Too much 12 (and not enough 12)

OK, ordinarily I'm thrilled when a 6'2" white guy lights it up from beyond the arc, drops in 23, and single-handedly changes the entire rhythm and outcome of a game. But when Lee Humphrey does it to MY Ducks...not so much. Meanwhile, Oregon freshman Tajuan Porter, the 5' 6" Mighty Mouse who heated it up for 33 on Friday night, looked like he spent the last 48 hours packed in ice. And thus it came to pass that the defending National Champions will be advancing to Atlanta, while the team which won the first ever NCAA tournament back in 1939 (and haven't won it since) are headed back home to Eugene.

But you have to admire the Gators. Joakim Noah turned down millions of dollars and the opportunity to be playing this year in the NBA in order to stay in school, keep last year's squad intact, and try for back-to-back championships. And today he certainly played like he wanted to get his money's worth. Fourteen points and fourteen rebounds, not to mention the intensity of his defense. Noah was an animal under the boards on both ends of the floor; I thought the Oregon guards would give the Gators everything they could handle, but nobody on the Ducks front line seemed to be able to handle Joakim today. Hard to believe that he almost single-handedly fouled out three guys, and didn't pick up his own second personal foul until there was less than a minute left in the game. But I was watching pretty carefully -- and it was all hustle and hop. So even though I hate his haircut, I have to give him credit. #13 played a helluva game too.

And then there was #11. Taurean Green scored a very quiet 21, much of it from the line. Meanwhile, I thought the Ducks missed an opportunity to look a little more often for local Oregon boy Maarty Leunen on the pick-and-pop midway through the second half; #10 has a nice stroke from beyond the arc, and that might have brought Noah out a little farther from the basket, and also broken up the aggressive double-teams on Aaron Brooks as he dribbled over Leunen's screen. Thought Malik Hairston also played a fantastic game, before fouling out just under four minutes from the finish.

Meanwhile, when I went to bed last night my bracket was looking pretty healthy. Both the Bruins and the Buckeyes were thru to the Final Four, and while I fully expected it to be a battle between the Ducks and the Gators, I also had every reason to think that North Carolina wouldn't have TOO much trouble handling Georgetown...which they seemed to be doing easily until more than midway through the second half, when suddenly the Hoyas went on a very impressive run to force the game into OT, and then humiliated the Tar Heels by holding them scoreless throughout almost the entire extra period (or at least until it didn't matter anymore). So now, instead of looking forward to a big showdown next weekend between ALL FOUR of the teams I originally picked to be there back when the tournament started two weeks ago, my bracket is basically done: 43-20. Which doesn't necessarily mean that I won't still be watching next Monday night. But probably not until after I get home from my own game first....