Day 2 NCAA ...

Back for Day 2 predictions

I kicked off my 2013 Tourney picks with a 12-4 day so going into day 2...looking for more of the same..my pick of New Mexico for the Final Four in one bracket is truly dead but I'll soldier on.

Albany vs Duke

Do not think I'll be up at 2am for this one....Duke by 14

Ole Miss vs Wisconsin

Wisconsin by 7

Temple vs NC State

NC State by 8

Pacific vs Miami

And now in basketball...it's all about The U!! Miami by 15

Cincy vs Creighton

Will be a gritty one!! Creighton by 7

LaSalle vs Kansas St.

K-State by 5

James Madison vs Indiana

Indiana by 21

Colorado vs Illinois

Colorado by 4

Florida-Gulf Coast vs Georgetown

G'town by 17

Iona vs Ohio State

Ohio State by 22

Villanova vs North Carolina

UNC by 9

Northwestern St. vs Florida

Florida by 16

Oklahoma vs San Diego St.

San Diego St. by 4

Iowa State vs Notre Dame

Iowa State by 2

Western Kentucky vs Kansas

Kansas by 18

Minnesota vs UCLA

Minnesota by 7

Current Record: 16-4

Back with more tomorrow...enjoy the games..

Fridays Sweet 16 picks....

Sweet 16 Day 2

(Gotta be better)

Oh well….none of my picks from yesterday won so I will have to soldier on for Friday’s games….with the East and the West regionals down…we move now to the South and Midwest.


South Region:


Xavier (10) vs. Baylor (3)
Baylor should win this one but will need consistency…Baylor by 10
Indiana (4) vs. Kentucky (1)
Kentucky gets revenge by 3


Midwest Region:


Ohio (13) vs. North Carolina (1)
North Carolina by 11
NC State (11) vs. Kansas (2)
Upset here…NC State by 6


Today’s picks have to be better!! LOL!!!

Sunday's NCAA predictions...

Final Sweet 16 spots up for grabs….

After going 5-3 on a Saturday where all of the favourites had wins, I am looking forward to a few of the matchups on Sunday. Will chaos ensue again?? Hmm…let’s pick ‘em!!

Midwest Region:

N.C. State (11) vs. Georgetown (3)

The Wolfpack should have been seeded higher and will get a win on Sunday by 7

Ohio (13) vs. South Florida (12)

One of these lower seeds will get into the Sweet 16….Ohio should roll on by 9

Creighton (8) vs. North Carolina (1)

Will be a good test for UNC who should win by 11

Purdue (10) vs. Kansas (2)

Kansas gets by ….by say 10 points

West Region:

St. Louis (9) vs. Michigan State (1)

Mich. State by 4

Norfolk State (15) vs. Florida (7)

Upset number 2 for Norfolk State?? Yep….Norfolk State by 3

South Region:

Lehigh (15) vs. Xavier, OH (10)

Xavier by 7

East Region:

Cincinnati (6) vs. Florida State (3)

Florida State by 3

See you later in the week when the Sweet 16 games kick off!!

NCAA Friday games....

Round of 64…Day 2

Now the action is heavy with the full field of the 2012 NCAA Basketball tournament seeing action. After Thursday’s games I had a 12-4 record…putting me at 12-8 overall factoring in the First Four games.

Friday sees a few heavyweights in action and I am looking for a better record as my ACC teams see action.

East Region:

Texas (11) vs. Cincinnati (6)

Cincy by 5

St. Bonaventure (14) vs. Florida State (3)

FSU by 9

Midwest Region:

NC State (11) vs. San Diego State (6)

Not a big upset but NC State by 7

Alabama (9) vs. Creighton (8)

‘Bama by 4

Belmont (14) vs. Georgetown (3)

Georgetown by 12

Vermont vs. North Carolina (1)

Carolina by 21

Ohio (13) vs. Michigan (4)

Upset alert!! Ohio by 6

Purdue (10) vs. St. Mary’s (7)

St. Mary’s by 8

South Florida (12) vs. Temple (5)

Temple by 13

Detroit (15) vs. Kansas (2)

Kansas by 17

West Region:

Norfolk State (15) vs. Missouri (2)

Missouri by 15

Virginia (10) vs. Florida (7)

Mild upset…UVa by 3

St. Louis (9) vs. Memphis (8)

St. Louis by 1

LIU-Brooklyn (16) vs. Michigan State (1)

Mich. St. by 24

South Region:

Lehigh (15) vs. Duke (2)

Duke by 17

Xavier (10) vs. Notre Dame (7)

Xavier by 5

Back with more after tomorrow’s games….

Jordan selects David Thompson to open doors to Hall of Fame

Out of the virtual plethora of people including former coaches Dean Smith and Phil Jackson, running mate Scottie Pippen, former college teammates James Worthy and Sam Perkins, hang out buddies Charles Barkley and Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan has chosen David Thompson to present him to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

If you refer back to my very first blog, it was about that very David Thompson. It speaks even more volumes about the influence Thompson had on the game for him to be chosen for such an honour. While Jordan left his indelible mark on the game, he readily admits that his game was patterned around the high flying antics of Thompson who went to arch Carolina rival N.C. State.

Congratulations to Mr. Jordan and kudos for recognising the predecessor of the Skyways.

Opening Blog --Just one to get me started

from BasketBloggin 29 May 2009

Allo All:

I was recently asked who I thought was the best basketball player to ever play in the ACC? Note this is to be for their collegiate career, not accomplishments afterwards.
First and foremost, I say that you can't go past one David Thompson from NC State. For a 6'4" Small forward/Shooting guard, he garnered unprecedented attention from other teams. None other than Michael Jordan was in awe of his unreal leaping ability. The lob pass was brought into vogue by the Monte Towe (a 5'4" point guard) to David Thompson connection. The Thompson led State teams also eventually brought an end to the awesome UCLA dynasty which at the time was lead by one Bill Walton.

Note: there will be more to come on this subject, just getting the opening comments out there for a start.

Further from yesterday, Wikipedia goes on to say that the lob pass was "invented" by Thompson/Towe, amazing. Thompson had a 48 inch vertical leap that put his game constantly above the rim.

The rivalry between NC State and UCLA during the 1973-1974 seasons is legendary but even more memorable is the in conference rivalry between State and Maryland. The 1974 ACC Championship game, a 103-100 overtime victory by NC State over the Terps is considered by some one of the greatest ever collegiate games. State went on to finish that season with a perfect record on the way to an NCAA title.

The gentleman who posed this query of the best ACC player ever has put forward Art Heyman from Duke (1960-1963), as the best ACC player ever, sorry bud you have to put aside the local hero worship and look to the facts. Among the learned, Michael Jordan, Ralph Sampson, Tim Duncan, Christian Laettner, and Len Bias along with Thompson are truly the greatest to pass through the ACC when considering just their college careers. Often at his camps, Jordan points to Thompson as the player he watched and admired most when he was growing up.

Thompson's Accomplishments:

Collegiate

• Three-year letter winner (1973–1975)
• The Sporting News national Player of the Year (1975)
• USBWA College Player of the Year (1975)
• Consensus First-Team All-America (1973, 1974, 1975) by Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI), Eastman Kodak, The Sporting News
• AP National Player of the Year (1974, 1975)
• UPI Player of the Year (1975)
• Eastman Kodak Award (1975)
• Naismith Award (1975)
• Adolph Rupp Trophy (1975)
• Coach & Athlete Magazine Player of the Year (1975)
• Helms Foundation Player of the Year (1974, 1975)
• National Association of Basketball Coaches Player of the Year (1975)
• United States Basketball Writers Association Player of the Year (1975)
• Dunlop Player of the Year (1975)
• Sullivan Award finalist (1974, 1975)
• Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Player of the Year (1973, 1974, 1975)
• ACC Athlete of the Year (1973, 1975)
• All-ACC First Team (1973, 1974, 1975)
• North Carolina State retired his jersey number 44 (1975)
• Led North Carolina State to the 1974 NCAA championship (30-1 record), 76-64 over Marquette University
• In national semi-final win over UCLA, scored 28 points
• In championship game, scored 21 points against Marquette
• Most Valuable Player (MVP), NCAA Tournament (1974)
• Led Wolfpack to a 79-7 record during his final three season (freshmen were ineligible then) including 57-1 during his sophomore and junior seasons (27-0, 30-1), the best in ACC history. His senior year record was 22-6.
• Scored 2,309 points (26.8 ppg) in 86 varsity games; including highs of 57 points as a senior, 41 as a junior and 40 as a sophomore
• Averaged 35.6 ppg, including a 54-point high on the North Carolina State freshman team
• Grabbed 694 rebounds (8.1 rpg) in 86 games
• World University Games MVP (1973)
• Enshrined in North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame (1982)
• NCAA All-Decade Team of the 1970s
• Named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team as one of the fifty greatest players in ACC history.

Information gathered from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Thompson_(basketball)#College_career

Ok, look for more in the next few days as I tackle more history and current happenings in the Hoops Universe.