Sixteen Sweet Sixteen Thoughts

16. The Gators didn't look especially sharp against Purdue last weekend. The guy getting mugged in the above picture got hit with two fouls early in the game. I suspect that caused him to play "soft." When Joakim Noah isn't playing aggressively, the team misses his fire. He needs to keep his head in the game, even when he disagrees with the officials (believe it or not, the referees didn't think he was being fouled when this picture was taken). Noah is the heart and soul of this team. Calls don't all do your way. You just have to be ready for that (which is easy for me to SAY, but if I got hit like that and the ref didn't call a foul, I would start fuming).

15. Bruce Pearl has done an amazing job at Tennessee. I don't like this one bit. Oh sure, I like that Tennessee is helping make the SEC look good, but overall I don't like it when Tennessee gets a good and likable coach. Ohio State will have its hands full with Tennessee, especially if C. J. Watson gets uncorked. If he's hot then guarding him only makes him more accurate. He's amazing.

14. While I'm in the mood to be nice to the Gators' rivals I should add that Dennis Felton at Georgia hasn't begun to get the credit due him. He took a downward spiralling team and stopped the bleeding. His record wasn't great this year, but the tournament has shown that the SEC East was a pretty tough place to play. So, props to Felton--now go coach at Michigan or something.

13. What do the ACC and the Big 10 have in common with the Horizon, C-USA, Missourri Valley, and Mountain West conferences? They each have only one team that made it to the Sweet Sixteen.

12. This is not your father's UNLV. I don't think there are any two coaches more different from each other than Tark the Shark and Lon Kruger. Kruger was a fine coach when he was at Florida. He bailed on the Gators, saying that it was impossible to recruit basketball players to there. I like Kruger because he cares more about the players than the job. He is a classy guy.

11. That said, I'm pulling for Oregon against UNLV. Oregon is my adopted west coast team in honor of my old friend, Nathan. Go Ducks (unless you're playing the Gators).

10. Much of life is about timing. For example, Florida Coach Billy Donovan has never received the SEC Coach of the Year award (he's won three SEC tournaments in a row and supplanted Kentucky as the premier program). His failure to win the award isn't because people think he can't coach, it's because every year there seems to be one team with a more dramatic story than the Gators. That said, timing worked in his favor in last year's NCAA tourney. The right bracket, the right time.

10. I'm not sure I have a whole sixteen thoughts on the Sweet Sixteen.

9. If I were a Kentucky fan I would secretly want Tubby Smith to move on, but I wouldn't want to fire him. He's a good enough coach that he's not very easy to fire. That is the real dilemma for Wildcat fans and it means that the rest of the SEC has Kentucky right where we want them--paralyzed in "good but not great" land. I wonder if Phil Fulmer ever hangs out with Smith?

8. This will be an easier post to write during the week of the Final Four.

7. I'm glad Florida is not in Ohio State's bracket. With Ohio State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Memphis left, that's the toughest regional by a long shot. I'm guessing that whoever emerges from the bracket has the metal to win the whole thing.

6. Billy Donovan took the Gators on a tour of the 9th Ward in New Orleans last week so the players could see how awful things still are down there--and to help give them a better perspective on life. Basketball is, after all is said and done, just a game (absolute heresy for a Hoosier to say).

5. Opposing fans really despise Joakim Noah. What did he do to upset them? He passed up millions of dollars in the NBA for the love of the college game and the college life. He is known for staying after games and signing as many autographs as he can. He even went to a birthday party for a 10-year-old boy who handed him an invitation after a basketball game. After the loss at Vandy this year (when Vandy stormed the court), he stayed around and signed autographs for Vandy kids. The janitor told reporters that when he told Noah that he appreciated his willingness to stay around for the kids, Noah replied, "Thank you, sir." Neither Noah nor his teammates have had any legal trouble during their time at Florida.

Oh, yeah, he thumps his heart and fires up his team. Evil.
Yes, I'm the Joakim Noah apologist.

4. The NCAA basketball tournament remains the best sporting event of the year. The number of close, hard-fought, games is amazing (okay, I know that's a cliche', but it's true).

3. Only three of my Final Four teams are still alive. I mistakenly bought into the Texas/Durant hype and they're gone. Shame on me.

2. I miss the blue uniforms. This year the Gators are the high seed and they will only get the chance to wear their home uniforms. This is a good thing, but I like the blue uniforms better than the white.

1. I really love watching this Gator team play. I'm trying just to enjoy it for as long as it lasts.