Soft Pretzel Logic

If you came here from ESPN the Magazine's website or anywhere else that linked to this URL for my blog, it isn't here anymore. It moved a few months ago to this link. Thanks.

Leron asks:

Jonathan, are you traveling with any one of the teams? If not, you should.

Anthony took a good guess:

My prediction is that Jonathan will be set up with his live-blogging apparatus for all games from DC.

He will take the train both ways and explain the virtues of rail travel over air travel. :)

Unfortunately, I will not be traveling to any of the NCAA Tournament sites. I don't have the time to fly out west or down south, and none of the teams I have any connections with are playing in Washington.

There is a chance that I might go to D.C. for a story this weekend anyway, but it will not be basketball-related. Stay tuned, because it will probably end up on the blog.

Well, I take that back... sort of. It won't end up here. With the NCAA Tournament about to begin, I'm switching to a new blog platform.

The new URL is http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/pretzel. It's got some more toys for me to play with, and as a result, I'll be able to get blog posts to do some things that they never have before. You'll like it, I promise.

As a result of the move, I've locked comments on this blog. So come on over to the new blog and have your say about who you've got in the Final Four, how far you think the local teams can go, and whatever else is on your mind about the NCAA Tournament.

And don't forget to play Hoops Hysteria if you aren't already. I'll be posting my bracket soon... and you'll only see my picks on the new blog.

So come on over and join me.

We have tip-off times for the first round, and let's start with the local games. All times Eastern:

Thursday, March 20

5. Michigan State vs. 12. Temple, 12:30 p.m.

Friday, March 21

6. Oklahoma vs. 11 St. Joseph's, approx. 7:10 p.m.
5. Clemson vs. 12. Villanova, approx. 9:50 p.m.

Isn't that the second year in a row the Wildcats have been put in the last Friday night game?

Also, you can print your own bracket by clicking here.

After the jump, the full schedule.

Continue reading "Game schedule announced" »

For the first time since 1999, the Philadelphia region has sent three teams to the NCAA Tournament.

Now that the bracket is finished, I'm going to leave this post at the top of the blog and just update it with stories as they come through.

And remember to enter Philly.com's Hoops Hysteria contest, in which you can win a 50-inch plasma TV from Bob and Ron's Worldwide Stereo if you have the best bracket.

You can also compare your bracket to a panel of experts from the Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com, or you can play in the Soft Pretzel Logic group just for fun.

Check back here tomorrow for my picks, as well as audio and video from the Coaches vs. Cancer breakfast.

From the Daily News

Dick Jerardi: Late season excellence puts Temple, Saint Joseph's, Villanova in Big Dance

Owls knew their NCAA day would come
Villanova Wildcats relieved just to be invited to NCAAs
Saint Joseph's Hawks can exhale, on way to Big Dance

Capsule previews of Michigan State, Clemson and Oklahoma

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20080316_NCAA_East_Region_capsules.html">East region
West region
South region
Mdwest region

From the Inquirer

Bob Ford: Philly teams find a way to NCAA tourney
The resume gets job done for Villanova
Hawks let out a collective sigh of relief
St. Joe's, Nova join Temple at dance
On College Basketball | 16 tournament questions that demand an answer
East | UNC repeats as NCAA top seed
Midwest | Jayhawks the best of Midwest
South | Memphis leads strong contingent
West | UCLA, of course, is the team to beat

Fan information

St. Joe's

In Anaheim, Calif.

1. UCLA vs. 16. Mississippi Valley State
8. BYU vs. 9. Texas A&M

In Tampa, Fla.

5. Drake vs. 12. Western Kentucky
4. Connecticut vs. 13. San Diego

In Washington, D.C.

2. Duke vs. 15. Belmont
7. West Virginia vs. 10. Arizona

In Washington, D.C.

3. Xavier vs. 14. Georgia
6. Purdue vs. 11. Baylor

In Little Rock, Ark.

1. Memphis vs. 16 Texas-Arlington
8. Mississippi State vs. 9 Oregon

In Denver, Colo.

5. Michigan State vs. 12. Temple!
4. Pittsburgh vs. 13 Oral Roberts

In Little Rock, Ark.

2. Texas vs. 15 Austin Peay
7. Miami vs. 10. St. Mary's

In Anaheim, Calif.

3. Stanford vs. 14. Cornell
6. Marquette vs. Kentucky

In Omaha, Neb.

1. Kansas vs. 16 Portland State
8. UNLV vs. 9 Kent State

In Tampa, Fla.

5. Clemson vs. 12 Villanova!
4. Vanderbilt vs.13. Siena

In Raleigh, N.C.

2. Georgetown vs. 15. Maryland Baltimore-County
7. Gonzaga vs. 10 Davidson

In Omaha, Neb.

3. Wisconsin vs. 14. Cal State-Fullerton
6. Southern California vs. 11. Kansas State

In Raleigh, N.C.:

1. North Carolina vs. 16 Mount St. Mary's or Coppin State
8. Indiana vs. 9. Arkansas

In Denver, Colo.:

5. Notre Dame vs. 12. George Mason
4. Washington State vs. 13. Winthrop

In Birmingham, Ala.

2. Tennessee vs. 15. American
7. Butler vs. 10. South Alabama

In Birmingham, Ala.

3. Louisville Cardinals vs. 14. Boise State
6. Oklahoma vs. 11. St. Joseph's!

East: North Carolina
South: Memphis
West; UCLA
Midwest: Kansas

If all four top seeds were to make the Final Four, North Carolina would play Kansas and Memphis would play UCLA.

I see the TV cameras are at Temple's party.

... is North Carolina.

So the Tar Heels will get the winner of Tuesday night's play-in game between Coppin State and Mount St. Mary's.

It's 6:00 p.m. in Philadelphia.

Do you know whether your team is in the NCAA Tournament?

That sound you just heard was either "Glory, Glory to Old Georgia," or a lot of Villanova fans becoming very afraid.

... is Coppin State vs. Mount St. Mary's.

Coppin State heads to the Dance with a somewhat unsightly 16-20 record, but the MEAC's No. 7 seed beat No. 2 Hampton, No. 3 Norfolk State and No. 1 Morgan State to win the bid.

Mount St. Mary's won the Northeast Conference as the 4-seed in a tournament that was re-seeded after every round. The Mountaineers beat 5-seed Quinnipiac, then upset top seed Robert Morris (coached by ex-St. Joe's assistant Mike Rice) before beating 3-seed Sacred Heart in the title game.

Meanwhile, Kansas just beat Texas and Wisconsin finished off Illinois, but Georgia has led from the start against Arkansas and currently is up by three.

(Hat tip to the D.C. Sports Bog)

An hour to go until the Selection Show begins.

As I write this, Georgia is winning the SEC, Wisconsin is up big in the Big 10, and Kansas just took the lead on Texas in a possible battle for a No. 1 seed.

Somewhere out Lancaster Avenue, Jay Wright is watching nervously, his Wildcats poised on a knife-edge.

Phil Martelli might just grab his rosary beads a little tighter if Georgia wins, but deep down you have to believe he knows his Hawks have done everything they need to do.

And at the Draught Horse just off North Broad Street, Temple is getting ready to throw a big party.

Tick, tock...

Welcome to Soft Pretzel Logic's live coverage of Selection Sunday.

With the Selection Show just hours away, here's the final edition of Crunchy Numbers of the season. As we find out who's in and out of the field among the local teams, here's the last rundown of all the big stats.

Remember to enter Philly.com's Hoops Hysteria contest, in which you can win a 50-inch plasma TV from Bob and Ron's Worldwide Stereo if you have the best bracket.

You can also compare your bracket to a panel of experts from the Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com, or you can play in the Soft Pretzel Logic group just for fun.

(Ignore the Philly.com group; I created it by accident when trying to build a group for the blog and now I can't get rid of it. Sorry.)

After the jump, the usual team and individual breakdown.

Continue reading "Selection Sunday Crunchy Numbers" »

Okay, I'm back in Philadelphia now, and as this night finally comes to an end, here's all the video and audio from the championship game.

Video

Temple, in which Mark Tyndale talks about just what it means for Temple to be back in the NCAA Tournament.
St. Joseph's, in which Phil Martelli tells fans to "pray your ass off for us, please" that his team gets an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament

Audio

Temple: Fran Dunphy, Mark Tyndale and Dionte Christmas
St. Joseph's: Phil Martelli, Pat Calathes and Ahmad Nivins

Your video highlight is presented in honor of Stormingthefloor.com, because the Temple fans delivered a pretty good one at the final buzzer, and also in honor of the guy in the Flyers jersey who came up to me on the train back to Philadelphia and said he reads the blog. Thanks for that.

To close things out, I'd like to throw this out there. I've watched Fran Dunphy's teams for six years now, and I've talked to a lot of people who've seen him coach for much longer.

I have a hard time believing he's ever done a better job of coaching a game than he did tonight. Temple simply owned the second half, and Dunphy deserves full credit for getting the Owls to step up in the second half and take things over.

And as Tyndale alluded to in his remarks in the video, the fact that Temple is back in the NCAA Tournament is an important thing. It's been a while since Temple has been front and center like this, and I'm willing to bet that even St. Joe's fans will begrudge the Owls some time in the spotlight.

ATLANTIC CITY -- As I wait for a train back to Philadelphia, here's a quick rundown of the game stats:

St. Joe's shot 23-for-54 from the field (42.6%), including 5-for-21 from three-point range (23.8%) and 18-for-33 from two-point range (54.5%), and a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line (100.0%). Twelve offensive rebounds, 20 defensive rebounds, 13 assists 13 turnovers, three blocks, three steals and 20 fouls committed.

That adds up to 61 possessions and 1.054 points per possession.

Ahmad Nivins led St. Joe's with 18 points on 6-for-11 shooting, though he was only 1-for-3 with six points in the second half. Nivins also pulled down 10 rebounds, of which six were on offense.

Temple shot 21-for-48 from the field (43.8%), including 9-for-18 from three-point range (50.%) and 12-for-30 from two-point range (40.0%), and 18-for-27 from the free throw line. Eleven offensive rebounds, 18 defensive rebounds, 13 assists, 12 turnovers, four blocks, seven steals and 12 fouls committed.

That adds up to 61 possessions and 1.133 points per possession.

Of note, St. Joe's recorded seven assists and four turnovers in the first half, followed by six assists and nine turnovers in the second half. Temple recorded four assists and eight turnovers in the first half, followed by nine assists and four turnovers in the second half.

Line of the game goes to the game's high scorer and the tournament's most outstanding player, Dionte Christmas:

The all-tournament team was Christmas and Mark Tyndale of Temple, Nivins and Pat Calathes of St. Joe's, and Leemire Goldwire of Charlotte.

I voted for Tyndale, Christmas, Calathes, Goldwire and Chris Clark, with Clark as most outstanding player.

ATLANTIC CITY -- Temple 69, St. Joe's 64.

I can't believe it.

Somehow in that locker room at halftime, Temple was completely transformed. The Owls team that exploded out of the locker room on a 14-2 run was the polar opposite of what we saw in the first 20 minutes.

And they kept coming.

The passes were all there, the threes were flying in. St. Joe's kept coming, and for quite a while there it looked like Temple was going to slip and go tumbling back down the mountain.

But somehow, it was St. Joe's that couldn't quite get to the top. The Hawks missed passes, missed shots, and then everyone seemed to realize all at once that it wasn't going to happen.

As the final seconds slowly ticked away and the Temple students got ready to rush the court, the noise started coming from the very upper reaches of Boardwalk Hall.

It was an old noise, the kind of noise you hear in movies when a ghost is stirring in the attic, and as I looked around I saw pockets of Temple fans where I thought I had seen St. Joe's fans earlier.

"Let's go dancing!" the Temple students chanted during the game's last timeout. And so they will.

Stats and more to come.

ATLANTIC CITY -- It's 32-25 St. Joe's after 20 minutes, and it would be a 10-point game if not for a three-pointer with five seconds to go in the half.

The Hawks shot 13-for-30 from the field (43.3%), including 2-for-9 from three-point range (22.2%) and 11-for-21 from two-point range (52.4%), and 4-for-4 from the foul line (100.0%). Seven offensive rebounds, 10 defensive rebounds, seven assists, four turnovers, two blocks, one steal and six fouls committed.

That adds up to 29 possessions and 1.123 points per possession.

Ahmad Nivins leads St. Joe's with an impressive 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting.

The Owls shot 7-for-25 from the field, including 5-for-10 from three-point range (50.0%) and 2-for-15 from two-point range (13.3%), and 6-for-8 from the free throw line (75.0%). Eight offensive rebounds, nine defensive rebounds, four assists, eight turnovers, three blocks,t wo steals and six fouls committed.

That adds up to 29 possessions and 0.877 points per possession.

Dionte Christmas leads Temple with 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting, including 3-for-5 from beyond the arc.

But more importantly, Temple just looks nervous. The passing isn't as crisp as it's been the last few games and the players haven't been as aggressive with the ball. That two-point field goal percentage is very telling. So was Ryan Brooks' shot clock violation with 30 seconds in the half, when he just held the ball before realizing he was out of time.

Meanwhile, St. Joe's looks calm and collected, and like a team that knows exactly what it's doing here.

If that keeps up, it will decide the game way more than any number could.

ATLANTIC CITY -- In January, it was St. Joe's by a point on Temple's floor. Two weeks ago, it was Temple by a point at a pro-St. Joe's Palestra. Both games were pulsating, nerve-wracking affairs that went down to the very last shot.

Frankly, they deserved a chance to decide this thing once and for all. Tonight, they -- and we -- get it.

The setting is Boardwalk Hall, an arena whose roof is twice as high as the Palestra's but with a buzz just as palpable. To the winner goes the ultimate jackpot: a berth in the NCAA Tournament. It would be the Hawks' first since 2004, and the Owls' first since 2001.

For Temple, the stakes are even higher. Win and the big prize is theirs; lose and all those chips they've piled up in recent weeks vanish in an instant.

St. Joe's, though, might not need to play another hand. The signature wins are there, twice over Xavier and a blowout of Villanova. With chips like that in their pocket, the Hawks can probably afford to stay out of Temple's double-or-nothing game.

But this is a rivalry, and not just any rivalry. It's two schools and two coaches with decades worth of bonds between them, of intense battles under the Big 5's brightest lights.

You don't just walk away from that, do you?

So come on over to the table, Fran Dunphy and Phil Martelli. Time for another round. Forty more minutes of motion offense and swarming defense. Of ball screens, flares to the wing, hard drives to the basket and equally hard blocks in the lane.

It's time, once and for all, to see who has the strongest hand.

Ante up, gentlemen.

Here are the opening hands:

Temple

F Sr 13 Mark Tyndale
F Fr 24 Lavoy Allen
C Jr 41 Sergio Olmos
G So 10 Luis Guzman
G Jr 22 Dionte Christmas

St. Joseph's

F Sr 12 Pat Calathes
F Sr 52 Rob Ferguson
C Jr 34 Ahmad Nivins
G Jr 0 Tasheed Carr
G So 13 Darrin Govens

The game's on ESPN; watch it and leave your thoughts here. I'll be back at halftime.

ATLANTIC CITY -- Here's tonight's offering. But before you get to the game stuff, I got a few minutes with Joe Lunardi at halftime of the Charlotte-Temple game, and we discussed the postseason hopes for the Owls, St. Joe's and Villanova.

As you'll hear, we made the assumption that Temple was going to win the game, and given Charlotte's comeback against UMass it might not have been the smartest thing to do. But it turned out to be right in the end.

Click here to listen to the interview. Now for the game stuff...

Video

St. Joe's
Temple

Audio

St. Joe's: Phil Martelli, Pat Calathes and Ahmad Nivins
Xavier: Sean Miller, Derrick Brown and Jason Love
Charlotte: Bobby Lutz and Leemire Goldwire
Temple: Fran Dunphy, Chris Clark and Mark Tyndale

And highlights...

Pat Calathes' third three-pointer of the second half, and the beautiful passing sequence that led to it:

After Charlotte cut Temple's lead to 44-39 with 7:00 remaining, the Owls responded with a Ryan Brooks jumper and this Mark Tyndale three:

ATLANTIC CITY -- It wasn't pretty, but that doesn't matter now...

Charlotte shot 16-for-59 from the field (27.1%), including 6-for-32 from three-point range (18.8%) and 10-for-27 from two-point range (37.0%), and 7-for-12 from the free throw line (58.3%). Eight offensive rebounds, 20 defensive rebounds, nine assists, ten turnovers, no blocks, eight steals and 20 fouls committed.

That adds up to 66 possessions and 0.679 points per possession.

Leemire Goldwire led the 49ers in his final collegiate game with 18 points on 5-for-18 shooting, including 4-for-14 from three-point range.

Temple shot 19-for-47 from the field (40.4%), including 6-for-25 from three-point range (24.0%) and 13-for-22 from two-point range (59.1%), and 16-for-23 from two-point range (69.6%). A whopping 12 offensive and 36 defensive rebounds, 12 assists, 19 turnovers, five blocks, five steals and 17 fouls committed.

That adds up to 65 possessions and 0.924 points per possession.

Line of the game is, once again, no contest. Mark Tyndale was dominant tonight, and if he does it again tomorrow he might just take the Big 5 Player of the Year award to the NCAA Tournament.

Philadelphia's 30-year streak of sending teams to the NCAA Tournament just turned 31.

With Temple's 60-45 win over Charlotte, we can now be sure of at least one local representative in this year's field of 65.

It'll be Temple-St. Joe's in the championship game tomorrow. And believe it or not, it will be the first time ever that the Owls and Hawks have met in the final.

Stats and more from this game soon.

Amazing how far we've come in the last few days isn't it?

ATLANTIC CITY -- I was surfing the web for a minute and saw this on TV, so I checked the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's website and found the full story:

A wind storm caused several bolts to fall from the rafters of the Georgia Dome on Friday, temporarily delaying a basketball game between Mississippi State and Alabama.

Yikes.

ATLANTIC CITY -- Even though both teams made fewer than 10 field goals each, Temple seemed pretty well in control of things in taking a 28-19 lead over Charlotte into halftime.

The 49ers shot 7-for-25 (28.0%) from the field, including 3-for-16 from three-point range (18.8%) and 4-for-9 from two-point range (44.4%), and 2-for-4 from the free throw line (50.0%). Two offensive rebounds, 10 defensive rebounds, five assists, five turnovers, no blocks, five steals and seven fouls committed.

That adds up to 30 possessions and 0.638 points per possession.

The Owls shot 9-for-24 from the field (37.5%), including 4-for-15 from three-point range (26.7%) and 5-for-9 from two-point range (55.6%), and 6-for-10 from the free throw line (60.0%). Eight offensive rebounds, 17 defensive rebounds, seven assists, nine turnovers, two blocks, three steals and seven fouls committed.

Chris Clark and Mark Tyndale tied for game-highs in the half with nine points; Leemire Goldwire led Charlotte with eight points on 2-for-8 shooting, all from beyond the arc.

ATLANTIC CITY -- Chris Clark buries an open three from the left corner to make it 19-8 Temple with 9:15 to go in the first half, and Bobby Lutz calls timeout. The Owls are looking good so far and Charlotte seems a step behind, but then again, we saw this last night, too...

ATLANTIC CITY -- Well, it's a sign of how many St. Joe's fans were here that the building is a lot emptier than it was when I headed to the press room. But there are still plenty of Temple fans here, including another big student section:

Charlotte's fans are literally right behind me:

They are suitably annoying, to put it one way.

Starting lineups:

Charlotte

G So 3 Dijuan Harris
G Sr 12 Leemire Goldwire
F Jr 2 Charlie Coley
F Jr 15 Lamont Mack
F Fr 21 An'Juan Wilderness

Temple

G So 10 Luis Guzman
G Sr 13 Mark Tyndale
G Jr 22 Dionte Christmas
F Fr 24 Lavoy Allen
C Jr 41 Sergio Olmos

ATLANTIC CITY -- That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you walk -- or perhaps fly, in this case -- through an open door.

Yes, it got a little hairy at the end, but St. Joe's really toughed it out in the final minutes. The Hawks made the free throws when it mattered and got themselves a season-defining win over Xavier, 61-53, to advance to the Atlantic 10 Tournament championship game.

St. Joe's shot 20-for-43 from the field (46.5%), including 6-for-17 from three-point range and 14-for-26 from two-point range (53.8%), and 15-for-21 from the free throw line (71.4%). Four offensive rebounds, 22 defensive rebounds, 15 assists, 11 turnovers, three blocks, four steals and 19 fouls committed.

That adds up to 59 possessions and 1.030 points per possession.

Xavier really had a bad day from the field. The Musketeers made only 19 of 52 shots (36.5%), including 1-for-14 from three-point range (7.1%) and 18-for-38 from two-point range, though they made a respectable 14 of 18 free throw attempts. Twelve offensive rebounds, 23 defensive rebounds, eight assists, 12 turnovers, one block, four steals and 20 fouls committed.

That adds up to 60 possessions and 0.885 points per possession.

No question about who gets line of the game, frankly.

ATLANTIC CITY -- 1:33 to go, St. Joe's up 54-47. Sean Miller calls timeout with 26 seconds on the shot clock.

Can the Hawks hold on?

It's getting pretty loud in here...

ATLANTIC CITY -- With 11:56 to go in the game, St. Joe's leads, 44-32. Almost all the big shots have come from the perimeter, as the Hawks are 4-for-8 from the arc in the second half. Pat Calathes has all three of the makes, with the fourth coming from Rob Ferguson as I mentioned below.

The St. Joe's fans are starting to feel it. But I can't help thinking there's a little anxiety in the air given how Xavier came back late at the Fieldhouse last week. We'll see.