22-2

SPORTING GOODS

A few quick thoughts after watching UConn lose its second game of the year just now:

That was a great game.

I'm not complaining, but it could have been better if the refs hadn't taken out Marcus Williams for a good chunk of the second half with a bogus third foul call.

Allan Ray is sick. Hell, all three of Villanova's guards are sick.

Josh Boone has to be one of the softest 6'10" 237 pounds around. He'll make some nice plays, and then drive you crazy getting rejected by a guy smaller than him when he should just be throwing it down. NBADraft.net currently has him going 14th in the draft. I don't see it, and it's obvious that Jim Calhoun doesn't either.

That said, ESPN (and its announcers) need to figure out that Boone is not as good as he looked two years ago. As he sat on the bench, they kept zooming in on him like it was some big surprise that he wasn't playing, trying to create some controversy. Meanwhile, Boone is probably UConn's seventh best player right now.

Speaking of ESPN announcers, will someone explain to Jay Bilas what a "pick and roll" is? He talked all night about how well 'Nova was running the pick and roll. Each time he mentioned it, the pick and roll involved no rolling, just a guy shooting behind a pick. I thought Dukies were supposed to be smart.

Jeff Adrien looks really good, and although he needs to control his temper I'd like to see more of him. I don't think he'll be a star for UConn, but then again I never thought Hilton Armstrong would be either. Tonight they were saying Armstrong may go as a lottery pick next year. Wow.

The UConn coaches should put out an instructional video on how to block shots, and sell it to every NBA, NCAA, high school, and middle school coach in the country. OK, maybe not the other NCAA coaches. But seriously, how do they dominate this category every year? And it doesn't matter who they bring in - Armstrong and Adrien were everywhere tonight.

Back when Villanova was #8 in the country, after being asked by a co-worker I picked them as one of my three Final Four teams with Duke and UConn, unable to decide on a fourth. I will be very surprised if they don't reach the Final Four this year.

Despite a tough loss tonight, I still strongly believe that UConn will still be there as well. And I'd rather play Duke (or Gonzaga or Texas or Memphis or the New York Knicks) than have to try to match up with 'Nova.

Rematch on February 26th in Connecticut - if you like college basketball, do yourself a favor and watch.