Kudos to Brad Greenberg and the Radford Highlanders for
winning the Big South tourney and gaining an automatic bid
to the NCAA field. In only his second season at the helm,
Greenberg has led the Highlanders from a 10-20 mark in
2007-08 to a 21-11 record, after defeating VMI for the
second time in two weeks. Defeating VMI’s warp speed style
of play is no small feat, as many teams wear down late in
the game against the Keydets. VMI had no answer for
Radford’s 6’11 junior Artsiom Parakhouski , who went for
26 and 18 in Radford’s 108-94 win.
Close call for American
Top seeded American University looks to make it two
straight trips to the NCAA tourney, after surviving a
Patriot League semifinal matchup against Army, 61-60.
American advances to the Patriot League final on Friday,
hosting second seeded Holy Cross. The Eagles will be tough
to beat, as they have won 12 in a row and amassed a 12-1
mark at AU’s Bender Arena this season.
Working overtime
America East top seed Vermont entered tourney play, having
won 14 of 15 games. Vermont was upset by #7 seed Albany
56-52 in overtime. Last year’s conference champ, sixth
seeded UMBC subsequently upset #3 Boston University 79-75,
also in overtime. Next, UMBC, by virtue of the first round
upset faced #7 Albany instead of the expected matchup with
the top seed Catamounts of Vermont. UMBC defeated Albany
64-58 behind Jay Greene’s 29 points and 6 assists to
advance to Saturday’s championship game against top seeded
Binghamton.
Larranaga’s Patriots in familiar territory
George Mason advanced to its third consecutive CAA
championship game against #1 seed VCU. Everyone knows what
the Patriots accomplished in 2005-06 with their magical
tourney run to the Final Four. Larranaga gets it done year
in and year out. Beginning with that 2005-06 season, the
Patriots have amassed a 90-43 record, a .676 winning
percentage.
It’s the effort that counts
There is an old saying in sports, “Winning isn’t
everything, but the effort to win is.” This time of year
brings out great effort, with so much riding on each game.
Nothing is better than watching great players play with
great effort. Sunday’s matchup between Duke and UNC
displayed two players who personify effort. Tyler
Hansbrough and Greg Paulus play as hard as anybody.
Hansbrough’s effort was on much greater display on Sunday
as he scored 17 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in 33
minutes. Paulus situation is markedly different than
Hansbrough’s. Paulus played only 6 minutes for the Blue
Devils, but you could never tell by watching him that he
has gone from being a starting point guard and captain for
one of the top programs in the country to a reserve,
playing significantly fewer minutes. His effort has not
changed. Blake Griffin is another who demonstrates maximum
effort at all times. In a year in which he will garner
many Player of the Year accolades, perhaps the lasting
image of him is his reckless dive over the scoretable for
a loose ball in his first game back from a concussion. How
refreshing it is that two of the best players in the
country in Hansbrough and Griffin play with maximum effort
at all times.
Brian Doyle is an Assistant Principal and Associate Head
Coach at Centreville High School in Clifton, Virginia. Prior to
becoming Assistant Principal, Doyle was a high school head coach
for thirteen years. Brian also serves as member of the voting
panel for the prestigious Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year
Award.
