Belmont head coach Rick Byrd took all the blame for losing to Duke

THE NCAA TOURNAMENT- DAY 1

March 21, 2008

OH SO CLOSE

Rick Byrd has led Belmont to three straight NCAA Tournament apperances.

Following Belmont’s loss to Duke, head coach Rick Byrd took all the blame. He talked about thinking all of his life about that situation and what play he would run. When Alex Renfroe, who broke down the Duke defense all night long, tried to put them blame on himself for throwing the errant pass it was Byrd who quickly dismissed that idea. Once again taking all the credit for the loss.

In an era when self-promotion is the norm, Byrd has always been anything but. Some guys say they don’t want any attention and guys like Rick Byrd mean it. Yet there he was trying to get all the attention, putting everything on himself. He made it clear that he should have made another call in that situation.

Byrd will downplay it, but the fact the remains that it was his preparation and his in-game coaching that gave Belmont a shot to be a permanent part of CBS’s March Madness promo reel. How many times did Byrd’s offense dissect that vaunted Duke defense?

What’s funny is that had that play resulted in a tip-in for the win, Byrd would have given all the credit to Renfroe for throwing the pass and Shane Dansby for scoring. There is no doubt that his play-call will stay with him for a long time. It’s not about what he could have done differently to cement his place in NCAA tournament lore, but rather the fact that he will think he let his players down.

Three straight trips to the NCAA and he is still the same mild mannered guy who thought his program would have success when it joined the division I ranks just a decade ago. Another constant has been his ability to coach. It just took a near-upset of Duke for everyone to realize that he is an outstanding coach. It’s always been about the program and that’s why it took so long for people to realize his abilities as a coach.

He’s just a guy that coaches and a guy that loves the kids he coaches. He keeps everything in perspective.

I joked with Byrd after the brackets were unveiled, noting that two years ago he drew UCLA and last year he drew Georgetown. I asked him who on the selection committee doesn’t like him? He laughed and replied, “At least we aren’t playing the Houston Rockets.”

AROUND THE REGIONS

Let’s go back to Duke. The Blue Devils have trouble with quick guards. Renfroe took his man off the dribble, time and time again. Watching the game one coach said, “They can’t guard anybody.” West Virginia doesn’t have guards that will explode off the dribble. It will be interesting to see how Joe Alexander bounces back from two sub-par efforts in his last two games. Give credit to Georgetown (Big East Semis) and Arizona for having something to do with that, but he must have a better game for the Mountaineers to advance.
Even though Kevin O’Neill roamed the sidelines all season it was still strange to see Arizona in the NCAA Tournament without Lute Olson and the blue blazer. He will return next season to a team with the talent for a deep run in March 2009. Will freshman Jerryd Bayless return?
When your teammate is Michael Beasley it’s likely you won’t get a lot of headlines, but it was K-State’s “other” freshmen that stole the show against USC. Ron Anderson, Jacob Pullen, Dominique Sutton and Bill Walker aren’t household names, but they give K-State fans a lot hope for the next few years. Redshirt freshmen Walker, who had 22 points, would certainly get a lot more ink if only he didn’t play alongside Beasley.
Cornell is a very good basketball team. They looked pretty average against Stanford. Trent Johnson’s team can guard. They had two epic battles this season with UCLA and they brought that intensity into the NCAA tournament. Don’t be fooled, Cornell is not your typical stationary shooting team. They have some athletes and they can play, but they were simply smothered by the Cardinal. Defensive intensity will be the catch phrase when Stanford faces Marquette on Saturday.
Kent State and Winthrop had outstanding seasons. Unfortunately they each struggled through two of the worst halves in recent memory. Kent State scored just 10 points in the first half of its lost to UNLV. That was the lowest first-half total since the advent of the shot-clock. At halftime I remarked that it was ugly. One coach replied, “Ugly is too pretty to describe that performance.” Winthrop scored 11 points in the second half of its loss to Washington State. That game was tied after twenty minutes, but the Cougars outscored the Eagles 42-11 in the second half.
Do you think UCLA is focused on a third straight trip to the Final Four? The Bruins limited Mississippi Valley State to 29 points for the game. It was the lowest point total in the tournament since 1946. UCLA held them under 20% shooting from the field. After the game MVSU head coach James Green said, “It feels like we coached and played in the NBA for a game.”
Kentucky was knocked out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1987. Normally that’s unacceptable in Lexington, but this wasn’t a normal season. Early season home losses to Gardner Webb and San Diego had many worried about getting an NIT invite. Head coach Billy Gillispie and his staff deserves a lot of credit for staying the course, tweaking a few things and never accepting anything less than a 100% effort. And the players also deserve credit for putting forth that effort. It may not seem like it, but it was a great season for Kentucky basketball.

Joe Dwyer is a editor-in-chief writer for collegeinsider.com. EMAIL JOE