When it plays like this, scoring in transition, defending with size and length and purpose in the half court, making open shots out of set plays, forcing turnovers, having its way at both ends over 40 minutes, Arizona offers a basketball team that is nearly impossible to beat.
It’s a common reaction: One of the best players on one of the nation’s best college basketball teams is lost for the season due to injury and his teammates begin pressing.
Jacob Parker is what you might expect from a Cinderella story in the NCAA Tournament, a free spirit who happens to be the leading scorer on a team that has won 29 straight games and last lost Nov. 23.
This is a truth that March bears: That no matter how celebrated a college basketball player might be, no matter the hype surrounding his game, no matter projections of an NBA lottery pick, nothing is given when the NCAA Tournament arrives.
I have colleagues that cannot write about Steve Alford, now the coach at UCLA, formerly the coach at New Mexico, without mentioning that he likes to wear a basketball net as a fashion accessory. But he wasn’t the first.
There wasn’t enough twine in California and all neighboring states to save Steve Alford during his first news conference for the college basketball coaching job no one can ever succeed at to the level it once knew.
All it took was one game to stain millions of brackets. Aaron Craft’s potential winning layup rolled off the rim as the buzzer sounded and Ohio State went down. And that was just the beginning.
The earth’s shadow can be observed during twilight hours, assuming the sky is clear. It stretches over 180 degrees of the horizon. It’s a hefty dose of darkness. It must be how David Stockton feels some days as a point guard for Gonzaga.
The state of Indiana had 10 chances to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. It went 0-for-10. This is only the second time since 1973 the Hoosier State has not placed a team in the bracket.
Most sports writers won’t admit to cheering for certain teams at the NCAA Tournament. There shall be no cheering from the press box. But if you are watching the Madness unfold in a sports book, it’s OK to pull for certain teams.
