Barack Obama my ass! Mbah A Moute, bitches. You can't tell me that you, the undecided voter, would look at Luc Richard Mbah A Moute's name on a ballot and not impregnate that chad! Speaking of chads, Mbah A Moute is from the African nation of Cameroon, which puts the kibosh on any presidential aspirations the kid might have... but that's an all-time classic name.
But man... big, big props to UCLA. What an ending. They overcame a 17-point deficit, one of the worst calls of the tournament (the non-continuation on that layup with 3:00 left), and a stretch in which they scored 5 points in 8 minutes. Despite all that, they kept the Zags within striking distance, hung tough, and struck in the last 5 minutes. Without their opportunistic, shut-down defense, they lose.
Despite UCLA's heroics, though, this comeback didn't feel forced to me. Gonzaga flat-out collapsed. Two turnovers in the last 15 seconds... 0 field goals in the last 3:13? Sigh. Adam Morrison's supporting cast was downright incompetent, with J.P. Batista leading the goat parade. (Would the Wolf Parade eat a goat parade?) Making matters worse, Mark Few was outcoached in the last five minutes by Ben Howland, as the Zags were content to waste the clock away on offense and then just dump it to Morrison for a token shot, rather than actually trying to increase their score by moving the ball and looking for an open shot. Poor Adam Morrison... so little to work with. It makes him angry.
Every year, no matter when Gonzaga bows out of the tournament, they always seem to look like they're out of their league when it happens. They look so convincing as a big-time team for an entire season, and maybe for a couple rounds of the tournament, knocking off good teams (Xavier and Indiana) in convincing fashion... then something like this happens. They're like an extreme microcosm of the paradoxical state of the mid-major school... one minute they're the little engine that could, the next they're collapsing in spectacular fashion. They're the best example of what's great, and the best example of what's weak. You watch the Zags dominate a real team like Indiana, and you think "wow, they're gonna prove to everyone that the mid-majors are ready for prime-time!" Then they collapse worse than any of their mid-major brethren would have in the same situation. They so much better in general that the fall is that much more stunning.
Ah well, enough of that. But wow, what a game.
But man... big, big props to UCLA. What an ending. They overcame a 17-point deficit, one of the worst calls of the tournament (the non-continuation on that layup with 3:00 left), and a stretch in which they scored 5 points in 8 minutes. Despite all that, they kept the Zags within striking distance, hung tough, and struck in the last 5 minutes. Without their opportunistic, shut-down defense, they lose.
Despite UCLA's heroics, though, this comeback didn't feel forced to me. Gonzaga flat-out collapsed. Two turnovers in the last 15 seconds... 0 field goals in the last 3:13? Sigh. Adam Morrison's supporting cast was downright incompetent, with J.P. Batista leading the goat parade. (Would the Wolf Parade eat a goat parade?) Making matters worse, Mark Few was outcoached in the last five minutes by Ben Howland, as the Zags were content to waste the clock away on offense and then just dump it to Morrison for a token shot, rather than actually trying to increase their score by moving the ball and looking for an open shot. Poor Adam Morrison... so little to work with. It makes him angry.
Every year, no matter when Gonzaga bows out of the tournament, they always seem to look like they're out of their league when it happens. They look so convincing as a big-time team for an entire season, and maybe for a couple rounds of the tournament, knocking off good teams (Xavier and Indiana) in convincing fashion... then something like this happens. They're like an extreme microcosm of the paradoxical state of the mid-major school... one minute they're the little engine that could, the next they're collapsing in spectacular fashion. They're the best example of what's great, and the best example of what's weak. You watch the Zags dominate a real team like Indiana, and you think "wow, they're gonna prove to everyone that the mid-majors are ready for prime-time!" Then they collapse worse than any of their mid-major brethren would have in the same situation. They so much better in general that the fall is that much more stunning.
Ah well, enough of that. But wow, what a game.
posted by Jeff at
1:59 AM
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