Diving In The Pool

Entering this weekend’s basketball games, I sat fifth out of 263 contestants in my annual NCAA tourney pool. It's impressive in that it's the only hoops pool I enter, but less so considering the pool's clogged with Notre Dame and USC alums who, despite appearances, collectively know precious little about sports.  Last year, I finished eighth (of 218 entries) in the same pool, but was amazed to find myself in the top ten again, given I didn’t watch a single college hoops game all year and neglected to hunker down and seriously research this year’s picks. That sloth came back to bite me(or was it my good luck regressing to the mean?) as Kansas, one of my projected finalists, lost, knocking me out of blue ribbon contention.

So, I currently sit in 27^th place, and unless Ducks and Heels win tomorrow, two rather big ifs, I’ll have no chance to repeat in the top ten.

The team that impressed me the most this year was Butler. They weren’t the best team, but with due respect to Winthrop, I think they were the best coached squad. What team gets more out of limited physical talent than Butler?  Every aspect of the game that can be taught, they execute exceedingly well: they shoot well from the field and the line and create efficient, situation-specific, shots. They recognize and exploit mismatches and distribute fouls and defensive resources. They control tempo while committing fewer turnovers than any team in the nation. 

What they cant do as well as the hoops factories, of course, is jump and run and be seven feet tall – and, really, that’s it. Their leading rebounder is point guard Mike Green;  leading scorer, A.J. Graves, weighs 155 pounds -and no one on the roster is taller than 6’7”. Yet Florida, a deep, athletic and well coached team in their own right, had to play a terrific game to beat the Bulldogs by eight.  Taurean Green and Humphreys hit their threes and Horford and Noah, who dominated as expected inside, also shot uncharacteristically well from the line. If one of those Gators had an off night, the defending champs may've been that and nothing more.

Another thing that impresses me about the tourney field generally, is the lack of panic on the offensive end. While particular defenses clamp down to force difficult shots, offenses today seem more prepared to methodically deal with such adversity than their counterparts from a generation – or even ten years – ago. You see fewer ill advised launches than in the past as teams are more adept, and patient, at setting up open threes, even if it takes several screens and passes to accomplish. I suspect the emergence of the inside out style in the NBA is largely responsible for this advance. 

Some complain this has been a blasé tournament due to the lack of upsets but it’s also showcased deep, athletic and disciplined teams. Butler will consistently beat bigger and more talented teams who don’t execute very well, but when juggernauts like Ohio State, UCLA, Florida and North Carolina execute like this with passion, it’s almost impossible for a less talented team to break though beyond the sweet sixteen, even if they do everything right. I don’t think that means it’s a bad tournament, but rather signals another level in the maturation of college basketball.