1. Kentucky gets away with murder inside, and gets Jordan-calls on the perimeter
Anyone that watched the Kentucky/Baylor game knows that it was a one-sided officiating affair. The referees made it clear from that flagrant foul on Quincy Acy in the opening minutes that Kentucky would be getting their help all game. That foul was closer to a clean block than a flagrant as he hit the ball with his arm first, then the follow through made contact with the Wildcat player.
A few times I had to flip it over to watch Tiger become Tiger again just because the officiating was so atrocious. The amount of perimeter fouls called on Baylor defenders was just ridiculous. The Bear player would be trying to fight through a screen and hand check a little on the hip (something that happens on almost every screen in the NCAA as well as NBA) and the ref would blow his whistle. There was no advantage/disadvantage really gained, just slight amounts of contact.
Even worse was the lack of calls against the Kentucky big men inside. I am not taking away that this Kentucky team is the best shot blocking collegiate team ever, but their reputation has gotten its way into the heads of the referees. The majority of the time, Anthony Davis or Terrance Jones did get “all ball” up top, but there was a good deal of contact being made down low. These two are experts at the small tug/push on the hip when the guy jumps as to lower his elevation height, making it easier to block his shot. The abuse that Acy was taking inside was just a complete injustice.
At one point, the color-commentator said that Kentucky is amazing because they “play great defense without fouling.” The play-by-play guy literally had nothing to say back, wondering what we were all wondering watching the game: if the commentator was watching the same game. The facts are facts though: 32 Baylor fouls, 18 against Kentucky. The Wildcats were in the DOUBLE bonus with 12 minutes left in the second half putting an end t o any run that Baylor could make. Now would Baylor have won the game with fair officiating? I’m not sure, but they would have at least been given a fair shot.
2. Perry Jones III should be ashamed with his first half
PJIII’s first half: 1-5 shooting, 2 points, 3 rebounds and an ass-kicking from Anthony Davis. Jones would have been a top-3 pick last year if he had entered the NBA Draft but came back because he wanted to let his game mature to be number one. Well the guy who will be number one kicked his ass in the first half. Yeah, Jones finished with 17 points and 8 rebounds, but that should only have been more embarrassing that he no-showed the first half just like he no-showed the first three tournament games.
Davis started the game on Quincy Acy; that should tell you right there how far Jones has fallen that the opposing team stuck their best defender on the smaller, less of a prospect Acy. Nevertheless, Quincy Acy drew a quick foul on the Unibrow and rather than risk foul trouble Calipari moved Davis over to guard Perry Jones. From that point on, Davis did not pick up a foul until midway through the second half, and Jones did not score again until then either.
The lack of fouls on Davis shows how complacent and non-assertive Jones was playing. He would get the ball and as soon as Davis would put his hands in his face, Jones turned into Lebron James last year in the fourth quarter: hot potato. On defense, Anthony Davis and Terrance Jones repeatedly grabbed rebounds away from PJIII which led to a few grimaces his way from Quincy Acy.
Perry Jones has the talent to play significantly in the NBA. He could easily be LeMarcus Aldridge in the right situation with the right mindset, but from this game you can see that he can become timid against strong opposition. If Jones can become assertive with the ball in his hands as well as going after rebounds than he can regain the form that saw him projected as that top pick. If he can’t then he will be the 11th man off the bench only playing when the game is out of hand. Either way, he owes Acy and the rest of the Bears an apology for his play in the first half. Had he played as strongly in the first as he had in the second half, then the officiating might not have mattered, and the Bears could have pulled off the upset.
3. Draft stock of different players
It’s been an accepted truth since the beginning of the season that Anthony Davis and his unibrow will be the number one pick come June. However, through the NCAA Tournament thus far, I might have to take a closer examination on who should get that honor. I’m not taking away from the season that Davis has had, it’s been one of the more dominant defensive as well as all-around seasons a college basketball player has had in some time, but when it comes to the translation of his game to the NBA, I’m a little more critical now.
Davis has shown the best shot-blocking ability since Hakeem Olajuwon with the Phi Slamma Jamma Houston team in the early 1980’s. After watching him defend against other NBA-caliber big men though, I’m not so sure he will be able to have such a drastic effect on the pro game. His length is his greatest asset when blocking shots, but his body needs much improvement. Honestly, could you see him being able to bang inside with Dwight Howard or Nene? He was having a hard time handling the 6’7’’ Quincy Acy whenever he would get physical. His offensive game could use some polish as well. He has a good jumper and can handle it, but once again his post game relies on his length. Every big man in the NBA has length though, so he will have to work on his back to the basket game. Does he have the most potential of any draft eligible player? I would have to say yes. But there are also some Greg Oden and Kwame Brown-esque facets to his game that worry me.
When it comes to being NBA ready, I think Bradley Beal and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist are the top two. Kidd-Gilchrist gets completely overshadowed by Davis, but his athleticism and drive remind me a lot of Andre Iguodala, except Kidd-Gilchrist is a slightly better scorer. Beal on the other hand, has a silky smooth jumper that he can hit from anywhere beyond half court. I didn’t realize what a solid rebounder he is until watching him in the tournament. With the lack of solid true shooting guards under the age of 30 in the NBA right now, I think Beal might shoot to the top 5 at that position as a rookie. He has a high ceiling and could end up being a number one option on a contender.
The biggest impression I got over the weekend was the aforementioned Quincy Acy. His 22 points and 8 rebounds against the bigs of Kentucky showed that he is not afraid to take it to anyone and that he can elevate his level of play to the competition. He’s projected to be a late second round pick, but I’d take him much sooner. He has a muscular frame and plays much higher than his mid-6 foot height. I think he can be a rich-man’s DeJuan Blair on a contender or even in the mold of a more aggressive but smaller Brandon Bass/Glen Davis.
4. Absence of Kendall Marshall
I decided to leave my thoughts on Harrison Barnes to this observation, because I think we just saw how good Kendall Marshall really is as a point guard. Barnes had a slow start to his freshman season, but kicked it into high gear at the end of the year hitting numerous game winners and averaging over 20 points a game. This year he has kept his scoring average up as well as his shooting percentages and looked to be a top 3 pick come June. Then Kendall Marshall went down and we saw the Barnes of early last season. This brings up the question as to how much Marshall affects the way that Barnes is seen as a prospect.
I was high on Harrison Barnes ever since last year. He has an alpha-dog mentality, especially at the end of games, that you just cannot teach. However, without Marshall on the floor, Barnes’ weaknesses were paramount. He does not possess (or at least did not show it) the ability to create his own shot. This can be attributed to his slow first step, or lack of a back-to-the-basket game (although he did show some signs of this at the beginning of the second half, he just needs more confidence in it) but either way he was struggling without Marshall to set him up.
With Marshall in the lineup I’m still not sure that North Carolina wins the game outright, though. There was no one on the planet that could guard some of the shots Tyshawn Taylor was hitting, and it’s not like Marshall was going to outrebound Thomas Robinson or Jeff Withey. Stillman White wasn’t bad by any means: the guy had seven assists and zero turnovers. Now Marshall probably would have scored more than 4 points, but he’s not exactly a 20-point a night guy.
Either way, when it comes down to it, the Kendall Marshall injury probably helped decide the National Champion. I have had Kansas winning it all from the beginning, but they are far from the favorite with Kentucky looming. However, if North Carolina had beaten Kansas and gone to the Final Four with a healthy Kendall Marshall, I would have to given them the best odds at winning it all. They were an Anthony Davis block from beating Kentucky AT Rupp. Either way, the drama that a tournament can bring to determining the champion makes the recent BCS debacle look even worse.
5. The BCS Sucks
This has been one of the more mundane and boring tournaments with regards to buzzer beaters, but it is still (quoting my dawg Randy Jackson) a ZILLION times better than the BCS. I need to stop or this could go for another two-thousand words.
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