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Home > ajcsportstalk > Archives > 2008 > March > 14
Friday, March 14, 2008
So what have we learned?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’ve just started the first night game between Alabama and Mississippi State, which will be followed by the nightcap between Georgia and Kentucky.
So what have we learned?
In the first game Friday we learned that if Tennessee has any hope of reaching the Final Four, the Volunteers are going to have to get better play at the point guard position—especially on the defensive end.
South Carolina’s Devan Downey is a good player but Friday he looked like Earl Monroe. Nobody on the Tennessee side could keep this guy from getting to the basket. Downey took 20 shots and single handedly kept South Carolina in the game. As a result, Tennessee shot 73 percent from the field in the second half and STILL only won by two, 89-87.
Tennessee likes to play fast but in the NCAA Tournament you have to be able to run a half court offense and stop other people when they run the half court offense. The point guard must control the tempo.
I’m anxious to see how Tennessee plays on Saturday against Arkansas, which is pretty big and pretty athletic.
Arkansas beat a very good Vanderbilt team (81-75) despite the fact that forward Sonny Weems, who was averaging 17.3 points per game, made only 1 of 9 shots from the field and was held to only three points. Patrick Beverly, the Hogs’ No. 2 scorer, made only 3 of 11 shots from the field. Those guys will have to shoot better against Tennessee.
I also think the win over Vanderbilt put Arkansas (21-10) in the NCAA Tournament as the fifth team from the SEC. Ole Miss and Florida were kind of hanging around the bubble until getting beat Thursday night in the first round.
Finally, it was a little sad to see South Carolina’s Dave Odom coach his last game. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve known Dave since he was an assistant coach at Wake Forest in 1977. He is a true gentleman.
Who will South Carolina hire? One of the names you’ll hear is Anthony Grant, the former Billy Donovan assistant now at VCU. But the Gamecocks may have to fight LSU (and maybe even Georgia) to get him. Grant, whose team finished 24-7 this season before losing in the CAA Tournament, is one of the bright young coaches in the country.
South Carolina hanging tough with Tennessee
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s nice see some bodies in the seats today.
Because Tennessee, the No. 1 seed, is playing in the early game we have a significantly bigger crowd today than for the first session on Thursday, where only a little over 12,000 showed up. But today both Kentucky and Tennessee will play and their fans have filled up the bottom part of the Georgia Dome pretty well.
South Carolina, which knocked off LSU yesterday to get to this second round game, played Tennessee tough in the first half in each of their two regular-season meetings and did again today, trailing by only 41-40 at the intermission. But in both games South Carolina was blown out in the second half and I expect the same thing to happen today. The difference in athleticism and talent is significant.
South Carolina coach Dave Odom told me this yesterday and he is absolutely right. Nobody in the league plays quite like Tennessee. People think they are a three-point shooting team but in fact, they shoot just enough threes to make you spread your defense to cover them. Then they slash into the lane for a lot of lay-ups and very short shots by their big guys.
“They scare you from three but they beat you from five (feet),” Odom said. “The trick is being able to guard them from both places. That is not easy.”
Speaking of Odom, it looks like he’ll be coaching his last game today. I’m dating myself here, but I’ve known Dave since I was a rookie reporter in North Carolina and he was an assistant coach at Wake Forest in the late 1970s. He was the head coach at Wake Forest for 12 seasons and had several great teams when he had Tim Duncan and Randolph Childress.
A lot of people don’t know this, but Odom almost became the head coach at Georgia. Odom had several talks with AD Vince Dooley after Hugh Durham was let go after the 1995 season. But things didn’t work out and Dooley hired a bright young coach from Tulsa named Tubby Smith. Odom is one of the true gentlemen in coaching.
The building is still buzzing a little today after Florida coach Billy Donovan torched his team after a lackluster effort in a loss to Alabama Thursday night. Donovan can understand a young team that has to learn its way. What he CAN’T understand is a lack of effort and not being ready to play. One of the problems with young players who have watched veterans have the success of the past two years, is that the young players think they just have to show up and that success will come to them.
Speaking of Florida, it is now clear that the Gators will not get a chance to defend their NCAA Tournament championship. Wonder how these guys will play in the NIT?
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