College Hoops-The Last Shall Be First and The First Shall Be Last
Posted by: David Bunch
It's that time of year when the eyes of the sports world turn to college basketball. The Super Bowl is in the rearview, college baseball is beginning and no one yet cares , and it's getting closer to March. All of this means that the madness is beginning.
UConn is number one for the third week in a row, with Duke in tow. The interesting thing about Duke is that the once invincible Blue Devils are now needing overtime to win games-and then barely squeaking out. I don't believe this signals a lack of intensity or skill on their part, but it does indicate that the level of competition has increased, with a lot good teams finding their sweet spot and setting their sites on the big tournament.
Which is what makes it all so exciting. This is the point in the season when teams come out of nowhere and make a run.
This leaves me to my Indiana Hoosiers. They've fallen to No 24 in the polls after losing their second game against a No 1 ranked opponent. Coach Mike Davis says he has a plan to take back their conference, but I'm kind of scratching my head.
Why wouldn't he want to win all eight? I mean, if I'm the coach, I want to say things that motivate my team to win. I don't want to come out and give them permission to lose 2 games.
This also sounds like "coach-speak" to me. You know, "in order to win the title, we have to win games."
No....I'm so glad you pointed that out because that truth had alluded me.
That said, I do think Indiana has what it takes to make a tournament run, but they're going to have to take it to the next level. There are a lot of good teams out there that want to do the same thing.
It's that time of year when the eyes of the sports world turn to college basketball. The Super Bowl is in the rearview, college baseball is beginning and no one yet cares , and it's getting closer to March. All of this means that the madness is beginning.
UConn is number one for the third week in a row, with Duke in tow. The interesting thing about Duke is that the once invincible Blue Devils are now needing overtime to win games-and then barely squeaking out. I don't believe this signals a lack of intensity or skill on their part, but it does indicate that the level of competition has increased, with a lot good teams finding their sweet spot and setting their sites on the big tournament.
Which is what makes it all so exciting. This is the point in the season when teams come out of nowhere and make a run.
This leaves me to my Indiana Hoosiers. They've fallen to No 24 in the polls after losing their second game against a No 1 ranked opponent. Coach Mike Davis says he has a plan to take back their conference, but I'm kind of scratching my head.
With five of his team's final eight regular season games away from Assembly Hall, the Hoosier head coach says he believes Indiana must win three road contests and then win its three remaining home games to have a chance at its first league title since 2002.
Why wouldn't he want to win all eight? I mean, if I'm the coach, I want to say things that motivate my team to win. I don't want to come out and give them permission to lose 2 games.
This also sounds like "coach-speak" to me. You know, "in order to win the title, we have to win games."
No....I'm so glad you pointed that out because that truth had alluded me.
That said, I do think Indiana has what it takes to make a tournament run, but they're going to have to take it to the next level. There are a lot of good teams out there that want to do the same thing.
I think Duke is struggling because Duke brings out their opponents A-game. Everyone who plays against them realizes that if they don't play with everything they'll lose. Also, I have only watched one or two college games this year among the big dogs in which the score wasn't close. Might be a trick of mind in which because we focus closely on one thing, we only notice where we're looking.
Posted by
RC |
Wed Feb 08, 07:17:00 PM 2006