March Madness Will Showcase Hidden Gems

Fourteen days into the month of March and the buzz is definitely in the air as we get closer to the most exciting tournament in the world. It's so exciting that even this weekends selection show that will determine the "at large" teams that will be part of the field of 64 is a must watch for me

On Thursday, March 20th the madness itself will officially begin. Most of these college players will be playing for the their respective teams; with a single goal of winning their games and advancing to the Final Four. A small fraction of these college players will be playing for an opportunity to be noticed by NBA scouts. This is the part of this tournament that I am very excited about (just as much as I get excited about the almost daily buzzer beaters and "sportacular" plays).

Tyler Hansbrough. Michael Beasley. Kevin Love. OJ Mayo. Chris Douglas-Roberts. These five guys are practically household names in basketball circles. (You'd have to be living on an undiscovered planet if you said you've never heard of them). They are just a few of the players that scouts and fans already have on their radar.

Then there are the not-so-well-known players. NBA scouts are paid to know about them but most fans (including myself) will be finding out who they are as the tournament rolls on. They are the players that will play on a much higher level than what their natural skill set presents. They are the players that will increase their NBA draft stock into the first round or just to be drafted. It's these kinds of players that truly makes the tournament that much more exciting.

Here's a list of five guys that I will be paying special attention to during the tournament.

• Stephen Curry - Guard, Davidson (25ppg & 5rpg)
  
• Jerryd Bayless - Guard, Arizona (20ppg & 4apg)
  
• Shan Foster - Guard/Forward, Vanderbilt (21ppg & 5rpg)
  
• Luke Harangody - Forward, Notre Dame (21ppg & 10rpg)
  
• Gary Forbes - Guard/Forward, Massachusetts (20ppg & 8rpg)
  

There will be a plethora of talented college players on display during March Madness. The players mentioned in this blog are just a tip of the iceberg.

Sportaculary yours,

The Vicarious Athlete

Boring Fundamentals and No Flashy Substance?

They hardly blow other teams out.

They are currently on a 10 game winning streak in which their average margin of victory is by 10 points.

They are constantly called a boring team. People say there is nothing flashy about their style of play because they don't have guys that can jump out of the gym and give poster worthy facials. They don't have a fancy dribbler that pounds the ball on the hardwood for 15 out of the 24 seconds on the shot clock, trying to set up a cross over or show off his one on one skills.

C'mon people. You should know what team I am talking about here. In case you are still wondering. Here's another clue for you:

They have won four out of the last 9 NBA championships.

Yeah! That's right. It's the San Antonio Spurs.

Ever since I could remember, I have been hearing guys complain that it would be boring to watch the Spurs in the playoffs and especially in the NBA Finals. I always wondered what was boring about playing the game the right way.

Setting solid screens. Pick and rolls/pops that resulted in easy buckets. Feeding the post and spreading the floor. Dribble drives and kick-outs that resulted in wide open shoots. Playing fundamentally sound man to man or zone defence. Realizing that in the last 3 minutes of every close game, teams should be focused on driving to the basket with the goal of drawing fouls and getting to the line. These are things that a lot of teams do in the league but no team does it as well as the Spurs.

The Spurs have a very good chance to repeat as champions this year but I won't go out on a limb and predict that they will definitely do this. Especially with the way the west is stacked this year, any team could get hot and go far. Look at the surprise job the Golden State Warriors did on the Dallas Mavericks last year. The warriors had the players and the right kind of system to upset the Mavs. If the playoffs were to start today, the Spurs will be playing against those same Warriors. Quite frankly, they just might be able to pull off another upset.

I don't think that will be the case this time though. The Spurs play good enough defence that will disrupt the "chaotic-style" offence that the Warriors like to run. Tim Duncan definitely will not have the bewildered look that Dirk Nowitztki had when he was surrounded by smaller and very feisty guards on defence. Then there is Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and the rest of the fundamentally sound Spurs squad. They will be in the right place and make the right plays to get the job done.

Here's my punctuation point for this blog. I like watching the Spurs play and love it when they win. This is contrary to the thinking of guys in my generation. Guys that grew up during the Jordan era and prefer to watch teams with ultra athletic guards play up to their superstar roles. I myself love to watch these types of teams and players with the run and gun styles. I love the highlight dunks, the killer cross-overs and the fast breaks. I truly do. But I also really find it amusing and very entertaining when the game is slowed down and the right plays are called and executed to near perfection.

Who says that there is no flash in substance and fundamentals. The San Antonio Spurs have proven that there is. They have four "flashy" championship rings and could very well add another this year. Nothing boring about that.

Sportacularly yours,

The Vicarious Athlete

The Toronto Raptors have a condition called MTDS: Mental Toughness Deficiency Syndrome

On Friday, February 29th the Toronto Raptors hosted the Indiana Pacers at the Air Canada Centre. The outcome of the game was a 122 -111 victory for the visiting Pacers.

I could have blogged about this game the very next day (March 1st) but I was too hurt by the way the Raptors played. I guess you can figure that they are my favorite team based on the fact that I was really bothered by this loss. I live in the city and I am crazy about this team. Crazy enough to get bummed out for a couple of days before I could even blog on it.

It would be unreasonable and naive of me to expect nothing but victories from the Raps. But it is not out of the question to expect them to beat or at least look competent on defense against a team like the Pacers. I sat in the comfort of my living room and watched in horror as............wait for it......TRAVIS DIENER. Yes! Travis Diener the former Marquette player with the tiny frame but extremely big heart, break down the Raps defense over and over again to assist Mike Dunleavy on his way to 36 points on 11 of 16 shooting. Diener ended up with 10 points and 10 assist (his assist totals would have been higher if he only passed to Dunleavy). Dunleavy was not the only recipient of Dieners penetration and kick outs. Kareem Rush was also able to shoot freely from beyond the arc. He connected on 4 out of 10 from long range. Dunleavy himself was 6 out of 9 from beyond the arc.

Alright, enough about the Pacers. I am not writing this to praise them. I am doing this to point out some obvious things about the Raptors.

I wonder how the Raps can beat the San Antonio Spurs and the Boston Celtics in their respective homes and then play awful against teams like the Knicks, Clippers and Sonics. My only logical conclusion is lack of mental toughness or at least not enough of it. It's this kind of toughness that allows a team like the Spurs to beat the Charlotte Bobcats and the Dallas Mavericks in a five games in ten days span. Not having enough of this mental toughness that makes the Raptors to "not show up to play" against teams they should be destroying.

As I watched the game the Raps played against the Pacers. I couldn't help but to notice the facial expressions on head Coach Sam Mitchell's face. Each expression showing anguish and sometimes confusion as to why Jose Calderon nor TJ Ford could stay in front of Diener. Why Andrea Bargnani hoisted up ten 3's but could have exploited a pacers team with no good big men on the block. The opportunity was definitely there for Bargnani to park his 7 foot frame in the post after Chris Bosh, the teams all-star forward/center, left the game for good in the first quarter due to a knee injury.

This type of play concerns me moving forward as the playoffs get closer. Teams respect the Raptors shooting but that's where it stops. In the playoffs, the focus for other teams will be to physically punish them on the inside and also out on the wings. The thing is that you don't have to be very athletic to be successful in the playoffs but you sure need heavy doses of mental toughness. A perfect example of a player that had this kind of toughness is the retired Jeff Hornacek. Hornacek played 15 seasons in the league and he definitely exemplifies what having mental toughness is all about. Any true basketball fan will remember that he wasn't all that athletic but he was one tough son of a gun. The entire Raptors team combined does not have as much mental toughness that Hornacek had.

Although it might come across to anyone reading this is blog, that I am saying the Raptors have absolutely no mental toughness. That's not my point at all. On the contrary, I know they have displayed it on occasion. What I am saying is that they need more of it. To me, its more accurate to say they have a Mental Toughness Deficiency Syndrome (MTDS).

If the playoffs were to start today, the first round match up would be the Cleveland Cavaliers. The addition of Wally "World" Szczerbiak and and "Big" Ben Wallace makes them a dangerous team to face. The Toronto Raptors will need to get daily doses of enhanced mental toughness in order to win the series.

Where can they get it from? Now, that's a good question!!!

Sportacularly yours,

The Vicarious Athlete