Conditioning counts

By Staff     Mar 16, 2007

_Can’t make it to the NCAA Tournaments? Can’t read enough about the Jayhawks? Just like random bits and pieces with your hoops talk?_ [The Greene Room][1] _is hitting the road to give you all three. Check back at KUSports.com every day over the next few weeks to read new entries, as KUSports.com editor Ryan Greene follows all of the action on and off the court from Chicago and every March Madness sight the Jayhawks happen to visit._**2:00 a.m., Monday March 19, 2007** Yes, you’re reading that correctly – 2 a.m. Which means the blog is taking precedence over sleep and packing the random crap around the hotel room.But that’s because there was plenty to take away from Sunday’s action in the United Center that really couldn’t wait until tomorrow’s business hours.**_KU’s conditioning is proving more important than anything_**For 20 minutes, it was a game, and even though Kentucky was having to squeeze out every bit of offense it could to keep with KU, trailing by six points as halftime, the Wildcats certainly weren’t lacking on the defensive end. They defended hard and steadily until halftime.KU just had the juice in the second half, plain and simple. Plus that whole third foul on Randolph Morris two minutes after halftime thingy didn’t hurt for the Jayhawks. It was like they were benchpressing and had the too-heavy bar lifted from their chests for five minutes, which allowed them to escape and skate into the Sweet 16.At this point, it’s safe to say it’d take a relatively shocking upset for KU to not be playing in Atlanta for two weeks. The team is just too confident. You can sense it everytime you head into the locker room. They’re relaxed all of the time, and they’re treating this like a 9-5 right now. Gotta respect that from a team with only maybe half of its roster being of legal drinking age.I’ll get into it in a blog a little later today, after catching a nap and whatnot, but just looking at it quickly, here’s why KU should win out next weekend in Cali:-Southern Illinois doesn’t have the firepower.-Pitt doesn’t have, well, anything that should excite you.-UCLA is too vanilla bean ice cream. The Bruins are far too bland to beat a team with the swagger KU is carrying at the moment.**_Here’s something interesting from Kentucky’s side_**Believe it or not, junior big man Randolph Morris, if he wanted, could be playing in an NBA uniform tomorrow. Literally. Read [this][2].**_And everyone from the Sunflower State should have a soft spot for UNLV the rest of the way_**Yeah, yeah, Lon Kruger played and coached at K-State. But get over it. The guy is from Kansas (Silver Lake), and guess what, so is the rest of his staff…almost.Five men wear suits and ties on the Runnin’ Rebels bench, and four of them, including Kruger, hail from Kansas. Assistant Greg Grensing is from Council Grove, assistant Steve Henson is from McPherson and Director of Basketball Operations Mike Shepherd is from Burlingame. The only non-native Kansan is assistant Lew Hill. But Hill played at Wichita State from 1985-88 and coached at Wichita East HS from 1989-1990.There will be a new full-length Greene Room tonight before heading to San Jose Tuesday, so check it out and thanks for reading. Again, any and all suggestions from Cali are welcome…send them to rgreene@ljworld.com. Peace out.**6:41 p.m., Saturday March 17, 2007** **Friday’s findings and Saturday’s snippets** **_Don’t overlook Sunday’s first game in the United Center_**After sitting through four delightful contests of March Madness Friday afternoon in the United Center, the best half of basketball was played in the final 20 minutes of hte day’s first game between UNLV and Georgia Tech.It was made that much better because of how completely awful the first half. UNLV led 33-26 at the break, but aside from both teams looking both unorganized and nervous, there wasn’t too much of a crowd on hand. Not that you can blame the fans, seeing as both Atlanta and Vegas are a little more than a quick bus ride away.But the Runnin’ Rebels will present a tough matchup for anyone they face. Lon Kruger starts four guards, and all four played at least 34 minutes on Friday. Wink Adams hit early threes, Michael Umeh was great in the second half, Wendell White totaled 19 points and eight rebounds and Kevin Kruger, you-know-who’s son, made up somewhat for an 0-for-8 showing beyond the arc with eight assists.If Wisconsin opens up as poorly Sunday as it did Friday, well then the Badgers are flat-out screwed. It took Bo Ryan’s club nearly nine minutes to register a point. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi could have led by 25 if it had decent firepower. Therefore, Wisconsin’s comeback was no surprise.Prediction: Wisconsin 76, UNLV 67**_The biggest highlight from the game, though, came from the other bench_** Georgia Tech freshman point guard/offensive wizard Javaris Crittenton had one of the tournament’s best highlights, feeding Alade Aminu with a pass that is simply beyond words in the second half. Look 55 seconds into [this video][3] to see it.Furthermore on Crittenton, though, is the discussion that he could go pro after this season, along with Tech freshman forward Thaddeus Young.With the exception of about a five-minute stretch in the second half, Crittenton (eight points on 4-of-11 shooting with six assists) was rather invisible and timid Friday. Young (eight points on 3-of-12 shooting with just three boards) was nowhere to be seen. If either goes pro, it’ll be a huge mistake.**_The Islanders did have one thing going for them over Wisconsin_** TAMU-CC has, by far, the greatest mascot in the history of the world. Basically, picture a soft, fuzzy, real-life version of [this.][4]I’m not an expert in the ways of the mascot battles by any means, but wouldn’t he kick the crap out of anyone in those Captial One things they do during football season?**_As far as the night session…_** Honestly, did KU running away past Niagara really fool anyone? It’s going to take an awfully weak one-seed to one day lose to a 16-seed. If KU would have fallen Friday, I would have eaten a piece of blue carpet the NCAA uses in Tournament arenas, which has probably been around since the mid 1980s. It’s probably carb-loaded, too.As far as Kentucky, that team is probably better than an eight-seed, when you’re talking on talent alone. The Wildcats are physical and thick, but inconsistency in the regular season kills you come tournament time as far as seeding goes, and this year’s UK squad is a testament to that.**_Speaking of Kentucky…_** Ramel Bradley is now listed in my college basketball man crush list. Actually, only now is it officially a list. The only previous occupant was Acie Law IV of Texas A&M.There’s not much to like about Bradley. The kid has ‘it.’ That consists of swagger and talent. Against Villanova freshman Scottie Reynolds, he would yell ‘Here we go! Here we go!’ in his face everytime the frosh thumped the ball on the floor. On offense, he goes hard to the rack. On defense, his focus is ridiculous. He also grew up playing against KU’s Russell Robinson in high school, AAU and playground ball. Should be fun to watch them go head-to-head.While I like Bradley and all, I can’t predict him to take the Wildcats any further than tomorrow’s action.Prediction: Kansas 76, Kentucky 67**_A couple other Saturday pieces**-One interesting storyline Sunday will be Kentucky’s Randolph Morris and KU’s Brandon Rush being on the floor at the same time. Rush recalled Saturday playing an AAU tournament a few years back as a teammate of Morris’. Rush joined up with Morris’ Atlanta Celtics, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest AAU squads of all-time. Aside from those two, they had current NBA studs [Dwight Howard][5] and [Josh Smith][6].-KU was as relaxed as they have been the past couple of weeks during an open press session in the locker room in the United Center. Most of the guys sat on the floor in the middle of the room after talking to watch the Texas A&M-Louisville game on a plasma screen up on the wall.-The Chicago River is a bright green today, just like in [this photo][7]. Even being from Chicago, there’s something visually disturbing about that.-After a 9-of-16 performance in the old bracket Thursday, the Greene Machine rebounded with a 14-of-16 showing Friday. And still, no one but me cares. But I thought I’d tell you anyways.Happy St. Patrick’s Day. And [see ya later, Tommy Amaker][8].**2:57 p.m., Friday March 16, 2007** KU won’t lose tonight.Though, come on, that’s like picking the Cleveland Indians to win at the end of [Major League][1]. It’s all in the script.Though after a day-and-a-half in Chicago, the topic of 2005 and 2006 first round losses has already spun out of control. Want to know how you know when that’s happened? Here goes: There were so many questions over the past week from local and national media – mostly national – about the Jayhawks’ previous two cups of coffee in the field of 65, that yesterday, television reporters started asking questions to Bill Self and his players about _how many_ questions they’ve fielded on the subject.The good thing is that once KU escapes Niagara tonight, those questions will go away.But there’s reasons, of course, as to why KU is going to be playing on Sunday. Sure, the Jayhawks are more talented, deeper and are playing the best basketball in the nation right now. One overlooked factor, though, might be that the [United Center][1] can’t get in the players’ heads.See, there’s something different about shooting in a cavernous, overly-spacious NBA arena. There’s far more space behind the baskets, and it can mess with a shooter’s depth perception the first time they play on that floor, especially when you add in the bundle of nerves that is tingling for a first round NCAA Tournament game.KU played three games in three days last week in the [Ford Center][1] in Oklahoma City, which also doubles as the home to the [New Orleans/OKC Hornets][1]. If Niagara struggles with shots early on, it’s a safe bet the Purple Eagles won’t hang around long. KU is bound to make for a fast start. As relaxed as the Jayhawks were in the locker room yesterday and during the open practice session, those guys want to shake out any remaining Bradley bugs in a hurry.**_-But you’ve got to have a soft spot for Niagara_**. Let’s be honest. The Purple Eagles are talented enough to not be considered a 16-seed, they got hosed by having to play the opening round game Tuesday night, and so far, they’re not frazzled by being here at all.Yesterday’s practice showed that.As the team emerged from the locker room for a casual shootaround, none of the players were caught looking around in amazement. Showing just how relaxed the Purple Eagles were was, well, Monty the Purple Eagle mascot. He found a spot in the first row behind the media seating and simply kicked it in full gear. On one of the floor’s ends, Niagara seniors Greg Noel and Stanley Hodge hoisted three after three as a group of kids off to the side counted down ‘5, 4, 3, 2, 1, buzz’ each time they caught the ball.So if there’s one thing Niagara is not, it’s nervous.**_-A couple other tidbits from Chicago…_** -Having grown up in the suburbs of Chicago, going to games at the United Center was something I frequented. But you’ve got to credit the NCAA for removing as much NBA flavor as it possibly could from a great building. On top of putting downt he Big Ten conference floor, all of the banners from the rafters – i.e. Bulls and Blackhawks title banners, retired numbers of Jordan, Pippen, Love and Sloan – have been taken down.If you can’t tell, there’s a little sarcasm there. But what do you expect from an organization that charges media members $30 a day to use wireless Internet services while giving them all the publicity in the world.-Credit to Journal-World business editor Mark Fagan for finishing an entire two-egg breakfast at Lou Mitchell’s. For anyone visiting Chicago this weekend, go try for yourself. It’s far from easy.-On the shuttle back to the hotel yesterday, we passed a restaurant called Mangino’s. Swear. Can’t make this up.**_In my life, there is one guarantee_** – the first two days of the NCAA Tournament will make me feel significantly dumber than I like to portray myself the other 363 days of the year.The whole bracket pool thing started around age 12. The lone victory in that run came two years ago, thanks to picking North Carolina to win it all, against better judgment, having a decent grasp of Roy Williams NCAA Tournament history. The smart thing at the time would have been taking Illinois. I liked their team better, and they had been the most consistent group college basketball had all year. Though being a Michigan fan, it just couldn’t go in writing.And there you have the root of the problem and why I never win pools, with that one exception – Like 90 percent of bracket entrants, there’s the problem of picking with the heart. Then there’s also using first instincts. Mix those two, and you have a perennial March loser.Examples:1) From 1993-96, the bracket featured Michigan winning it all every year. I might as well have taken the $10 from my weekly allowance and handed it right over to my sister to buy beanie babies.2) This year, I went on instincts alone, which means, again, I’ll be crying on my ink-filled bracket (I’m with you on the ink, Hunter). My instincts I followed were, well, as follows:-After the KU-Toledo game on Dec. 9, for whatever reason, I made the prediction that Florida would beat Kansas in the Final Four.-After KU lost to Texas A&M on Feb. 3, I said Texas A&M would win it all.-After watching Tennessee resurrect its season two months ago, and then watching Bruce Pearl at a Vols women’s hoops game topless with his players, I automatically liked their chances to make a deep March run (If you don’t like Pearl, you don’t like college basketball).All three of those premonitions can be found in my bracket.And they’re three predictions with so far haven’t been squandered. Trust me, they’re in the minority. Upset specials of Davidson over Maryland, Wright State over Pitt and Oral Roberts over Washington State all wound up as big ‘X’ marks on the blue bracket sheet.Not that any of those picks were far-fetched, though. It’s written in stone that my bracket never features Pitt winning a game, though the Panthers always tend do at least get one. Davidson freshman Stephen Curry is the real deal, and he proved that Thursday with 30 points. Kid’s got quite some future. And as far as Oral Roberts, well, anyone who was in Allen Fieldhouse on Nov. 15 knows how good they can potentially play.But again, what do I know? If you go by the bracket, nine of 16 first day games picked correctly gives that answer – Not much. But at least the instincts haven’t been completely betrayed yet.**_KUSports.com editor Ryan Greene can be reached at rgreene@ljworld.com, or by phone at (785) 832-6357._** [1]: [2]: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-morris121106&prov=yhoo&type=lgns [3]: http://youtube.com/watch?v=NiotMZjdaO8 [4]: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://universityservices.tamucc.edu/images/Isl_Mascot_Full_Sheet%2520Color%2520Variations.jpg&imgrefurl=http://universityservices.tamucc.edu/izzylogos.htm&h=469&w=350&sz=41&hl=en&start=43&tbnid=1nMp0r1AqpDrcM:&tbnh=128&tbnw=96&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtexas%2BA%2526M%2Bcorpus%2Bchristi%2B%26start%3D40%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN [5]: http://www.nba.com/playerfile/dwight_howard/index.html [6]: http://www.nba.com/playerfile/josh_smith/index.html [7]: http://home.uchicago.edu/~sushux/Chicago/green_river_gleacher.JPG [8]: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news?slug=ap-michigan-amakerfired&prov=ap&type=lgns

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