Our last semifinal pits two seed Adam Butler (Pachoops) up against the fourth seed, Connor Pelton. Below are the rosters, followed by commentary from the respective owner:

Adam Butler

• Head Coach – Ralph Miller, Oregon State

• Guard – Damon Stoudamire, Arizona
• Guard – Mike Bibby, Arizona
• Guard – Michael Dickerson, Arizona
• Guard – Salim Stoudamire, Arizona

• Forward – Sean Elliott, Arizona
• Forward – Ed O’Bannon, UCLA
• Forward – Shareef Abdur-Rahim, California
• Forward – Chris Mills, Arizona

• Center – Todd MacCulloch, Washington
• Center – Bison Dele, Arizona

Adam’s Take:

Oh, pardon me! I was still chuckling at Connor’s lineup. Allow me to explain.

Indeed, a team centered by Steve Johnson is a formidable one. Anyone who shoots 75% from the floor for a season must be taken seriously. Conversely, anyone who looks like Sideshow Bob should not. That’s Robin Lopez. Besides, Todd MacCulloch just set the high score on The Simpsons: Pinball in Springfield at six different Canadian bars, and somewhere a piece of Lopez dies.

Moving our way out of the deep frontcourt we can look at the forwards on Team Pelton. I’m inclined to dismiss Jon Brockman because hustle only counts in real basketball. In fantasy drafts, hustle is just cute. Which is why I suppose Klay Thompson gets a fantasy nod because numbers count in fantasy ball and softness is cute. Please, Chris Mills just sneezed to block a Thompson jumper. I of course have love for Richard Jefferson, but if you’re a forward from Arizona and your name isn’t Elliott, you’re still not going to win this one. The fourth opposing forward’s name is Kiki, in which I rest my case.

Guard play, as you noticed, is Team PacHoops’ strength and not Team Pelton’s. Sure, there’s some talent, but no rings. I thought college hoops was all about solid guard play. You’re telling me none of these guys could garner one championship? Wait, wait, between these four guards they mustered at best a Sweet Sixteen? Woof (not for you, IT). Reggie and Chauncey appeared in the NCAA Tournament just once each? Does Spike Lee know this? None of that sounds fun. Fun sounds more like never missing an NCAA Tournament and winning it all. That’s who I like on my team. Got ‘em.

At the helm, Ralph Miller Court sits inside of Gill Coliseum. I can give that and I’ll be the first to admit that it’s indisputably the most badass possible thing to have a coliseum with your name on it. But look, I know you saw Batman Begins and if you didn’t, well, you’re missing out. Point being, Bruce Wayne didn’t just become Batman. He needed mentorship to become the fearless defender of Gotham he would become. Enter Ra’s Al Ghul, the sensei who salvages Wayne from a Chinese prison. Protégé, meet mentor. But the relationship goes sour and the two part ways; Wayne to his seemingly playboy life, Al Ghul to what appeared to be his death (theme?). Alas, the end of the film gives us Al Ghul’s villainous return to Gotham and Batman’s heroic and final takedown of the mentor. In the ultimate flipping of the script, Al Ghul and all his wisdom and skill is no match for the noble monster he created.

So, what the hell am I getting at? I’m saying that if the greatest hero (or certainly superhero trilogy) of our time could defeat his mentor, so too can Ralph Miller and defeat his Oregon State predecessor, Slats Gill. Miller won more games and was twice National Coach of the Year. Goodness I love me some Ws.

Have I made a stretch here? Perhaps. But you also just got to read college hoops and Batman so you’re welcome. Vote PacHoops.

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Our final matchup of the first round pits the two seed, Adam Butler (Pachoops), up against seventh seeded Andrew Murawa. The winner of this one is off to the semifinals, where it will meet Connor Pelton’s team in the semifinals.  Below are the rosters, followed by some commentary from the respective owners:

Adam Butler

• Head Coach – Ralph Miller, Oregon State

• Guard – Damon Stoudamire, Arizona
• Guard – Mike Bibby, Arizona
• Guard – Michael Dickerson, Arizona
• Guard – Salim Stoudamire, Arizona

• Forward – Sean Elliott, Arizona
• Forward – Ed O’Bannon, UCLA
• Forward – Shareef Abdur-Rahim, California
• Forward – Chris Mills, Arizona

• Center – Todd MacCulloch, Washington
• Center – Bison Dele, Arizona

Adam’s Take:

My team. Well they call it Point Guard U for a reason so I went ahead and gobbled up three of the great ones and one of the best off-guards they produced. Yes, I have an all Arizona backcourt and you can go ahead and call Team PacHoops a group of homers. Do it. And that backcourt is supplemented by three more Wildcats and a dallop of other insanely talented Pac-12 players. Know that Team PacHoops houses seven Pac-10 Player of the Year Awards; six NBA lottery picks, three NCAA titles; two Wooden Awards; and a HOFer.

Look at you, you’re impressed already and I haven’t even told you that Salim Stoudamire is practically at the end of my bench, or that Chris Mills is going to struggle to get minutes; or that the worst my starting forward could be is a ninth pick in an NBA Draft; or that our coach, Ralph Miller, is one of just 73 men to win more than 600 games on a college basketball bench.

Need more? Todd MacCulloch not only was twice named First Team All-Pac, but he’s also a pinball champion. That’s right, the big Canuck has long been a pinball wizard and last October he won his first tournament (the Pinball Expo in Chicago), earning his bad self $3,000. Sean Elliott – the two time Pac Player of the Year, Wooden Award winner, and the first golden child of Arizona – roundhouse kicked debilitating kidney disease right in the jaw and said, “Nah, bro. I’ma go ahead play again.” The first major athlete to return ever from a kidney transplant.

After all, this team wasn’t built on talent alone.

But there’s plenty of it. And so I’ll toss the rock to Mike Bibby or Damon Stoudamire – whoever coach Ralph feels is going to be better suited to start – and let them deliver it (or score) to the silky smooth likes of Michael Dickerson and Elliott or the power and grace of Mills, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, and Ed O’Bannon. Holding down the lane will be big Bison Dele right along with Todd the pinball maestro. All beautifully orchestrated by coach Ralph.

Vote for Team PacHoops because you know it’s the right team to vote for and it’s going to make you feel good to choose a winner.

A pinball champ.

(Note from Connor: To see Adam fully breakdown each position on his fantasy roster, click here for the guards, here for the forwards, here for the centers, and here for the head coach.)

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If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.

Top 25 Games

• St. John’s 89, #10 UConn 72: “The Connecticut Huskies were beaten, beasted, basted, knocked around behind a team defensive effort on Kemba Walker (15 points on 16 shots, 7 assists) who looked human once again, even sloppy. The Huskies’ offense wasn’t the real culprit in this loss, though they shot 35% inside the arc. It was the defense that led the Huskies into the wilderness. The Red Storm rebounded and ran on them over and over again, picking up at least 24 fast-break points behind the tenacious outlet passing of D.J. Kennedy (20 points, 11 total rebounds, 5 assists), along with the steady driving and shooting of Dwight Hardy (career-high 33 points, 3 assists). In a 71 possession game, the Storm dropped 89 points, putting up 54 in the second half.” (Rumble in the Garden)
• #23 Vanderbilt 81, Alabama 77: “Few could have predicted a shootout with the Crimson Tide visiting Memorial Gym, but Thursday night’s game turned into a horse race. In the end, the Commodores won by a nose. Vanderbilt snuck past a very tough Alabama team 81-77 behind a solid team effort that saw four ‘Dores in double figures on the night. ‘Bama abused the home team in the paint, but Vandy got the stops they needed late in the second half after the team switched from zone to man defense. Though Anthony Grant’s strategy of running Brad Tinsley through six or seven screens per possession was successful in creating space for his guards, the Tide couldn’t find their range late, leading to Vanderbilt’s fifth SEC win.” (Anchor of Gold)
• Illinois 71, #25 Minnesota 62: “In a game where both teams desperately needed a victory to snap out of their respective funks, Illinois capitalized on Minnesota mistakes and failed opportunities to take home a 71-62 victory in sloppy, grinding contest.” (From the Barn)

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1. Wisconsin center Jon Leuer had a pain-free practice on Monday and will be back in action for his team tonight against his home state Minnesota Gophers.  The Badgers were 6-3 in his nine-game absence, even though the Wisconsin defense clearly wasn’t as effective without the 6’10 junior in the lineup.
2. Former Oklahoma State head coach Sean Sutton pled not guilty through his attorney to four felony charges involving painkillers, and he is supposedly in a rehab center already.  Sutton hasn’t coached since his dismissal from OSU in 2008, but we’re all aware of the dangers of the abuse of these drugs, so we’re hopeful that he’ll be able to get his life back on track.
3. Staying in Stillwater, OSU point guard Ray Penn will miss the remainder of the season to allow time for a stress reaction in his right knee to heal.  The lightning-quick Penn averaged 8/3 APG in just over thirty minutes per game this year, and he should be back at 100% by next season.
4. You’ve probably heard  what former Senator and HOFer Bill Bradley is up to these days (winning awards from the NABC), but did you know that former non-Senator and non-HOFer Todd MacCulloch is #91 in the world in professional pinball?  We’re not sure to be incredibly impressed or a lot scared, but Lost Letterman ranks MacCulloch and several other former hoopsters who are now making their living in other odd capacities.
5. This is superb analysis by Vegas Watch in which he compares his adjusted Pomeroy ratings with the current odds you can get for teams to win the 2010 national title, and then makes some assessments as to their current value.  Duke, Wisconsin and Missouri are the big value buys right now, while Kentucky, Syracuse and Villanova appear overvalued.