Like most fans, I found this season’s Final Four to be really good. I guess college basketball isn’t being ruined by “one-and-done” after all. While we saw a one-and-done factory (Duke) win it all, we also had a sighting of a dodo bird. That creature thought to be extinct, known as a senior star. Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan prides himself on building from within and having well-coached teams. He develops players and teams over time by having rosters dominated by kids from
I did pick Duke in last night’s NCAA Championship game, in large part because I felt Wisconsin won a sort of national championship of their own on Saturday night when they beat the 38-0 Kentucky Wildcats. Duke cruised into the final after a 20-point win over Michigan State, and I thought it really showed last night in final stretch of the game as Duke had a little more in the tank to close it out. In this interview with Robin Lundberg on
Yes, I picked Kentucky to go all the way … but I always included the caveat that a lot would have to go wrong for them to lose in this tourney, and a lot would have to go right for someone else to beat them. That’s exactly what happened last night. Kentucky only made three 3-pointers, only shot 10 free throws, got outrebounded by 12 … but more than anything else, they did not do the things they were known for, the
“Even without a team. I’m still a coach.” That’s how Bobby Gonzalez opened this interview with Tamara Holder on Sports Court on FOX, and that is the truth. Yes, Gonzo is spending a season as a columnist, video analyst and radio guest for this site, but the endgame here is for Gonzo to land a job in the NBA, helping lead the team that is smart enough to hire him to an NBA championship. I like to tell people that Gonzo has
After going 7-1 on his Sweet 16 picks and 3-1 on his Elite Eight picks, Bobby Gonzalez has only added to his aura of being a basketball savant. He knows more about hoops than just about any columnist in the country. In this interview on WFAN in New York, Gonzo takes a look at the Final Four matchups of Kentucky-Wisconsin and Michigan State-Duke. You will love it. [Read more…]
I have a great Elite Eight story to tell you, but I know you want me to get right to my picks. I went 7-1 in my Sweet Sixteen picks, losing with Louisville — a team I am picking against again Sunday. I went 8-for-8 last year in the Sweet Sixteen, and my Twitter followers and Chris Sheridan want me to take that 15-1 record and try to make it 19-1. So I’ll get right to the picks … and then the story.
Bob Huggins is 8-2 lifetime against coach John Calipari, with most of the games taking place when those two coaches were leading Cincinnati and Memphis. That was years ago. Now they are with West Virginia and Kentucky, and folks are wondering whether Huggins’ personal .800 winning percentage will have an impact on the game. I provided my answer to that question, along with telling my best Bob Huggins story (from back when I was an assistant under Pete Gillen at Xavier), in
The NCAA Tournament has been fantastic on so many levels, but what really moves the meter among NBA fans is the question of who has been improving their draft stock. Coach Bobby Gonzalez, who turned the NCAA world on its head a couple times when coaching in the big dance, has been watching almost every game. (He is a columnist now, so click here for his archive as you listen. When you get a guy likes Gonzo on the radio and start picking