News-Record.com

Greensboro was third among the four NCAA women's regional sites in attendance -- considerably behind Oklahoma City and Spokane and slightly ahead of New Orleans -- according to official box scores from the various sites.
The interesting thing here is that New Orleans was the only site with a local draw in its field. LSU's just up the road, yet the two sessions at the Superdome attracted only 9,248 fans in all. Greensboro, which had Rutgers, UConn, George Washington and Old Dominion, reported 9,667 spectators. OKC, at which Tennessee beat Texas A&M for the regional title, had 19,373 for the semifinals and finals. Spokane, where Stanford dispatched Maryland for the Final Four berth, welcomed 14,447.
The numbers aren't exactly overwhelming evidence for Greensboro's Women's Final Four aspirations. But you have to wonder if, in assigning four teams without indigenous ties, the NCAA committee had already decided to eliminate GSO from future Final Four consideration.

Like Bill Self, this is my first trip to the Final Four. For Bill Self's sake, I hope he has an easier time adjusting.

One of the main purposes of a blog is for media members to discuss parts of their job that otherwise would never be revealed, mainly because no one's actually interested. So I will now indulge.

We're all one big family here at the Alamo Dome, which means the media area and the basketball court are all in teh same room. One very, very big room. So right now I'm listening to the UCLA band work its way through Word Up by Cameo - a classic pep band staple - while some PA announcer is blathering on.

Needless to say it makes it very hard to form a coherent thought. But fear not, gentle reader. I will press on. At this time of the year, it's all about focus.

At least that's what they tell me.

Where hopefully the wireless issues have been put to rest.

It's unbelievable how many seats they sold in this place. Essentially this dome is made for football. The court has been placed in the north end zone. Temporary stands have been erected on the south side of the court. But on the east and west sides, they've sold seats in the upper deck ALL THE WAY TO THE OTHER END OF THE DOME.

I'm guess if you're that high up, you actually see over the temporary seats on the south side of the court and down onto the action. Maybe it's like having an apartment that overlooks Wrigley Field.

Based on the number of folks sporting gear around San Antonio, I'd say Kansas came out in force. I estimated they had roughly 40 percent of the fans here. In the dome, it's harder to tell because a) The Bruins fans in their light blue are hard to tell from the UNC fans in light blue (I know it's sacreligious to some but it's true and b) Kansas fans aren't very interested in the first game, for obvious reason.

About to tip. More later.

17-12 at the first media timeout. This can't be the pace that UCLA wants to play at, can it? The Bruins looked smooth in getting out to a 10-6 lead but man, things turned helter-skelter fast and nobody does helter-skelter better than Memphis.

Bizarre seating here by the way. I thought we'd gotten shafted but Grant Wahl of SI and Bob Ryun are right in front of me. Basically we're staring at the baseline under the UCLA goal. We'll all have cricks in our neck before the night is out.

I know, I know. It's a tough job. That's why I'm here for you guys. Because I care. Really. Honest.

It's 36-31 Memhis right now. But you knew that already because you're watching the game. Hopefully you're watching the game and checking the blog. If you're only checking the blog, well, I'm not sure what to say.

Anyway, I was directed to an interesting column by Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe, a guy whose seats are actually worse than mine, I think.

Basically, Ryan doesn't think Tyler Hansbrough is incomparable. Actually, he thinks Hansbrough is the second coming of Mitch Kupchak.

For those of who didn't realize that Kupchak was anything else other than the Lakers general manager, here's his stat line from the NBA.

Nine seasons, 10.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg.

Not bad, but even better when you consider that after Kupchak's sixth season his knees gave out on him and he was never quite the same, averaging just single digits his final three seasons.

Really not bad when you consider that Kupchak played a key role on two NBA title teams. Heck, the guy even won a title with the Bullets!

As anyone who has followed Duke knows - as well as anyone who reads him in the Washington Post - prominent writer and Duke alum John Feinstein was not the biggest fan of Joe Alleva, the schools athletics director.

So Feinstein's a pretty happy guy. In the food line at halftime he repeated a line he said he'd already told a reporter from the Chronicle, the Duke student newspaper.

"Free at last! Free at last!"

It finally dawned on me when Chris Douglas-Roberts threw down a huge left-handed dunk over Kevin Love. Memphis is for real.

Actually we all knew that before. But there was still a strong sentiment in the press room that UCLA would slow down Memphis and frustrate them. It's been the other way around.

Here's the thing about the Tigers - they're unbelievably athletic, they're relentless and they're a matchup nightmare. Memphis solved UCLA's vaunted half-court defense largely on the strength of guards Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts. Rose is 6-5. Douglas-Roberts is 6-6. Basically the Tigers gave the ball to one of those two, spread out the floor and let them attack UCLA's guards Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook. They usually shot over them or backed them down for easy shots. If the Bruins tried to counter with bigger defenders, like Josh Shipp or Luc Richard Mbah Moute, Rose and Douglas-Roberts went right by them.

And oh man, can Memphis get up and down the floor. They're not running nearly as much as they'd like, but they're still getting an easy basket here and there. That's huge in these games, where the margin of error is so thin.

If UNC beats Kansas, it'll be interesting to see a track meet between the Tar Heels and the Tigers. I used to think no one in the country could run with UNC. Now I'm not so sure.

That is, unless you consider no news to be big news. Which, actually, come to think of it, it may very well be. At the very least we now know that all three players, Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson, are seriously looking into their NBA draft prospects. If they weren't they would have already announced their decisions to return, as they did during last year's awards ceremony.

Anyway, the real bombshell of the night during the UNC basketball awards ceremony was delivered by senior walk-on Surry Wood. Wood revealed that he and fellow senior Quentin Thomas had recently mooned Duke senior DeMarcus Nelson.

Allow me to give some context while deftly avoid getting too graphic. It was after a barnstorming game, played by this time of year by seniors who have used up their eligibility. Wood and Thomas were in one car, being driven by UNC videographer Eric Hoots, when Nelson passed them on I-40.

That's when Wood and Thomas made their move.

And people say the Duke and UNC players aren't into the rivalry.

... of course by the time I finish this blog, a press conference may have been called or a press release may have been sent out and the fates of UNC's big three - Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson - may already be known.

Of it could drag out. Or, UNC could let the deadline go and not say a thing, which would be kind of cool in a snarky sort of way. Not to us in the media, though. Or for fanatical Tar Heels who have been surfing message boards 24/7 this week.

While we wait, here's yet another analysis of the situation in CHapel Hill.

First, I realize that Roy Williams's hoops knowledge dwarfs mine in the way that Kenny George would dwarf Mugsy Bogues. But I don't quite get his stated disdain for the "testing the waters" plan, in which a player declares for the draft, doesn't sign with an agent and then goes to tryouts to check out his stock. Roy's theory is that he can gather enough information before the deadline, making the "testing the waters" phase irrelevant.

Maybe, but look at it from the NFL Draft perspective. The way Roy's system works, teams would draft off of what they've seen during the season (which is the way they probably ought to draft, but bear with me.) No combines, no all-star games, no individual workouts. Clearly, that's not the way scouts in the NFL work and I would tend to doubt the NBA scouts would either. If you're going to pick someone - and an NBA pick matters more than any other draft, simply because of the low roster size - you want as much information as possible. For example, you've heard that Tyler Hansbrough lacks athleticism. But wouldn't you rather bring him in to your practice gym, have him go up against an NBA player, see for yourself what his vertical leap is, or how fast he runs the floor?

I use the case of Tyler Hansbrough because, like a lot of folks on Tobacco Road, I can't quite figure out why his draft stock didn't budge an inch after this season, even after he showed so much more versatility in his game. Before, I'd worried about his ability to be a consistent low-post scorer in the NBA. Now, I think he would be very valuable with his ability to hit jumpers off the pick-and-pop, his board-crashing ability and his all-around energy. Wouldn't that be worth a 16-20 pick? And if you're Hansbrough, and you think that NBA scouts are still missing the boat on you, wouldn't you want another chance or two to change their minds?

What I'm saying is that Williams' approach is purely reactive - call around and see what NBA teams think of his players - while testing the waters allows a player to be proactive, to go out and give the NBA teams a little more evidence to help them make a decision on you. As they always say in the draft, it only takes one team. Testing the waters increases the players' chances of finding that one team.

Now, having said all that, let's assume that all of them take Williams' initial advice - who knows, he may have change his opinion on testing the waters by now - and don't go the "declare but don't hire an agent route." What then?

This is all purely hypothetical. I'm not basing any of this on what I'm hearing any of the three will do (it's a rumor tsunami out there right now).

Ty Lawson, to me is the most critical element, because I could see Tyler Hansbrough's fate being tied to his. Plus, Lawson seems the most likely to go highest of the three in the draft. Though UNC fans certainly weren't pleased with the way Lawson played against Kansas, that game greatly increased the chances Lawson will be back next season. Before then, there was a lot of talk that he would be a late lottery pick - usually good enough news for a player to declare. Since then, there have been a lot of questions - what about his size? does he have a consistent enough jumper? and can he beat enough people off the dribble to compensate for shortcomings in the first two departments? The success of Chris Paul, who's pushing six feet only on a good day, greatly helps Lawson's case, but I don't think I'm offending any Tar Heels if I state that Lawson is no Chris Paul. The other issue is the number of other point guards already in the draft who could go ahead of Lawson. That could push him toward the end of the first round. Unless some team has given him a first-round guarantee, then it's too risky for Lawson to declare.

If that happens, then I could definitely see Hansbrough coming back. He has nothing left to accomplish on the college level except winning a national title. With Lawson back, Hansbrough could do that, and then picked No. 25 in the draft, which seems to be his destiny regardless of what he does on the court. Without Lawson, Hansbrough may think, "Do I really want to come back for another season of getting pulverized in the low post and having to deal with an even greater media spotlight when my chances of winning it all are even less and when it's probably not going to help my draft stock anyway? So my thinking here is - if Lawson goes, Hansbrough goes. If Lawson stays, Hansbrough stays.

Ellington? Look, all logical signs point to him coming back. But the fact that he still hasn't made that decision yet probably tells you that he'd like to go if he could. Could he? He's a bit thin to be a prototypical NBA two guard and he still hasn't shown a lot of ability to attack the rim. Of course, that may be due in part to the fact that UNC always keeps two post players in the lane, making dribble penetration from the wings tricky. Maybe Ellington feels he could show that skill off by testing the waters (see earlier paragraph). All the projections have him at no better than a second-round pick. That's the land of no guaranteed money. But maybe there's a team out there picking late in the first round that's intrigued by Ellington. If there is, I could see him going. Heck, Dallas once picked Leon Smith at the end of the first round. Stranger things have happened. The odds are against that, though, so the odds would be against Ellington declaring.

Unless ....

What if Hansbrough and Lawson decided to declare? Maybe then Ellington decides he doesn't want to spend a season in Chapel Hill without the point guard who gets him open shots and the big man who forces defenses to sag off the perimeter. That would be sort of the Sean May argument - i.e. the guys around me have gone so I might as well go as well.

So there you have it. Let me finish by adding one minor disclaimer: all of this could be totally wrong.

Heck, that's probably the easiest scenario to pick right now.

As Rob Daniels noted in his article in this morning's paper the selection of former Andrews standout William Hayes in the fourth round of the NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans raised quite a few eyebrows on Sunday.

Hayes has said he used his small school status to motivate him. Now, should he choose to add another chip to put on his shoulder, he'll have one based on the reactions from Tennessee fans.

Let's just say those in the blogosphoer are not pleased. It's one of those weird things about the draft. No one in Nashville knows William Hayes from Elvin Hayes, but because William wasn't "projected" to go in the fourth round of the draft, Titans fans are up in arms.

Here's a sample of what they're saying.

This blogger seized upon the fact that Hayes was the first player not invited to the combine to get drafted. That, he said was "not a recommendation.

"From what I've read, I haven't seen anything that makes me thing Hayes shouldn't have been taken where guys who aren't invited to the Combine are normally taken: in the 6th or 7th round or not at all. Fisher claimed in an interview with NFL Network that several teams said they would have taken him shortly after the Titans did. You're free to believe that, if you want."

This blogger had a similar reaction.

3. William Hayes DE Winston Salem St. to Tennessee Titans

Who? William Hayes? Who is that? I can honestly tell you I don’t have a clue and congrats to Mel Kiper Jr. for having him in his top fifty DE’s. Hayes could have been taken at least a round or two later and the Titans could have taken another receiver to give Vince some tools to work with.

Chris Steuber of Scout.com dubbed the selection of Hayes "a questionable pick."

The Titans needed a pass rusher, but they also have depth issues at DT. There were two very good DTs, Dre Moore and Joseph Bryant, on the board at the time of the Hayes selection, and that makes the pick even more puzzling.

Oh, and Mel Kiper, who at least knew who William Hayes when he was drafted, still said Hayes was a "reach" for the fourth round.

All of this led Titans coach Jeff Fisher to sarcastically tell The Tennessean:

"Obviously people outside probably did a better job identifying our needs than we did."
And yeah, it's already turning into fuel for Hayes's inner fire.

"I am ready to come down there and get to work and prove everybody, Mel Kiper and everybody else that had something negative to say, wrong," Hayes told the Tennessean

Following in the footsteps of yesterday's check-in on William Hayes, here's a look at what's being said about DeMario Pressley after the Saints picked him in the fifth round.

And if you guessed that we'll have a "buzz about Jerome Simpson" tomorrow, well then you sir are quite astute!

Here's what a writer with www.houmatoday.com - the paper of record in Terrebonne Parish (don't you love those Louisiana locales?) had to say.

Fifth-round draft choice, defensive tackle DeMario Pressley, is also an interesting selection. As a prep star, Pressley was regarded by two of the top recruiting services in the country as the best defensive tackle in the nation. In his first two seasons at North Carolina State, Pressley flashed those type skills, but injuries and a semi-warm motor dipped his draft stock.

Pressley is strong, has excellent athletic ability and can run the field well from side to side. But he seemed to lack the intensity he flashed as an underclassmen when injuries started to take their toll in 2006 and 2007.

On this site 80 percent of the voters were happy with the selection of D-Mo.

Charles Robinson over at Yahoo! Sports liked the pick:

Pressley could be a steal in the fifth round if he stays healthy and improves his lower body strength.

Another site referring to Pressley as a steal in the fifth round.

And the Times-Picayune (don't you love the names of Louisiana newspapers?) weighs in.

WHAT WE'RE THINKING: The Saints obviously didn't need another defensive tackle after drafting Sedrick Ellis in Round 1, but they liked Pressley's potential enough to move up two spots in the draft to get him. He might need a year or two to develop in the NFL, but he's an athletic prospect who has a chance to add even more bulk to his big frame. Pressley wasn't an elite pass rusher in college, but he projects as a three-technique tackle in the NFL with his speed and athleticism.

Didn't need another defensive tackle? I don't know, it seemed to me that by picking Pressley the Saints were sort of sending a signal that they had a dire need at tackle and that was why they picked up both Sedrick Ellis and Pressley.

Whatever the case, the word on Pressley appears mixed. Some look at his athleticism and see potential and claim the Saints got a steal in the fifth round. Others look at that athleticism and wonder why Pressley wasn't more productive and label him an underachiever.

Who's right? Really, only Pressley can settle that debate.