My Dinos are a few weeks into their regular season though I have not as yet made a game (two this weekend, though). It's cold and snowy in Calgary. Not in Maui, which among other things is the home to one of the premier pre-season NCAA basketball tournaments, the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
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| 2,400 seats. 30% smaller than Calgary's gym, similar to Groningen |
I don't follow the NCAA, but catch good basketball when I can, and so I asked my NCAA following friends and went to two tournament games.
First up: Michigan vs Memphis, both top 25 ranked teams.
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| #1 Jackson fires a long one for Memphis |
Michigan took Memphis fairly easily by killing them in the transition game. Head to head, it was pretty even, but when Michigan went fast, Memphis couldn't get organized. Final 73-61. Tim Hardaway Jr. was a standout for Michigan (His dad was in the crowd; he played for Golden State, Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets and the Indiana Pacers, and was the 2nd fastest player in NBA history to make 5,000 points).
Next: Duke vs Tennessee.
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| Tipoff |
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| Tennessee's #34 Maymon & #0 Makanjuola rebound |
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| Two Plumlees play for Duke, brothers #5 Mason & #21 Myles |
Duke had their hands full with Tennessee, but won in the end. Tennessee stayed with them or led the whole first half, and had Tennessee's shooting been better in the first half they would have taken it in a walk. But the first half shots didn't fall, and Duke finally won by 10, 77-67. Duke's Austin Rivers (son of NBA coach Doc Rivers of the Boston Celtics) was a player to watch. He doesn't pass it off enough, but he's got a great outside shot and a constant willingness to drive to the net. Mason Plumlee plays just like Ross Bekkering, who used to play for Calgary but now plays in Holland (or he would it he were not injured).
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| #0 Rivers with Mason Plumlee & #34 Kelly |
But an absolute highlight for me was seeing Coach K. of Duke, as of last week the winningest coach in NCAA history with now 904 victories.
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| Mike Krzyzewski |
The man is a legend.
1 comment:
That must have been a nice experience! Saw a stream of the Duke game and I mist say, I wasn't overly impressed with Rivers. Just look at hiss eff. rating, very low shooting percentages as well. Overall a well deserved win against a well coached Tennesee team. That is on the upswing after some misserable times with misbehaving players.
Eventhough you weren't all to optimistic with regards to the Dino's this yr, They are not too bad thusfar.
Enjoy the rest of your stay!
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