Friday, March 24, 2006

Zag Nuts


I'm still not really sure what happened. One minute, I'm drinking heavily to drown the sorrows of one of UCLA's worst performances of the season, the next minute, I'm drinking heavily in celebration of one of UCLA's most furious comebacks in recent memory. Actually, 'furious' isn't the best word to describe the comeback, as aside from the final steal and basket, it was more of a methodical effort- an 11-0 run over 3:27- which is how the Bruins have played all season. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Ryan Hollins can share the game ball on this one for continuing to hustle throughout the game, regardless of the score. While the frustration was clearly setting in on Jordan Farmar and Arron Afflalo, Hollins and Mbah a Moute never took a play off. Their defensive rebounding and harassment of JP Batista was key in putting the "zero" in their 11-0 run. After scoring the go ahead layup with a few ticks remaining on the clock, it was Mbah a Moute who sprinted back upcourt while some Bruins were celebrating (and Adam Morrison was weeping) and dove for the ball, stealing it from Derek Raivio with 2.6 seconds left. The result was complete pandemonium amongst a crowd and CBS announcer's booth which had been furiously cheering for a UCLA rally in the final five minutes of the game.

Unfortunately, none of it really matters as the NCAA has decided to cancel the remainder of the tournament on account of North Carolina and Duke both being eliminated from competition. Once again, JJ Redick peformed terribly in Duke's final game of the season, although I'll give him a little bit of a pass on this one. The officials in the LSU-Duke game decided to allow a lot of contact along the perimeter and focus more on the contact in the paint. Once LSU defenders realized that as long as JJ didn't have the ball, they could grab Redick- a prototypical rhythm shooter who doesn't deal well with contact- it was pretty much over for the Blue Devils.

Lost in the shuffle of all of this was the amazing finish in the Texas/West Virginia game. Huge clutch shot by Pittsnogle to tie it, followed by Kenton Paulino getting a shot off at the buzzer to win it for the Longhorns. Absolutely phenomenal. I'm sure people throughout Texas were in a frenzy...and then promptly arrested.

I'm sure more happpened yesterday, but it's still a blur. Time to mix up some Pepto-Bismol, Aunt Jemima mix, Tang, and a little flat Tab.

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