SU tips its cap to Villanova. They are a very good team with strong players up and down the roster. Michigan would have had to play its best game last night to win and they did not come close on the offensive end. In SU’s view, they were a bit gassed – certainly Moe Wagner was. Coming from behind to beat Loyola took a lot of effort and Beilein has not subbed as much in the NCAAs as he did in the regular season.
Villanova was able to crash the boards time and again for 2nd shots that were killers. DiVincenzo was a monster and clearly the difference in the game. Michigan actually held most of their other players in check but this guy went off. SU note to NBA scouts: buyer beware on Jalen Brunson. He’s a nice player but the neck snaps that he uses to get literally every foul call from the refs will not fly in the NBA. SU suspects he was doing that even in the celebration last night.
SU has no regrets. As I have said many times, it’s a journey. You start the season with hope and enjoy the ride to see how the team evolves, progresses, rebounds from tough losses, etc. The reality in the NCAAs is that Michigan played one good offensive game out of 6 and still made it to the finals. Other than the win over Texas A&M, they did not shoot well. They have a great freshman class coming in, some guys leave or graduate, and you start over. Tom Izzo will get his new class of one and dones up in Michigan State but Beilein will continue to do his thing the right way. SU will take that.
A thing to note and follow in Yankee Land. It’s been very subtle so far and the broadcasters are part of this. It’s the “trash Joe Girardi” campaign. Listen for it. For example, Tyler Wade. “The Yankees felt he wasn’t given the chance last year to get regular at bats.” Translation: “Girardi didn’t play him enough over the objections of Cashman.” SU says Wade was totally over-matched last year and so far this year aside from one hit, he is still over-matched. Another example: Dellen Betances. Girardi didn’t coddle him enough last year and he lost his form and confidence. Well, so far, it seems like 2017. They will quietly blame Girardi for not communicating with Betances last year.
SU was a Girardi supporter. He managed with his binder but what’s wrong with that? He was masterful with the relievers and he generally was good taking starters out at the right time. Boone is a different guy. He says he doesn’t care if a hitter hit 2 home runs the day before (see Tyler Austin Saturday). He will sit him the next game if it’s not a good match up. It’s something to watch. If you listened to him on ESPN, he is not a brainiac. We will see if communication skills is what rules the day over a long season.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
The “metrics” path is just another way to manage…. or should i say stop driving the car manually and let the computers do it all. Giving someone a chance to do more than what the early metrics might say is important, especially when the sample size is not enough to truly form the so-called metrics of someone. I hope our new coach recognizes that. Did anyone work with Betances over the past 6 months. He really couldn’t keep the player from stealing home? Really? There is a time when you need to cut your losses and it is so overdue now to simply release him or try to get something for him. I doubt any team wants to take on such a Mental project. I believe Chuck Knoblach has become his agent. The Yanks have so many promising arms in the minors. I’d rather find the diamond there than having a mental mess who can throw 100mph take the mound. Throwing that fast without movement just isn’t that impressive anymore. Get rid of him. Its not that he is going home poor. lastly, could the sports writers and caster talk more about Metrics. I am so tired of hearing every single detail about out. Soon they will be including trips to the bathroom, blood pressure and other bizarre things to this method of determining who should play today.
I like the sabremetrics information. David Cone is all over that in the Yankee broadcasts and it adds some nice context to the game. Not clear to me if Boone is that kind of manager or not. But 2nd guessing is what makes baseball as great as it is. As a manager, it comes with the territory. In Tampa Bay, 3 people notice. In NY, everyone does – especially with the Yankees.
There are two cities in America where DiVincenzo is never gonna have to pay for a drink for the rest of his life. One is Philadelphia. The other is Columbus.
How nice to see a college basketball championship game with actual college student athletes. One and done superstars may be great for ratings and the NBA lottery pipeline but true team basketball at the college level is a pleasure to watch.
Why not go to the baseball draft model and let the kids choose to either go pro out of high school (and possibly play in the G league) or wait and be drafted after their junior year out of college? Or maybe the number of scholarships a college basketball team has should be tied to the individual player over four years. If Kentucky chooses to sign 5 one and done freshman stars that is fine but when they leave the team looses that scholarship space for the next four years.(I’m assuming teams have about 15 scholarships a year – is that correct?)
For those college players that really do want to be students and stay in school, how’s about a small stipend to help them get by with there day to day expenses. These kids are committing anywhere from 30 to 40+ hours a week to their school teams. Give them a little spending money to have just like the kids on work study or those who lead student government or the school paper.