Rush The Court

Remember back in the fall when North Carolina State was the trendy pick to contend for a Final Four berth? Following a Sweet Sixteen appearance, C.J. Leslie was coming back to lead a team with a solid point guard and top flight freshman class. Everything was coming up roses in Raleigh. Then the Wolfpack even seemed to meet expectations, too, opening the season 14-2, including a win over then No. 1 and undefeated Duke. But on Saturday Mark Gottfried’s team lost to its rival North Carolina, a team who was supposed to be trending down this season. They’re now 8-6 in ACC play and have the look of a team whose fangs have been blunted, becoming the latest casualty to the rigors of conference play.

Sometimes, you gotta peel back the onion before assuming a team is solid on paper.

Bill Self and the Tremendously Fast Cycle of Twitter

Last week Kansas took on Kansas State. The highlight? That would be Bill Self dancing. Or shuffling. Or Harlem Shaking. Or intuitively doing something to spark a flurry of social media activity. The response is a perfect case study in how sports GIFs and memes are digested at a rapid pace. Take a look:

Here was the immediate reaction.

Followed by the delayed reaction, which in Internet time is like 20 seconds after the event occured.

Then, if it is worthy, @Bubbaprog hops into action.

Followed by a someone asking for something more.

And suddenly, the wish is granted, thanks to a random dude with the right resources and the right level of initiative.

Seriously. This took all of 27 minutes to unfold. The Internet has evolved so prolifically that its current state is analogous to passing against a defense rather than trying to dribble through. It’s so much faster and effective.

#NCAAOscars

So Lincoln totally got screwed out of the Best Picture win, right? Not only was Argo thrown through the Hollywood ringer before making it to final cut, it was pretty obvious exactly how it was going to play out once Affleck arrived on the scene. Anyway, agree to disagree, the Oscars certainly provide a good opportunity to offer up some mid- to late-season superlatives for college basketball. Props to Dave Krupinski for getting this started, it should have had more legs and participation, here are a few that I found scattered throughout Twitter.

And my favorite, which took a bit of a different approach…

Backlash Against Michael Carter-Williams

Who is having the worst week ever in college basketball? That would arguably be Syracuse’s Michael Carter-Williams, whose recent late-game decisions have generated some serious consternation among Orange fans. As his team let two key conference games slip away with the sophomore running the point, check out the hate that is becoming louder and louder:

Following the loss to Georgetown

Following the loss to Marquette

Rack City, too.