NCAA Tournament Tidbits: 03.15.11
Posted by Brian Goodman on March 15th, 2011Throughout the NCAA Tournament, we’ll be providing you with the daily chatter from around the webosphere relating to what’s going on with the teams still playing.
East:
- Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim discusses the Orange’s history in the Final Four with columnist Bud Poliquin.
- Indiana State is using creativity as the Sycamores practice for Syracuse on Friday.
- A possible distraction for Georgia: Mark Fox being mentioned as a candidate at NC State.
- Balance and consistency have been keys for Washington this season.
- Wright State head coach Billy Donlon is happy for his former boss, Clemson‘s Brad Brownell.
- Can Kentucky make a run to the Final Four?
Southeast:
- Ashton Gibbs has been a very strong leader for Pittsburgh.
- St. John’s is using the injured DJ Kennedy as inspiration.
- Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan is a staunch advocate for further tournament expansion.
- Utah State head coach Stew Morrill believes his Aggies squad got another raw deal.
- BYU standout Jimmer Fredette needs some help around him if the Cougars want to advance deeply.
Southwest:
- Illinois guard DJ Richardson crossed paths with several UNLV players when he spent his final high school season at Findlay Prep in Las Vegas.
- Vanderbilt‘s opening round survival against Richmond could hinge on bench production.
- Kenneth Faried‘s tenacious rebounding style draws comparisons to Dennis Rodman, according to first-round opponent Rick Pitino.
- The matchup that almost was – Purdue coach Matt Painter is relieved that the scenario of facing St. John’s wouldn’t come up until the Final Four. Painter played at Purdue for current Scarlet Knight coaches Gene Keady and Steve Lavin.
- 15-seed Akron will hope to contain Notre Dame with some overbearing size down low.
- USC coach Kevin O’Neill learned a valuable lesson after his suspension from a verbal confrontation with an Arizona booster during the Pac-10 Tournament last week.
West:
- An update on college basketball’s most-watched toe indicates there’s a chance that Kyrie Irving will return for Duke at some point in the tournament.
- Hampton has a shot at one-upping its memorable upset of two-seed Iowa State in 2001.
- An emphasis on perimeter defense is the norm this week in Tennessee‘s practices as it preps for Michigan.
- A Q&A with Arizona‘s Derrick Williams discusses a variety of topics, including being recruited by his first-round opponent, Memphis.
- Sticking with the feline motif, Missouri will try to buck a foreboding trend against Cincinnati, as Big East teams have ended the Tigers’ last two seasons.
- Teammates will rally around Temple junior guard Ramone Moore, who has been instrumental in providing a leadership element to the Owls’ season.
- Kawhi Leonard may be an NBA prospect for the Aztecs, but DJ Gay is San Diego State‘s Iron Man, having played at least 39 minutes in his team’s last seven games, without the benefit of a single overtime.
