He Looks Tougher

Boston Celtics center Kelly Olynyk played 22 minutes in a game against the Pacers with a hideous black eye caused by an elbow from teammate Shavlik Randolph. And he scored 19 points on 7 of 10 shooting.

Story suggested by Razor

Song of the Week

"Somebody" - Natalie La Rose featuring Jeremih
This is Mrs. Poop's Shazam jam. She figured out how to e-mail songs from Shazam and this is the first one she sent me.
It also has a nice sample from the late great Whitney Houston.
And I love big hoop earrings!

Tournament Thoughts: Elite Eight Sunday

His first name is really Lourawls? And he's a Junior? You'll never find -- a name as dumb as that.

The refs missed one when a Louisville player had his hand literally up through the next and hoop, but they didn't call anything.

Both sides victimized by poor free shooting down the stretch of regulation.

Huge mistake on that lane violation, giving Michigan State an extra point. It was absolutely the correct call though.

Terry Rozier following in the great tradition of volume shooters on Louisville. When they're hitting they win games for you, when they're not, they kill you. Somewhere Russ Smith is smiling.

Late-game strategy question: Dawson gets the rebound with 32 seconds left in overtime and a 2-point lead. I think he should have come down with it and forced Louisville to foul. If he misses Louisville gets a great chance to win or tie. Yes, he made it, but that doesn't necessarily make it the most winning long-term strategy.

Terrible possession by Louisville, waste 20 seconds and then throw it away without getting a shot. They would have been better off driving into someone and hoping to get a foul called.

Damn, I wish I had picked Michigan State for the Final Four. I seriously debated it, but chose Northern Iowa instead.

Seventh Final Four since 1999 for Michigan State. If it were Duke or Kentucky it would be impressive but at Michigan State it's amazing.

Two terrible late fouls by Sabonis in the first half. We always talk about that, how those fouls that put you in foul trouble come on the offensive end. And they interrupted a great Gonzaga comeback, aided by some brutal shooting from Duke.

If there's a loose ball and all ten players are equidistant from it, I like Pangos's chances to come away with it.

Adam Morrison in the crowd!

Jim Nantz loves the Bushes.

Not impressed with Wiltjer at all. He's no better than the third best player on the team. And he seems to shy away from contact. He missed a huge layup that would have tied the game at 53, and I think it was because he was worried about Okafor coming over.

Gonzaga completely choked down the stretch of this game, blew every opportunity.

This is what happens when you have a team full of great players. Great game by Matt Jones. Much needed lift.

For all the upsets early, three #1 seeds made the Final Four.

Congrats to the Daminos, Damino and BigKev, maybe their teams will face each other in the final game and the brothers will fight and beat the crap out of each other.

Tournament Thoughts: Elite 8 Saturday

What an amazing game. By far the best game of the tournament so far.

I kind of felt bad rooting for Goliath there but I want to see history. I like watching this team play.

Aaron Harrison, ONIONS!!!!!! I told everyone who would listen that Kentucky would win this tournament and one of the first things I mentioned was Aaron Harrison who has shown himself to be a player who can hit big shots.

Jerian Grant has ONIONS!!!! too.

What a great game by Zach Auguste. He went against one of the best front line in college basketball history and had a huge game. He just couldn't guard Karl-Anthony Towns.

Calipari was completely outcoached by Mike Brey -- and me. If you read my blueprint for beating Kentucky the executed it, fewer 3-pointers, more drives. Too often Kentucky had their great interior defenders stuck outside 1-on-1 isolated against quicker guards. Willie Cauley-Stein cqn't guard Pat Connaughton. And they got of position so much, giving Auguste room for offensive rebounds.

My only regret with this game is that it basically ended on my pet peeve of basically plays. Andrew Harrison took the ball, drove hard, ran into someone and got fouled.

The worst thing an announcer can do is put fake words in players' mouth. The infamous example involves Isiah Thomas saying something about Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Batman and Robin.

Lots of Polish surnames in this tournament. Kaminsky, Tarczewski, Karnowski, Bachynski.

I wonder what Billy thinks of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson's free throw routine. We all know Billy is a stickler for fundamentals, but he also loves to shimmy. He must be very conflicted.



There is only one thing to say about this game: Wisconsin had one of the best shooting games in the history of shooting, especially the second half. I don't even think Arizona's defense was bad, the Badgers just made everything.

Arizona actually played really well. They made 28 of 30 (93%) free throws which is amazing, and they made 56% of their shots from the field, turned it over only 10 times, and never really had a chance.

55 points in the second half on 10 of 12 from 3-point range.

Sam Dekker made 5 of 6 and scored 27 points.

If they can repeat that performance in the next round they might stay within 20 points of Kentucky.

Well we got the game we wanted. It is going to be huge. I think Wisconsin can see a little bit of what Notre Dame did and execute it with their players and we might have a game on our hands.

But again, this is the thing I love about this Kentucky team. They don't just blow people out and choke when it's close. When it's close they execute on offense, they clamp down on defense and they win games. Other great teams that didn't go undefeated were equally as dominant but just didn't close out one or two close games the way Kentucky does.