Richmond/Big East stink it up

First let's deal with the Spiders. It was a good season. Third place in the regular season in the A-10, a trip to the conference championship, and a 7 seed in the NCAA tournament is a very nice year. So, let's give them the credit they deserve. As for yesterday, it was a poor effort. St. Mary's wanted it more and was much more physical and the Spiders were just beat up. Richmond's problem all year has been on the glass, but yesterday they took their weakness to new lows. At one point, the rebounding edge was 36-11. I don't think I've ever seen anything like that with two teams on the same level playing each other. The ball bounces into your hands 11 times. Anderson and Gonzalvez did their thing, but there was absolutely no support from the interior players. Gonzalvez led the team with 5 rebounds. That's sad that your guard is the only one strong enough to get a board. That's what they will miss most about him next year, his toughness. Justin Harper and Darrius Garrett have some presence inside, but they played a combined 34 minutes. Both should have been on the floor practically the whole game to help on the boards. Geriot just looks like he doesn't belong. He's slow, he can't jump and he's just not a factor. I felt bad for Anderson. As good as he is, he's under 6 feet tall and he can't control the boards. The Spiders didn't give him a chance yesterday. I would normally say St. Mary's has a great shot against Villanova, but top teams that have a first round scare generally bounce back well in the second round. Still, I think the difference between St. Mary's and Villanova is small, so it could be a good game.

Next, let's discuss the Big East's dismal performance. I am a huge Big East proponent and generally give them more credit than they deserve, but that was awful. It's not that they went 1-3, it's that they went 1-3 and were the favorite in each game, heavily in two of them, and looked bad doing it. Villanova struggled down the stretch, but Robert Morris? Seriously? Until overtime the only way Villanova could score was from the foul line. Notre Dame’s loss isn't surprising. I thought ODU had a great chance. ND plays low scoring close games that anybody can win. They ended up on the short end. It's that simple. Marquette was a bit disappointing because they really should have won that game, but they just couldn't get out of their own way down the stretch. Georgetown was a huge shock. They played fine offensively, but they lacked defensive intensity. I will say to the Hoyas defense that it was as well as Ohio could possibly play. Anything they threw up seemed to go in, whether it was a quality shot or not. Sometimes it's just your day. It was the Bobcats day. What does this mean for WV, Syracuse, Louisville, and Pittsburgh? It's not good. I would be worried anyway, but yesterday's results have me even more concerned that today's game against Morgan St. might not be a blow out for the Mountaineers.

If I had to pick a team to watch for after yesterday's games it would be Butler. I liked them a lot coming into this tournament and thought they had a great chance to get to the Sweet 16. My concern was that everybody was hyping UTEP. The Bulldogs easily took care of them in a day of close games. I thought they were a good bit better than Vanderbilt if they met the Commodores in the second round, but Murray St. took them out first. Now it seems like an easy road to the Sweet 16 for the Bulldogs and if Syracuse is not healthy and ready to go, then look out. The Bulldogs could pull off the upset there and again in the next round to charge right into the Final 4.

Let’s hope today’s games go a little bit better than yesterday’s.