All Points Bulletin
Paging all high school senior basketball players who have still yet to commit to a college program; a mid major (ish) Midwestern commuter university is seeking a shooter as well as an athletic big man with some offensive skills. Willingness to play defense or the ability to do the same is not required. Those tools will be provided when you get here.
You'll have the opportunity to contribute immediately to a program that is just a couple pieces away from establishing itself as a perennial contender for an NCAA tournament berth. In fact, you may have had the opportunity to watch us destroy Wake Forest this past Friday in the first round of the NCAA tournament before falling to Arizona on Sunday. Yes, that's the same Wake Forest that was ranked #1 in the country for a time this season and the same Wake Forest team from the ACC that beat North Carolina and Duke earlier in the season.
If interested, send inquiries and game tapes to Cleveland State University, care of men's head basketball coach Gary Waters.
The Cleveland State ride in the NCAA tournament didn't last long enough but it was spectacular for a brief time. On Friday night in Miami those tuning in to watch CSU play Wake Forest in an opening round game would have been hard pressed to tell you who the #4 seed and who the #13 seed was coming in. So complete was the Viking domination over the Demon Deacons that by game's end there was drama and no excessive celebration on the part of Cleveland State. A 9-0 start set the tone and Wake Forest never got it closer than six or seven points the rest of the night.
Cleveland State simply dominated the bigger, more talented Wake Forest squad.
The thrilling ride that started nearly two weeks ago with a Horizon League tournament championship over Butler (on the Bulldog's home court no less) came to a sudden and disappointing end on Sunday afternoon. And it came due to, in large part, the Vikings going ice cold from behind the three point arc where they were just 3 of 23 on the day. In a game that saw CSU down just four points with about 8 minutes remaining the Vikings would have been in control and likely advancing to their second Sweet 16 in 23 years had they just been merely abysmal from behind the arc.
Still, the NCAA tournament bid and the Wake Forest win was validation for Coach Gary Waters and his program. It put the program squarely back on the map and drew a ton of media attention that can't help but assist in the recruiting department.
Not to mention it was a hell of a lot of fun to watch this past weekend.
Etcetera
- Nowhere near as much drama and theatrics in the Thursday/Saturday brackets. With the exception of the Gonzaga win and a couple relatively close games the drama was basically reserved for Friday night and Sunday afternoon. The CSU upset came at about the time Ohio State was fighting a losing double overtime battle to Siena. That was an 8-9 game so it was hardly an upset but it was disappointing nonetheless. Most disappointing was that Siena didn't play exceptionally well and still got the ‘W'. They actually played a better ballgame Sunday afternoon in falling to overall #1 seed Louisville.
- Rolling. That's what the Cavaliers are doing while the NCAA tournament moves on. A Thursday win against Portland in OT, a relatively easy win over Atlanta at home Saturday and another relatively easy win in New Jersey on Sunday evening gives the Cavs nine straight wins and a 57-13 overall record. That's good enough for the overall #1 seed in the NBA right now which would mean home court advantage through the playoffs.
- Pardon the pun, but Donte Stallworth strikes me as emblematic of the Browns organization. Disappointing if not downright terrible on the field, seemingly without any care whatsoever as to that ineffectiveness and now it comes out that he was legally over the limit when he struck and killed a pedestrian at roughly 7am in Miami.
- Just over two weeks until the Tribe gets it started for real in Texas on Monday, April 6. It's been a slow spring as far as news out of Tribe camp goes. And typically the only real stories are negative because that's all the news that actually can come out of spring training.
Still, as we talked about last week, the tournament is just great theater and it also really kicks off the spring in fine fashion. There is nothing better than pulling up a sofa and being absorbed into the fabric while watching the games unfold knowing baseball is warming up on deck.
That's all that matters folks. I'm tired of hearing folks tell me the Cavs need to ‘show them something' with a win at home over the Celtics or a win on the road against Orlando. Seriously, what the hell does that show you that 63-65 wins does not?
Shake yourselves. This team has proven over the past couple seasons that they can win meaningful games at ‘The Q' against Boston and Orlando is a year or two and a player two away from seriously contending in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Yes, those two wins would be nice. But only in the framework that they would further strengthen the Cavs grip on that overall first seed.
Like the Browns, Stallworth butchered his chance at some public relations empathy with an emotionless statement that showed precious little remorse. Instead Stallworth's reps stated that the receiver was back in Cleveland working out with the team and awaiting further word on any criminal charges that may require him to surrender to authorities.
My thoughts? My thoughts are that Stallworth is here covering his ass and not because of some undying love for the Browns, football or in trying to restore some normalcy to his life. He's here because of a huge roster bonus he's protecting now that the crap has hit the fan.
Clearly Stallworth will get his day in court. He's guilty of nothing yet other than being a huge disappointment both on and off the field.
Travis Hafner has hit a snag in his recovery from off season shoulder surgery. That's about all he's hit as scouts say the Tribe DH is still really slow with the bat. The other news is that Adam Miller may be facing season ending (and potentially career ending) finger surgery if the digit doesn't respond to some last gasp rehabilitation.
The Indians need to be of the mindset that these two guys are done. Counting on either would be foolish and the Indians have to know they need solid options that don't include either Hafner or Miller.
Move on Mark Shapiro. Find and/or develop the next Hafner. Anything you get from these two guys is gravy.