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Dick Vitale, Digger Phelps, Jay Bilas Have Heated Argument Over St. Mary's

Posted: Mar 16th 2009 8:40AM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Tourney Video

13 COMMENTS


Say what you will for Dick Vitale, he's certainly passionate about college basketball. But does his passion get in the way of his ability to analyze the sport objectively? His colleagues Digger Phelps and Jay Bilas seemed to suggest so on ESPN Sunday night.
Continue Reading Dick Vitale, Digger Phelps, Jay Bilas Have Heated Argument Over St. Mary's

Carolina Rolls Wolfpack, Kay Yow's Celebration Marred By Ugly Ending

Posted: Jan 31st 2009 8:30PM by Will Brinson (author feed)
Filed under: NC State, ACC, Coaches, Fans, North Carolina

2 COMMENTS
It wasn't actually "Kay Yow Day" in Raleigh, but it might as well have been (and it wouldn't surprise me if that holiday actually popped up) with all the pink in the crowd. A good 60-70 percent of N.C. State's fans were wearing pink shirts to honor Coach Yow, and both Sidney Lowe's and Roy Williams' coaching staffs wore tennis shoes, in the traditional "Coaches vs. Cancer" form. Too bad a couple players had to rumble at the end (Video here).

But none of the motivation that Yow's memory could provide was enough for the Wolfpack, which have, in effect, proven themselves to be a 34-minute basketball team this year. And Tyler Hansbrough returned to his normal ways, scoring 31 points as North Carolina topped State 93-76.
Continue Reading Carolina Rolls Wolfpack, Kay Yow's Celebration Marred By Ugly Ending

Hansbrough, Tar Heels Roll UVA; People Need to Settle on Crowning Them

Posted: Jan 16th 2009 1:05AM by Will Brinson (author feed)
Filed under: UNC, Virginia, ACC, NCAA Basketball Gossip, Media Watch

2 COMMENTS

Thinking that the Virginia Cavaliers might have contended with North Carolina Thursday night seems kind of silly in hindsight, but for the first 18 minutes of the game, it at least seemed mildly plausible. Well, okay, it was more like Carolina was somehow 0-2 in the ACC, reeling off of losses to Boston College and Wake Forest, and the faint possibility of an 0-3 nightmare existed for the Heels.

It wasn't the case. Obviously. Tyler Hansbrough, despite shooting poorly from the floor, still managed to pass Christian Laettner for sixth all-time in ACC scoring (please don't get me started on who's more awesome between the two of those guys).
Continue Reading Hansbrough, Tar Heels Roll UVA; People Need to Settle on Crowning Them

Second Time's a Charm: Up-and-Coming Michigan Upsets Duke

Posted: Dec 6th 2008 5:55PM by Matt Snyder (author feed)
Filed under: Duke, Michigan, ACC, Big Ten

6 COMMENTS
A few weeks ago, coming off an impressive upset of UCLA, Michigan was handed a reminder by the Duke Blue Devils that their basketball program wasn't quite all the way back just yet. A second chance -- this time at home -- was all the Wolverines needed.

On the strength of DeShawn Sims' 28-point and 12-rebound effort and Duke's abysmal long-range shooting, Michigan basketball took another huge step in their rebuilding process with an 81-73 victory today.

Duke was too reliant on the outside shot. They were a terrible 7-of-33 from three-point territory, and this reliance also contributed to their only visiting the free throw line six times (they made four). The Blue Devils, however, will be just fine. It was their second straight road game, and we all know they don't play on the road outside their conference often. They'll rarely shoot so poorly from three, and you can count on Coach Krzyzewski stressing the importance of offensive variety after this loss.

The real story in this game was Michigan. I had already written their program was on its way back.
Continue Reading Second Time's a Charm: Up-and-Coming Michigan Upsets Duke

ESPN's Jay Bilas and Dan Le Batard Get Into It Over Race in Basketball

Posted: Apr 8th 2008 5:18AM by Sportz Assassin (author feed)
Filed under: March Madness, NCAA Basketball Media Watch, ESPN

6 COMMENTS



Hat tip to Awful Announcing on this one.

ESPN's Jay Bilas was a guest on Dan Le Batard's radio show and they got into it. The main topic of discussion was race in basketball (mainly at Tyler Hansbrough's pro prospects).

It didn't seem to be what Bilas wanted to discuss. I mean, it is only the national championship coming up and I'm sure that Jay was prepared to talk about that. Le Batard instead hit him up with weird questions about scenarios if Hansbrough was black or Michael Beasley was white.

After a heated exchange, Bilas got off this classic blast -- "Take offense ... it's stupid"

Jay Bilas Thinks South Alabama Shows Selection Committee Favors Mid-Majors

Posted: Mar 17th 2008 8:36AM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Mid-Majors Basketball, March Madness, ESPN

5 COMMENTS
During last night's ESPN show analyzing the NCAA Tournament brackets, the subject turned to South Alabama, which made the Big Dance even though half of its wins came against teams that aren't in the RPI Top 200. ESPN analyst Jay Bilas doesn't think that's fair:

"If you're in a major conference you're going to get hammered for not going out and killing yourself in the non-conference. Let's be honest about it. If you're in a mid-major they're going to give you a break. That's OK, I just wish they'd admit it: They give the mid-majors a break. It's OK, but let's not go through this charade of it being the 34 best teams because I don't think that's what we're getting."

Bilas, of course, is a former player and assistant coach at Duke, so to the extent that he's biased, he's biased in favor of the power conference teams.

But with all due respect to South Alabama, I do think he's correct, in that particular case, that the Jaguars (who 75th in the Pomeroy ratings and rank 67th in the Sagarin Predictor) really aren't one of the 34 best at-large teams, and that choosing them in the field of 34 was an attempt to give a mid-major a break.

Dick Vitale Wants Bob Knight at Indiana; Knight Wants Vitale to Hush Up

Posted: Mar 17th 2008 3:50AM by Sportz Assassin (author feed)
Filed under: March Madness, NCAA Basketball Media Watch, ESPN

4 COMMENTS



Maybe it is best that Dick Vitale wasn't in the studio during the ESPN's bracket shows.

In the clip above, Vitale throws out what many people have been whispering: Bobby Knight to Indiana.

The problem is that when Vitale mentioned it, Knight (who is working for ESPN) was obviously ... something. Pissed? Embarrassed? Ticked? Emotional? Nervous? Shaken? Maybe all of them.

As Vitale kept on rambling, Knight just sat there -- quiet ... with a red face and glazed eyes

I do give Dickie V some credit for kicking that elephant in the room right in the backside. You knew that Reece Davis, Hubert Davis, Digger Phelps and Jay Bilas weren't going to touch that one.

Congrats! You Hate the Pro-Duke Media!

Posted: Mar 6th 2008 6:06AM by Sportz Assassin (author feed)

0 COMMENTS
Media criticism brings out bad things in people, but you manage to keep an even keel. You know that Duke bias is in fact just part of a systemic problem, not the product of a Blue Devil conspiracy.

That is not to say you're unannoyed by Dick Vitale, or Mike Patrick, or Jay Bilas (personally, I think Bilas is very objective), but chances are you don't yell at your TV as much you used to. That role is reserved for the pre-eminent Vitale-haters.

You're aware that ESPN employs Hubert Davis, Brad Daugherty, Stuart Scott and Peter Gammons, all former Tar Heels. And that they use Bonnie Bernstein, Len Elmore, Scott Van Pelt and Tim Kurkjian ... former Maryland Terrapins.

Or that Duke grad John Feinstein will, at times, rip into his former school. Don't forget CBS's Seth Davis ... a Duke grad and former towel boy for the basketball team. Heck, Sean McManus ... who runs CBS Sports ... also attended Duke.

The overall point being ... there is no overall point. The elites are biased towards a handful of elite programs because that's what they know. It will be ever thus, and we can only hope for improvements along the margins.

Judgment: You are a Reasonable Hater, Working Toward a Better Tomorrow.

Good luck in all that you do.

Not happy with your hater status? Click here to start over from the beginning.

Jay Bilas Doesn't Think Drake Is Very Good

Posted: Feb 7th 2008 10:00AM by Josh Alper (author feed)
Filed under: Mid-Majors Basketball, MVC Basketball, Purdue Basketball

4 COMMENTS
Many of your bigger college basketball pundits, I'm looking at you Billy Packer, don't believe that a team can be any good unless it plays in a power conference. No matter how many times teams from the MVC make the Sweet 16 or a Big Ten school gets pasted, these minds can't wrap around the idea that college basketball is not decided by conference but on the court. Sadly, it appears Jay Bilas is one of these analysts.

In a piece for ESPN.com, Bilas rips the RPI as a tool used for selecting tournament teams. It's a sensible argument. Bilas makes sense when he says that selectors should watch games to make their choices instead of using RPI as a crutch, as he calls it. Where he goes wrong is using Drake as an example of the RPI run amok.
But, based upon RPI numbers, we are all assuming that Drake is in the field -- barring a collapse. But, if Purdue has played the same schedule as Drake and was 16-1, do you think anyone would be saying that the Boilermakers would be in? I doubt it. I think we would be questioning the schedule and whether Purdue had beaten anyone.

Bilas's arguments about watching teams play and making judgments have merit. I wonder, though, if he's actually spent any time watching Drake, which was actually 18-1 when he wrote this and is 20-1 now, play.
Continue Reading Jay Bilas Doesn't Think Drake Is Very Good

Dick Vitale Defends Billy Donovan, Jay Bilas Bashes Him

Posted: Jun 6th 2007 8:18AM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Florida Basketball, SEC Basketball, NCAA Basketball Coaches, NCAA Basketball Media Watch, Florida

38 COMMENTS
One of the reasons I like ESPN basketball analyst Jay Bilas better than his more famous colleague, Dick Vitale, is that Bilas won't hesitate to say when he thinks a coach is wrong, whereas Vitale seems to think his job is to become best friends with every coach in America.

Their reaction to the Billy Donovan flip-flop is a perfect example. Vitale had this to say:

"Those things happen," Vitale said of Donovan's change of heart. "It's an emotional time for him and his family and everyone involved. The only way it might hurt Billy is if he decides to go the NBA later. The statement he's making is that he's a lifer in college basketball, and college basketball is going to be better off because of it."

While Bilas said this:

"I've never seen anything this unprofessional. Is it going to hurt him? Absolutely. It goes right to the very heart of his ability to make an important decision. There's no question this was an unprofessional way to handle this. There's no reasonable excuse. It's understandable if you can't make up your mind in a certain time frame. To take the step to agree to a contract and be introduced at a press conference and put people through this without having thought this through, there's no excuse."

Is there any doubt who's right? Donovan is a great coach, but he has tarnished his reputation in the last week, and anyone who won't say that isn't much of a college basketball analyst. Kudos to Bilas for having the courage to speak the truth about Donovan, even if it costs him access down the road.

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