Troy Machir

The Morning Mix

By Troy MachirApr 9, 2013, 8:00 AM EDT

What a game. What a season.

The 2012-2013 college basketball season is officially in the books and we were sent off into the sunset with arguably the best game of the season. Last night’s National Championship game between Louisville and Michigan was better than anything we could have asked for.

Let’s hit the links.

Read of the Day:
A fascinating-read from Shane Ryan on a crew of Louisville stat-keepers that changed the way numbers were crunched. Plus “dead-ball rebounds”. What the heck is that? (Grantland)

Observations & Insight:
– Montrezl Harrell and Tim Hardaway Jr. threw down two of the best dunks of the entire tournament. (College Basketball Talk)

– College basketball officiating has been atrocious as of late. If you agree with this statement, I highly recommend you click the following link. (Deadspin)

– Despite not having a team win the National Championship, this season was a resounding success for the Big Ten Conference. (Big Ten Network)

– Everybody remembers the winners, but we shouldn’t forget about what Spike Albrecht conjured up in the first half last night. (Eye on College Basketball)

– Jon Beilein’s late-game coaching gaffe didn’t cost his team the National Championship, but it did make matters difficult down the stretch. (USA Today)

– I know it’s just Tuesday, but Rick Pitino may have just capped off the best week ever. (Dallas Star-Telegram)

– Was Trey Burke’s block/foul on Peyton Siva the turning point in the National Championship game? (The Dagger)

– An inside the numbers look at Louisville’s National Championship victory over Michigan. (ESPN)

– Louisville had to fend off nearly perfect halves from both Wichita State and Michigan. But the Cardinals never panicked and never wavered. (Courier-Journal)

– Recruiting guru Reggie Rankin provides an outlook for the Michigan Wolverines in 2013-2014. (ESPN Insider)

– The early odds for the 2014 National Championship. Kentucky is the strong favorite. No sign of Wichita State or Florida Gulf Coast. (The Gazette)

Hoops Housekeeping:
– Indiana associate head coach Tim Buckley has shown interested in the opening at Florida Gulf Coast. (The Hoosier Scoop)

– Maryland guard Pe’Shon Howard has decided to transfer after an injury-plagued career in College Park. (D1sCourse.com)

– Tim Pernetti is no longer the Athletic Director at Rutgers, but he will still get $1.2-million in salary and an iPad. (Sports Illustrated)

– Kansas State sophomore guard Adrian Diaz is set to transfer out of “The Little Apple”. (Kansas City Star)

– UCLA freshman forward Anthony Parker has opted against transferring and will stay in Westwood. (Larry Brown Sports)

Odds & Ends:
– Fans of the program are aware that @CBTonNBC was first on the scene with the coining of “Dunk City”. Finally we get the recognition we deserve. (The Post Game)

– Bill Clinton wrote an awesome letter to Chris Webber following C-Web’s legendary National Championship game gaffe against North Carolina. (Deadspin)

– It looks like Kobe Bryant did not watch the National Championship game. (Dime Magazine)

– Some D-list video vixen is trying to expose Peyton Siva as a fraud. Good grief. (Black Sports Online)

– Some of the best photos from the National Championship Game. (Sports Illustrated)

– And from the “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up” files: Manti Te’O’s fake-girlfriend won the entire ESPN bracket challenge. (USA Today)

Picture of the Day:
The National Player of the Year has nothing to be ashamed of. Helluva game. Helluva season.

.GIF of the Day:
Rick Pitino was not ready for the celebratory fireworks.

.GIF of the Day:
Peyton Siva’s dad is the best.

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Highlight-reel dunks from Harrell and Hardaway Jr. shook Atlanta

By Troy MachirApr 9, 2013, 12:45 AM EDT

What. A. Game.

What we witnessed on Monday night in the Georgia Dome may go down as one of the best, most entertaining National Championship games in the 75 year history of the NCAA Tournament. Louisville’s 82-76 victory over Michigan was not only the best game of the NCAA tournament, but also the best game of the entire season.

Early on it was clear that we were in for something special.

Trey Burke scored Michigan’s first seven points of the game. The Wolverines shot out to a 12-point lead on the shoulders of Spike Albrecht and his 17 first half points. But then Louisville made their run. Luke Hancock hit three-straight 3-pointers to cut the Michigan lead to just one, 36-35.

Then this happened.

Did you see where Peyton Siva left the ball for Montrezl Harrell? He had to jump and catch the ball from no more than two steps inside the foul line. It doesn’t matter how tall Harrell is. That was an impossible ally-oop to catch, let alone finish.

That should have been it. That was one of the best ally-oops of the season. But there was a reason why last night’s National Championship game was one of the best of all time.

Then this happened.

It’s safe to assume that Tim Hardaway Sr. could not dunk like that.

Harrell and Hardaway threw down two of the best dunks of the tournament, both coming in the most important game of the year.

But the National Championship game often showcases some of the best dunks of the tournament on a yearly basis. Who will ever forget Grant Hill’s monstrous one-handed ally-oop dunk against Kansas in the 1991 National Championship game.

Then there was Lorenzo Charles’ buzzer-beating tip-dunk that gave North Carolina State the 1983 National Championship victory over Houston, widely considered the greatest buzzer-beater in NCAA Tournament history.

The best players play their best when the stage is brightest and there is no stage brighter than the National Championship game. As redundant as that sounds, we have the video footage to back it up.

#DunkCity took over the 2013 NCAA Tournament, but Montrezl Harrell and Tim Hardaway Jr. reminded us that it didn’t end when the FGCU Eagles were eliminated in the Sweet 16.

You can contact Troy Machir on Twitter at @TroyMachir.

CBT Podcast: The Final Four and more

By Troy MachirApr 4, 2013, 5:15 PM EDT

The CBT Podcast is here to finish off the 2012-2013 NCAA college basketball season in style. Raphielle Johnson joins Troy Machir (Me) to discuss a busy week of news and notes from the college basketball world.

The release of the video tapes documenting Mike Rice’s disturbing practice behavior and his subsequent firing from Rutgers is the week’s top story, and the podcast can’t get off the ground without discussing where we draw the line and if Rice is the only one who deserved to lose his job.

But we’ve also got a lot of transfers and transactions to take care of. UCLA, USC and Minnesota finally filled their head coaching vacancies each one more intriguing than the next. On top of that, some players have begun the early entry process, while others have decided that a change in scenery is in order.

Once we get all that out-of-the-way, we still have the Final Four to discuss. Can Wichita State shock the world? Can Louisville be stopped? Will Syracuse’s 2-3 baffle yet another foe? We tackle this and more in the latest installment of the CBT Podcast.

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Mobile Friendly Player: CBT Podcast Episode 13

Remember, the CBT Podcast is now available on iTunes. Also, if you have any questions you want featured on upcoming podcasts, tweet them to @CBTonNBC

You can contact Troy Machir on Twitter at @TroyMachir

The Morning Mix

By Troy MachirApr 4, 2013, 8:00 AM EDT

Mike Rice was fired at Rutgers. Richard Pitino is the new head coach at Minnesota. The best high school players in the country played very little defense last night at the McDonald’s All-American game in Chicago. That and more in today’s T.M.M.

let’s hit the links.

Read of the Day:
Kevin Ware has become a national story. Prior to the grizzly injury, Ware was soft-spoken and often reserved. But under adverse circumstances the young guard is flourishing in the spotlight. (Yahoo Sports)

Observations & Insight:
– The Big East will now be known as The American Athletic Conference. Original stuff right there. (CBS Sports)

– Dunk City is not relocating to Southern California. It’s staying in Dunk City, Fla. (ESPN LA)

– Marshall Henderson wrote an apology letter to Ole Miss fans for some of his outlandish behavior. (Clarion Ledger)

– Did Old Dominion whiff on their head coaching hire? Bob Molinaro certainly thinks so. (Virginian-Pilot)

– Arizona-bound Aaron Gordon captured the MVP award last night at the McDonald’s All-American Game. (AZ Desert Swarm)

– Maxim’s historical list of the top-7 players to break out during March Madness. I’ll contest Kemba Walker being on this list. He didn’t “break out” during the NCAA tournament. He hit four game-winners during the regular season, won five-straight Big East tournament games, and broke Gary McGee’s ankles. (Maxim)

– George Mason defeated Santa Clara last night, setting up a decisive game three for the C.B.I championship. (Washington Post)

– Siena made a great hire in Jimmy Patsos. If they were looking for somebody who will win the press conference, they certainly got their guy. (Keepin’ Track of the MAAC)

– Louisville is selling t-shirts that honor Kevin Ware, and following negative press regarding the profit of t-shirts, the school announced that they will not be profiting from the production and sale of t-shirts. (WDRB.com)

Odds & Ends:
– Marshall Henderson is a good dude at heart. If he was actually the jerk he portrays himself as, would he really subject himself to a public dunk tank? (Busted Coverage)

– Andy Enfield, his supermodel wife, and USC song girls. Of course. (USA Today)

Hoops Housekeeping:
– Minnesota made a bold hire yesterday with the selection of Florida International’s Richard Pitino. While he only has one year of head coaching experience, he does have the pedigree for success. (Fox Sports North)

– Syracuse police will monitor the activity on Marshall Street during the Final Four games. The police want to take a proactive approach against couch fires. (Syracuse Post-Standard)

– The basketball gods have rewarded us with another season of Marshall Henderson. (Sports Illustrated)

– A list of ten potential candidates for the Rutgers head coaching spot. Danny Hurley, Tommy Amaker and John Giannini are just several of the potential candidates that the school reaches out to. (New Jersey Hoops Haven)

– NC-State got a dose a good news yesterday. T.J. Warren announced that he will return to Raleigh. This is a sigh of relief for Wolfpack fans, who already saw C.J. Leslie, Lorenzo Brown and Rodney Purvis leave school. Leslie and Brown are declaring for the draft and Purvis is transferring. (ACC Insider)

– Cal guard Allen Crabbe has decided to enter the NBA draft. (CBS SF Bay Area)

Picture of the Day:
Oh it’s nothing really, just Tom Izzo and 2Chainz. (h/t @2chainz)

Do you like the new Morning Mix? Hate it? Have a suggestion or want something featured? Troy Machir will take all your praise, insults and inquiries via Twitter (@TroyMachir

The Morning Mix

By Troy MachirApr 3, 2013, 8:00 AM EDT

The N.I.T. Finals are set as Baylor and Iowa won their semifinals and advanced to the championship game. In other news, Rutgers head coach Mike Rice is on the brink of being fired, thanks to the public release of video footage revealing the coach’s appalling behavior towards his team at practice.

Also, I should point out that now that it’s April, you can expect a majority of The Morning Mix to feature Coaching Carousel and NBA Draft news. I recommend bookmarking these two pages because even T.M.M. isn’t capable of keeping up with all the moving and shaking.

let’s hit the links.

Read of the Day:
Andy Staples, as he is to do, provides the best read on the Mike Rice situation at Rutgers. Read it. (Sports Illustrated)

Observations & Insight:
– Mark Gottfried has already lost three players this offseason, and will lose two more to graduation. He is likely to be on the hot seat next year, but his large buyout might help to cool it off. (The Big Lead)

– East Carolina won the C.I.T. last night on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Akeem Richmond. (Mid-Major Madness)

– Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban would consider drafting Brittney Griner. (ESPN)

– Syracuse’s Rakeem Christmas is becoming BFFs with Jimmy Fallon. (Syracuse Post-Standard)

– Earlier this week Archie Goodwin announced that he was leaving Kentucky for the NBA. It’s taken less than four days for Goodwin to begin the great paper chase. (AllkyHoops.com)

– Is the Selection Committee’s decision to stop using the S-curve the reason this seasons brackets were so screwy? (Busting Brackets)

– You may think that Andy Enfield is just the next in a long line of coaches to jump ship after immediate tournament success, but the list isn’t as big as you would think. (The Big Lead)

– Ray Allen had some strong words for Mike Rice. (USA Today)

Hoops Housekeeping:
– Two pieces of Pitt Panthers news. First, freshman center Stephen Adams announced that he’s going pro. Second, Trey Zeigler, who already transferred from Central Michigan, has decided to transfer again. (Sports Illustrated)

– Kansas freshman Rio Adams, famous for the picture you see above, has decided to transfer out of Lawrence. (Kansas City Star)

– Alex Poythress is returning to Kentucky for his sophomore season. The Wildcats should be scary good next season. (Fox Sports)

– Regardless of what happens in Atlanta, Michigan’s Mitch McGary will return to Ann Arbor for his sophomore year. (Sports Illustrated)

– Four players, including leading scorer Josh Davis, have decided to transfer out of Tulane. (New Orleans Times-Picayune)

– Siena made one of the better coaching moves of the off-season, hiring Jimmy Patsos away from Loyola (Md.). (Keepin’ Track of the MAAC)

– Longtime UNC-Asheville head coach Eddie Biedenbach resigned yesterday and will join UNC-Wilmington as an assistant coach. (Asheville Citizen-Times)

– Iowa State self-reported several “inadvertant” violations to the NCAA yesterday. (ESPN)

– James Madison forward Andrey Semenov has been granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA. (JMU Sports Blog)

Do you like the new Morning Mix? Hate it? Have a suggestion or want something featured? Troy Machir will take all your praise, insults and inquiries via Twitter (@TroyMachir

The Morning Mix

By Troy MachirApr 2, 2013, 8:00 AM EDT

Monday was a busy news day. Kevin Ware began his recovery, West Virginia lost a trio of players, NC-State lost two, Tubby didn’t stay fired for long, and the maestro of #DunKCity is moving to SoCal.

let’s hit the links.

Read of the Day:
This is the best story on Kevin Ware yet. His team is crying, his parents are panicking, and he just wants his team to win the game. Great stuff. Read it. (Courier Journal)

Top Stories:
VIDEO: Seth Davis, Dan Patrick discuss coverage of Kevin Ware’s injury: CBS’ handling of the Kevin Ware injury has been discussed at length since Sunday afternoon. Most of the media agree that while the footage was disturbing, CBS handled themselves extremely well.

Is this the most upset-filled NCAA Tournament ever? A professor at DePaul University came up with a formula to decipher whether or not this is the most upset-filled tournament of all time.

College Basketball Talk provides the essentials on all four Final Four teams. Want to know how they got there and if they can win? the following previews have the answer. Louisville Cardinals, Wichita State Shockers, Syracuse Orange, and Michigan Wolverines.

Wichita State, better when they’re the underdog? Based on the regular season results, the Shockers tend to do much better when they are the underdogs, which they will be when they face Louisville this weekend in Atlanta.

2012-2013 AP All-American teams released: Trey Burke, and Otto Porter headline the first team. Victor Oladipo, Doug McDermott and Kelly Olynyk round out the squad.

Observations & Insight:
– A collection of the best and worst (Most of them are “worst”) Jon Rothstein comparisons. (Daly Dose of Hoops)

– Great stuff from Jeff Eisenberg on what Kevin Ware’s injury meant to guys like Derrick Roland, a former-Texas A&M forward who suffered a similar injury against Washington back in 2009. (The Dagger)

– Jeff Goodman provides his insight on the draft status of the game’s top undecided players. (Eye on College Basketball)

– CBS has no regrets about their handling of the Kevin Ware injury, and they shouldn’t. The network handled the aftermath with caution and precision. (Fox Sports)

– Jeff Goodman, as he is to do, dropped a bombshell yesterday afternoon. He reported that Ed Rush, the Pac-12 coordinator of basketball officials, has been investigated by the conference for comments he made about Arizona head coach Sean Miller. (Eye on College Basketball)

– But it appears like Rush has been cleared of any accusations. (NBC Sports)

Hoops Housekeeping:
– It looks like Andy Enfield has parlayed his tournament success at FGCU into a gig as head coach at Southern Cal. (Yahoo Sports)

– Tubby Smith will be named the new head coach at Texas Tech just a week after being fired from Minnesota. (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

– Former Sacramento Kings head coach Reggie Theus has been named as new head coach at Cal State Northridge. (ESPN)

– Three players, including standout guard Jabarie Hinds, have announced that they will transfer out of West Virginia. (Rant Sports)

– Freshman guard Rodney Purvis is transferring out of North Carolina State, becoming the ninth player to transfer out of the program since 2010. (Charlotte Observer)

– Speaking of NC-State, forward C.J. Leslie has announced that he will declare for the NBA Draft. (Fox News)

– Sensational freshman forward Anthony Bennett is leaving UNLV and will enter the NBA draft. (Las Vegas Sun)

– Highly touted recruit Aaron Gordon will make his college placement announcement following tonight’s McDonald’s All-American Game. (AZ Desert Swarm)

– The NCAA announced the pool of referees working the Final Four. Karl Hess and John Higgins “headline” the list. (Fox Sports)

– Coaching legends Gene Keady and Rollie Massimino headline the 2013 class of inductees into the College Basketball Hall of Fame. (ESPN)

– Former-Toledo head coach Bob Nichols passed away over the weekend. The 82-year old was the all-time wins leader in the Mid-American Conference. (Yahoo Sports)

Picture of the Day:
Kevin Ware got to hold the Midwest regional title while he recovered from surgery to fix his broken leg. (College Basketball Talk)

.GIFs & Videos:
Highlights from the McDonald’s All-American Game Practice (h/t Ball is Life)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU-tZCCMv6s&w=560&h=315%5D

Andrew Wiggins’ perfect-score dunk at last night’s McDonald’s All-American Slam Dunk Contest

Do you like the new Morning Mix? Hate it? Have a suggestion or want something featured? Troy Machir will take all your praise, insults and inquiries via Twitter (@TroyMachir