http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/ en Copyright 2007 Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:21:42 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss We also wanted to take this opportunity to thank our readers for continuing to visit our site on a regular basis. The numer of page visits at TRR increased each month during the season...up until the point where the ACC dropped out of contention in the NCAA Tournament. Your support has made the innagural season for TRR a big success. Our blogging activity will be lighter over the summer months, but that's mainly because we'll be sitting down with our webdesign team to improve the look of the site and add some features we think readers will like. We'll also have some commentary on the upcoming NBA draft and get out any recruiting news that comes our way. ]]> http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/florida-gators-2007-national-c.php http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/florida-gators-2007-national-c.php Home March Madness Wed, 04 Apr 2007 17:09:49 -0500 By Michael Marcus Ginyard made two free throws to put Carolina up 75-65 with 7:19 to play. Normally this is when the vaunted Carolina run comes. Instead, Carolina would only make 2 of its next 24 field goal attempts, eventually falling to the Hoyas 96-84 in overtime and ending the chances of the ACC in the field of 64. http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/carolina-comes-unglued.php http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/carolina-comes-unglued.php Home March Madness North Carolina Sun, 25 Mar 2007 19:55:51 -0500 By Michael Everyone will be praising UCLA's defense tomorrow, but TRR didn't necessarily see it that way. Yes, UCLA did force 21 turnovers. Kansas, however, played excellent defense as well, forcing 24 turnovers, limiting UCLA to 7 offensive rebounds, and holding UCLA to only 45 field goal attempts. The defenses were a net-wash in my opinion. The difference was: (1) UCLA's ability to hit the three, where they finished 8 of 17, (2) UCLA's ability to find offense late in the shot clock through Afflalo, and (3) missed opportunities by Kansas. If you ever want to define what missed opportunities means, just call Bill Self at the Kansas Athletic Department. I'm sure they'd be happy to give you this game tape for free since they'll be burning every copy they have. Kansas was 14 of 34 on layup and dunk opportunities. They finished about as strong as Britney's stint in rehab. The meek may inherit the earth, but they don't belong in the Final Four. http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/kansas-wimps-out-against-ucla.php http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/kansas-wimps-out-against-ucla.php Home March Madness Sat, 24 Mar 2007 23:21:51 -0500 By Michael Carolina ignited the rocket fuel with 12 minutes to play. By the time it burned out, the Tar Heels had vanquished USC 74-64 and advanced to the round of 8 where they will take on Georgetown tomorrow in a classic matchup. http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/a-tale-of-two-halves-carolina.php http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/a-tale-of-two-halves-carolina.php Home March Madness North Carolina Sat, 24 Mar 2007 22:18:05 -0500 The story in this game was second chance points for the Hoyas. Georgetown grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and turned them into made baskets. Hibbert, Green, and Summers were all active on the offensive glass and it paid off in spades, allowing the Hoyas to shoot 25-56 from the floor despite missing most of their first shots. Georgetown was also good from deep when it counted, converting 8 of 19 from beyond the arc. In contrast, Vandy hit a dry spell and couldn't shake it despite the fact that Hibbert spent much of the second half on the pine and eventually fouled out. For the game Vandy finished a woeful 9 of 27 from deep. There were 4 to 6 wide open looks from three in the second half that didn't fall. Gotta make those to advance. Oh...and you need officials that aren't scared to call a travel on the opposing team's best player in the crunch. Green walked like a jaybird and got away with it. Heck, even Seth and Clark saw it. You know it's obvious then. http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/georgetown-walks-into-the-roun.php http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/georgetown-walks-into-the-roun.php Home March Madness Sat, 24 Mar 2007 22:05:16 -0500 First, you can never stop Greg Oden completely. Here, we suggest ways to limit his success. There are three ways to beat an opposing big man like Oden. One is to have a better big man that can outmatch Oden in the low post. Georgetown's Hibbert is probably the only person in the field of 64 that can reasonably do this. He's an absolute load in the low block and it's doubtful that Oden can stop the jump hook if Hibbert gets position in deep. The second strategy is to make Oden move laterally by using a smaller player that can hit the outside jump shot or turn and drive. Drawing Oden out of his comfort zone and making him move laterally are keys to destroying his advantages inside. Tennessee had this working like a charm, but only found the magic for twenty minutes. It's not clear that Memphis will have the same ability in this regard. Finally, the third way to beat Oden is to run like the wind. It takes a lot more energy for a 250' big man to run up and down the floor than it does for a 185' swing man or 170' guard. Tiring Oden out physically and getting early offense going to the basket before he sets up defensively increases your chances of winning. Kansas, UNC, and perhaps Florida are the only teams that can step up the pace while still matching OSU physically. http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/how-to-stop-greg-oden.php http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/how-to-stop-greg-oden.php Home March Madness Fri, 23 Mar 2007 10:02:01 -0500 Rallying from a 20 point deficit, The Ohio State University edged a shell shocked Tennessee team by one point on Thursday night, 85-84. In a game where Greg Oden was in constant foul trouble and a limited factor, Mike Conley Jr. destroyed the Vols in the second half with dribble pentration and looked poised beyond his years. The Buckeyes used a simple high screen with the 5 man to get penetration that set up kick outs to senior Ron Lewis (25 points). It is hard to call this a complete choke by the Vols but their offense stagnated in the second half and became a series of jacking contested threes. The inability to exploit OSU with Hunter and Oden both saddled with 4 fouls was a key difference in the game. For Oden, this was a nightmare performance, but he did block the potential game winner as time expired. The Saturday matchup with Memphis will be an interesting battle of tempo and styles. OSU is the only Big 10 team that has the athletes to run the floor with the Tigers. Should be a good one. http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/march-madness/osu-leans-on-a-freshmanand-its.php http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/march-madness/osu-leans-on-a-freshmanand-its.php Home March Madness Fri, 23 Mar 2007 09:53:53 -0500 Three words to A&M: Grab the rebound! A&M goes home in defeat after Law misses a layup and A&M then gives up multiple offensive rebounds on Memphis's last possession. Memphis returns to the Elite 8 two years in a row. http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/texas-am-falls-to-memphis.php http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/texas-am-falls-to-memphis.php Home March Madness Thu, 22 Mar 2007 23:23:24 -0500 Kansas showed exactly how important the transition game is for them tonight in their win over Southern Illinois. When Kansas could get out and run, they looked dominant. However, after Southern grinded down the pace, Kansas was troubled by the pressure defense and didn't rebound well. The Jayhawks turned it over 19 times and gave up 14 offensive rebounds. So the blueprint for beating the Jayhawks is there, but the flip side to this is that Kansas did show some maturity to win a game they're not built to play. Rush was extremely efficient, the offense had 16 assists on 25 made baskets, and the Jayhawk bench outscored that of SIU 22-11. Their often overlooked defense was also solid as they held Southern to 6 of 25 from three. http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/kansas-advances-6158-against-s.php http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/kansas-advances-6158-against-s.php Home March Madness Thu, 22 Mar 2007 23:12:46 -0500 By Michael Chris called this afternoon as I was on my way out of the office. We were discussing the Tennessee-OSU matchup. Chris had picked Tennessee over OSU in his brackets and remarked, "The threes better be falling for Tennessee or they won't advance." I replied, "You think Tennessee can bring Chism high, pulling Oden out of the paint and inverting the offense?" Well, for twenty minutes Tennessee is doing both, dominating OSU 49-32 and sticking Oden with foul trouble. Can they hold on... http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/tennessee-thrashing-osu-at-hal.php http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/tennessee-thrashing-osu-at-hal.php Home March Madness Thu, 22 Mar 2007 23:04:43 -0500 By Michael Tim Floyd has found his way back from basketball exile. Can his Trojans stack up with the cream of the ACC? We're less than 24 hours away from the answer. Check out our preview of this game. http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/the-return-of-pink-floyd.php http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/the-return-of-pink-floyd.php Home March Madness North Carolina Thu, 22 Mar 2007 22:17:16 -0500 CBS Sportsline is reporting that Josh McRoberts will leave Duke two years early to enter the NBA draft. The article implies that McRoberts will hire an agent and not just test the waters. For the season, McRoberts averaged 13 points, 7.9 boards, and 3.5 assists per game for the Blue Devils. What do we think? http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/mcroberts-to-the-nba.php http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/mcroberts-to-the-nba.php Duke Home March Madness Thu, 22 Mar 2007 12:57:49 -0500 By Staff After the first weekend of the 2007 NCAA Tournament, UNC is the lone ACC team in the mix, while the other six ACC teams that received a bid have been sent packing. Since some of the TRR staff lives squarely in the heart of SEC country, we’re already hearing the comments of how overrated the Atlantic Coast Conference has become, while how underappreciated the SEC is year in and year out. Legitimite gripe? Read more to see what we really think. http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/was-the-acc-overrated-is-the-s.php http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/was-the-acc-overrated-is-the-s.php Home March Madness Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:50:09 -0500 By Michael I'm still in solid territory, with 12 of the 16 remaining teams in my bracket and my final four still in place. I have all of the remaining teams from the West and South, but faltered in the Midwest and East. I thought Maryland would handle Butler, placing two ACC teams in the sweet-16, and thought Wisconsin would manage UNLV. However, I'm not surprised UNLV and Lon Kruger managed to slip by the short-handed Badgers since they were clearly the weakest No. 2 seed. In the East, USC manhandled Texas which wasn't too much of a surprise, but I picked this game with my heart and not my head since I was hoping to see Durant meet the Tar Heels. Dumb, dumb, dumb. http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/my-brackets-after-round-2.php http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/my-brackets-after-round-2.php Home March Madness Sun, 18 Mar 2007 20:28:11 -0500 After the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, the only team left representing the ACC is North Carolina. Boston College, Maryland, and Virginia all had chances to advance while Virginia Tech seemed overmatched against a tough Southern Illinois defense. Had the ball bounced a little differently in a few cases, two or three ACC teams could be moving on. However, it's now down to the Tar Heels who are playing as well as any of the remaining teams in the tournament. http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/unc-carries-the-hopes-of-the-a.php http://www.tobaccoroadreport.com/home/unc-carries-the-hopes-of-the-a.php Boston College Home March Madness Maryland North Carolina Virginia Virginia Tech Sun, 18 Mar 2007 20:23:24 -0500