16(0) Sweet Words Of March Madness: 2011 NCAA First Round – Temple 66, Penn State 64

16(0) Sweet Words Of March Madness: 2011 NCAA First Round – Temple 66, Penn State 64

Juan!

Wow. What an unreal game and awesome day. Talor Battle is the man. I feel bad for him. But Ramone Moore and Juan Fernandez were just a little too much for Penn State to handle.

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

The College Basketball Fantasy Draft (and Other Notes)

Way back when in late 2009, Ed, Kenny and company invited me to partake in the first ever college football fantasy draft (also seen here).

Well, being the innovators that they are, it was only a matter of time before that process was going to expand. So this year, they invited me to participate in the greatest college basketball fantasy draft of all-time. Please go check it out. It was a blast.

Thanks to the generosity of Ed, I'm going to post it here as well below, but first there a few things from over the weekend (and last night) that I want to get off my chest.

First and foremost, I want to congratulate my alma mater on making the NCAA Tournament. A couple weeks ago, I lambasted the Penn State athletic department for not even contacting Steven Lavin when he wanted the Penn State job, and last week, I congratulated Talor Battle on an outstanding college career despite never having made the NCAA Tournament and looking like he never would. I stand by those statements regarding the athletic department, but I'll be damned, this team would not be denied. Talor Battle and Jeff Brooks and David Jackson weren't going out like that. They had to make the NCAA Tournament, if for no other reason than to reward Battle for one of the quietest great college careers of all time.

So they took care of Indiana, squeaked out an ugly win over Wisconsin, and then won going away over Michigan State, getting all the way to the Big Ten Tournament Final before succumbing to No. 1 seed Ohio State.



As much as I've been despondent toward Ed DeChellis and the overall losing attitude of this program during my lifetime, I was ecstatic the same way I was when they won the NIT two year ago. This is my alma mater after all.

But then it was all brought back down to earth on Selection Sunday. Why? Because finally after years of being absent from the tournament, Penn State finally made it … only to be matched up with Temple, my favorite college basketball team period. Unreal. My alma mater finally makes the tourney and I can't even all-out root for them. Unbelievable. I'm a Temple die-hard. And a Penn State grad. And the god damn committee matched them up in the first round. I hate it. I hate it so very much.



I'm not going to lie, I'll be rooting for Temple. I just follow this team so damn much. As the 7th seed, they're supposed to win. But I admit, I won't be terribly upset if Penn State, the 10 seed, wins. Talor Battle will be the best player on the floor, and that means your team always has a shot to win. But my cousin put it nicely: He said it will be Temple's revenge for football for the last 60 years.

I picked Temple, and I expect them to win, but this should be a great game. It's certainly the one I'm most anticipating, for good reasons and bad, on Thursday and the one I'll have my eyes glued to. In a way, I guess I can't lose, because I'd love to see Temple make a run, but I'd also like to see Talor Battle get his due. But I still would have preferred that these two teams be matched up with anybody else so I could put my full support behind both.

Secondly, I want to congratulate Ville Leino for his first career hat trick Saturday.



It's more proof that the guy should shoot the puck more, because he's damn good at it.

At the same time, I'd like to absolutely destroy Kris Versteeg.



Versteeg is a really good player. He's going to play a major role for the Flyers in the playoffs and going forward next season. But since he's come over to Philadelphia, the team has struggled. That isn't an indictment on Versteeg, but he hasn't played particularly well himself in that span. Yes, he's shown flashes and is beginning to really develop great chemistry with Mike Richards, but he hasn't lit the world on fire.

But on Saturday night, he singlehandedly coughed up the game and cost the Flyers a point and the win. With the Flyers protecting a two-goal lead with three minutes left to play, Versteeg took an absolutely horrendous interference penalty in the offensive zone. Versteeg was upset and it didn't seem all that intentional, but it was hardly an accident either. Versteeg had his head up, he could see where he was going and where Bryan Little was, yet he made no attempt to get out of the way. Thus he got called for a penalty, in the offensive zone, while protecting the lead. It was an awful, stupid, incredibly dumb penalty, and of course the Thrashers scored on the ensuing power play to make it a 4-3 game.

Then, with less than a minute to play, he made the single worst pass in the history of hockey. Instead of clearing the puck out of his own defensive zone or reversing it off the boards hard, Versteeg tried to play it behind the net to his defenseman, only he made a horrible pass, which hit the side of the net and came out the other side to his former Blackhawks teammate Andrew Ladd, who deposited it into the net to tie the game. Of course the Flyers then lost in overtime.

Now listen, the Flyers gave up four goals in the third period and blew a 3-0 lead, which is inexcusable for a team. But Versteeg's two plays were the worst of them all, so bad that I think he should be scratched for a week for those horrendous plays. He won't because he's too valuable and too good, but the reason I say he should be scratched is because those plays were losing hockey plays. They were dumb. Egregiously dumb. An interference penalty in your offensive zone while up two? And perhaps the worst turnover I've ever seen with 45 seconds left to allow Atlanta to tie the game. He directly cost the Flyers that game and that valuable point, and it's not like he's played so great that he deserves to get a pass. He doesn't. That type of shit may fly in Toronto, but not on the East's leading team.

I know Laviolette won't do it, but I'd sit him tonight against Florida and maybe even Thursday against Atlanta and let Nodl or Zherdev play. This team is struggling at the wrong time, and benching Versteeg could be a wake-up call. I know it won't happen, and it probably shouldn't. But I was so fucking mad at him that I want it to happen. That was the worst 3 minutes of hockey by one player I've ever seen. Ever.

And note to the Sixers, please stop letting Andre Iguodala take the last shot. Please. Listen, Iggy went off last night and actually gave the Sixers the lead late with some terrific individual plays on both offense and defense. But when the game was tied and the ball in his hands for one final chance to win it, everyone in the world knew he was going to miss. And he did, and the Sixers lost to the Jazz in overtime.



Iggy is a really, really good player who is having a very good season, and he was the sole reason the Sixers gook that late lead. But please, just put the ball in anyone else's hands for the final shot. Please.

That is all. Now, on to the draft:

On the eve of this thing called March Madness, there's always a need to reflect. We've watched documentaries of the Running Rebels of UNLV and the Fab Five of Michigan over the course of the weekend. We've seen the absurdity of the current 2011 NCAA tournament bracket, and we can remember when the old folks preached the gospel about the legends of yesteryear. So usually when we start reminiscing about the glory of years past, there's only one logical conclusion...

...we've got to do a fantasy draft.

Six guys, one conference call, and an hour and a half of shenanigans later, we came up with this...the first-ever ETSF college basketball fantasy draft.

You might remember we did this back in 2009 for college football, so this is nothing new for us over here. Meet the six GMs and where you can find them:

Philadelphia's own Rev. Paul Revere - House That Glanville Built
Chi-Town's Bryan Crawford - SLAM's From the 'Go Blog
Mr. Durham, Joe Simmons - Bull City State of Mind
The Ohio Player, Sean Walton - The Fresh Xpress
The Bearded One from Dallas, Kenny Masenda - ETSF
Oklahoma's Finest, Eddie Maisonet - ETSF

Rules are simple...

1. Players selected must have played no earlier than the 1990-91 season.
2. Teams must have a starting lineup (PG, SG, SF, PF, C) and 5 bench players
3. Snake draft implementation (first to last, last to first)
4. Trash talking is not only encouraged, but mandatory.

You ready? Let's rock. One favor...take notes and keep tabs on what's going on. We might need you to pick a winner.

Round 1

The Rev - Christian Laettner, Duke
Bryan Crawford - Kevin Durant, Texas
Eddie Maisonet - Tim Duncan, Wake Forest
Kenny Masenda - Larry Johnson, UNLV
Joe Simmons - Ed Cota, UNC
Sean Walton - Allen Iverson, Georgetown

Kenny's Pick: Larry Johnson

"On the surface, this pick seemed like it was easy, but it was pretty tough. I had C-Webb, Ed Cota, and Iverson on my board. I could have gone with any of them for a number of reasons, but when it was all said and done, I went with the first grown man I remember seeing in March Madness. Larry Johnson was a man amongst boys, an intimidator, and one of the best teammates you could ever have. It doesn't hurt that he's also Texas Made, and that he was multi-dimensional for the Runnin' Rebels."

Joe's Pick: Ed Cota

Never in my life have I ever seen a man with the ability to lead and still maintain his flash the way “Easy” Ed Cota was able to lead the Tarheels. The man played in three Final Fours in four years. Cota gets overlooked because he made it look too easy. See Ed did have talent around him most years, but his ability to make it work is what separated him from the rest. He possessed an array of behind-the-back passes, no-look passes, and he had the uncanny ability to fit the ball into places that the ball should not fit.

Regardless of the talent around him, Cota had the ability to make players around him look better. One of the things about Cota that real basketball fans could appreciate was the bigger the game, the better he played. Ask Wojo down at Duke about that as he probably still has nightmares about trying to guard Ed Cota for four years.



Round Two

Walton - Shaquille O'Neal, LSU
Simmons - Chris Webber, Michigan
Masenda - Jerry Stackhouse, UNC
Maisonet - Blake Griffin, Oklahoma
Crawford - Chris Jackson, LSU
The Rev - Marcus Camby, UMass

Ed's Observation: The majority of us went with bigs here. Ken and Crawford went with Stackhouse, who was MEAN at UNC, and Chris Jackson was simply a monster in the backcourt.

Round Three

The Rev - Jameer Nelson, St. Joseph's
Crawford - Rasheed Wallace, UNC
Maisonet - Grant Hill, Duke
Masenda - TJ Ford, Texas
Simmons - Stephen Curry, Davidson
Walton - Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse

Bryan's Pick: Rasheed Wallace

When it comes to basketball, Rasheed Wallace has pretty much been cold his whole life. He averaged 16 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocks while playing just 19 minutes a game as a senior in high school, and once he got to North Carolina, it was over. Not only was he the heart and soul of the Tarheels, but he had the grown man game. If you didn't see 'Sheed play in college, just ask around... Roscoe was that dude.

Round Four

Walton - JJ Redick, Duke
Simmons - Jamal Mashburn, Kentucky
Masenda - Antawn Jamison, UNC
Maisonet - Mike Bibby, Arizona
Crawford - Ray Allen, UConn
The Rev - Kenyon Martin, Cincinnati

Ed's Pick: Mike Bibby

While some folks profess their love for the Michigan Fab Five, the UNLV Running Rebels, or the Flintstones from Michigan State, my favorite team growing up will always be the 1996-97 Arizona Wildcats. They had the sharpshooter Michael Dickerson, one of the greatest 6th-men of all time in Jason Terry, and they had a team full of light-skinnededness. From AJ Bramlett, to Bennett Davidson, to the legend that is Miles Simon, the killer on that squad was none other than Mike Bibby. Bibby's handle was serious, his court vision was superb, and his range went from Tucson to Yuma. Team Dime was legit, and I'll never forget what #10 did for Lute Olsen.

Round Five

The Rev - Eddie Jones, Temple
Crawford - Emeka Okafor, UConn
Maisonet - Corliss Williamson, Arkansas
Masenda - Glenn Robinson, Purdue
Simmons - Alonzo Mourning, Georgetown
Walton - Robert "Tractor" Traylor, Michigan

The Rev's pick: Eddie Jones



If you are looking for a complete college basketball guard, you'd be hard-pressed to do better than Temple's Eddie Jones. The man could certainly get buckets, averaging 16 points per game for his college career and 19.2 en route to the 1994 A-10 Player of the Year award. But he was also a defensive star. He was the prototypical John Chaney guard: tall, lanky and defensive minded. Eddie averaged 2.1 steals and 1.2 blocks for his career. He led Temple in rebounding once and blocks twice … as a guard. And he, along with Aaron McKie and Rick Brunson, led John Chaney to his deepest NCAA Tournament run ever, going all the way to the Elite Eight.

Round Six

Walton - Trajan Langdon, Duke
Simmons - Tyler Hansbrough, UNC
Masenda - Jim Jackson, Ohio State
Maisonet - Steve Francis, Maryland
Crawford - Penny Hardaway, Memphis State
The Rev - Jason Kidd, Cal

Bryan's pick: Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway

Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway made being a 6-7 PG popular when he was at Memphis State University. Sure, Jalen Rose brought swagger and attitude to the position while at the University of Michigan, but Hardaway was easily the more complete and polished player of the two. He could shoot it, he could pass and he could flat-out score the basketball. Really, there wasn't a whole lot that he couldn't do out on the floor. Plus, he had a really cool nickname. What's not to like?

Round Seven

Rev - Ed O'Bannon, UCLA
Crawford - Juwan Howard, Michigan
Maisonet - Mateen Cleaves, Michigan State
Masenda - Baron Davis, UCLA
Simmons - Randolph Childress, Wake Forest
Walton - Jason Williams, Duke

Joe's Pick: Randolph Childress

There was no doubt that Randolph Childress was an underdog player during his career at Wake Forest. Randolph carried a team for two years that had nothing to offer. Randolph was a marksman, a sharpshooter who never seemed to shy away from the big shot. In an era of ACC supremacy and legendary players, no small guy has ever stood as tall as Randolph Childress did during his tenure at Wake Forest.

In his junior year everything changed for Randolph. Enter Tim Duncan. A scrawny, average built, big man from Nassau, Bahamas came to the Demon Deacons and changed everything for Randolph Childress as he no longer had to carry the team by himself. His collegiate highlight came in 1995, when he delivered one of the most outstanding ACC Tournament performances of all time. Named tournament MVP, Childress carried the Demon Deacons to the ACC Tournament Title. Childress averaged 35.7 points and seven assists per game. In the finals, against a UNC team featuring Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace, Childress scored 37 points with seven assists and hit a game-winning jumper with four seconds left in overtime (not to mention the play that no real basketball fan will ever forget).



Round Eight

Walton - Dikembe Mutombo, Georgetown
Simmons - Stacey Augmon, UNLV
Masenda - Dwyane Wade, Marquette
Maisonet - Richard Hamilton, UConn
Crawford - Alphonso Ford, Miss. Valley State
The Rev - Kerry Kittles, Villanova

The Rev's Pick: Kerry Kittles



The accolades say it all: two-time All-American (first-team as a senior, second-team as a junior), 1995 Big East Player of the Year, three-time All Big East First Teamer, and the Villanova career leader in points (2,243) and steals (277). He holds the single-season steal record at Nova with 87 in 1994, and he averaged 18.4 points for his college career. Even more importantly, Kerry Kittles and Jason Lawson were the sole reasons that I took any notice to Nova as a Philadelphia youth. Temple was my Philly squad, but Kittles was too incredible to ignore: the high socks, the immense athleticism, the lethal shooting and scoring, and just like Eddie, an elite thief.

Round Nine

The Rev - Michael Beasley, Kansas State
Crawford - Al Horford, Florida
Maisonet - Keith Van Horn, Utah
Masenda - Joakim Noah, Florida
Simmons - Miles Simon, Arizona
Walton - Julius Peppers, UNC

Ed's Pick: Keith Van Horn

Look, there's nothing wrong with being the Great White Hype. Usually, if you were considered the GWH, then you were pretty damn good. We saw it when we were little with Christian Laettner and we saw it when we were grown with Adam Morrison and J.J. Redick. However, what Keith Van Horn did at Utah was downright heroic. Known for his game-winning shots, offensive exploits, and that sleepy-eyed face, dude was a killer. Plus, reaching that 1998 National Championship Game didn't hurt his resume, either.

Round Ten

Walton - Wally Szczerbiak, Miami (OH)
Simmons - Kenny Anderson, Georgia Tech
Masenda - John Wallace, Syracuse
Maisonet - Greg Oden, Ohio State
Crawford - Shelden Williams, Duke
The Rev - Calbert Cheaney, Indiana

Ed's Observations: If you're still reading this far down, God bless you.

Coaches

The Rev - John Chaney, Temple
Crawford - Rick Pitino, Kentucky/Louisville
Maisonet - Lute Olsen, Arizona
Masenda - John Thompson, Georgetown
Simmons - Nolan Richardson, Arkansas
Walton - Bob Huggins, Cincinnati/West Virginia

Ed's Observations: Can't go wrong with any of these coaches, no love for Coach K though? Hate hate hate hate hate...


Arena

Rev - The Palestra (Philly Big 5)
Crawford - The Pit (New Mexico)
Maisonet - Pauley Pavillion (UCLA)
Masenda - Phog Allen Fieldhouse (Kansas)
Simmons - Cameron Indoor Stadium (Duke)
Walton - Madison Square Garden (New York, primarily St. John's)

Ed's Observations: Need to get these arenas on my bucket list...immediately.

11th Man (Because who couldn't use one more pick?)

Walton - Nick Van Exel, Cincinnati
Simmons - Kevin Pittsnogle, West Virginia
Masenda - Jalen Rose, Michigan
Maisonet - Ron Artest, St. John's
Crawford - Brandon Roy, Washington
Rev - Lynn Greer, Temple

Ken's Pick: Jalen Rose

Originally, I had Raymond Felton, but after realizing I had no members of the most influential force in my lifetime of watching college basketball, I had to get Jalen Rose. Rose was a key part of those Fab Five teams; he played hard, he played with attitude, and he always let you know he was in the building. The man wasn't afraid of a thing, and he had his moments when he was the best player on the floor for the Fab Five, which is saying a lot, considering the players he played with.

Here is the final breakout of selections...



To summarize, my team is as follows:

PG: Jameer Nelson
SG: Eddie Jones
SF: Kerry Kittles
PF: Christian Laettner
C: Marcus Camby
Bench: Kenyon Martin
Bench: Jason Kidd
Bench: Ed O'Bannon
Bench: Michael Beasley
Bench: Calbert Cheaney
Coach: John Chaney
Arena: The Palestra
11th Man: Lynn Greer

Rising (UNC), Falling (Villanova) and Moving Right Along (Temple)

Saturday was the type of day that can really tell you a lot about teams heading into conference tournament play. Going in, we knew already that Villanova was struggling and North Carolina was on a tear, but both teams' fortunes could turn on a dime against big-time opponents. A win for Villanova at Pitt could help put this horrific stretch behind them.



A loss by North Carolina at home to Duke to drop both games in the season series with its hated rival could derail the young Tar Heels' confidence it had built up during this impressive streak.



As you know, neither one of those things happened. With a victory by Notre Dame, Pitt needed to beat Villanova to win the regular-season Big East title and earn the No. 1 seed in Madison Square Garden. That extra motivation proved lethal for Nova, as the Panthers won 60-50.

It was yet another example of how reliant the Wildcats are on Corey Stokes and Corey Fisher offensively. Stokes pulled a hamstring at practice last Thursday and for the second time this season couldn't suit up against Pitt. With Stokes out, Nova desperately needed Corey Fisher to come out of his three-game slump and score in bunches. He did not. At all.

Fisher was absolutely horrible yet again, going just 3-14 from the field for a measly 7 points.



It was an absolutely embarrassing effort from a big-time senior scorer.

During the course of his college career, I was often a pretty vocal critic of Scottie Reynolds. But one thing was certain with Reynolds, he was going to give Villanova a chance to win, even if he wasn't playing his best, against the big boys. I mean, who can ever forget this?



The guy was infuriating at times with his decision-making and shot selection, but he was a leader that would will Nova to hard-fought victories. As much as I like Corey Fisher, he's just not that guy. Yes, the Wildcats go as he and Corey Stokes go, but those guys just don't have that thing you can't quite describe that Scottie had. They don't rise to the big moments, the big challenges. They fade. And the rest of the Wildcats follow suit.

With Fisher struggling, it looked as though the rest of the Wildcats gave up with the exception for Maalik Wayns. Wayns, the next in line to take over as the man, scored 27 points and hit a rash of late threes to give Nova an ever so slight glimmer of hope. But he was alone. Not a single other Wildcat scored in double digits. In fact, Fisher was second on the team in scoring with his 7 points. Sorry, but that's just not showing enough passion and desire at the end of the season, especially during a rough patch and desperately needing a win.

Credit Pitt. They played great defense, holding Nova to 18 points in the first half and 50 for the game. They needed to win to be crowned Big East Champs, and they did. Even with their best effort, winning at Pitt with all that on the line for the Panthers was going to be a tough task. But to just really go down without a true fight, to drop their fourth game in a row and fall to 10th in the conference, it's disheartening to watch.

Villanova does get one more chance to try and get right before the NCAA Tournament, and it starts tonight against South Florida. If they lose this game, you can forget about any visions of a surprising NCAA run, and the way they're going, losing to South Florida isn't out of the realm of possibility.

One thing is for sure: If Nova has any hope of regaining its early-season form in the Garden, it needs Corey Fisher to play infinitely better, and it needs Corey Stokes healthy and effective.

We've all seen a team struggle late in the season and somehow catch fire come tournament time, so it's possible. But there's just something missing about this Nova team that it's had seemingly every year in the past. A lack of toughness, grit, passion, something. Probably a lack of senior leadership. Because it's hard to lead when the two guys you expect it from have been so up and down this late in the season.

Moving in the complete opposite direction is North Carolina. With Duke losing to Virginia Tech the weekend before, Saturday night's prime-time match-up between the Tar Heels and Blue Devils in Chapel Hill was for all the ACC marbles. Winner takes the regular-season championship and No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament.



Just like in the first meeting, North Carolina jumped out to a double-digit first-half lead behind the steady hand of Kendall Marshall, shooting of Harrison Barnes and interior presence of John Henson and Tyler Zeller. Unlike the first meeting, however, UNC didn't fold in the second half. Even with Nolan Smith putting up 30 and Seth Curry adding 20, Carolina fed off its home crowd and held Duke at bay to win rather easily 81-67.

Marshall once again completely controlled the game at the point for Carolina. The freshman looked anything but a first-year college player. He put his foot on the gas pedal when Duke was on its heels and slowed things down when the Blue Devils seemed to be making a run. When it was all said and done, he finished with 15 points and 11 assists, shot 5-8 from the field, 1-2 from three and 4-5 from the line. And he was the one player that influenced the pace and momentum shifts more than anyone.



Inserting him into the starting lineup was the best thing Roy Williams has done all season, and it's the biggest reason Carolina is the regular-season ACC champs. I honestly can't say enough about him. If you haven't watched him play, do yourself a favor and tune in before the NCAA tournament so you can see what the opposition is in for against the Tar Heels.

Uncoincidentally, fellow freshman Harrison Barnes has really elevated his game to the next level with Marshall at the point. On Saturday, he was huge yet again.



In the first match-up, Barnes and Duke's star senior Kyle Singler guarded each other and essentially canceled each other out. Both players played such hounding defense that neither was effective offensively. So it was interesting to see what would happen Saturday.

Well, the two matched up once again most of the night guarding one another. And once again, both guys worked incredibly hard defensively to try and slow the other down. Only this time, Barnes was able to overcome Singler's defensive efforts to put up 18 points. Singler couldn't solve Barnes on the other end, going just 3-14 to finish with just 8 points. The second go-round, Barnes was able to outplay Singler offensively without letting up on the defensive end. It was quite an impressive performance.

Then you add Henson's double-double (10 and 12) and Zeller scoring 14 points on 7-11 shooting, and you can see why more and more analysts are calling UNC their dark horse for the Final Four.

Admittedly when I first heard those mentions, I thought, "No way." And when Kenny commented that "North Carolina WILL NOT SNIFF the Final Four," the other day, I agreed with him. But after Saturday night, I don't know.

I mean, think about it. This team has an elite front line with Zeller and Henson, a front line that is dominate offensively, defensively and on the boards. They have a freshman backcourt duo that is playing damn near as well as anyone else. Marshall is a maestro with the ball in his hands and the Heels have lost only once with him in the starting lineup. Barnes is a bona fide scorer who can also defend and rebound, and he's proven to be all sorts of clutch.



They're also getting solid play from the role players: Leslie McDonald and Dexter Strickland in the backcourt, Justin Knox and Justin Watts in the frontcourt.

If they can stay healthy and keep Zeller, Henson, Barnes and Marshall out of foul trouble, this team is as talented as any and can go deep into March and early April. They're built to win in the tournament: Two really good guards, two really strong interior players and an absolutely dominant rebounding team. And they're playing as good as anyone heading into conference tournament play. So yeah, maybe Roy Williams' squad can be a Final Four team. They're certainly built for it if all the pieces fall in line, which lately they have.

The rise of Carolina and fall of Villanova have been well-documented. Flying under the radar nationally (as the entire Atlantic 10 usually does) has been the steady play of Temple. The Owls closed out their regular season by handling La Salle 90-82 to finish 24-6 overall and 14-2 in the A-10, a game behind Xavier to finish second in the conference. They are primed once again to win it all in Atlantic City, and then put a good fight up in the NCAA Tournament.



The biggest factor in Temple quietly running off 11 wins in 12 games since the loss at Xavier has been senior Lavoy Allen. Allen was expected to be a contender for A-10 Player of the Year but got off to a slow start statistically. He never really asserted himself offensively in the first half of the season and was happy to cede the spotlight to Ramone Moore or Scootie Randall or Khalif Wyatt or Juan Fernandez. But as the season wore on and Moore slumped a bit, Fernandez struggled and Randall got hurt, Lavoy has completely taken over.

Since the loss at Xavier, Allen has averaged 14.5 points and 11.9 rebounds a game. He's had double-doubles in nine of those games, including five straight with his 24 points and 11 rebounds Saturday against La Salle. He had 17 and 13 in the loss to Duke, 19 and 16 in a hard-fought win at George Washington, 14 and 18 at UMass. He's been an absolute beast of late, and that's why Temple is comfortably in the NCAA Tournament field and can only help their seeding in Atlantic City.

For his efforts, Lavoy was named First Team All A-10. Temple's all-time leading rebounder certainly earned it with his second-half play.

And there's more good news for the Owls. Khalif Wyatt was named A-10 Sixth Man of the Year, Ramone Moore made Second Team All A-10, and Scootie Randall was honored as well. Plus, Juan Fernandez has started to come alive again, evident by his 15 points and 7 assists against La Salle, including shooting 50 percent from the field and three. The Owls just keep moving right along.

And Talor Battle just keeps moving right along with his impressive play, despite the mediocrity of his team. It's going to take a minor miracle for Penn State to make the NCAA Tournament, something Battle's never been privileged to play in. He probably won't get that chance this year either (unless Penn State makes it to the Big Ten Championship game, I don't think they should make it), but that doesn't diminish his career.



Battle was named First Team All-Big Ten and rightfully so. He finished second behind Purdue's JaJuan Johnson in scoring, finishing just a tenth of a point behind with his 20.4 points per game. And more importantly, he made Penn State semi-relevant this year and has them firmly on the bubble.

It's nothing new for Battle. While the talent around him has been less than great, and the coaching of Ed DeChellis is laughable, Battle has been brilliant during his Penn State career. BSD said it best:

It sounds so cliche to say Talor Battle is one of those players that only comes around once in a lifetime, but it's true. He's one of only three players in NCAA history to score 2000 points, pull down 600 rebounds, and dish out 500 assists. He is one of those players that wants the ball in his hands when the game is on the line, and he's one of the few players that can deliver more often than not in that situation. He's a small guy that isn't afraid to get in the paint and mix it up with guys that have seven or eight inches on him. He bangs around and gets banged around, and yet he still plays more minutes than anyone in the country.

He has made watching Penn State basketball, never my favorite team to watch, fun. He's that good. Soon, he'll be Penn State's all-time leading scorer. As it stands, he has 2,119 points (16th all-time in the Big Ten), which is just 20 shy of surpassing Jesse Arnelle's school record of 2,138. With at least one Big Ten Tournament game and one NIT game, it's inevitable that he breaks the school record. He'll more than likely get there Thursday night against Indiana.

Over the years, Penn State basketball has meant so little to me. Even as an alum who absolutely loves college basketball, I could never bring myself to care more about Penn State basketball than Temple, UNC, Villanova and even St. Joe's. But Talor Battle drew me in more than anyone else before him ever did. It's been fun watching him make Penn State basketball enjoyable again. Sadly, his time is almost up, and he'll more than likely have gone these past four spectacular years without even so much as stepping foot on the court in an NCAA Tournament game.

Regardless, it's been a great career, one that certainly goes down in the record books. It's nice to see him rewarded for that.

Snub This

Much to the surprise of just about everyone, only one player from the Eastern Conference leading Flyers was named to the NHL All-Star team. This despite the fact that the Flyers have led the Eastern Conference for the majority of the season and have a roster full of all-star caliber players.

It is at the same time both a testament to the team's incredible depth and balance and sort of a slap in the face to one of the league's best teams. When a team has as many good players having tremendous seasons as the Flyers this year, it's sort of a catch-22, with teammates taking votes/consideration away from each other. But there are four players in particular who really deserved to be skating alongside Claude Giroux in the all-star game this year, and all four of them showed why last night.





The biggest all-star snub of all for the Flyers is without question Danny Briere. Briere is easily on pace to have the best or second-best season of his career. He has 37 points in 39 games. His 22 goals are good enough for sixth in the NHL, with all five guys ahead of him named all-stars, and the four players right behind him — Corey Perry, Eric Staal, Rick Nash and Phil Kessel — being named as well. That's right, Briere is the only player in the top 10 in goal scoring to not be named an all-star. That's the definition of a snub. Then when you factor in that his plus-19 is good for third among all forwards in the NHL, it's even worse. Danny Briere flat out should be an all-star, no doubt about.

Last night, he took out his frustration on his former team, the Buffalo Sabres. In Philadelphia's 5-2 win, Briere had a hand in four of the five goals, scoring the equalizer in the second period after the Flyers had fallen behind 2-0, and notching 3 assists for a four-point night and first star of the game.



Another player worthy of all-star consideration is the perennially underrated Kimmo Timonen. Timonen's "snub" I can actually understand, because the guy's numbers don't blow you away: 1 goal, 19 assists, plus-8. But numbers don't always tell the true story with defensemen, especially on a team that boasts so many offensive weapons at forward. He may not put up the type of numbers that some guys do, but he's just about as good of a defenseman as there is in the league this side of Nicklas Lidstrom. Timomen plays in all situations and plays them all well. He is the leader on Philadelphia's blue line, especially with Chris Pronger out, and he blocks shots with the best of them. Most importantly, he rarely makes a mistake or gets beat, the true measure of a great defenseman.

Last night, he showed he can also contribute plenty offensively, tallying two assists to get to the 20-point mark on the season.

While Timonen's absence from the all-star game isn't that surprising, the absence of Andrej Meszaros is. Granted, he only has 14 points on the season, but he also leads the entire NHL with a plus-27, plays all situations just like Timonen, adds a physical presence on the blue line and has helped stabilize the league's best defense corps. The man was more than worthy of being an all-star. Simply put, when he's on the ice, the Flyers score a lot of goals and give up very few. That was the case yet again last night, with Meszaros finishing a plus-2 on the night.

Then there is the case of Mike Richards. When you take into consideration everything Mike Richards does for the Flyers, you could make the case for him as an all-star every year. He is the captain, the leader and one of the best two-way forwards in the entire league. Shorthanded, there are few better at killing penalties and creating chances and goals. He's a power-play staple, whether it be at forward or the point. And he score, grind and create in the offensive zone. His game isn't flashy, but it's effective. Really effective.

And this season might be Richards' best when you really look at it. Coach Peter Laviolette has asked a lot of Richards, shuffling his linemates all season long and most recently asking the captain to be the guide skating alongside 2nd-year, 21-year-old James van Riemsdyk and third-year, 23-year-old Andreas Nodl, who has played in less NHL games than van Riemsdyk. His two wingers right now, the aforementioned JVR and Nodl, have played a combined 197 NHL games.

Despite that, Richards leads the Flyers in points with 38 and assists with 24. He has been the most consistent individual point producer on the Eastern Conference's best team, and he does all the little things that winning players do. Yet he's not all-star. But he certainly made an all-star move last night on his breakaway goal, easily beating Ryan Miller to give the Flyers a two-goal lead in the third period after blocking a shot/dump-in attempt in his own end.



But then again, with Scott Hartnell scoring twice and Ville Leino getting his 10th goal of the year last night, it's easy to see why it was so hard trying to get Flyers on the all-star team. This squad is just so loaded that you could pretty much pick a name out of a hat and make a case he should be an all-star. The entire Briere-Leino-Hartnell arguably could go. Each guy has at least 10 goals, and each player has scored at least 29 points. Then you look even further, and the dominance of the line is evident. Leino, Briere and Hartnell are three of the four leaders in plus-minus for forwards in the NHL. Leino leads all forwards at plus-22, with Briere third at plus-19 and Hartnell fourth at plus-18. Only Sidney Crosby, at plus-20, is preventing the members of that line going one, two, three in the category.

Complicating matters even more, the Flyers have eight players who have reached double digits in goals, 10 players who have notched double-digit assists, 5 players with 30 points or more, 8 players with 20 points or more,14 players with double-digit points, and 8 players with a plus-minus rating of plus-10 or more. In fact, all but three skaters on the entire roster have been plus players, with just Darroll Powe, Oskars Bartulis and Dan Carcillo as minus players right now. Basically, this team has too many good players for its own good when it comes to making the all-star team.

And we haven't even mentioned the goaltending yet, which has been tremendous.



Rookie Sergei Bobrovsky got off to an incredible start, and while his numbers have come back down to earth over the past month and a half, he's been better than anyone could have hoped this soon. Bob is 16-6-3 between the pipes with a very respectable 2.55 goals against average and .917 save percentage. And last night, he picked up his first win since Dec. 15 by stopping 38 of 40 shots, completely stoning the Sabres for the final 50 minutes of the game.

The reason it was Bob's first win in nearly a month isn't so much a knock on him as it is a testament to Brian Boucher. Because as good as Bobrovsky has been, the veteran Boucher has been even better. As we speak, Boosh is tied with Jonathan Quick for the fourth best goals against average in the entire NHL at 2.23. His .921 save percentage puts him right outside the top 10, mostly because the Flyers don't allow a ton of shots with Boucher in net. And he is 10-4-2 on the season, especially excelling in the shootout.

Clearly neither Boucher or Bobrovsky have played enough to warrant an all-star spot, but their combined performance just proves even further that the Flyers are by far the deepest team in the NHL. Hell, their lone all-star has been playing the past two months out of position at wing because this team has five legitimate centers, four of which — Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Danny Briere and Claude Giroux — have top-line talent.

So go ahead and snub the Flyers with just one player being named an all-star. It's just added fuel to the fire to get back to the Stanley Cup Final and show just how good these guys really are.

'Who Knew the NIT Would Feel So Good?'

I grew up a die-hard Penn State football fan. In high school, I applied to one school and one school only for college: Penn State. I spent four years at the University Park Campus, missing only one football game due to a funeral in my four years. I graduated from Penn State. I'm a football season-ticket holder. Essentially, I bleed blue and white.



And yet, I've never really gotten into Penn State basketball. Throughout my entire life, Penn State has been the laughing stock of college basketball. Save for a few years with the Crispins and Calvin Booth, they never won anything. At all. Being a Philadelphia boy, I was an avid Temple fan when it came to basketball, and thanks to the incredible dominance and must-watch factor of Michael Jordan, I began to follow North Carolina — who just so happened to have a Philadelphian as one of their best players, Rasheed Wallace. That's not to say I didn't root for Penn State from time to time, especially for the likes of Titus Ivory and Brandon Watkins, but I was more indifferent toward the program.



Honestly, they stunk, and my father, who attended Penn State for a year and graduated from Temple, had the same rooting interests as me (save for UNC). He was a die-hard Penn State football fan and a die-hard Temple basketball fan. But honestly, during my four years at Penn State, I was dying to be at a school with a good basketball program.

As you've probably gathered, I truly love basketball, and I always imagine what it must have been like to be at a school with a decent basketball team. When I was at Penn State, they weren't even decent. They were dreadful. Ben Luber, a player that would have been hard pressed to start on a Division II team, was the starting point guard. Jan Jagla, a 7-footer that made Shawn Bradley look like Shaq, was the center. And beyond Brandon Watkins, there wasn't a single athlete on the team when I arrived.

Of course, Geary Claxton provided a truly talented, athletic and exciting player, but the team was still awful. Jamelle Cornley showed up and offered toughness and skill, but still, the team was awful. I just couldn't get into a team that was so bad and coached by a guy who seemed to have clue what he was doing. The only game I even remember being excited about was when the Dee Brown/Deron Williams Illinois team, then ranked No. 1 in the nation, came to the Bryce Jordan Center and steamrolled Penn State.



I never could foresee Penn State basketball providing much excitement. And then, in January, at the behest of one of my roommates (who had just moved in), I began to follow a Penn State team that he assured me wasn't bad. And lo and behold, as I watched, I noticed how much Stanley Pringle had developed, how incredibly good and underrated Jamelle Cornley is, how exciting Talor Battle plays, and how a bunch of young guys were hustling their tails off to try and turn around the perception of Penn State basketball.

A couple months later, the Nittany Lions found themselves squarely on the NCAA tournament bubble. They had a legitimate argument, defeating Michigan State, a team that is now in the Final Four, in East Lansing. They hung with the top teams in the Big 10, a conference that often gets derided by many, myself included, but a conference that always seems to send numerous teams to the tournament that cause all kinds of problems.

When they were left out, I thought it was a bad break. But in reality, going to the NIT was the best thing that ever happened to this program. Heading into last night, Stanley Pringle, Jamelle Cornley and Danny Morrissey, three seniors who had endured nothing but failure, were given the opportunity to go out as winners, to go out as champions, with just one more victory. Had they gone to the NCAA tournament, they surely wouldn't have had that chance. More than likely, they would have been one and done.







Well, the Nittany Lions took the opportunity in the NIT and ran with it. They made it all the way to the finals, even beating Notre Dame from the big, bad Big East. And last night, with a raucous crowd full of Penn State students and alumni in Madison Square Garden, Penn State did something they've never done in my lifetime: They won a basketball championship, defeating Baylor 69-63.

Sure, it's just the NIT, but the significance really cannot be overstated. First of all, it allowed a warrior like Jamelle Cornley go out on top, and if there ever was a Penn State basketball player that deserved it, it's Jamelle Cornley.



Clearly the heart and soul of this basketball team, Cornley has been a truly terrific player the past four years who has flown under the radar, mostly because Penn State has been nothing more than an afterthought. At his size, he won't get a shot in the NBA, but his game is NBA-ready. Had he been just a little taller, perhaps 6'9" or 6'10", he'd be mentioned among the nation's top power forwards. But, as they say, you can't teach height.

And while he may be undersized for an inside force, he's been a dominant one. Last night, there was no player more dominating. With a chance to finally feel what he never was able to before, Cornley literally put the Nittany Lions on his ailing shoulders and carried them to victory. As Talor Battle struggled with Baylor's zone, Cornley feasted on it. He scored a game-high 18 points on 8-15 shooting, nabbed 7 boards and calmed his teammates down, barking orders, commanding respect. He wouldn't let the Lions lose, even at the end, when it looked as though things may slip away. Jamelle Cornley wouldn't let that happen. He was going out a winner, or he was going to die trying.

And it was great to see Pringle and Morrissey follow their fellow senior's lead, each having a big hand in the victory. Even with a quiet game, Pringle hit big free throws down the stretch to help ice the game, finishing with 10 points. Morrissey, leaving the floor bloody and battered after diving for a loose ball, hit a string of three straight NBA threes that helped propel Penn State to its game-winning run. All nine of his points were vital.

The experience wasn't just a nice sendoff for the seniors either. This experience gave this team, a team full of young players, a taste of winning. Suddenly, a program that they came to with a reputation of losing has become a winning program. Now, after a season toughing it out in the Big 10 and coming away in the upper half, these young Nittany Lions, full of sophomores and freshmen, got to experience postseason basketball. They got to experience a tournament atmosphere. And with 27 wins, and an NIT championship, they now know what it feels like to be a winner. Now they can expect to be winners.

As for the game itself, Penn State showed tremendous grit. Talor Battle, the Nittany Lions' lead guard, struggled mightily against the zone. But he never pressed. He never forced the issue. He never got thrown off his game. He let the game come to him, and when for some reason Scott Drew switched from the very successful zone to man defense, Battle took over, exploding to the hoop, setting up teammates and regaining his confidence.



By the time Drew put his Baylor players back in the zone, it was too late. Battle had his swagger back, and Penn State had the NIT championship all wrapped up. Admittedly, I never really thought I'd get excited for the NIT. Never in a million years. And I never thought I'd get excited about Penn State basketball, at least not any time soon. But this team drew me in. They were exciting. Fun to watch. And as Arkansas Fred said to me via text message: "Who knew the nit would feel so good?"

The excitement was there, and now, this very well could help Penn State in its recruiting. In fact, it already has:

Talor Battle's half-brother, the #37 ranked player for the class of 2010, committed on the team bus after tonight's victory. He picked us over programs such as Maryland, Notre Dame and Georgia Tech.

I have this from MULTIPLE sources close to the Penn State men's basketball program.

What a wonderful evening. Our Nittany Nation student section takes over the Garden and wills this team to a championship, and now this. Truly the biggest night in the history of Penn State basketball.

Make sure to let my man, K. Masenda, know that his Baylor Bears were no match for my Penn State Nittany Lions.

Oh, and here are the highlights:

'I Want to Ride Sammy All Game'

It's funny how a simple comment like the one in the headline, which was uttered at the Sixers game last night, can revert me back to a 13-year-old, laughing hysterically as if it is the funniest thing I've ever heard.



Quite a gas indeed. Anyway, onto the game. Now, I'm not sure what the attendance was last night, but considering the Sixers were playing the team that they very well could play in the first round of the playoffs, it's sad to see that very few fans seem to care. The building certainly wasn't full, but I will say that the crowd was into it, which was nice to see. Well, most of the crowd. The guy sitting in front of us did scold Joltin Joe for putting his foot on his friend's arm rest when his friend got up to go to the concourse. That was weird.

The thing is, for all the people in this city who are down on the NBA and the Sixers in particular, they missed a golden opportunity to witness an incredible individual performance by Josh Smith, who rode Sammy his own way:





Smith, the guy I wanted over Brand, put on an incredible offensive performance, scoring a game-high 33 points. He missed just two shots on the night, going 13-15 from the field, 3-3 from three and 4-4 from the line. Oh, and he chipped in 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks for good measure.

There isn't a more athletically gifted player I've seen than Smith, and he's easily one of my favorite players in the NBA. The best part about his 33-point performance though, besides his facial of Sammy, was that the Sixers still won, 98-85. The worst part was Thaddeus Young having to be carried off the floor by Marreese Speights and Theo Ratliff in the first quarter.



We were sitting behind the opposite basket, so I missed what happened to Thad, but at first glance, it looked like he was in big trouble. I was relieved to find out his X-rays were negative, but I don't expect the Sixers' rising star to be back until the playoffs, which sucks bit time.

Even without Thad, who I think has been the best Sixer of late, the Sixers were able to top the 4th-seeded Hawks in impressive fashion. Four Sixers scored at least 15 points, led by Andre Iguodala's 19, along with Andre Miller (18), Speights (16) and Willie Green (15), proving once again just how balanced this team is in the scoring department.

And just as impressive, every player who took the court scored at least one bucket. Reggie Evans had a particularly strong game, scoring 8, Sammy and Thad each had 6, Lou Will and Theo each had 4, and Royal added a deuce. And per usual, the Sixers were led by the Andres. Of course Iguodala had a team-high 19, not to mention 8 assists, 2 steals and 3 rebounds, but he also played tremendous defense, limiting Joe Johnson to just 11 points on 3-9 shooting.



Of course, it was Miller who was running the show, evident by his 10 assists to compliment his 18 points. As Joltin Joe said last night, no matter how much announcers and analysts like to tell us that Kevin Love throws the most incredible outlet passes, there's no doubt that Andre Miller is the best in the business when it comes to outletting his teammates in transition. He threw a full-court outlet, immediately off a rebound, without setting his feet or even gathering his balance, right on the money. It was a thing of beauty. No disrespect to Love, but he can't hold a candle to Miller's outlet passing skills.

It was a good win to bring the Sixers back within a half game of Miami for that 5th spot, and a step closer to taking on Atlanta in the first round. Let's hope they can get there. More importantly, let's hope Thad can recover in time and suffer no ill effects from the dreaded sprained ankle.

After the game, I eagerly headed back home to catch the Penn State-Notre Dame NIT semifinal game. My anticipation grew even stronger when some moron named slingshot sent me this message while I was on the el: "Did u hear what jopa just said bout bball bein a black mans game?" I missed what he said, but I heard it was pretty funny and honestly not offensive. When I walked through my front door, there was about 2 minutes left in the first half and my alma mater was destroying Notre Dame.



They took a 31-18 lead into halftime and looked poised to play Thursday against Baylor. Jamelle Cornley, clearly determined to go out a winner, was completely beasting Luke Harangody, who absolutely did not deserve to be an All-American this year, all night. Jamelle scored 15 points, grabbed 8 boards and clearly frustrated the oafy Irishman. Harangody shot a horrendous 5-16 from the field and was shut down for the majority of the game.

He did, however, managed to get 17 and 10, going off down the stretch to bring the Irish within three. A once huge lead shrunk to a one-possession game late because the Nittany Lions were doing just about everything in their power to give the game away: missing free throws, turnovers, fouling ND, giving up threes.

But they righted the ship, hit some clutch free throws and won 67-59 to play in the NIT championship game Thursday. Penn State played very well. Talor Battle did his thing, scoring 17, and Andrew Jones III had the best game I've seen him play, scoring 16 points, nabbing 15 rebounds and shooting 5-6 from the field and 6-7 from the line.



Stanley Pringle added 10 to give Penn State four players in double figures, while aside from Harangody, the Irish had no one else in double digits. It was a gutty performance that shows this team has no quit in them. Now they get to play one more time.

Update: About that JoePa quote:

During an interview, JoPa spouted about the good old days - when basketball was a Jew sport: "Everyone says it's a black mans game. When I played it was a Jewish mans game." Bill Raftery: "Yeah a city game right?"

Fantastic.

Going to the Garden

So did anyone happen to catch the NIT match-up between No. 1 seed Florida and my alma mater, 2 seed Penn State? I know Black Shoes Diaries did:

This team doesn't know when to quit. They don't understand that they are supposed to be slow and nonathletic. They don't understand they are hurt and tired. They don't understand that Penn State basketball was supposed to end their season two months ago so as not to take attention away from spring practice in football. They don't understand that they aren't supposed to go into Florida and beat the team that won back-to-back national championships a few years ago by nine points. They don't understand that when you choke a ten point lead away into a two point lead in the final minutes in a hostile environment you are supposed to roll over and die.

But this team does understand two things. They understand that nobody believes in them, and they understand that they hate to lose.

And one man in particular wasn't prepared to lose, wasn't prepared to end his collegiate basketball career.



Last night, Jamelle Cornley was a certifiable beast. 23 points. 12 rebounds. 11 of 14 from the field. And a steal and two assists for good measure. In Florida. Against the Gators.

Sure, it's just the NIT, and no one really remembers who wins the damn thing, but as my roommate said last night, only two teams get to call themselves champions at the end of the year. Penn State has a chance to be one of them.

That's pretty impressive no matter how you slice it. Sure, the goal is to get to the big dance, but for Penn State, a program that has been virtually nonexistent save for a rare tournament appearance here and there, it's big. The team gets notoriety, recognition and, more importantly for a team as young as the Nittany Lions, confidence. With sophomore stud Talor Battle, fellow sophomores David Jackson, Jeff Brooks and Andrew Jones, not to mention talented freshman Chris Babb, gaining this experience, there's reason for optimism in Happy Valley.



But last night was about the seniors: Jamelle Cornley, Stanley Pringle, and yes, even Danny Morrissey. Pringle didn't have his best game, but he scored 15 points on five three pointers — all of them big — and added 5 boards, 4 assists and even a block. Morrissey, for a player who has tremendous inadequacies and seemingly has overstayed his welcome at Penn State, did make a key three in the game and didn't fuck things up.

But it was Cornley who stole the show.



Plain and simple, the Gators had absolutely no answer for the man who looks a lot more like a football player than a basketball player. But make no mistake about it, Jamelle Cornley can ball. He's a beast inside, a strong rebounder and a player who has extended his range each and every year. He's a warrior, as last night showed, playing with an injured left shoulder, and he really is the leader on Penn State's young squad.

It's really a shame the 6'5" 240-pounder doesn't have another 4 or 5 or 6 inches of height or so, because if he did, there's a good chance he'd be playing in the NBA some day. He has that type of game. But then again, if he was 6'10" or 6'11", he probably wouldn't be at Penn State.

No matter. What matters is that Jamelle Cornley, disappointed by his failure to reach an NCAA Tournament during his four years at Penn State, simply isn't ready to be finished. He could have put his down and not shown up. Hell, he could have used the injury as an excuse to call it quits. But that's the type of player, the type of person Jamelle Cornley is. He wants to keep playing. He wants to go out a winner. Because after three long season of losing, Jamelle Cornley and his teammates "understand that they hate to lose."

Still Battling

Penn State failed to make the NCAA tournament thanks in large part to a weak out of conference schedule and the loss to Iowa in the final regular season game — a win would have given the Nittany Lions the 2 seed in the Big 10 Tourney, and most likely, a trip to the big dance.

That's a big letdown for college kids who had visions of dancing, even with the NIT invitation. Oftentimes, teams that just miss out on the big dance have the life and competitive fire sucked out of them, then falter early in the NIT. I wouldn't have been shocked if Penn State rolled over and died in its first-round game with George Mason. I should have known better. This team never stops battling:



Talor Battle simply wasn't going to let Penn State's season end with three straight losses. Not happening. He hit that ridiculous three to send the game to OT, scored 8 more in the extra session, finished with a game-high 24 points and gave the Nittany Lions the 77-73 victory.

"I like to call myself Mr. Big Shot," Battle said. "It's more of a joke but during the games Coach wants me to have the ball in my hands and make a play."

…

"It's not just Jamelle," Battle said. "It's a lot of guys. Willie [Leiner], Stanley [Pringle], Danny [Morrissey], I know they didn't want to play their last game, and I didn't want to play my last game of the season."

It may not be the big dance, but it's better to keep playing than to not play at all.

So Long Sucker … the Weekend that Was

It was quite an interesting weekend around these parts, to say the least. One minute, a trade is getting nullified. The next minute, you wind up at a strip club with a few ladies that may or may not be able to legally drink.



And that was all before Sunday. For starters, let me touch on this Kyle McLaren nonsense. Believe it or not, I consider this an extremely good thing. I know the Flyers were looking for an imposing defenseman to come in and, if nothing else, provide some insurance depth should a blue line body go down. Understandable. Beyond Andrew Alberts, the Flyers don't have a guy back there who's looking to take people out, and considering what transpired last year with the injuries to Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn in the playoffs, insurance is good.



But, let's face the facts: Kyle McLaren is nothing more than Mike Rathje, and we all saw how that worked out for the Flyers. I'd feel infinitely more confident inserting Lasse Kukkonen, a guy who can actually skate a little bit, into the lineup should someone go down than the slow-footed McLaren. And hell, I'd have to think there's at least someone in the Phantoms organization that's a better option than McLaren. Either way, this trade getting nixed is a positive in my eyes.

As far as the Flyers themselves are concerned … Saturday's 4-1 win over Nashville was a nice way to rebound after that embarrassment at the hands of the Flames. Sure, the Predators aren't exactly, you know, good, but it was nice to see the Flyers take care of business. Joffrey Lupul deposited two goals, Mike Richards had another tremendous game and newcomer Daniel Carcillo notched an assist and was a +1. Oh yeah, and he fought, which was nice to see.

But, the story of the game was once again Martin Biron, who is officially stating his case to be the Flyers' man in net for the playoffs.



Following his tremendous display in his two periods against Calgary, Biron was fantastic again on Saturday, stopping 31 of 32 shots including a couple of dandies.





I think it's abundantly clear that Biron is the guy in net. He proved last year he's capable of coming up big when it matters, and suddenly, he looks as though he's getting into that groove again.

That was a nice primer before heading out to the Northeast to take in a little fun. And fun I had.

But unbeknownst to me, my alma mater wasn't having such a great time. Remember on Friday when I said Penn State should be getting their dancing shoes ready following the Nittany Lions' second win against Illinois. Yeah, well, scratch that. Turns out, for the second time this school year, Iowa ruined Penn State's season.

I didn't watch a second of this game, but it seems the Lions choked it up just like they did in football against those mother fucking Hawkeyes, this time with a double-overtime 75-67 loss. Apparently, Talor Battle did all he could, scoring 12 straight points in two minutes to keep the Lions in it, but his 26 points and 10 boards weren't enough to prevent Ed DeChellis from failing yet again.



Now, the Lions have had an excellent season, surpassing pretty much any expectations and bringing Penn State back to respectability. But that has been because of Battle, not DeChellis, who is pretty much as incompetent a coach as there is in the country. Get a decent coach in there with Battle doing his thing, and maybe Penn State would become more consistent. And seriously, someone needs to bomb Iowa to prevent the Hawkeyes from continually screwing us over. I fucking hate Iowa. Worthless state with nothing but dishonest jerks.

Now Penn State's gonna have to make a deep run in the Big 10 tournament and get a little help to make the Big Dance. A sixth seed in the Big 10 just isn't going to cut it on its own, nor should it. You lose to Iowa in your last game, and you don't really deserve to make it. That's just the way it is.

The Sixers, on the other hand, did manage to win on Saturday, albeit by just five points against a struggling Memphis squad. Here's the catch—they followed that up by losing to the Thunder without Kevin Durant. That's, as they say, god-fucking-awful.

As the calendar flipped over to 2009, the Sixers were playing some great ball and everyone, myself included, was saying how much better the Sixers are without Elton Brand. And that was and is true: The Sixers have played much, much better without Brand this season. Here's the thing: Better than bad still isn't good. And the Sixers are not a good basketball team. They're not really an awful team either, as the run in January proves, but losing to Oklahoma City this late in the year, with playoff positioning on the line, is not good. At all.



Andre Iguodala, who has had quite the inconsistent year, played his worst game since early in the season last night, scoring just 9 points on 3-11 from the field and 6 turnovers. That's not good for a guy who's supposed to be the man on this team. And that's the problem with the Sixers. They don't have that guy. They don't have a closer, the man who will put the team on his back and will them to victory. Andre Iguodala is getting paid like that guy, but he just isn't that guy. He does a lot of good things on the basketball court and is without question a player anyone would like to have on their team, but he's not a guy you feel confident will get you that bucket you need when you need it.

Andre Miller is probably the closest thing the Sixers have to that, but even when he's carrying the team and making big shots, it never seems like the Sixers can make it over the hump. With last night's loss, the Sixers dropped a game below .500 again, still in 7th place and two games ahead of Chicago, but they look like nothing more than a mediocre team. And as each day passes, the Sixers get closer and closer to facing either Cleveland, Boston or Orlando in the first round, meaning quite a short stay in the playoffs yet again.

It certainly hasn't turned out to be the year the Sixers had hoped.

Luckily, all was not lost yesterday, at least for me. In a fight of good vs. evil, the caretakers of the universe, North Carolina, topped the appropriately named Blue Devils, preventing Satan's minions from disrupting the balance of the Earth. What I'm trying to say is, as I've said before, when Duke loses, the rest of world wins. And yesterday, for the second time this season, Duke lost to North Carolina, giving UNC the outright regular season ACC championship.


Because this photo never gets old

It's pretty easy to say that North Carolina went 2-0 against Duke this season because UNC is simply better than Duke. And that would be true. But there's more to it than that. The Tar Heels are better for two main reasons: balance and versatility.

Take yesterday's game for instance. North Carolina had five players in double digits: Danny Green (12), Tyler Hansbrough (17), Ty Lawson (13), Deon Thompson (14) and Wayne Ellington (16). Duke had just five players in the entire game score, one of which had a measly two points. Contrast that with North Carolina's seven players who made a basket, and you get the idea.

The other thing is, UNC can beat you in different ways. They have guys who can score inside, guys who can score outside, drivers, slashers, shooters, pounders … and a point guard who should be a lock for ACC Player of the Year and be in the discussion for National Player of the Year (although Blake Griffin in a lock for that). On the other side, Duke has to hit the three ball to win, and that's a recipe for disaster come tournament time. You can't be one-dimensional, but beyond Gerald Henderson, Duke doesn't have another player who can get to the basket. The rest of the Dukies, Kyle Singler included, need to be on point from three to beat the top teams. That dependence on the three has been the reason Duke hasn't done jack shit in the tournament for a decade—and it's the reason they won't do jack shit again this year. This makes me very, very happy.

Now, surprisingly, yesterday's game was the most bored I've been in years watching a Duke-Carolina contest. I'm not exactly sure why, but it was. The game just wasn't very exciting. However, I'd like to give a little love to Philly's own Wayne "The Brain" Ellington for putting on quite an impressive showing (free throws aside) yesterday.



Ellington, who's been notorious over the years for coming up small in big games like yesterday's, scored 16 points and did it in impressive fashion. Known as nothing more than a deadly shooter as a freshman, Ellington has improved his ball-handling and aggressiveness attacking the rim over the past two years, and yesterday he used the whole repertoire to get his 16 points. At one point, he crossed up his former high school teammate Henderson badly, getting to the rim for a layup. On another bucket, he crashed the offensive glass on a beautiful putback. He also made a three, a couple short jumpers and a couple layups to account for his 7-10 shooting.



However, the 80-plus percent free throw shooter did go just 1-5 from the foul line, which was driving me nuts. In fact, the Tar Heels went a combined 17-25 from the line, just 68 percent, which was pretty annoying considering UNC is typically an excellent free throw shooting team. But nonetheless, the Tar Heels won the ACC Championship yesterday, giving Danny Green and Tyler Hansbrough a very nice gift in their senior seasons—not to mention two more wins this year against Duke.

It was a damn fine way to wrap up the weekend. Although Flight of the Conchords was pretty week last night, but I digress …

Who Wants to Dance?

Apparently, Penn State does and the Flyers don't.



What a rollercoaster of a night. I was extremely amped up to watch the Flyers in their first game since the questionable deadline deals that rid them of Scottie Upshall and returned a couple of question marks. And then, you know, the game happened. What a fucking disaster that was.

The Flyers did start out with about three good shifts, but those were pretty much the only good shifts of the entire first period. The Flames, who sit firmly in third place in the West, completely owned the Flyers in the opening 20 minutes. They outshot Philadelphia 19-10, and before you know it, the score was 4-0 Calgary. Not good.



It was the Flames' newly formed top line that did most of the damage. Olli Jokinen, a notorious Flyer killer during his days in Florida, was up to his old tricks. It looked as though he and Jarome Iginla had played together for years, not, uh, never. Those two were incredible, especially Jokinen, who scored back-to-back goals in his debut as a Flame.

The Flyers had no answer for Calgary, and even more unnerving, they had no answer for anything. Routinely, they couldn't get the puck out of their own zone, and the turnovers were simply atrocious. Not a single Flyer looked like he gave a damn, with the exception of Antero Niitymaki, but that didn't even last long. Niitty was bombarded with 19 shots, and he made some really great saves, but he also let in two weak goals—the first and the last. The final one, where he was stumbling around to try and stand up in the net, was atrocious.



I honestly have no faith in Niittymaki whatsoever. I know Biron's been inconsistent as hell, but every time in his career when it looks like Niitty is in position to become the man, he starts to fucking blow. Last night, he didn't get any help in front of him, and he did make some nice saves, but Biron came in and simply outplayed Niittymaki. And with his performance in last year's playoffs, I think Biron is definitely the way to go in net. That's just me.

It was an absolutely awful game. The Flyers did pick it up a little bit in the second and third, but it was too little too late. You aren't coming back from a 4-0 hole against Miikka Kiprusoff, and in all honesty, the Flames looked damn good. Jokinen was unreal, and Calgary swarmed to the puck and gave the Flyers no room to work. It was like watching 6th graders dominate 5th graders at recess.



The thing that really pissed me off about last night, more than even getting killed, was how the Flyers responded. After that early, pathetic attempt at a fight between Riley Cote and Andre Roy, there was no rough stuff at all. Daniel Carcillo, known mainly for throwing fists, decided to completely ignore my advice, even after falling behind by not two, not three, but four goals in the first period.

Now, I will say that it looked as though Carcillo tried to get any Flame he could to go on one particular first-period shift, focusing his attention on Curtis Glencross, but no Flame took the bait. And after that, there wasn't even a hint of any desire to fight for any Flyer, even though the score called for it. That's pretty piss-poor if you ask me, especially when getting trounced in your own building. I was supremely disappointed in that. It was the perfect situation for Carcillo to showcase his fisticuffs to the Philadelphia crowd and try to jump-start a dormant Flyers team. But no, he and the rest of the Flyers decided to sit back and take it like a bunch of pansies. Pathetic.

And to top things off, Daniel Briere left the game with a groin injury and given his history, particularly this season, this could be bad. Very bad. Like, out for a while bad. We're not sure about any of that yet, but would you be surprised? At least the Flyers still have Scottie Upshall to pick up the slack Jared Ross to call up. Oh, and on a side note, on a night in which Mike Richards played perhaps his worst game of the season and the Flyers desperately needed someone to give them a spark, the guy who used to do that regularly scored a goal and was named top star of the game as his new team beat the top-seeded Bruins. So, yeah, Upshall played the Bruins twice in three days, scored the first goal for his team each time, and saw his team defeat the best team in the Eastern Conference. Yeah, sounds like a guy I'd like to get rid of. Fuck you, Holmgren. And fuck you, too, Briere. Pussy.

Thankfully, the night wasn't a wash, and the joy came from a surprising place—a Penn State basketball game. Remember when Penn State and Illinois played the worst game in the history of college basketball? Yeah, well, the rematch last night in Happy Valley was the complete opposite of that. Don't believe me? Watch this:



Yeah, Talor Battle was shooting the ball and there was nothing anyone was going to do about it. Make him go through all five Illinois defenders? No problem. He'll just toss it up on the glass and rattle it on it. Wow! I mean, wow! That was pretty awesome.

In prime time, on ESPN, in front of the nation, the Nittany Lions, playing in front of a rare packed Bryce Jordan Center crowd, notched their 21st win of the season and 10th in the Big Ten in dramatic fashion. Now the Lions really can have dreams of dancing.

It was Battle who made the big bucket, but it was Stanley Pringle who allowed Penn State to get there. The masturbating madman was phenomenal, scoring a game-high 20 points on 8-11 from the field and a perfect 4-4 from beyond the arc.



He was in complete control and with Lions down 6 late in the game, it was Pringle who brought them back. And then Battle, who had an awful game prior to that final shot, stepped up when his team needed him. After getting to the rim with ease but failing to finish, then dribbling into an Illini defender and turning it over with just seconds left, Battle took the ball coast-to-coast, weaving through 5 Illinois defenders and hit the shot that may have secured Penn State a spot in the big dance.



Penn State has historically been a laughingstock in the world of college hoops, but as the young man from Albany said after Penn State's huge upset win at Michigan State earlier this year: "I guess we made history, huh?" Battle said. "Coach mentioned that we hadn't won here. But I wasn't on those other Penn State teams. This is the '08-09 team. …"

And this 2008-09 team is getting its dancing shoes ready.