The Valiant Vols

January 1, 2010 was supposed to be the end of the Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball program. In one day a team considered by many to contend for the SEC title was left shorthanded thanks to poor judgment by Brian Williams, Melvin Goins, Cameron Tatum and the team’s best player Tyler Smith. Smith was removed from the team, Goins is still suspended, and Williams and Tatum were eventually reinstated. The Vols were toast. They had only 6 scholarship players and to walk-ons to get through the rest of the year before the return of Williams and Tatum. They had a tough SEC schedule, breakdowns on offense and very little identity as a team. Yet here they are 3 months later on the cusp of their first final four in school history.

After a long hard season, Tennessee is one game away from the final four.

After beating Ohio State 76-73 the Volunteers are a win over Michigan State away from playing for the games most coveted prize, the national championship. It’s amazing to consider what this team has been through over the last 3 months to think that they would even be remotely close to playing for a title.

Props of course goes to Bruce Pearl for pulling this thing together. He could’ve folded up his tent and started prepping for next year using the lack of talent on his team as an excuse. Instead, Pearl dug in and produced one of the best coaching jobs in recent memory.

After the arrests, Pearl led his shorthanded team to wins over top ranked Kansas, Kentucky, and Florida leaning heavily on seniors Wayne Chism and J.P. Prince and getting consistent production from Scotty Hopson and Bobby Maze who was forced into the starting point guard role after Smith’s dismissal. He received help from walk-on Skylar Mcbee, whose clutch shooting helped to sink Kansas.

It’s Chism who deserves most of the credit for finally jumping out of other players’ shadows and accepting the responsibility for carrying Tennessee in the second half of the season. Looking at his performance against Ohio State you saw Chism at his best, which was rarely a sight in his first three years in Knoxville. His wide bodied, athletic frame dominated Dallas Lauderdale to the tune of 22 and 11 and helped the Vols score 46 points in the paint including a tip-in by Brian Williams which was the eventual game winning shot. Chism’s play in the paint overshadowed another amazing performance by Evan Turner who likely played his last game in scarlet and grey.

Then there was Prince, who was the most tired man on the floor chasing around Evan Turner and disrupting Jon Diebler all game long. After the game he admitted to being heavily fatigued and dedicated most of his time to defending Turner. “I said on offense, ‘They’ll take care of it; I’ll save it all for defense,’” Prince said. “That’s all I did. I knew that last two minutes I was going to make them work no matter what. I know nobody wanted it more than I did.” After he blocked Turner’s last second prayer, you could say his dedication to defense was worth the price of being tired.

If it ends Sunday, it still was a great ride for Tennessee, but how can this team not win one more game and advance to the final four. Now that all of the mid-majors have been ousted, it is clear to see the Tennessee is the true Cinderella of the tournament. Left for dead in January, grinding hard to a title in March, how can you not root for these guys? Whatever happens, Bruce Pearl will be ready no matter the circumstance. He survived and conquered this far with a slim roster and a ton of skeptics, what makes you think he won’t do it one more time?

Gotta Love The Madness In March

Northern Iowa was one of the many surprises during the first week of the tournament.

That’s March madness for you. Upsets, parody, and nothing going as its supposed to, ask Kansas, Villanova, Georgetown and others this weekend.

The last few NCAA tournaments went according to plan to well. Last years the team that was supposed to win did, two years ago there was straight chalk in the final as no one could stop UCLA, Kansas, North Carolina or Memphis (though according to the NCAA they were never there).

This tournament however has more than made up for the boredom of the last two tourneys. Look at the unheard of upsets:

Ohio over Georgetown 97-83, and it wasn’t that close. Ohio, a team that wasn’t even a NIT team two weeks ago dominated a team that was once in the top ten and hailed from the mighty Big East conference (more on that later).

St. Mary’s over Villanova 75-68, which honestly we should have seen coming given how pathetically, Villanova played down the stretch. St. Mary’s has been on a roll since the WCC tournament with wins over 3 ranked opponents (plus let’s not forget Omar Sanham. He’s averaging 30 points a game and shooting 67% in the tournament, if Duke does beat Purdue they better pray that Sanham isn’t waiting for them).

Cornell over both Temple and Wisconsin, and those games weren’t even close. Cornell looked like a nationally ranked power instead of a meek academic school that doesn’t even offer athletic scholarships.

Murray State over Vanderbilt 66-65. Honestly though, we all know that Vandy was overrated at a 4 (while Tennessee was at a 6, really?) but Murray State came out and beat up Vandy in a game that on paper seemed like a cakewalk for the SEC power.

Cornell easily swept its way to the sweet 16.

Then there was Northern Iowa beating Kansas, how many of you ripped up your bracket after that devastating loss? It seems like a huge deal to most people, but let’s be real; Northern Iowa was on everyone’s radar all year. They were picked to be a bracket buster before the start of the year, and finished off the regular season 28-4 with a few stints in the top 25, this wasn’t Morgan State beating Iowa State or Santa Clara beating Arizona, this was an actual legitimate competitor that had an honest to god shot at beating Kansas. What happened to Kansas is what was truly weird. There was no cohesion, no sense of urgency, and no consistency. Sherron Collins, who saved the Jayhawks bacon all year long, was a no show, the Morris twins were ineffective and Tyshawn Taylor had no business being on the floor after awhile.

If you watched Kansas at all this year then you would know that this is how they play, they fade from time to time such as games against Cornell and Texas A&M, but they wake up just in time to pull it out. This time however, that was not the case. Northern Iowa was dominant all game and just when it seemed like the Jayhawks would do the inevitable, a guy named Ali Farokmanesh put his name alongside Tyus Edney, Bryce Drew and others. That 3 he took was not only stupid, and untimely, it was gutsy as hell. 30 seconds, up one, and attempting a 3 pointer? If he missed that shot he might as well should’ve stayed in the arena and not gone back to campus, but he made it, and here we are.

Now that Kansas is gone the question is who is the favorite? That would lie in Kentucky’s favor after two fantastic performances this weekend with Syracuse second and Ohio State third.

Syracuse is intriguing because of the status of Arinze Onuaku (though you wouldn’t have known it after that Gonzaga dismantling). The Cuse have been a favorite since late January, but they’re now a 6 man team with Onuaku inactive. The most dominant team in the Big East is possibly looking at a Big 6 free run to the final 4 if they beat Butler and Xavier beats Kansas State. A Syracuse appearance in the final four would help the Big East lick their wounds after an embarrassing showing in the tourney.

(which reminds me, how embarrassing was this tournament for the super conference? They were the premier conference in the land, coming off a year where they had 3 No.1 seeds, two final four teams, be and had a handful of players up for player of the year honors and all-American consideration. Then look what happened: Scottie Reynolds developed an acute case of scariness that will cost him in the draft; Luke Harangody was a shell of his Player of the year self against Old Dominion, and Louisville forgot it had a game against Cal and got ran out of the building. In order for the Big East to regain some type of respectability Syracuse and West Virginia have to make the final 4 and finish strong in those games. If not then next year the Big East becomes the big joke in college basketball.)

Then there is Ohio State or as I call them Evan Turner and the Buckettes. It’s a one man gang with a bunch of tag-alongs, yet here is Ohio State, two games away from the final four. Problem is Tennessee, their next opponent, is tougher than Georgia Tech mentally. The Vols shouldn’t even be in the tournament following the drama behind Tyler Smith and the regular season, yet here they are still standing and ready for war. Wayne Chism might be a little too much for Dallas Lauderdale to handle, but no one in the country is as good as Evan Turner. Turner, who should be player of the year, can carry this team as far as it can go and that might be all the way to Indianapolis.

Whatever happens next week, it better be a hell of an encore, this weekend brought the Madness back to March. Guys like Dale, Sanham and Farokmanesh are heroes while highly acclaimed guys like Damion James, Greivis Vasquez and Derrick Favors are now afterthoughts. Who knows what to expect starting Thursday, just know it’s going to be even more intense with final four spots at stake, and the national title up for grabs.

Revised final 4: Ohio State, Syracuse, West Virginia, St. Mary’s (yeah I know, but it could happen)

Evan Turner Should Be P.O.Y.

Take this into consideration college basketball fans, I know John Wall has had all of the hype for player of the year, and its well deserved. He has played big in big moments such as that amazing performance against UConn in December, and just last night against Alabama when the cats were on the ropes. However, he is not the player of the year in college basketball, that distinction belongs to Evan Turner of Ohio State.

No, I am not just shamelessly plugging him because I go to OSU or because I am biased. When you take a look at both teams it is clear to see that Turner means more to the Buckeyes than Wall does to the Wildcats.

John Wall isn’t even the best player on his own team (that distinction belongs to Demarcus Cousins). Wall’s performance all season has been stellar, but sometimes he has been outshined by guys like Eric Bledsoe, Pat Patterson and Cousins, who have equal to better talent than Wall. You can think of several instances this year where Wall has not been the best player on the court for Kentucky and was outplayed by opponents; against South Carolina he struggled to keep up with Devan Downey all game long, he was held down in two tough wins against Vanderbilt and in the last game this season and against Florida he was a non-factor throughout a tough tilt. He also has had bouts with immaturity this season in clashing with Coach John Calipari. His statement-retraction of “not really listening to coach” raised some eyebrows that maybe the 19 year-old still has a lot to learn before he reaches the next level.

Player of the year? You're looking at him.

Turner on the other hand has been the best player on the floor at all times for Ohio State and has had to be. The Buckeyes only go 6 deep and Turner finds himself on the floor playing all 40 minutes sometimes guarding the best player on the opposing team every night all while making factors out of streaky Jon Diebler and the underachieving David Lighty. Turner is the only player on his team that can create his own shot and makes plays regularly to keep Ohio State ahead in close games while his teammates stand and watch. His 23 in the second half against Purdue in January was a testament to his explosive capabilities and how he is really the only player that can be consistent on his team. He is the point guard; go to guy and best defender of his team.

When he was absent for 6 games in December with a back injury you saw just how much the Bucks struggled without him. They were embarrassed by Wisconsin and Michigan (14-18 Michigan mind you) and let Delaware State hang around almost all game before putting them away. With Turner they are a title contender and a two-seed in the NCAA tourney, without him they are an NIT team. You can’t say that for Kentucky. Without Wall they are still a 20 win team with a shot at an elite eight appearance maybe more. They are better with him, but without him they are still a forceful opponent.

In the end it doesn’t matter because they will both be the top two players taken in the NBA draft. Whoever drafts them will reap the benefits of their amazing talents almost immediately. As for right now though its no contest who means more to their team on a nightly basis. Evan Turner is that man, and for that he should be the national player of the year hands down.