What's Cooking

Some tidbits from the stove top:

Tom Crean was a guest on Fox Radio's GameTime Saturday and serendipitously, I hopped into my car just in time to listen. Let's just say his "I'm staying at Marquette" schtick was very unconvincing. He went on a couple thinly-veiled tangents and of course, mentioned that he "has a great contract" at Marquette. Finally, Crean concluded with the standard, "I haven't even thought about that" routine.

Kentucky would be one of only a few schools that would match Marquette's ridiculous compensation package, being a basketball-first (only?) university. Crean has the energy, ambition and recruiting ability for the job. But take away Dwyane Wade's Final Four run and Crean's resume is not that spectacular. Kentucky's search will begin with rejections from Billy Donovan and Tom Izzo before reaching names like Mark Few (Gonzaga), Billy Gillespie (Texas A&M) and maybe even John Calipari (Memphis). Crean is not good enough for the Kentucky job, but if they ask, he's as good as gone.

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Boy, oh boy. Good thing I only entered three NCAA pools this year. My second-chance picks for the Round of 16 were hopeless after the first night. My final chances for glory in any pool died with North Carolina's epic collapse on Sunday and Memphis on Saturday.

Speaking of which ... Memphis had my hopes up until the intention foul by Chris Douglas-Roberts on Greg Oden. The five-point play that ensued was a disastrous swing in momentum. To refresh, Memphis was leading, 60-57, when a wide-open Oden caught a pass under the hoop, where the much smaller Douglas-Roberts proceeded to wrap two arms around him. I'm not as surprised that an intentional foul was called as I am perturbed that the referees allowed Oden NBA-style continuation and counted the ensuing basket. In reality it was a foul before the shot. Oden made one of the two free throws and the Buckeyes kept possession, gaining a 62-60 lead they would not relinquish on two freebies by Jamar Butler. Ohio State outscored Memphis 30-16 over the next 9:30 to win going away.

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The guys at Sports Montage have a great post bashing Aaron Gray, one of the more overrated big men in America. Extra fun hearing it come from an actual Pittsburgh fan. If you want to know what I think of Gray, just look at every one of my brackets where I had VCU beating Pitt in the second round. He's a stiff. Like many other college basketball fans, Sports Montage also dislikes Joakim Noah, another over-hyped big man. Good stuff.