“I Got A Basketball Jones” Open Thread

May as well add another addiction to the pile. Is “Jones” or “Jones-ing” even used  any more as a euphemism? Back in the day you could have knocked me over with a feather when someone explained to me that, “Me and Mrs. Jones” was about a guy and his heroin habit.

Back in my bartending days I would have to work doubles all the time so I would set my VCR(!) and record the games, go home at 11pm and then watch everything on tape, go to bed at 5am, wake up and do it all over again. I was made of stronger stuff back then.

I’ve not watched much ball this year so I’ll list the tilts on tap and give you bad info regarding one or both teams.

To The Games!

#11 VCU/#6 UNC:

Herbert Davis doesn’t strike me as that good a coach-he’s a middling talent, just as he was as a player in the pros. But he gets A+ and that covers up deficiencies quite a bit. VCU was 16-1 to close out the season and wasn’t seriously challenged in their conference tourney. Phil Martelli didn’t get a head coaching job until he hit his 40’s and he doesn’t have a losing season-he’s going places, hopefully to the next round.

#16 Howard/#1 Michigan:

Them Wolverines made the Big Whatever look like the garbage conference that it is-romping thru the sked as though they were in the MEAC. Sorry, Howard.

#11 Texas/#6 BYU:

I’m always suspicious of west-ish coast teams because they always collapse when the rubber hits the road and BYU fits that bill for me. I’d be amazed if they blew out Texas.

#10 Texas A&M/#7 Saint Mary’s:

Saint Mary’s has a shit ton of blow-out wins to their name this year. Like, a lot! They also split with Gonzaga and lost to Santa Clara twice by single digits. ColoUr me intrigued.

#14 Penn/#3 Illinois:

The Big Whatever sucks and Penn closed the season on a 10-1 run. Give me that sweet, sweet upset.

#9 Saint Louis/#8 Georgia:

Kinda worried about this 9 seed-they piled up a ton of wins in the early/middle of the sked and finished 3-3. Their leading scorer gets buckets at a 13 point rate so they have no go-to guy. This looks like a romp for Georgia.

#14/Kennesaw State/#3 Gonzaga:

What/Who/Where is a Kennesaw? Was it an implement used to cut down Redwood trees in the 19th century? Let me know in the comments. Them Zags will choke in the next round, not this one.

#15 Idaho/#2 Houston:

I’d think that the #2 seed just has to score about 50 points to win this one.

Enjoy the games monkeys!