Saturday Hoops Extravaganza – Daniel Bayer 252 ESPN Radio
While most people’s attention in North Carolina remains focused on the Carolina Panthers (and rightfully so), mine is on the college basketball season. If you are a fan of college basketball, this past Saturday was super and scintillating (thanks Dickie V). There was a full slate of ACC games, a bunch of green room guys, and an over-hyped SEC/Big 12 Challenge (did we really need a bunch of games to figure out that the Big 12 is better than the SEC?).
Here are some of my thoughts, ramblings, and observations from this past Saturday’s games:
•If I was still in college, I would have certainly made a drinking game out of the number of times that the phrase “Green Room Guy” was used on Saturday, and I would have been passed out before the UNC game started at 4:00.
•Funny timing that the UNC students wore recycled green t-shirts on Saturday, a day after Roy Williams went off on ESPN and their “Green Room Guy” promos.
•Why is Boston College in the ACC? What have they added to the conference (in any sport) since joining?
•Clemson’s loss to FSU was a bad one because they had one of the easier schedules in the second half of the ACC schedule, and they might have had a chance at the ACC regular season championship.
•It is extremely difficult to win on the road in college basketball, it seems especially so this season.
•I still can’t grasp that Texas A&M is in the SEC. It took me a whole half, in their game vs. Iowa State, to realize that they were playing in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
•Why can’t they make the SEC/Big 12 Challenge happen in football? I think that would be worth watching, more so than in basketball.
•NC State fans, just in case you were wondering what Karl Hess was up to these days, he officiated the Florida and West Virginia game (only 48 fouls were called in that game).
•Rick Pitino, Don Johnson from Miami Vice called and he wanted his suit back.
•Wake’s gift to UVA last week might have been what gets the Cavs back on track in trying to repeat as ACC regular season champion.
•The Houston and ECU game was a fun one to watch. ECU has been playing pretty well the last few games.
•Speaking of Houston, I didn’t realize that Kelvin Sampson was still coaching.
•The TCU basketball court (or frog skin) was really messing with my eyes. It felt like I was watching a black and white movie, except for the purple of TCU and the orange of Tennessee being the only colors shown.
•After watching the LSU and Oklahoma game, not only are the Sooners the best team in the country, but Hield has certainly taken firm control of the National Player of the Year Award.
•Ben Simmons is definitely worthy of the number one pick in the upcoming NBA draft; however, how do you only take 7 shots in your team’s biggest game of the year (he didn’t score a single point in the last ten minutes of the game)?
•The balance in the ACC scheduling this year stinks. Why are there teams playing 2 games in 3 days, and then other teams having to wait 7 days before playing again? I wish the teams would go back to playing once during the week and once during the weekend (Roy Williams and Jim Boeheim have complained about this recently).
•Great win for NC State on Saturday. I predicted that the Wolfpack would have gone 1-1 this past week, but I never would have thought the win would have come against Miami.
•The Kansas and Kentucky game lived up to the hype, even though this is not the typical Kentucky team we have seen the last few years. Good thing for the rest of the country that Kansas does not play at Allen Fieldhouse in the NCAA tournament.
•Greg Popovich has the best in-game interviews, since he makes no bones about how much he hates them. I would hate to be the one conducting the interview though.
•ABC, do we really need the 3-point line to light up whenever a player shoots a 3? I feel this is a huge waste of technology, like the NHL glow puck.
•Let’s end with this, the only highlight from the Davidson and VCU game…
Bro caught on live TV trying to take the perfect selfie
AND THIS IS WHY…. I LOVE BILL WALTON !!!!