Stanford barely made it to the tourney, but they aren't a bad team by any means. One team always proves the committee right. Can the Cardinal be this team?

Join Signal to Noise after the jump for the madness!

Louisville #6 South Region:

Conference Big East
Location Louisville, KY
Coach Rick Pitino (since 2002)
Arena Freedom Hall
Record 24-9 (13-3)
RPI 36
NCAA Appearances 32
NCAA Record 53-34 (.609)
Last Bid 2005
Last Win 2005

Stanford #11 South Region:

Conference Pac-10
Location Stanford, CA
Coach Trent Johnson (since 2004)
Arena Maples Pavilion
Record 18-12 (10-8)
RPI 66
NCAA Appearances 14
NCAA Record 19-13 (.594)
Last Bid 2005
Last Win 2004


S2N here. Watching Davidson-MD and waiting for them to transfer over, which they should be doing any second now...I got Louisville here; I don't know what Clark Kellogg is smoking to think Stanford is going to win.

OK, we got Gus Johnson and Dan Bonner on the horn, and Louisville wins the tip. Earl Clark finally puts in the first points for the Cardinals after some early sloppy shooting. Padgett puts in another two for L'Ville after Stanford takes another ill-advised outside shot.

This isn't good for Stanford if their guards just aren't going to pass inside to the Lopez twins. They'll just be Robin and Brook here; I'm not going to remember to type Lopez.

Over/under on times announcers have to remember to note which Lopez twin is which: 75. Back from the break, and Stanford just doesn't look good right now. Robin finally gets the team's first bucket after about five or six shots missed. Not good if you're trying to work it through the low post. David Padgett gets fouled in the lane and hits both free throws. L'Ville presses, and Stanford wasn't expecting that, with another missed shot. Williams drives back the other way and gets fouled heading for the lay-in (missed). Robin heads to the bench with his second foul. Louisville is up 10-2 right now, and Stanford just got its 4th turnover.

Stanford was mounting a bit of a comeback, but Clark hits a three, and then they steal it on the inbound for another 2. Stanford gets nicked with an offensive foul on the next trip down, and it's 17-6 Cardinals.

Awful Announcing- said...I cannot stand the Lopezesses

You too, huh? I think it has something to do with the fact they look kind of like hippy-dippy Berkeley dudes (especially Robin, whom I think is the one with the curly hair.)

Commercial note: I love this Tiger Woods Golf ad with him playing with his Wii (hee!) in his living room while the gallery watches him. "Tiger's got a turkey and avocado."

Damn, that sandwich sounds good.

Brook Lopez couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat. Louisville hit a three, stole it, got another two, and then got another two on free throws the next time down (I had better commentary, but Blogger ate it, giving me an error.)

Jerry Smith hits another two free throws after a foul inside, and Louisville is up by 13 right now. Bonner is stating the obvious, saying Stanford "has to make a move soon." Caracter and Padgett are giving L'Ville center play, especially with Robin sitting for Stanford with a couple of fouls, and Caracter gets another two inside. Now Johnson and Bonner are trying to read into the soul of Stanford's team as Palacios gets another steal and Caracter gets fouled at the other end. Inbounds, it's rotated around and back in to Caracter, who's going to the line again after the break (he's drawing fouls like crazy).

25-10, L'Ville.

Getting some Davidson-MD action...Extrapolater has the game of the morning (for West Coasters, anyway), in my eyes. Curry is playing like a man possessed right now.

I don't know if they're going to send me back to Cardinals vs. Cardinal any time soon. I'll be back if and when they send me back to it, but with a score of 41-13 for Louisville, I'm not betting on it.

Anyone just want to put Stanford down for their own sake? Mercy rule, anyone?

OK, they brought me back at 44-16 with three minutes left, and it's clear that anyone who said Stanford didn't belong in the tourney (THIS GUY RIGHT HERE!) is loving the selection committee stupidity. Syracuse and Drexel fans, take some solace in that.

It's become less of a game than a litany of Stanford errors and what they could actually do to make it respectable.

"You just have to get something positive going at the end of the half." - Bonner.

Stanford actually gets a stop, and Robin can't buy a bucket at the other end. Palacios misses a three for the Cardinals. Stanford heads down, and they still can't shoot. Goods gets it to Robin, and he gets fouled and heads to the line.

56% free throw shooting for Robin Lopez? Goddamnit. If you're going to play in college or the pros, you ought to be able to shoot at least 80% from the line. No exceptions. Get your butt in the gym and shoot from the line until you do better. Very few skills are more important in the NCAA tournament than good shooting from the charity stripe.

I knew the Lopez twins were hippy-dippy artiste types (no dis, I'm one of 'em too) -- Johnson just said Brook was the writer type, while Robin is an artist who's painted his shoes before.

I think I'm being pulled away from this game again permanently.

DigitalHeadbutt said...Note to self: being artistic with your basketball shoes is very, very bad luck.

Boy, oh boy, you're telling me....they're sending me to TT-BC, I think; we'll check in with more from the slaughter if I get to see it again.

In comments, RUTS has provided us with a nice comparison of what this game really has looked like before CBS whisked us away. I embed here for your entertainment:


If you care, the halftime score: L'Ville 46, Stanford 20. Awww...isn't that cute? The baby broke the 20 point mark!

I'll be back in a few, guys. If they happen to go back to the slaughter, leave your notes in comments. Otherwise, I'll leave a final score.

74-46, L'Ville with 5:00 to go in the second half. I thought about watching via MMOD, keep the slaughter on record, but I decided against it for my personal health.

WastingCompanyTime6 said...I have always thought that your performance in the tournament cannot prove or disprove your deserving to be there. I may have to re-think that position.

It's a wake-up check for us all, WCT.

Wait, wait...they're making us watch garbage time of this crap??? Oh well...Sosa at the line, shooting two. Goddamnit, Blogger ate comments on this thread too. (Restored.)

Gone to WSU-ORU. Thanks for sticking around, the slaughter will not be shown again.

CBS, stop this -- no one wants to listen to the final moments of this game, seriously. Final Score: L'Ville, 78 - Stanford, 58. 16 points for Edgar Sosa. Man, these transfers from studio to booth, with Greg Gumbel interrupting people are AWKWARD.

Anyway, thanks to the commenters, and enjoy the rest of the games from our wonderful News Team! I may be back tomorrow with a game (hopefully I get one that's an actual game) and drop by Signal to Noise.

S2N out.