The Greene Room Live: Day two in Omaha

By Staff     Mar 20, 2008

**8:26 p.m.: OMAHA, Neb. -** Well, college basketball’s most interesting ball club lives to see two more days in beautiful Omaha. Truly a fun game to watch, won by the team that played both harder and smarter. It goes to show that when K-State wins both of those battles, they’ve got more talent than just about any team they’ll line up against and can beat almost anyone.If it sounds like I’m gushing on the ‘Cats, it’s because I am. I can openly admit that. They’re just a great story. The coach who came out of nowhere with the [David Byrne suit jackets][1]. The two freshmen who if it weren’t for a silly and pointless rule wouldn’t have ever stepped on a college floor. The fan base that’s suddenly interested in hoops. It all mixes together for a great soap opera.**FINAL OBSERVATIONS FROM THE DAY THAT WAS IN THE QWEST CENTER**-Bill Walker, when his head is in it, is just violently pleasant. He plays a smooth game, but mixes in these primal screams and fist pumps which can intimidate anyone in front of him.-Congratulations to O.J. Mayo for making it through his mandatory one year stay in college physically unharmed and ready for the lottery.-If Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush stay in the zone they’ve been in offensively over the last two games simultaneously, KU ain’t losing.-If Joe Darger shoots like he did today against Kent State, UNLV can hang close with KU.-Bill Walker is right, the Pac-10 looks ‘pretty,’ given Southern Cal’s showing on the boards. K-State outboarded USC 44-27.-How’d you all do in your brackets? I’m pretty money at this point, having only missed on Baylor so far.-KU and KSU will both be in Detroit next weekend. Write that down.Now it’s off to find some dinner and beer. Talk to you all tomorrow.—————–**7:07 p.m.: OMAHA, Neb. -** Where was this Bill Walker in Lawrence? How fitting that in a career where he’s played second fiddle to O.J. Mayo throughout high school, then Mike Beasley at K-State, he’s outdoing both of them in the most talent-rich game you’ll see in this NCAA Tournament?Walker’s scored 17 points so far and the ‘Cats lead by 10 at the break. He provided my favorite moment of the night so far, though. We’re seated about 10 feet behind the KSU bench, and after coming to the bench at one point, slapping hands with teammates, he yelled at the top of his lungs: ‘They’re from the Pac-10! They’re pretty! They don’t wanna box out!!!’That about sums up the first half. K-State is playing smart, and USC is playing far from tough. O.J. Mayo didn’t score his first bucket until the final minutes of the half. Barring a complete mental breakdown, I see no reason KSU shouldn’t hold on.Also, sitting behind Frank Martin during a game is just flat-out entertaining. You’d think his players have become numb to the verbal chewings they receive. Even so, he sure still likes giving ’em.And the box score was just placed on my seat. Bill Walker was right. K-State is outrebounding USC 20-11, and is outdoing them in second chance points, 8-1.This final note from **Rick Dean** of the Topeka Capital-Journal: Limiting the USC dance team to one-minute trips to the floor to perform is an absolute crime. His words, not mine.—————–**5:03 p.m.: OMAHA, Neb. -** Well, UNLV got its wish. Junior guard [Wink Adams][2] was up front about it.”I think everybody just wants to play Kansas,” he said after UNLV’s [71-58 win][3] over Kent State in the Qwest Center. “We’ve been watching Kansas all year, and I think everybody knew we just had to get through this game to play Kansas. That’s why we came out playing defense like we did, and everybody did a great job.”Saying the Rebels played defense would not be doing their effort justice. They held Kent State to 10 points in the first half, which tied a record for offensive futility in the first 20 minutes of an NCAA Tournament game.Adams isn’t the only one in the Rebels locker room yearning for a piece of the Jayhawks, though…Head coach Lon Kruger coached at Kansas State in the late 80s and also played for the ‘Cats, and assistant coach Steve Henson’s college career came to a close with an Elite Eight loss to Danny and the Miracles in 1988.On a scale not so grand is Runnin’ Rebels sophomore walk-on Scott Hoffman. Hoffman, a 6-foot-3, 180-pound guard, is a product of Thomas More Prep HS in Hays, Kan. He grew up a K-State fan. By his own admission, he’s a K-State football guy, but it’s the principle that matters.His phone was blowing up while relaxing with his teammates in the postgame locker room, receiving texts and phone calls from numbers he didn’t even know. In a nutshell, he was basically telling people who were not family to, uh, get lost.He said he’s got roughly 10 family members in town to watch both he and the ‘Cats. Still, no one is more pumped for it than Adams, from the way he talks about it. Don’t sleep on Wink. The guy was the [No. 25 ranked prospect by Rivals.com][4] coming out of high school in 2005.”Since I’ve been here, we’ve always been underdogs,” he said. “It makes it more fun. Makes you play harder. You’ve got more on the line, a lot to prove. “The (KU) fans are gonna be here, a great atmsophere, know it’s gonna be a great game. All our coaching staff, they’re from Kansas State, so it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”Remember, this team is no stranger to pulling it off in an opponent’s back yard. Last year, while KU was firing through its first weekend in Chicago, the Rebels beat No. 2 Wisconsin in the second round at the United Center. **OTHER BETWEEN SESSION NOTES**-One of the most fun parts of this day has been messing with a pal who works in the KU media relations department. He informed us that he is prohibited by NCAA rules from filling out a bracket, thus is banned from forming an opinion on any single game played. This, of course, opens up the flood gates.”We’ll see how it plays out,” was his answer to what Baylor’s chances were down by 18 points with roughly two minutes to play. Poor guy.-Today is the prime example of why you should always pick your bracket based on seedings. In today’s eight early games, all were won by the higher seed. I went 7-of-8, with only Baylor burning my behind. The 7-of-8, of course, is assuming Cornell doesn’t discover the secret 5-point shot during the next 10 minutes or so.-For during the Kansas State-USC game, I’ve grabbed myself a seat three rows behind the ‘Cats bench, with no purpose other than to ‘people watch’ Frank Martin. Gonna be interesting.Talk to you during that tilt.—————–**3:55 p.m.: OMAHA, Neb. -** It’s official now. KU will face UNLV Saturday evening, somewhere around 6 p.m. in the Qwest Center. Gonna head down to the Rebels’ locker room, see what there is to see and hear what there is to hear. Be back in a minute with some tidbits.—————–**2:27 p.m.: OMAHA, Neb. -** Well, of course Bill Self can say it _now_ with ease. The KU coach, swamped by cameras, microphones and notebooks in the depths of Qwest Arena about 30 minutes ago, made sure everyone remembered that someday, somewhere, when no one expects it, a 16 will topple a one.And for another year, Bill Self doesn’t have to worry about being that guy who has some ‘splaining to do.In a game that was ho-hum from just about every aspect, KU thumped Portland State, 85-61, advancing to play what at the moment looks like it’ll be UNLV Saturday at roughly 6:30 p.m.Self said he wouldn’t have minded if his team had looked a bit cleaner offensively in the second half, but in any NCAA Tournament game (8-9 or 1-16), a win is just fine.**The positives:** KU looked great offensively in the first half, Brandon Rush was aggressive and took a season-high 17 shot attempts, Sherron Collins was again a nice spark from the pine (nine points, five assists, three rebounds, just one turnover) and Mario Chalmers’ three-point stroke was nice (3-of-6). Also, Darrell Arthur had a pretty complete game, with 17 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes.**The negatives:** This was supposed to be quite a home court advantage for KU, but the crowd as a whole was pretty bland. The Jayhawks were pretty scratchy on offense after halftime, and believe it or not, only outscored Portland State by one point (36-35) in the second half. And, not that it really had much of an effect on the game’s outcome, Sasha Kaun was just 1-of-6 from the free throw line.**The numbers**-Brandon Rush was 7-of-17 from the floor, 4-of-9 from distance and scored 18 points. But the shooting percentage didn’t do him justice, as he was much better than that would indicate. He was aggressive and diverse, and his rebounding was pretty eye-opening, too, as he skied for quite a few of his six boards.-The Jayhawks finished with 21 assists on 33 field goals. Collins had five, while Russell Robinson and Chalmers had four apiece. Each of those two had three steals.-Jeremiah Dominguez scored just 13 points for Portland State. The little guy who was the Big Sky Player of the Year was visibly just not quick enough to do much damage against KU’s guard set, and he let that get to his head at times. It was written on his face.-KU finished 33-of-61 from the floor. PSU was 21-of-55.How’s everyone’s brackets looking at this point in the day? For me, it’s looking like Baylor will be the first blemish.—————–**1:15 p.m.: OMAHA, Neb. -** Bill Self might have some issue with the offensive execution of his team here in the second half, though KU stayed pretty stingy on defense. Portland State just simply decided to get a little more aggressive and saw some shots fall.Quality minutes from Rod Stewart here in the game’s final 20 minutes. It was good to see some of the reserves get some run.Overall, a tough second half for this team to get up for probably because of 1) how dominant the Jayhawks were in the first half and 2) how ‘blah’ the atmosphere was this morning. Then again, just as KU isn’t used to playing so early, fans aren’t used to being at the yard this early.Also, gotta say, it was tough to watch Jeremiah Dominguez. Poor guy was used to dominating for most of the year in the Big Sky, but looked pouty for much of Thursday morning, as you could see that being so overmatched got to his head a bit.Be back after the postgame locker room session with notes, nuggets and numbers.—————–**12:54 p.m.: OMAHA, Neb. -** So much for the starters resting for much of the second half. KU badly needs a run to finish this one off officially, which means it’s probably a good thing Sherron Collins just checked in at that TV timeout. Credit PSU for staying scrappy on defense.—————–**12:23 p.m.: OMAHA, Neb. -** Start off by saying that if Georgia’s halftime lead over Xavier holds up, that really screws my bracket. And to think, Xavier didn’t even have to go to ‘Siberia with 7-Elevens’ to play this one. Unreal.Here’s some numbers from the first half. It looks so far more like a well-executed practice for the boys in blue.-Russell Robinson and Sherron Collins each have four assists, and as a team, KU has 13 assists on 18 field goals.-Five Jayhawks scored in the first half. Brandon Rush’s 15 points were by far the most impressive, including a 3-of-6 showing from distance. Mario Chalmers (10 points) was 2-of-3 from range, while Sherron Collins (9 points) was 3-of-4.-KU was outrebounded 14-13, but that hasn’t made much of a difference, judging by the box score.-KU is 18-of-28 from the floor and aggressive, while PSU is 10-of-25 and timid.-Jeremiah Dominguez, who leads Portland State in scoring and assists has just three points on 1-of-5 shooting. Credit Russell Robinson’s early defense for taking him out of the game a bit.-No one for KU – not Darrell Arthur, not Sasha Kaun, not Darnell Jackson, not anyone – has more than one personal foul.This second half could look a lot like the second stanza on Senior Night in Allen Fieldhouse.—————–**12:03 p.m.: OMAHA, Neb. -** KU certainly doesn’t look like its suffering from the effects of an early tip time. The crowd does a bit, as it’s been relatively quiet in the Qwest Center, despite all but about 1,500 seats being filled.Brandon Rush looks pretty filthy today. He’s taking advantage of open opportunities and is scoring in a variety of ways. The Jayhawks have been quite active today and are playing with plenty of energy. I would say that what they brought to the table Sunday against Texas translated pretty well over four days. They’re pretty much doing what they want. Ho-hum. Yawn.Second half should be fun with the reserves getting plenty of minutes.—————–**11:47 a.m.: OMAHA, Neb. -** Just over 10 minutes into the game, KU looks pretty good. Don’t let Portland State being within seven points fool you. The Vikings have found some success by slowing things down and lulling the Jayhawks to sleep a couple times on the defensive end.In the long run, I don’t see PSU hanging around, unless Dominguez continues to hit shots. He’s only made one so far, but his looks have been limited and will continue to be, since KU’s guards are just that much quicker than he is. Russell Robinson was giving him fits early on.**Sidenote:** Spotted running up the steps from the floor just now in a red shirt was former UNLV and NBA great Larry Johnson, I’m guessing being in the house to watch the Rebels play after this one’s done.—————–**10:58 a.m.: OMAHA, Neb. -** KU just took the floor about 10 minutes ago in a Qwest Center which is slowly filling up. Some pregame observations…**-The Portland State band came to play.** Aside from a spot-on musical selection (kicking things off with some Green Day), the Vikings trumpeteers & co., each time they’ve stopped playing, they’re yelling ‘Port-land-State’ and screaming other taunts at the Jayhawks warming up 15 feet from them.**-The Vikings actually brought a few fans.**. They’re seated right across from what will be the KU bench. They have those little pull-out signs which collapse into something that fits into your pocket, and I just noticed this: When it pulls out, it says ‘Go Viks.’ Maybe it’s just the NFC North in me, but shouldn’t it be ‘Vikes’?**-Sherron Collins looks like he’s taking a precautionary step with his left knee.** He wasn’t wearing it throughout the Big 12 Tournament, but today he’s donning a McDavid sleeve on that left knee which has given him slight issues this year at times. He was pulling it on before practice yesterday in the locker room, too.**-The pick to click today is Jeremy Case.** One of the friendliest humans I’ve come across in covering this team, and he’ll certainly get a few minutes today should this game play out the way it’s supposed to. As for the starters, **I’ll go with Brandon Rush**. Something seemed a little different with him in the locker room yesterday. Had a business-like way about him, and given how he played last weekend, maybe he’s out to go against the SI cover jinx (he graced a regional edition this week).**-PSU guard Jeremiah Dominguez** looks even smaller in uniform. Still excited to see what he’s got. You’ve got to think a star guard playing with little man’s complex will get his numbers.—————–**9:41 a.m.: OMAHA, Neb. -** This is certainly a different feel, plopped in front of a computer screen at 9:41 a.m. awaiting tip-off. It’ll be very interesting to see what both teams look like this morning in the Qwest. I wouldn’t be surprised with a bit of rust on both sides, but the fact that KU is just a 22.5-point favorite sounds quite absurd.**Prediction: Kansas 94, Portland State 60**This is the day when in college (sorry mom and dad if you’re reading) I used to cut classes each year to do nothing but clutch my bracket, scribbling X’s and O’s around my picks as the games played out. For a college basketball fan, this is Christmas (though I also considered my Fantasy Baseball draft the other day Christmas, so I guess this is more like Hanukkah).Today works out great for me, and I’m sure you feel the same way in that you’ll get to relax and still watch a host of hoops this evening and all day tomorrow. I’m planning on heading back to the Qwest around 6:00 to watch the first round’s most intriguing game, [K-State vs. Southern Cal][5]. Here are some other games I want to watch today…-**[Baylor vs. Purdue][6] at 1:50 p.m.** – I like Baylor’s athleticism as opposed to Purdue’s youth, but this one could come down to who is able to establish the tempo. Purdue is cool with slowing it down and finding open three looks for Robbie Hummel, while Baylor wants to run a ton. My bracket has Baylor goin’ on.-**[Arizona vs. West Virginia][7] at 8:40 p.m.** – Does _anyone_ really think Arizona belongs in the tournament? And as a 10-seed?? Huggy Bear should take care of that, and Joe Alexander has ‘Tournament’s breakout star’ written all over him. I’m also an Alex Ruoff fan.-**[Marquette vs. Kentucky][8] at 1:30 p.m.** – Marquette seems to be the logical pick here, but I wouldn’t mind Kentucky winning, just to see how Tom Keegan copes with his alma mater dumping a first-rounder they have no business losing.-**[Pitt vs. Oral Roberts][9] at 2:00 p.m.** – Because, while I don’t agree with Bob Knight in that Pitt will win the title, I could see them knocking off Memphis should they get the shot in that bracket’s semifinals. At full strength, they’re still one of the most impressive teams I watched all season (in beating Duke at Madison Square Garden). DeJuan Blair is just fun to watch, also.What about you guys? What games are you looking forward to today?About to walk across the street to the Qwest Center. Talk to you from there with some pregame notes. See you in a few.[NCAA Home Page][10] [1]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzEadbTCKDA&feature=related [2]: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/players/46562 [3]: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/recap?gid=200803200401 [4]: http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=27055&Sport=2 [5]: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/preview?gid=200803200609 [6]: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/preview?gid=200803200474 [7]: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/preview?gid=200803200636 [8]: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/preview?gid=200803200339 [9]: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/preview?gid=200803200465 [10]: http://www.ncaasports.com

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