All-Access at the East Regional: HoopsHD does some Michigan State locker room interviews

Posted on March 31, 2019 by Jon Teitel

The NCAA tournament is about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The East Regional is taking place in Washington, DC this weekend and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is all over it and covering all of the angles so you can look forward to a cascade of coverage in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage by chatting with as many Michigan State players as possible as they prepare to face Duke in the Elite 8 tonight.

The day continued with Coach Tom Izzo and 3 of his veterans (Cassius Winston/Nick Ward/Matt McQuaid) on the podium. Izzo said that this has been a year where his players taught him more than he taught them, followed by the players each sharing a few tidbits. McQuaid said that Izzo is 1 of the most passionate people he has ever met, Ward admitted that Zion Williamson is extremely athletic but that all of the Spartan big men are excited to play against him, and Winston said that while he cried a lot as a kid and let his emotions get the best of him he eventually realized that nothing good ever came from it:

After the players left Izzo stuck around for some questions, and even gave a very long answer to an inquiry from little old HoopsHD:

Q: You have faced Coach K in the NCAA tournament for 2 decades dating back to the 1999 Final 4: how have your and/or his coaching styles changed over the past 20 years when you see each other over and over in March?
A: I do not like seeing him as much because we have not had as much success…but what I do is I have incredible respect for what he has done. I think any coach/any player/any person/any CEO that can consistently work at a level of excellence I am a fan of. I do not think we have changed that much. I do not think he has changed that much. He dipped into more of the 1-and-done style and has found a way, like a chameleon, he can just figure out a way to make it work for him and has done an excellent job of that. Maybe that is the only thing that has been very different is the number of 1-and-done players they had. We have a few, not as many, but he has maintained it since the late 1980s when I really started watching them and figuring out how they do things. From the Johnny Dawkins/Jay Bilas era and Grant Hill/Jay Williams and the guys we played in that first 1999 game. We were in a couple of Final Fours that they were in: sometimes we played them and sometimes we did not. You always keep an eye on the programs (I think everybody does this in life) that have been successful. You try to figure out how do they do it and then how do you beat them. I figured out a little bit about how they have done it but have not figured out as well how to beat them. I am still working on that, and that is why we are still a work in progress:

Earlier in the day Ward said that even though his left hand was sore there is nothing that would keep him off the court on Sunday. He had it on ice in the locker room, as you can see for yourself:

I wished FR SG Brock Washington a happy birthday when I saw him in the locker room. He said that making the Final 4 would be the best birthday gift ever, and that he hoped to spend part of his birthday evening with his parent and younger brother. Since Duke is on ESPN every night, he is well aware of how great a team they are, but the Spartans wanted to face them in the Elite 8 because to be the best you have to beat the best. They are focusing on the mission and know the scouting report inside and out. Without giving away the whole game plan, they will try to keep Zion Williamson from scoring inside by throwing different people at him:

My “Captain Obvious” question of the day to FR PG Jack Hoiberg was whether he had talked to his father Fred. He confirmed that his dad is taking the head coaching job at Nebraska, and that while he did not have too many details he was very excited about it. Part of me assumes that Jack will transfer to Lincoln to play for his father for the 1st time in his life, but he did not take the bait regarding his future plans and is just focused on getting to the Final 4. Michigan State beat Nebraska on the road in January but he was sick that day and did not make the trip. He has never been to their campus before but heard it is nice: his cousin goes to Nebraska and loves it there. His dad is planning to be in attendance on Sunday for the Duke game and then fly west since he will be introduced to the Nebraska media on Tuesday. He knows that Zion is super-talented but the team is definitely excited to face the best and see how they do. The plan is to contain Zion in transition and not give him any gaps to get to the rim as they try to keep him out of the paint. Everyone has dreamed of making the Final 4 since they were kids, and he is no different:

That’s all for now, check back later for continuing coverage.

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NCAA Tournament Review and Preview – Sunday, March 31

Posted on March 31, 2019 by John Stalica

For Jon Teitel’s locker-room coverage of the Duke Blue Devils – CLICK HERE

For Jon Teitel’s interview with Duke’s Director of Athletic Bands Jeff Au – CLICK HERE

Most of the games of the NCAA Tournament have felt more scripted than spontaneous this year, but that went out the window emphatically yesterday. The first game featured a nip-and-tuck game from Texas Tech and Gonzaga; strangely enough, the turning point occurred after Gonzaga was down 5 points with under a minute remaining and Texas Tech had the ball. Rather than commit a foul, the Bulldogs were able to steal the ball and hit a 3 in transition that cut the Red Raiders’ lead to two. After a timeout, Josh Perkins ended up making contact with the inbounder, which by definition resulted in a technical foul on Perkins. Tech hit both ensuing free throws, and added 2 more free throws the rest of the way en route to a 75-69 win over Gonzaga. It was only the fourth time Gonzaga was held under 70 points this year, and Texas Tech will make their Final Four debut in Minneapolis next Saturday.

The city of Louisville has been very kind to Virginia the past couple of seasons – there were already a couple of unlikely comebacks by Virginia against Louisville in back-to-back seasons, but their comeback against Purdue topped those two games by a country mile. Carsen Edwards hit a 3-point shot that put the Boilers up by 2 with under a minute remaining, and following a missed shot by Virginia, Purdue hit one of two free throws to extend their lead to 3. Purdue elected to foul Virginia before the Hoos could get off a potential game-tying 3, but Virginia hit the first free throw and missed the second intentionally. The ball was tipped back into the Virginia backcourt, but Kihei Clark was able to pass the ball to Mamadi Diakite inside the arc and Diakite hit a 15-footer as time expired to send the game into overtime. The Hoos outscored Purdue 10-5 in overtime; Carsen Edwards looked like he might try to tie the game singlehandedly on Purdue’s last possession (he had scored 42 points on the night), but his subsequent pass went out-of-bounds to end Purdue’s hopes. This will be Virginia’s third appearance in the Final Four and marks the second time that a father-son duo will both coach in the Final Four – John Thompson Jr. and John Thompson III pulled it off for Georgetown, and now Dick Bennett (Wisconsin) and Tony Bennett can be added to that rare list as well.

MIDWEST REGION

(5) AUBURN VS (2) KENTUCKY (2:20 PM, CBS) – As feared for Auburn, their leading scorer from Friday’s game (Chuma Okeke) tore his ACL and will be out for the remainder of the tournament for the Tigers. Nonetheless, they were coming off of a game where they hit a school-record 17 3-pointers in an NCAA Tournament game against North Carolina on Friday. They have now won 11 straight games, including the SEC Tournament Championship, since being embarrassed at Rupp Arena against UK back in February. The Wildcats survived with tough defense for the second game in a row; this time they took out Houston in the closing seconds as both PJ Washington and Tyler Herro made crucial plays to extend the Wildcats’ season.

EAST REGION

(2) MICHIGAN STATE VS (1) DUKE (approx. 5:05 PM, CBS) – The final game of the Elite 8 features a Final Four-caliber matchup with Michigan State and Duke going head-to-head. Duke has had a couple of narrow escapes against Central Florida and Virginia Tech; what was a surprise at game time on Friday was Cam Reddish being scratched from the lineup due to a pregame injury. He is also a game-time decision for the Blue Devils today. Michigan State continues to press on despite their own injuries throughout the year. They had a brief scare against Bradley in their tournament opener, but they were mostly dominant in their wins against Minnesota and LSU.

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All-Access at the East Regional: HoopsHD interviews Director of athletic bands at Duke Jeff Au

Posted on March 31, 2019 by Jon Teitel

The NCAA tournament is about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The East Regional is coming to Washington, DC this weekend and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is all over it and covering all of the angles so you can look forward to a cascade of coverage in the days ahead. Jon Teitel keeps it going by chatting with Director of athletic bands at Duke Jeff Au about the Duke-UNC rivalry and his prediction for tonight.

What is the atmosphere like at Duke during the NCAA tourney? I do not know because I have never been on campus during that time but I am sure they are excited.

What made you choose Duke for college? I actually went to Ohio/Notre Dame and then came here for the job. It is a very unique program full of people who want to be in the band for the joy of doing it: they are not just a bunch of music majors. It is all about being part of a group and entertaining athletic crowds.

What instrument do you play, and how did you 1st get into playing it? I play trumpet. My mom/brother play trumpet as well so I just wanted to be like them.

What kind of music does the band play at Duke home games, and will we see your group do anything extra-special for the Elite 8 tonight? We play all current music, not any Broadway shows/classic rock. The big song that gets the crowd going is “Everytime We Touch” by Cascada. It was immediately loved by the Cameron Crazies: you never know what song will catch on but that 1 did.

What do you think the role of a college band is today, and how much time/energy is involved? The role is to get the crowd engaged/excited for the game. We do not practice as much as most bands due to our academic requirements but we practice 4 hours/week in the fall (plus football Saturdays). Every band member has to play for ½ of the men’s and ½ of the women’s basketball games, which keeps us in practice.

How does the band decide who gets to go to DC, and what does it mean to you to see your group doing their thing in front of a national TV audience? We have a very elaborate point system based on attendance/seniority. There is also an ability test to see how well everyone plays and then we just go down the list of choices for different weekends during the tourney: it is a fair and equitable system. It is fun to see screenshots of the band: they enjoy having their friends get to see them on TV.

What has been your favorite moment so far this season: beating North Carolina, winning the ACC tourney, Senior Night, other? Beating North Carolina in the ACC tourney was pretty big because we lost to them twice during the regular season.

How do you describe the Duke-UNC rivalry to someone who has never seen it in person? I have been here 14 years and it is actually more intense than I expected…and probably more intense then it should be. It is pretty special to be a part of it: some people at Duke live and die by the rivalry so it is fun for the band just to be in the middle of it all during football/basketball games and see how much people are invested in it.

How is your blood pressure doing after back-to-back last-second wins over UCF/Virginia Tech? It has been really stressful the past couple of weeks but I am glad that things turned out our way. It has been fun/scary/exciting.

Any predictions for tonight? I think that we will be okay given our record against Michigan State in the tourney…but what I think has no bearing on what will happen.

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All-Access at the East Regional: HoopsHD does some Duke locker room interviews

Posted on March 30, 2019 by Jon Teitel

The NCAA tournament is about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The East Regional is taking place in Washington, DC this weekend and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is all over it and covering all of the angles so you can look forward to a cascade of coverage in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage by chatting with as many Duke players as possible as they prepare to face Michigan State in the Elite 8 on Sunday.

Game on:

The day began with Coach Mike Krzyzewski and 3 of his super-frosh (RJ Barrett/Zion Williamson/Tre Jones) on the podium. There was a LONG series of questions/answers with Coach K about the 1-and-done rule and then a few tidbits from the players:

Zion said he could not turn dow a chance to play for Coach K and that RJ has an incredible will to win, Tre said that he recalls watching Duke face Michigan State in the 2015 Final 4 (where his brother Tyus was named NCAA tourney MOP), and RJ talked about his relationship with his father:

A lot of discussion this season has been about the easygoing friendship between RJ and Zion.  Based on what I have seen/heard from them this weekend, they indeed seem to be very unselfish and care a lot about the other’s success.  Zion made a point of saying that even though RJ did not score a bunch of points in the 1st half of the Virginia Tech game he did have 7 AST, which translated to 7 Duke baskets and was crucial to their victory:

Coach K said that Cam Reddish would be a game-time decision tomorrow and that he would not be doing anything physical today. He confirmed that it was a knee problem but that it was not structural:

I can recognize a perfect segue when I see 1 so I headed directly to the Duke locker room to see what Cam could share about his knee. He said that he tweaked it earlier this month vs. North Carolina but that he wants to play so bad that he is getting an “unbelievable amount of treatment” on it. He was worried about letting his team down vs. Virginia Tech but Zion came over to him and said “we got you”, which the team did by playing super-hard/super-together. His knee is still a bit swollen/stiff but he hopes to be ready to go tomorrow because the Spartans have top-notch guys both inside and outside and an intense coach in Tom Izzo who is “1 of the best out there”. He is trying to be smart about it and not take too many risks, but take a look at his knee and see for yourself:

Duke beat Michigan State 88-81 in November of 2017: the teams combined to make 18 threes but SO PG Jordan Goldwire is the only person on either team who will likely play in Sunday’s rematch (Grayson Allen/Gary Trent/Miles Bridges/Jaren Jackson are in the NBA and Joshua Langford is injured). Jordan said that what he recalls from last year’s game is that the Spartans are very well-coached and crash the glass hard…but that it is a whole new year with mostly new rosters. He knows his team has confidence in Tre’s 3-PT shooting and that after Tre saw a couple go in against the Hokies on Friday he began to have confidence in himself. As far as RJ’s career-high 11 AST in that game, RJ is a capable passer because he knows that opponents will clog the lane to try to stop his great driving ability. He admits it will take a team effort to stop Cassius Winston because he makes his team’s entire offense go. Making the Final 4 would mean a lot: they have been working toward that all year so it would be amazing:

It is always nice to be wanted, but it can get a bit much.  The team can barely get a moment to themselves because they attract a crowd even while simply walking down the hallway:

That’s all for now, check back later for continuing coverage.

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News, Notes and Highlighted Games – Saturday, March 30

Posted on March 30, 2019 by John Stalica

Last night in the NCAA Tournament, four more tickets were punched to the Elite 8 – in some respects, last night did mirror the NCAA Tournament as a whole. There were a few exciting games, but for the most part the higher seeded teams advanced. Michigan State got out to a comfortable lead at halftime that LSU would cut to 4 thanks to a 13-5 run by the Tigers to start the 2nd half. Michigan State countered with an 11-0 run and the Tigers would get no closer than 9 points the rest of the way. The Spartans ended up winning 80-63 thanks to 20 points and 8 rebounds from Aaron Henry along with 17 points and 8 assists from Cassius Winston.

Duke trailed by 5 points at halftime, but gradually took control in the 2nd half thanks to 23 points from Zion Williamson and 22 points from Tyus Jones. Virginia Tech had their chances to win in the closing seconds – first they missed a potential go-ahead 3-point shot, then after a Duke miss from the free throw line, the Hokies missed their final two shots that included a tough fadeaway shot from right under the hoop with 0.6 seconds remaining on the clock.

In the Midwest region, Auburn continued their hot-shooting ways and took what was a 1-point lead at halftime and blew the game open in the 2nd half with 56 points in the half. They hit a program-record 17 3-point shots, but they were dealt a serious blow when the game’s leading scorer Chuma Okeke left with what appeared to be a serious knee injury midway through the 2nd half. Nonetheless, Auburn advanced to their first Elite 8 since 1986 with a 97-80 victory against the Tar Heels.

The nightcap did indeed feature a defensive struggle between Kentucky and Houston in the first 36 minutes of the game, but the Cougars were able to take a 58-55 lead with under a minute remaining in the game. Tyler Herro hit a 3-point shot (following a blocked shot by PJ Washington) to put the Wildcats up for good and they salted the game away from the free throw line en route to a 62-58 win.

Outside of the NCAA Tournament, there was one game played in the CIT – Green Bay advanced to the semifinal round with an 80-65 victory against Cal State-Bakersfield. The semifinal matchups are set for next Tuesday; Hampton will play at Marshall in the first game and Texas Southern will play at Green Bay in the second game.

There was one head coaching vacancy filled yesterday – Mark Fox was named as the new head coach at California. Fox has made the NCAA Tournament five times in his previous 2 head coaching stops – three times at Nevada (including a pair of trips to the Round of 32) and twice at Georgia.

UPDATE (12:30 PM) – One of the worst-kept secrets is about to become official early next week – Fred Hoiberg is now expected to be named the next head coach at Nebraska. He is also expected to add Matt Abdelmassih to his coaching staff – Abdelmassih was pivotal as a recruiter at Iowa State and most recently was able to recruit guys like Shamorie Ponds to St. John’s.

WEST REGION

(3) TEXAS TECH VS (1) GONZAGA (6:09 PM, TBS) – Gonzaga will be looking to advance to the Final Four for the second time in three seasons with a victory today. They blew open a close game against Florida State in the final three minutes. Texas Tech held Michigan to a season-low 44 points in their victory Thursday night; they will be looking to advance at least a step further than last season in which they lost to eventual national champion Villanova in the Elite 8.

SOUTH REGION

(3) PURDUE VS (1) VIRGINIA (approx. 8:49 PM, TBS) – At least one Final Four drought will be snapped when both teams meet tonight; Purdue has not made it that far since 1980 while Virginia has not advanced to one since 1984. Virginia was able to survive a couple of scoring droughts in their victory against Oregon on Thursday night. Purdue got out to a 17-point lead early in the 2nd half in their game against Tennessee, but were able to overcome poor foul shooting and a late Vols run and ended up surviving in overtime to advance.

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All-Access at the East Regional: HoopsHD does some Virginia Tech locker room interviews

Posted on March 29, 2019 by Jon Teitel

The NCAA tournament is about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The East Regional is taking place in Washington, DC this weekend and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is all over it and covering all of the angles so you can look forward to a cascade of coverage in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage by chatting with as many Virginia Tech players as possible after they finished practice.

Let’s do this:

The biggest off-court question was whether SR SG/SF Ty Outlaw would be allowed back onto the court after a marijuana possession charge. He was not around to answer any questions so this was all there was to see:

If you ever thought that the Hokies would run out of storage space, think again. I think even I could fit into this bag with plenty of room to spare:

You know it is a big game when everyone’s favorite hand-shaker is in the house. Let’s all give a hand to…Jimmy Patsos!:

SR PG Justin Robinson is finally healthy after missing 12 games due to a left foot injury but was busy at the press conference rather than sitting by his locker:

FR SG Jonathan Kabongo (born in Toronto) said that the Canadian basketball scene is blossoming and turning into a hotbed. His brother Myck (who played basketball at Texas) never made it out of the 1st round of the NCAA tourney but has told him to soak it all in. While understanding that Zion Williamson is great, he says there are ways to stop him if they just trust themselves: it is not like Duke is undefeated so they cannot get caught up in all the hoopla. He said that it is crazy on campus and everyone is proud of the team because they have not advanced this far in a long time. RJ Barrett played with/against him in the past when they were both growing up in Canada: he could not have imagined when they were 12-year olds that they would be squaring off in the NCAA tourney! He said that the Ty Outlaw situation was not a distraction: they have been able to handle injuries and other things all year that other people used to try to bring them down:

The winner of the name game is FR SG Brendan Palmer’s mother, whose name is…Jackie Robinson! The team learned a lot about Duke’s personnel from their 1st meeting last month: they have good shot-blockers and a lot of fast/athletic players. He admits that Zion is definitely a good player who can attack the basket. The whole campus is behind the team and Ty’s situation will not distract them. They are moving past it and the coaches will keep them on track:

Both of JR PF Kerry Blackshear Jr.’s parents played basketball at Stetson (where his father Kerry Sr. remains the all-time leading scorer in school history): while Stetson has been really good to his family he came to Blacksburg because he wanted to make his own mark. They have made it this far by playing through each other: all 16 teams who are left in the tourney are elite. While he had a double-double in a win over Duke last month, his confidence does not come from 1 game but rather from his teammates/staff. He won an AAU national title in high school but admitted that it was a LONG long time ago: there are always other great players out there since it is a big world but the key is to give it all of your time/energy because anyone can lose on any given night. It will take a team effort to stop each of Duke’s stars, including 3 potential top-5 picks in the NBA draft as well as a great PG: they just need to stay locked into their identity. Since he is a graduate student who is taking online classes he is not on campus every day but everyone he has seen this week and been saying hi and wishing him congrats:

That’s all for now, check back later for continuing coverage.

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