Cortello’s) bracket swims with da fishes). Tennessee has about as much discipline as a detention class with a substitute teacher. The clock strikes midnight on the Hilltoppers - once again the Bruins are tough as nails in crunch time.

Any competition for the Tar Heels?

Craig here,

Everybody’s bracket still has a live Champion, and only 5 points separate the field. Marcon’s bracket looks tough. Chris Stant takes a blow with the loss of his runner-up, G’town.

Big games in the next round with Louisville/TN and Stanford/TX. Nice efforts in losses by Miss St., Miami (FL), and Butler.

At this point in the tourney, it’s all about survival. Close wins are sometimes more helpful than blowouts - they show what a team is made of in crunch time.

Hoop junkies - can’t wait for Thurs.

Craig here,

UCLA keeps my bracket on life support. These kids have tremendous will and confidence in crunch time. The dismissal of the Big Ten might have been premature - Tom Izzo’s Spartans have underachieved this year, but looked tough in knocking off Big East conference champs. Also Wisconsin rolled over Michael Beasley and K St.

Duke lives by the 3, and missed 15 consecutive in the loss to W.V. Two SEC teams get a shot a #1 seeds to day (AR vs. NC and Miss St. vs. Memphis), expect at least one of those games to be tough.

Craig here:

Day 1 was a little lackluster, Day 2 made up for it. Four double-digit seeds move to round 2 in the Midwest bracket.

The good:
Kyle predicted the Villanova win and told us to watch Western Ky. Craig moves into a tie for the lead with 25 correct.

The bad:
Kyle and Craig both had USC in the elite 8, Craig had Clemson in the Final 4 (ouch!), and Kyle said to watch out for Kentucky and George Mason.

The ugly:
Craig’s Midwest bracket.

Question for discussion:
Which team seeded 10 or higher will go the farthest?