In the NCAA Tournament, it’s all about peaking at the right time for your season. We saw that with UCLA and we certainly saw that with Baylor. In the wins over UCLA and Gonzaga, they were relentless on defense and the offensive glass. They were able to keep fresh players coming in to maintain the pressure. They are not a tall team but they just get after it on defense with a real intensity.
SU was impressed with the general unselfishness from the entire team. That’s what you need to win a championship. What separates them from other teams is that they have several players than can go 1-on-1 with the shot clock running down to beat their man off the dribble. And all of those guys can shoot it from the 3-point line so you have to respect the outside shot. It was quite a contrast with this year’s Michigan team who has, at most, 1 player who can do that (Mike Smith) but he is around 5-9 so getting off a shot inside is very challenging.
Was Gonzaga gassed from the overtime win over UCLA in the semis? SU says no. That was an all-time classic game and great for the sport. But you are down to one more game now and surely you can muster the energy. The reality is that Gonzaga only goes 7 players deep when it counts and they were just punched in the face in the first 5 minutes and could never regain their footing.
Next year in college basketball will be very interesting as a ton of players have entered the transfer portal and the NCAA is also allowing players to come back for another year of eligibility. There will be many players changing teams who will be competing for time with incoming freshmen. For the players transferring, it’s a crapshoot as hard to know where you can get your minutes.
SU has checked out the Yankees for a bit so far this season. I am getting in some quality nap time there. I know it’s early April and it’s cold. The offense is pretty terrible and the starting pitching has been pretty great. The home runs will come but for SU, waiting on the 3-run home run every game is not a formula for success in October. I don’t see how this works in the playoffs. Enough said.
The Mets’ bullpen got that first blown save out of the way in game 1. Too bad for deGrom who was throwing 100 mph – as is half of MLB so far. Why is that? Note to MLB: 100 mph throwers in late afternoon shadows does not lead to a lot of action. But it does lead to a quality nap.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Agree that Gonzaga’s win on Saturday did not impact them emotionally last night, but I do think it exposed a flaw in that they could not guard UCLA in the half court, and Baylor has better players than UCLA, so they were really overmatched, plus they couldn’t run their offense effectively. I also think it is clear that the lack of respect to the West Coast Conference is legitimate; a few teams (including Baylor) would have gone undefeated in that conference this year, and if Gonzaga had played in a Power 5 conference, they would have lost a couple of times. Final takeaway – Drew Timme is a nice college player (don’t think he can play in the NBA), but he poses too much after made baskets, including while the ball is still in play. Glad he got his come-uppance last night.
Agreed, Timme did too much styling after each basket with the mustache sign. It’s one thing if you are a stud player, and another if you are nearing the end of your basketball career as he is not a next level player. However, I am old school and I know in today’s sports, it’s all about drawing attention to yourself. Be professional and get back on defense.
All games evolve as athletes become bigger and stronger.
Football…the field goals were moved back. The kickoffs were moved back
Basketball…the 3 point line was moved back
In baseball with the speed of the pitches continuing to rise…even after the mound height was reduced since the Bob Gibson days on influencing that decision I think it’s time to move the mound back 1 foot. Who pitches past 5 innings anymore. Bring in the next 100mph guy because the first guy was only throwing 97.
The question is…will I live long enough to witness a change up clocked at 100mph?
One wonders if the new Rawlings baseball for 2021, which is a bit deader, may have seams that are easier to grip or perhaps the ball is a bit smaller? I had heard about moving the pitching rubber back one foot. Does it really give the batter that much more time? They said an additional 0.1 second on one of the broadcasts. Difference maker?