Chuck Norris' Mid-Tournament Notes

I'd vote for him. March 10th, in addition to being host to some (hopefully) great games, is also the birthday to the one and only Charles Ray Norris, who turned 72 a few minutes ago. That is insanely old for a guy that could still take on the world and expect to win, but do we really expect any less from the man that lost his virginity before his dad did? The only guy who could hope to stand toe-to-toe is Bill Brasky, and he had a four-day long heart attack (one for each chamber of his heart).  So hopefully, in the spirit of Mr. Norris, let's hope Cal's squad comes out of the gate with a fighting attitude, instead of waiting to get punched in the mouth before they start playing basketball the way they know how to do. -As far as our Cats go, well, today was the best of times, and it was the worst of times... Obviously, the game against LSU didn’t always look how we wanted it to. The frontcourt trio of Davis, Jones, & MKG showed up and had monster games. The “shooters”, however, struggled mightily, with only Doron Lamb breaking double-digits on 4-7 shooting. The other three “contributors” (Miller, Teague, and Wiltjer) didn’t have a single made field goal between them. One has to expect that they’ll come out strong tomorrow, because they sure didn’t today. However, it’s over and in the books, and we move on to the next game against Florida. One thing is proving more and more true, though, and that’s how likable Trent Johnson is. After a tough loss that may have ended his season, Johnson was very respectful, if not laudatory, toward our Cats: “I thought we competed as hard and as good as we have all year. ... But let's give credit to them, that's not a good basketball team that beat us, that's a great basketball team." I don’t enjoy seeing him lose like I would, say, Jim Calhoun, so best of luck Coach; we hope you have a few more games this season. -While we're talking about Florida, their quarter-final game wasn’t anymore fun than ours was. They made twenty field goals through both halves; ten of those were threes. If they get hot, it could be trouble, and we’ve heard all day (or at least I have) about how difficult it is to beat a team three times in a season. However, I’m happier to have Florida than the Tide. Alabama’s physical play would be too similar to LSU’s, and that kind of thing is tough to counter on two consecutive days. All the same, if today’s game was played in the paint, tomorrow’s will be handled out on the wings. Our guards will have to step up defensively and close out their three point shooters or we could be in for a long day.  I'm not convinced Patric Young can swing another great performance like a couple weeks ago, so let's hope -Well, Louisville got to the Big East championship game after beating Notre Dame. Actually, they didn’t just beat Notre Dame, they demolished Notre Dame. I know that probably doesn’t make you happy, but just think of it as SoS. Also, they have to spend another game in those terrible adidas jerseys. Might as well be this... -Speaking of terrible adidas jerseys, if you missed the Syracuse/Cincinnati game, well you probably had better things to do on a Friday night. I didn’t, so I got to see the entire second half of the Big East thriller, wherein the only “threat” to UK’s certainty for the top overall seed was KO’d 71-68. I don’t encourage any Kentucky team losing, but at this point, with both Kansas and Syracuse dropping out, you have to think that there’s no way UK can’t get THE #1 seed even if they drop tomorrow’s game against UF. Do I think that should affect their play? Of course not. Just the opposite, in fact: all the pressure should now be off for the remainder of the SEC tournament.  Just go out and play, boys, and try to have some fun while you’re at it. -Vandy is up on UGA by four, and I can't motivate myself to stay awake any longer.  Mark Fox and I are the same in that way. Well, we're quickly closing in on Selection Sunday, where hopefully there won't be any surprises.  But that doesn't mean that today isn't going to be important, with pride and a conference tournament championship on the line.  Stick around through it all, as we get updates from NOLA from those lucky enough to be down there, and watch Anthony Davis solidify his Player of the Year status now that Thomas Robinson's out until the round of 64.