Tag: pittsburgh basketball

This crooked rim created chaos for NCAA tournament games and may explain Iowa State’s rough start

This doesn’t seem fair.

No. 6 Iowa State and No. 11 Pittsburgh had a delayed start to their first-round game in the NCAA tournament caused by a crooked rim at Greensboro Coliseum.

The Midwest Region game followed a wild comeback from No. 4 Xavier to survive an upset bid by No. 14 Kennesaw State. During the victory, with less than a minute left on the clock, Xavier’s Souley Boum missed a wide-open layup following a pass from teammate Colby Jones.

It was one of several crucial shots that didn’t fall for Xavier, who won the game despite the missed field goals. But the troubles may have continued into the following game considering Iowa State was not able to warm up as expected.

UPDATE: The NCAA issued a statement noting that Iowa State was offered additional warmup time but declined.

Although NCAA tournament officials made sure that the rim was level before the game finally tipped off, Pittsburgh was able to warm up before the game.

The Cyclones, however, were not. When the game finally started, Iowa State missed each of their first twelve attempts from the field and did not make any of their field goals until over ten games of game time had passed.

All five of the starters for Pittsburgh made field goals before a single player on Iowa State was able to connect. After trailing 21-2, the Cyclones went on a 17-4 run to cut the deficit to 26-19.

While we don’t know if this was the reason why the Cyclones had such a slow start, the two teams will switch rims at the end of the first half.

If the Panthers also struggle to connect from the field, it’s time that we all start to raise some eyebrows about whether or not the crooked rim was ever legitimately fixed.

Either way, however, it seems a bit unfair that Pittsburgh was able to warm up before the game but Iowa State was not given the same opportunity before tipoff.

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Jim Boeheim tried and failed to walk back his disrespectful comments about 3 other ACC teams

What a WEAK statement with no apology!

Jim Boeheim continues to dig his hole deeper and deeper.

A recent story with ESPN saw the Syracuse Men’s Basketball head coach talking about his future and, perhaps more notably, the state of college basketball on the whole. As concepts like NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) deals grow in popularity in college sports, the 78-year Boeheim showed he wasn’t a fan of their use.

The coach took it a step way too far in explicitly saying that programs like Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, and Miami all “bought” their teams, thanks in part to NIL deals. Woof, yeah, it’s not a great look:

“This is an awful place we’re in in college basketball,” Boeheim said. “Pittsburgh bought a team. OK, fine. My [big donor] talks about it, but he doesn’t give anyone any money. Nothing. Not one guy. Our guys make like $20,000. Wake Forest bought a team. Miami bought a team. … It’s like, ‘Really, this is where we are?’ That’s really where we are, and it’s only going to get worse.”

Does Boeheim have any citations to back up his disrespectful comments, or is he just upset that recruiting is now potentially more challenging?

This was how Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes responded to Boeheim’s out-of-line comments:

In the wake of Boeheim drawing heaps of criticism for his thoughts, the coach would issue a statement on Monday morning. It was both not an apology and Boeheim trying (emphasis: trying) to meekly walk back what he said:

Imply? There was no implication there! Boeheim’s were, again, explicit! What is he trying to pull here? The cat’s already out of the bag.

This is a situation where Boeheim might only find himself coming under more fire as time goes on. For example, ACC coaches do a media call every Monday. In other words, stay tuned.

Badger moments: Ethan Happ wins rock fight over Pittsburgh in 2016

Ethan Happ saves the day

In the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament, the Wisconsin Badgers did not have Bo Ryan on their bench. Everyone wondered if Greg Gard could continue to deliver the March results Ryan brought to Madison for more than a decade. Wisconsin had reached the Sweet 16 or better in four of the previous five NCAA Tournaments, and the Badgers had just made consecutive Final Fours in 2014 and 2015. As the 2016 Big Dance began, all eyes were on a new coach with a team which had scrambled and recovered well enough to get an NCAA tourney ticket, but whose prospects of going deep into the tournament were not great.

Wisconsin was a No. 7 seed which faced a tough challenge from a proven program — the Pittsburgh Panthers — and a proven head coach, Jamie Dixon. Pittsburgh didn’t make the Final Four under Dixon, but it gained No. 1 seeds in multiple seasons, reached the Elite Eight, and had established itself as a regular NCAA Tournament team, much as Wisconsin had in the 21st century. These programs could both identify with each other, having gone through many decades of mediocrity before roaring to life at the start of the century. This figured to be a tough game… and it was.

Oh, how it was.

Bronson Koenig didn’t hit a 3-pointer against Pittsburgh, marking the first time in 44 games he didn’t make at least one triple. Nigel Hayes was just 3 of 17 from the field. Wisconsin made only 4 of 19 3-pointers and missed 13 of its first 15 shots in this game. The Badgers needed over 15 minutes to score their first 10 points of the game. UW managed just 16 points in the first half.

In spite of all that… Wisconsin won.

Yes, it won.

Wisconsin limited Pitt to only three made 3-pointers and four made free throws. The Badgers were plus-5 in offensive rebounds (12-7) and plus-4 in turnover differential (6 committed, 10 forced). In a rock fight, every possession mattered… and Ethan Happ was the main influencer of these possessions.

Happ led Wisconsin in points (15), rebounds (9), and assists (3), doing everything for the Badgers. When Pittsburgh trailed 44-43 in the final minute and missed a go-ahead layup, Happ was there to get the defensive rebound and enable Wisconsin to hit three foul shots in the closing seconds to win.

Everything went wrong for Wisconsin on offense, but the Badgers’ defense and rebounding answered the call. If there were any questions about UW’s toughness in the NCAA Tournament under Greg Gard, they were answered in this game, four years ago in St. Louis.