All good Broadway shows come to an end and the Markquis Nowell show closed this evening at Madison Square Garden. It was a hit and anyone who saw it won’t forget it. Unfortunately, especially in the last ten minutes, it became a one man show.
Nowell was magnificent on Thursday, with 20 points, 19 assists and 5 steals in 43 grueling minutes. His statistics tonight were nearly as good, 30 points and 12 assists, and for much of the night his performance was, too. Kansas State forged a 63-57 lead with under nine minutes to play. But whether it was fatigue after the overtime battle with Michigan State, the rough night Nowell’s running mate Keyontae Johnson was having before fouling out with just nine points, or something else, from that point on the Wildcat offense stagnated. On play after play, Kansas State stood around while Nowell dominated the ball.
The play-by-play says that Florida Atlantic went on a 15-1 run at that point. That is undoubtedly true. But it just felt like they kept playing their game. Every once in a while, Clark Kellogg says something interesting that is not stated in the form of a cliché. After the game, he said that Florida Atlantic was more itself tonight than Kansas State. As the Boys from Boca showed once again, there are a lot of good basketball players in the United States. And also in Russia, including FAU’s giant center Vladimir Goldin, whose strong play was a big factor tonight.
The understandable focus on Markquis Nowell’s magical performance should not obscure how remarkable it is that Florida Atlantic is in the Final Four and that they beat Memphis, Tennessee and Kansas State to get there. And in an era where taunting has become an accepted part of college basketball, this was an impressive breath of fresh air:
https://www.on3.com/college/kansas-...ocker-room-elite-eight-loss-florida-atlantic/
Before turning to the second game, a couple of stories, both of which, coincidentally, involve former Pitt coach the late Dr. Roy Chipman. On December 10, 1983, I made the first trip on a series of cases that ended up forming the foundation of my career, such as it has been. I was headed to Danbury, Connecticut, via LaGuardia. At the airport, I recall seeing a very happy Coach Chipman. The reason that Coach Chipman was so happy is that he was heading that day to Bridgeport, Connecticut to sign the player who would be the foundation of that era in Pitt basketball, Charles Smith, a first-team Parade All-American from Warren G. Harding High School. In those days, every little town in Connecticut had its own newspaper. I read a number of them that day, and each was more distraught than the next that another Parade All-American was leaving the state, as Rocket Rod Foster from New Britain had left for UCLA, and Harold Pressley from Uncasville and Harold Jensen from Trumbell had left for Villanova, while the hometown program, the University of Connecticut, was stuck in the mud.
A few years later, Dr. Roy was the former Pitt coach, having built a talented roster and been worn down by all of it. He retired at 46, incredibly young as I look back on it, and he died young, too, at 58. I never knew him but several years after he retired from coaching, he happened to be sitting behind us in the “blue seats” at a Pitt game one night. I only recall one thing he said. It was about the problems at Seton Hall where the point guard, Bobby Hurley’s younger brother Danny, was a real challenge to coach and had recently left the team.
If you had told me on December 10, 1983 that UConn would go on to win four national championships and now contend for a fifth, I would not have believed it. It is one of the remarkable and underappreciated stories in the history of college basketball. And if you had told me the night I sat in front of Coach Chipman that Danny Hurley would be the coach of a national championship contender, I would not have believed that, either.
UConn has been the best team in the tournament and it has not been close. Nobody has even given them a game. They were a machine this weekend in Las Vegas against Arkansas and Gonzaga, big, strong, fast, deep, skilled and unselfish. They have been dominant inside and out, on offense and on defense. They have an inside force in Sanoga, an outside force in Hawkins, an all-around force in Jackson (although he hurt his hand at the end tonight), and a handful of other guys who can play. These things can change week to week. UConn can be beaten and they have been beaten, including by Creighton. But right now the Huskies have the look.
Half the Final Four is set. Tomorrow we get Creighton-San Diego State in Louisville and Miami-Texas in Kansas City. Tip at 2:20 EDT. Enjoy the games.
Nowell was magnificent on Thursday, with 20 points, 19 assists and 5 steals in 43 grueling minutes. His statistics tonight were nearly as good, 30 points and 12 assists, and for much of the night his performance was, too. Kansas State forged a 63-57 lead with under nine minutes to play. But whether it was fatigue after the overtime battle with Michigan State, the rough night Nowell’s running mate Keyontae Johnson was having before fouling out with just nine points, or something else, from that point on the Wildcat offense stagnated. On play after play, Kansas State stood around while Nowell dominated the ball.
The play-by-play says that Florida Atlantic went on a 15-1 run at that point. That is undoubtedly true. But it just felt like they kept playing their game. Every once in a while, Clark Kellogg says something interesting that is not stated in the form of a cliché. After the game, he said that Florida Atlantic was more itself tonight than Kansas State. As the Boys from Boca showed once again, there are a lot of good basketball players in the United States. And also in Russia, including FAU’s giant center Vladimir Goldin, whose strong play was a big factor tonight.
The understandable focus on Markquis Nowell’s magical performance should not obscure how remarkable it is that Florida Atlantic is in the Final Four and that they beat Memphis, Tennessee and Kansas State to get there. And in an era where taunting has become an accepted part of college basketball, this was an impressive breath of fresh air:
https://www.on3.com/college/kansas-...ocker-room-elite-eight-loss-florida-atlantic/
Before turning to the second game, a couple of stories, both of which, coincidentally, involve former Pitt coach the late Dr. Roy Chipman. On December 10, 1983, I made the first trip on a series of cases that ended up forming the foundation of my career, such as it has been. I was headed to Danbury, Connecticut, via LaGuardia. At the airport, I recall seeing a very happy Coach Chipman. The reason that Coach Chipman was so happy is that he was heading that day to Bridgeport, Connecticut to sign the player who would be the foundation of that era in Pitt basketball, Charles Smith, a first-team Parade All-American from Warren G. Harding High School. In those days, every little town in Connecticut had its own newspaper. I read a number of them that day, and each was more distraught than the next that another Parade All-American was leaving the state, as Rocket Rod Foster from New Britain had left for UCLA, and Harold Pressley from Uncasville and Harold Jensen from Trumbell had left for Villanova, while the hometown program, the University of Connecticut, was stuck in the mud.
A few years later, Dr. Roy was the former Pitt coach, having built a talented roster and been worn down by all of it. He retired at 46, incredibly young as I look back on it, and he died young, too, at 58. I never knew him but several years after he retired from coaching, he happened to be sitting behind us in the “blue seats” at a Pitt game one night. I only recall one thing he said. It was about the problems at Seton Hall where the point guard, Bobby Hurley’s younger brother Danny, was a real challenge to coach and had recently left the team.
If you had told me on December 10, 1983 that UConn would go on to win four national championships and now contend for a fifth, I would not have believed it. It is one of the remarkable and underappreciated stories in the history of college basketball. And if you had told me the night I sat in front of Coach Chipman that Danny Hurley would be the coach of a national championship contender, I would not have believed that, either.
UConn has been the best team in the tournament and it has not been close. Nobody has even given them a game. They were a machine this weekend in Las Vegas against Arkansas and Gonzaga, big, strong, fast, deep, skilled and unselfish. They have been dominant inside and out, on offense and on defense. They have an inside force in Sanoga, an outside force in Hawkins, an all-around force in Jackson (although he hurt his hand at the end tonight), and a handful of other guys who can play. These things can change week to week. UConn can be beaten and they have been beaten, including by Creighton. But right now the Huskies have the look.
Half the Final Four is set. Tomorrow we get Creighton-San Diego State in Louisville and Miami-Texas in Kansas City. Tip at 2:20 EDT. Enjoy the games.
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