Semifinal Saturday

Woo-hoo, the Final Four is here, and it should be a good one. Of course, two years ago I was in Vegas to watch, and this year I'll be at a BW3. Advantage: 2 years ago.

I'm still picking UCLA to take out Memphis and hold down Rose. Now, I don't mean hold down like 2 points, I mean more like going 4-14 with 12 points and a 1:1 TO/A ratio or worse. He's still going to get points, but he's also going to struggle. I will also go ahead and guarantee Dorsey is in foul trouble most of the game.

An interesting note on the second game is that Kansas plays at a lot slower tempo than I thought, ranking 132nd in the country in tempo compared to Carolina at 9th. I thought maybe it was a reflection on the Big 12, and it is a little bit as Kansas ranks fifth in the conference, but that doesn't completely explain my misperception, and they obviously don't run as much as I thought. I don't think a faster paces bothers them however, seeing as they were 16-1 in games where more than 145 points were scored. I'm also thinking it may be that they rank lower in tempo because they were in so many blowouts, where they slowed things down in the second half because they were up by so much. I'd love to see a first half vs. second half tempo split, but have no idea where to get that if it even exists. In any case, I'm still picking Kansas.

In Twins news, they picked up a good win over the previously undefeated Royals, but lost Cuddyer with a dislocated finger. I actually thought the Cuddy Bear would be tough and be back in a couple days, but he's already been put on the 15-day DL like a little whiny girl. I'm much less fond of Cuddy these days. This means we'll see more of Kubel (good), but also more of Monroe (bad). I don't know who they're calling up to take Cuddy's place, but chances are he really sucks.