Da Tourney: St Mary's, BYU, and Why I am a Fan.

Wow. Other than NT getting punched in the face by K-State, it has been an enjoyable tournament to say the very least.

My adopted team is now St. Mary's. Why? Well I love me some basketball and especially dominant performances. 'Tis why I became a Steph Curry fan a few years back. Tell me you weren't rootin' for Fredette and BYU co. on Thursday. I knew it.

St. Marys don't have an amazing defense. I mean it wasn't even like Scottie Reynolds was making it hard on them. Still, when you beat a Number 2, no matter how much they are under-performing, you get points from me.

St Mary quick assessment: 


Da Good: They have scrappy guards that can shoot and handle the ball. They have a dominant big man that can do it all (Sahman had averaging 30 and 9 in the first two games).

Everyone talks about guard play being vital in the tournament. It is. Often left out of the importance conversation is just getting easy shots. Or going to your best player. Those are vital in basketball period. Some teams do that by relying on transition baskets,  driving and kicking for open threes, getting to the line, or letting their big men dominate. St. Mary's does the latter.

St Mary's didn't have to sub a lot because they got nice breaks after Sahman got fouled and was shooting two. That let them counter any depth advantage that Nova presumably had.

Da Bad:They don't have an overly athletic lineup. There is nobody on the squad that can just overpower you with speed, quickness, or hops. Remember that UNT game? Clemente got his three ball off not only because of his quick release, but because he blew by everyone guarding him. He and Pullen were eating up our guards on offense and defense.

From what I've read and heard, Nova wasn't so awesome on defense this year so St. Mary's and Sahman may have been scoring on less-than-NC-caliber defense.