March 23rd, 2008

16 Down, 48 To Go: DCBlog Preview For Day 2 of the NCAA Tournament

By Kevin Meacham on March 23rd, 2008

Sunday, 2:45 a.m.

So, here’s a funny thing about Saturdays: they fly by. You watch a smattering of men’s and women’s games (the latter made epically difficult by ESPN broadcasting games only on ESPN2 for most of the day…you’ve got 3 channels and nothing else pertinent to air, come on!), get caught up in the action, drama, and things, and then BAM — it’s 3 a.m.

It’s now early Easter Sunday (happy Easter to my fellow Catholics), and we are about 16 hours away from UConn tipping off in scenic Bridgeport. They’ll be one of the last teams to take the court in the Round of 64.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t give some pub to the 32 teams that saw action on the opening Saturday of the NCAA Tournament.

What can you find out if you click “Read the rest of this entry,” below?  You’ll get my reviews from each region, as well as the Maya Moore Memorial Bests of the Day.

Then, following that, you’ll get the Viewer’s Guide for Day 2, which you can use to sit yourself in front of the couch, with the remote, some Cadbury Eggs and Peeps, and a plateful of delicious ham.

It’s all after the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

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March 22nd, 2008

Welcome To The Jungle…no, not North Campus

By Kevin Meacham on March 22nd, 2008

Saturday, 3 a.m. 

Yeah, the time’s right. Exams and March Madness don’t mix.

Hey there, everybody out there who saw the ad for the blog in Friday’s DC sports section. For those of you who are new, I’m Kevin, and I’ll be here to bring you through this wild and crazy thing we call the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship.

Since our counterparts on the UConn men’s team and beat in Tampa will be coming home earlier than expected, it looks like you’ll get some extra special coverage on the only game in town in Storrs - your No. 1-ranked UConn women.

Now, if there’s two things I learned from my gargantuan liveblog of the Big East tournament, it’s that 1) liveblogging is, like, totally difficult and 2) there’s always a market, no matter how niche, for this type of stuff.

So whether you’re a student, a Boneyard poster or our friends at http://www.womenshoops.blogspot.com, make sure you’re here throughout the tournament for news, updates, opinions, and more shameless Pat Summitt-mocking and in-jokes than I know what to do with.

So, let’s get it started, shall we?

———————————

The NCAA women’s tournament kicks off in about nine hours with 16 match-ups scheduled for Saturday. Here’s your schedule, though I’ll be damned if I can make heads or tails of ESPN’s TV schedule. Just turn on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU (for those of you in bars or on-campus) and you’ll see these games.

I’ve never jumped a blog entry before (how exciting~!), but click “Read the rest of this entry” for the first of many Viewer’s Guides, which I’ll offer the night before each day of the tournament. In the jump, find out when and where each game is, and then read on to get my predictions and other thoughts for Day 1.

Read the rest of this entry »

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March 12th, 2008

ESPN: The Recruiting Violation

By Kevin Meacham on March 12th, 2008

ESPN is reporting that the NCAA found that the UConn women’s basketball program committed a secondary recruiting violation by arranging a tour of ESPN’s Bristol campus for then-high school junior Maya Moore (http://www.courant.com/sports/college/husky/women/hcu-uconnviolation-0312,0,4367170.story).

The violation was brought to the attention of the NCAA by the University of Tennessee and the Southeastern Conference. Tennessee was considered, along with UConn, one of the favorites to land the Collins Hill, Ga., forward.

The Hartford Courant reported that secondary violations are not considered “major,” and in a statement the University of Connecticut stated that no sanctions have been levied by the NCAA.

A staff member in the UConn women’s basketball office reportedly called ESPN to set up a tour for the UConn recruit, the sports network reported.

Moore was named the Big East Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in Hartford Friday night.

It’s not the first time Tennessee and the SEC has accused UConn of malfeasance in Moore’s recruitment - the school and conference contended that Moore accepted car rides from UConn alumnae Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi in 2006, the Courant said.

Those charges were dismissed after the two WNBA stars provided documented proof that they were playing professionally in Russia at the time of the alleged ride.

Tennessee canceled the contract for its annual, high-profile match-up with rival UConn last June.

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March 11th, 2008

BET Liveblog - Day 4 Wrap-up

By Kevin Meacham on March 11th, 2008

12:30 a.m.

Well, for a change of pace I’ve decided to write this from the basically-deserted media room at the XL Center.

The Big East tournament has been completed, UConn is once again the champion and all is right with the known universe. Please make sure to check out the regular Daily Campus Web site for a full recap, as well as coverage of just about everything possible that happened here tonight. If you’ve read all of the live blogs as well as the five stories Justin and I wrote, you know more about the Big East tournament than 97% of people alive. I congratulate you.

This has been my third Big East women’s basketball tournament, and I have to say that this is one of my favorite events of each year. I hope that some of my 25,000 words on the subject have shown you a bit of my passion for this stuff.

Before the final Maya Moore Memorial Bests of Day 4 (and some final post-tournament thoughts), let me just share with you my All-Tournament team, which includes all six players named to the actual team, with one slight difference:

 

Most Outstanding Player: Angel McCoughtry (UL)

All-Tournament Team: Renee Montgomery, Tina Charles, Charde Houston (UConn), Candyce Bingham (UL), Marcedes Walker (Pittsburgh)

 

Yeah, I went ahead and voted for McCoughtry for MOP. She was the best singular player in the tournament and, despite Jeff Walz’ pleading to the contrary, without her Louisville probably doesn’t beat St. John’s. She still misses too many shots for my liking, and many of her points came off second shots, but she is the difference between Louisville getting to the final and falling in the first round.

I had no problem with Houston getting the award, though, as her team won and she absolutely carried UConn to victory in the championship game.

 

And now, time for the final edition of the MMMB!

Day 4 MVP: Charde Houston, UConn. I can’t believe I’m writing it myself. I can’t count the number of times this season I’ve thought to myself, “Oh, COME ON! Charde is killing UConn!” Because it’s at least 15. But all credit goes to Houston, who played a tremendous game in a big spot. She showed an incredible amount of heart and has earned herself many more minutes in the NCAAs. I (and likely Auriemma doesn’t) still don’t trust Houston to give UConn 12 points and 6 rebounds per game, but you have to figure any game she gets a double-double will be a UConn win. In a game like tonight’s, it could be the difference between a national championship and an Elite Eight exit.

 

Team of Day 4: UConn. And just barely. A terrific defensive effort in the first half was nearly spoiled by a putrid, impatient offensive output in the second. A blown 15-point lead to a non-elite team like Louisville would have messed with the Huskies’ psyche as much as the Rutgers loss last year did.

But instead, Houston and Montgomery showed lots of resolve and the Huskies should be sky-high in confidence by the time the NCAA Tournament starts next Saturday.

For the Cardinals, they’ll have the consolation of knowing that they’re going to give some 1 or 2-seed fits if they can get to the regional semifinals.

 

Play of Day 4: Renee Montgomery knocking down three free throws at the 3:54 mark of the second half, extending UConn’s lead to 53-47.

Maybe it wasn’t the most exciting play, but with Louisville trailing by three, a stop was of utmost importance. Instead, Montgomery hit a de facto 3-pointer, and the result was that Louisville could never threaten UConn’s lead. Runner-up goes to Maya Moore for her backdoor layup with 56 seconds left, which made it a 2-possession game and, for all intents and purposes, put the game out of reach.

 

Pep Band of Day 4: UConn, because hey, I know some people in that band. Just play that Mighty Mighty Boss Tones song early and often during the NCAA Tournament, and I’ll be happy. Also, don’t do the one where you can chant “HIGH SCHOOL CHEER!” You know which one I’m talking about.

 

Fan of Day 4: This one goes out to Basketball Hat Guy, who is a fixture at all UConn games. I give it to him because, as I was entering the XL Center at 5:30, he was one of the first four or five people in line, along with his protege Cape Guy.

Those two, plus the Blue and White Guy, and the Puppet Lady (who I unfortunately have not seen this season) are always good for some entertainment.

So why does Basketball Hat Guy win today’s award? Simple - because his hat has basketballs. I didn’t say the reasoning had to be complex or anything.

Honorable mention for the second straight game to the USF Bull Man, who is officially the best part about the Big East tournament. He even had the UConn band chanting “U! S! F!” at points. I hope this guy comes back every year, because he’s a riot. And hey, if he’s reading, or someone who knows him is reading, I would love to find out what his deal is. Because you have to be some kind of hardcore fan to not only attend every game, but to attend it wearing a brown vest, green shirt and bull horns.

 

Amusing Press Conference Moment of Day 3: This one’s not so much amusing, but Louisville coach Jeff Walz was about to get into a sort-of whinefest about the championship game being played in Hartford. But then he got sort of PC, talking about how UConn fans were the greatest. You can get the full quote in my Big East notebook, which should be up on our web site by the time you read this.

 

Well, I didn’t run into any mascots or coaches today. I guess that happens when you’re down to two teams.

 

In closing, I’d just like to say that it’s been quite an experience writing this liveblog. I didn’t think it was possible to have so much to say, but here it all is - all 25,000 words of it (or so). Hopefully I gave you a bit of an insider’s look into the whole event, and hopefully you came out a little entertained and a little informed.

I’ll be around with various updates for the rest of the season, including (probably) a blog during UConn’s trips to Bridgeport, the regionals and beyond. And now that the blog is picking up in other sports, you’ll want to check the Daily Campus blog often for updates.

And hey, I’m the last one here now that Mel Greenberg’s gone. It’s really quite quiet and eerie. Covering something like this always makes you appreciate what actual journalists are doing every day. I think I’ve probably written more words about this tournament than anybody, but it’s been a real joy. I hope you’ve enjoyed it too.

KM, signing off. Good night from Hartford, where West Virginia just scored again. I love that joke.

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March 11th, 2008

BET - Session 7 - Championship Round

By Kevin Meacham on March 11th, 2008

9:16 p.m.

Your all-Tournament Team:

Candyce Bingham, F, Louisville

Tina Charles, C, Connecticut

Angel McCoughtry, F, Louisville

Renee Montgomery, G, Connecticut

Marcedes Walker, C, Pittsburgh

 

BET Most Outstanding Player: Charde Houston, F Connecticut.

The ovation that announcement got is unlike anything I have ever heard. I literally just got chills. I’ve never heard such an outpouring of love for any single player before.

The rest of the team dogpiled on Charde Houston, who is absolutely deserving after her performance tonight. She was on my All-Tournament team, for what it’s worth.

Back with more.

 

9:08 p.m. 

A bit of an anticlimactic finish, as the Huskies pull out a 65-59 win over Louisville. So no, UConn fans, tonight’s game was not a repeat of the 2003 final against Villanova; it was a repeat of the 2006 final against West Virginia - an underdog opponent not expected to be in the final, who kept it too close for comfort.

I’ll be back before press conferences with the All-Tournament Teams, the most outstanding player and any other goodies I happen to find. Most of the 10,000, thankfully, are still here to watch their team celebrate a Big East tournament title.

9:02 p.m.

Moore looked a little nervous on the second free throw and missed it short … right into the hands of Renee Montgomery, who had one attempt blocked and was fouled on her second attempt.

Montgomery hits both and it’s 59-52 with 53 seconds to go, Louisville gets a bad no-call on a foul on Angel McCoughtry’s shot and now it looks like UConn’s finally got it wrapped up.

Montgomery will go to the line once more.

8:57 p.m.

UConn calls timeout with 1:00 to play, leading 56-52. McCoughtry had a chance to pull Louisville within three, but missed the second  of two free throws.

Maya Moore’s backdoor layup put UConn up five, and she’ll go to the line after a hard foul by Deseree Byrd to make it a 6-point game. If she can hit both here, Louisville will be very hard pressed to make this comeback.

 

8:55 p.m.

Monty made all 3 to go up 53-47, but UConn’s offense has been dysfunctional all half. Louisville’s come back to within 53-51 with two minutes to go.

Charde Houston comes up with yet another amazing rebound, gets fouled on the putback. She’ll shoot two with UConn up two. She’s a senior, and though she’s been a handful at times, she has played exactly like the player Auriemma thought he had all those years ago.

She makes one and misses the second, it’s 54-51 UConn with under two to play.

 

8:48 p.m.

Renee Montgomery will be going to the line for 3 shots when we come back from the media timeout. It’s still 50-47 with 3:54 to go. Charde Houston came up with another big rebound, and then Louisville fouled Montgomery behind the 3-point line in the act of shooting.

Louisville is right now one big play from having a chance to win the Big East tournament. Raise your hands if you saw that one coming.

8:43 p.m.

Brandie Radde has got to be on her way to becoming a legend in Louisville. She just knocked down two clutch threes, followed by a Patrika Barlow 3, to pull Louisville within one point with 5 minutes to play. The Cards are making all the plays, except Bingham just rushed a long jumper that would have given her team the lead.

Charde Houston, who has been absolutely incredible this game, followed with a nice reverse layup to give UConn a 50-47 lead with 4:20 to play. Timeout Cards.

 

8:35 p.m.

Don’t flip that channel now, kids. Louisville is on some kind of run here. UConn hasn’t scored since the 14:00 mark, and Louisville’s 10-0 run has cut it to 42-36 with 8:51 to go.

I was watching the 2003 Big East final (a 52-48 loss to Villanova which ended UConn’s 70-game winning streak) and dag if this game doesn’t seem similar in result, if not in pace. That game was slow-paced, and this isn’t, but UConn desperately needs some offense.

And just as I say that, Montgomery misses a 3 and Houston gets the untouched putback. 44-38 UConn with 7:40 to play. Louisville falls prey to a shot clock violation and they’re on their feet in Hartford.

You’re going to want to stay here, because we might be headed for a heck of a finish.

 

8:30 p.m.

Louisville is staying within reasonable distance, at 42-30 with 11:38 to go. You have to think that four games in four days would eventually catch up with the Cards, and if UConn doesn’t eventually run away with this, I’d be kind of surprised.

And we’ve got our runaway Crowd Moment of the Night: The Louisville band and cheerleaders held up letters spelling C-A-R-D-S, playing the Dixie-ish tune I mentioned earlier. The UConn crowd, naturally, chants ‘U’ where the ‘C’ should be, ‘C’ where the ‘A’ should be…and I think you can figure out what happened next. Hilarious stuff that even had Davey O’B. and Doris B. (no relation) cracking up.

Also, if Graham Hays writes something about the Dickens classic ‘David Copperfield’ in his piece tomorrow, you’ll have already heard about it. From me. Because he was on Wikipedia just now.

 

8:18 p.m.

UConn has maintained a big lead through the first media timeout, as it’s 38-25 with 15:33 to go.

Even Louisville’s backups are starting to get in foul trouble, which is eventually going to come back to haunt them. Chauntise Wright is currently on the bench with four fouls and Hines, her backup, has three.

Louisville’s offense has looked about as good as it did Sunday against Rutgers … except UConn is shooting about 45 percent and likely to continue that way.

A quick note - there is nothing lamer than doing the “stand until the first bucket” deal and then sitting down after a made free throw. Seriously, UConn fans?

 

7:59 p.m.

UConn is leading Louisville, 34-19 at halftime. A couple choice stats which tell the story pretty well:

Louisville shooting percentage: 24.2 (8-for-33)

A. McCoughtry shooting percentage: 32ish (4-for-13)

UConn turnover margin: plus-9

Total fouls called: 10 on Louisville, 3 on UConn

Louisville is outrebounding UConn, 25-19, on the strength of 9 offensive boards. But even with second chances, the Cards have come up empty time after time.

The Huskies are cruising to their 14th Big East tournament title, as well as their first Big East double (regular-season and tournament) since the undefeated 2002 team.

They’re doing it with a very balanced scoring effort: Swanier leads all scorers with 9, Moore has 8, Charles and Houston have 6 and Montgomery has 5. Right now, there is no clear-cut MVP candidate, so it’s really between Charles and Montgomery as to who can pull off the best. I’ve got my ballot, and I’ll reveal my choices (I think I’m not breaking any special laws by doing that) after the real MVP and All-Tournament team is chosen.

 

7:43 p.m.

We’re at the final media timeout of the first half (3:56 left) and UConn leads it, 29-16. Louisville is in all kinds of foul trouble at this point (they have 10 fouls, four offensive) - four players have at least two fouls, including starters McCoughtry, Barlow and Wright (who has 3), as well as backup post player Keshia Hines.

McCoughtry was 2-for-6 when Moore was guarding her, 2-for-4 while Moore was on the bench, and two of those buckets came off of offensive rebounds. Either she’s got no legs or Moore is an even better defender than most give her credit for.

I promise I’ll stop glowing about her at some point, possibly when I leave her off my all-Tournament team.

Back with more at the half.

7:33 p.m.

I think it’s becoming clearer that Maya Moore’s lost at least some of her aggressiveness. She’s taken four shots, three of them 3s. While the 3s are great at getting a crowd into it, Moore has so much more offensive ability that it’s a shame to see it wasted.

Her defensive intensity is still off the charts - she’s got a couple deflections, a couple blocked shots and has been keeping McCoughtry (5 points) in check so far.

UConn leads it, 23-10 at the 7:41 mark of the first half.

 

7:26 p.m.

Danger time for Louisville, as UConn is getting bounces, making heads-up plays and getting stops. More crucially for Louisville is that McCoughtry picked up her second foul at the 10:50 mark. Jeff Walz is leaving her in, but at this precarious situation, Louisville needs everything McCoughtry can give her.

 

7:21 p.m.

It is getting very loud here, at least as loud as the Rutgers game last Monday (when there were 4,000 more fans). They exploded when Charde Houston stole the ball and took it all the way for a layup.

The Huskies are absolutely relentless. Louisville’s a little out of control and McCoughtry is off to a tough start. She needs to get on fire for Louisville to keep this a game. As expected, UConn is totally neutralizing every other scoring option Louisville has. Moore hasn’t really shut down McCoughtry thus far, but McCoughtry’s only had one or two decent looks.

UConn leads, 18-8 at the 11:51 mark and they are rolling. Again, if they can play like this for six straight games, I don’t see any team coming within 10 in the NCAAs.

 

7:10 p.m

These are the games you live for if you’re a sportswriter. The atmosphere is electric here, with probably about 10,000 UConn fans and 750 to 1,000 Louisville fans going nuts after every play. Can’t complain about that.

In addition, the matchups are about as compelling as it gets. Maya Moore, current Big East player of the year, matching up on defense with Angel McCoughtry, last year’s PotY and one of the main candidates for tournament MVP if Louisville can pull one more upset. Kaili McLaren and Chauntise Wright are bruising up the floor and show no signs of stopping.

UConn leads it, 7-5, after a Ketia Swanier steal for a layup.

Moore, as noted yesterday, still lacks a that extra aggressiveness that set her apart in the beginning of the year. She’s taken three shots, all 3-pointers (she’s 1-for-3). Auriemma got on her in the press conference yesterday about becoming a 3-point shooter.

The Huskies are annihilating the Louisville press defense and making it exceedingly hard for McCoughtry to get any kind of shot off. Swanier’s beaten the press down the floor twice for a jumper and a floater, and the third Louisville press just got beat for a wide-open 3 by Renee Montgomery. Louisville coach Jeff Walz called a timeout to recouperate, but right now UConn’s operating on all cylinders.

14-6 UConn at the 14:44 mark. Stay with us.

 

6:56 p.m.

And we are live - LIVE! - courtside at the XL Center, where Louisville is currently warming up. We’re about 5 minutes from tip-off, with about 8 or 9,000 fans currently in the seats. The first thing I’ve noticed tonight is a distinct lack of Skittles Mowins. It looks like Dave O’Brien and Doris Burke will be handling the announcing duties on ESPN2.

Starting lineups:

—No. 1 UConn (31-1, 15-1 Big East, G. Auriemma): 

PG Ketia Swanier (6.7 PPG, 3.0 RPG), SG Renee Montgomery (14.0 PPG, 2.4 RPG), SF Maya Moore (17.9 PPG, 7.5 RPG), PF Kaili McLaren (4.8 ppg, 4.0 RPG), C Tina Charles (15.1 PPG, 9.6 RPG)

 

—No. 7 Louisville (24-8, 10-6 Big East, J. Walz):

PG Patrika Barlow (5.6 PPG, 3.5 RPG), SG Brandie Radde (8.0 PPG, 2.6 RPG), SF Angel McCoughtry (23.7 PPG, 8.8 RPG), PF Candyce Bingham (14.0 PPG, 7.2 RPG), C Chauntise Wright (11.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG)

 

It’ll be interesting to see how Maya Moore responds to her 7-point output Sunday, which was described by everyone as ‘lousy.’ Auriemma said he tried to get her “nice and pissy” for tonight’s game. As if someone with her gifts needs more motivation.

Finally, before tipoff, I’d like to announce the “It Takes A Vila” Challenge. Basically, I just asked the Hartford Courant’s John Altavilla for a score prediction. Whoever’s closest to the actual score wins, let’s say, a Coke down the line, perhaps in Tampa. Agreed?

John’s got UConn 77, Louisville 63. If you read last night’s blog, you’d see my prediction of UConn 86, Louisville 73.  Basically, I’m hoping that everybody runs up and down and shoots 50 percent. Let’s make it happen.

Check with us during the game. I’ll be back with various updates.

 

6:10 p.m.

Welcome back to the XL Center in downtown Hartford, as we are just about 45 minutes away from tip off between No. 1 UConn and No. 7 Louisville in the 2008 Big East championship game. Winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. UConn clearly doesn’t need it, but a loss tonight probably gives North Carolina the No. 1 overall seed when selections are released Monday.

Louisville’s in, too, but you have to figure a Big East champion Cardinal team will get the benefit of the doubt from the selection committee.

The big names in women’s basketball media are here, including ESPN’s Graham Hays, the Philly Inquirer’s Mel Greenberg, the NY Times’ Frank Litsky and myself, of course.

It should be fun, I’ll be here throughout the night to offer my thoughts on the game, and eventually my selections (which count! My voice means something!) for Big East all-Tournament team.

If you can’t catch the game on ESPN2 at 7:00, or if you’re frantically checking websites for any information at all, stay with us. I’ll be back before gametime with some updates.

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