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VCU: Vanquished. Continue to Article

March 24, 2016 2:18:am EST

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Midway through a meandering 39-day coaching search that had already dragged into April, Oregon acting athletic director Pat Kilkenny called Nike's George Raveling seeking his advice. Raveling urged Kilkenny to halt his pursuit of splashy candidates like Michigan State's Tom Izzo, Pittsburgh's Jamie Dixon and Gonzaga's Mark Few because they were just using the Ducks as leverage in contract talks with their current schools. When Kilkenny asked who he should consider instead, Raveling had someone in mind. The former Washington State and USC coach told Kilkenny to reach out to someone whose name was well regarded in coaching circles even if it was largely unknown in the Pacific Northwest. "My answer was there's only one guy — Dana Altman," Raveling said. "He was an effective communicator, a good teacher and he always put his players in a position to succeed. He didn't have a marquee name, but it was obvious to me that this guy was special." If Raveling's suggestion was controversial when he made it, it can only be described as clairvoyant six years later. Not only has Altman led Oregon to six straight 20-win seasons and four consecutive NCAA tournament berths, the former longtime Creighton coach also has the Ducks just two victories away from their first Final Four since 1939. What's especially impressive about Altman's Oregon tenure is his program's 50-17 record after Valentine's Day the past six years. The Ducks tend to improve over the course of each season as Altman develops his collection of transfers, four-year recruits and junior college prospects and determines how best to deploy them. From landing five-star shooting guard Tyler Dorsey last winter, to finishing runner-up to Kentucky for Jamal Murray last spring, Altman has raised Oregon's profile enough to draw interest from coveted recruits. The Pac-12 champion Ducks will have a chance to increase their stature even more on Thursday night when they face fourth-seeded Duke in a highly anticipated Sweet 16 matchup. "Anytime you get an opportunity to play someone as well established as Duke, it's a great opportunity," Altman said. "Our basketball tradition is not that great. We're working hard to improve that. We need to play well on the national stage against someone that is very good and has proven themselves." Continue to Article

March 23, 2016 10:07:pm EST

In the span of a March Madness minute, Oregon Ducks guard Dillon Brooks dabbed while his body language convinced a rim-rolling ball to drop, nailed a deep contested triple, and elevated for a block as the only man back against three Saint Joseph’s attackers. The sequence was a shining example of the complete player Brooks has become, says his former high school coach. The Mississauga native finished with 25 points on 7-13 shooting in a 69-64 win last Sunday that set up a Sweet Sixteen date with always-dreaded Duke on Thursday night (9:55 p.m. Eastern). “He’s not just a dunker, he’s not just a rebounder, not just a ballhandler or a shooter -- he does a lot of things really well that impact the game,” said Paul Melnik, coach of Father Henry Carr’s basketball team where Brooks played his first three years of high school before transferring to Findlay Prep in the States. “He may not be the best at any of those but he’s the best combination of them all out there right now.” Benjamin said Dillon Brooks is Oregon's equivalent of Duke's Grayson Allen — the guy who gets under everyone's skin https://t.co/WYvwCrYo0F — Andrew Greif (@AndrewGreif) March 23, 2016 That complete game has developed while Brooks has found a way to compete on every level. As a bigger-bodied player he was used as a forward early in his high school career, and has moved further out to the perimeter as his game has progressed. He projects as a multi-position talent on the next level. Both NBADraft.net and Draft Express have Brooks ranked 37th overall in their 2017 NBA mock drafts, while Draft Express also calls him the 13th best sophomore in college basketball right now. A legitimate pro prospect with a draft stock that continues to rise, Brooks was the lone Canadian in 2015 to suit up for both the Junior National team and Senior team for the Pan Am Games. “His shooting has improved and he can handle it a bit from the perimeter and when he attacks the rim he’s very strong so he can take contact and still come up with finishes,” says national scout Elias Sbiet of North Pole Hoops. “He’s come a long way and the next steps for him are to continue to lower his centre of gravity and improve his dribble even more.” “He was always a good team guy,” adds Melnik. “We always tried to control his emotions – his intensity level is very very high and sometimes it would just come out in the wrong way but he was always great with his team. Once he learned to channel that energy in a really positive way now you’re really seeing it.” The electric energy is evident through Brooks’ play and when he’s rolling the whole team feeds off that momentum he creates. After falling a game short of the NCAA tournament’s second weekend the past two years, Oregon gets a crack at an Elite Eight berth. It might be the best Fighting Ducks team ever, already matching a program-record 30 wins set in 1945. But standing in their way – Duke. Oregon stands out with highlighter yellow uniforms and the newest of new Nike swag from headquarters just down the road, while Duke and legendary coach Mike Krzyzeweski never seem to age as an NCAA powerhouse. It will be a stiff challenge for Brooks and the Ducks. Despite their No. 1 ranking in the West Region, defending tournament champion Duke always comes into March with an aura larger than the sum of their parts. Brooks would be the biggest reason the Ducks topple Duke. The 6-foot-6, 225-pound sophomore wing averaged a team-high 16.8 points and became the first Oregon sophomore to record at least 1000 points, adding 5.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Continued improvement in all aspects has given Brooks a complete skill set but it’s his mentality that gives him a competitive advantage. “His alpha male mentality has helped him transcend his position and make a real jump,” added Sbiet. Brooks has the opportunity to harness the spotlight the tournament provides and boost his draft stock. A win against Duke would go a long way towards that goal, but so much can happen in a March Madness minute. Continue to Article

March 23, 2016 4:12:pm EST

The clock may have struck midnight on Cinderella during the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament, but the Sweet 16 matchups did not suffer because of it. We have blue blood versus blue blood. We have a preseason top-five team trying to live up to its ranking. And we have games pitting opponents that are both an intriguing contrast of styles and mirror images of one-another. Here's a look at the eight matchups ranked in order from most to least compelling: 1. North Carolina (1) vs. Indiana (5) (East Region): Indiana's reward for dispatching second-round foe Kentucky is an even tougher matchup. North Carolina is loaded with experience and talent and seemingly peaking at the right time. Indiana's greatest challenge will be holding its own against a Tar Heels frontcourt that scores efficiently and swallows up offensive rebounds at the fourth highest rate of any team in the country. The Hoosiers need Thomas Bryant and Max Bielfeldt to be at their best, to avoid foul trouble and above all else to limit second-chance points. They also may need bouncy combo forward O.G. Anunoby to spend time on Brice Johnson because he's the Indiana player best equipped to guard the All-American. 2. Kansas (1) vs. Maryland (5) (South Region): If Maryland is truly as good as its preseason top-five ranking suggested, this is the Terps' chance to prove it. They face a 32-win Kansas team that hasn't lost a game since Jan. 26. One key will be whether Maryland can bounce back from a 1-for-18 3-point shooting performance against Hawaii and force Kansas to extend its defense. The Jayhawks otherwise have every reason to go under screens, stay compact and limit both post touches for Diamond Stone and driving lanes for Melo Trimble. The trickiest defensive matchups for Maryland will be Perry Ellis and Wayne Selden. It will likely be up to Robert Carter to defend Ellis out to the 3-point arc and Jake Layman to stay in front of Selden. 3. Oregon (1) vs. Duke (4) (West Region): The only other times Duke has been a lesser seed in an NCAA tournament game the past 20 years, the Blue Devils lost to Kansas in the 2003 Sweet 16 and Louisville in the 2013 Elite Eight. To avoid another loss on Thursday, they'll have to overcome the matchup issues Oregon presents. The Ducks win by spreading out defenses, isolating mismatches and attacking off the dribble, a strategy that may force Mike Krzyzewski to go zone for long stretches. Duke also can be vulnerable against an aggressive defense and Dana Altman will almost certainly throw all sorts of traps and presses at the Blue Devils. The big advantage Duke has is Oregon doesn't have an ideal matchup to defend Brandon Ingram. He will have to be dominant for Duke to win. 4. Virginia (1) vs. Iowa State (4) (South Region): High-scoring Iowa State wants to play at a brisk pace and outscore its opponents. Disciplined Virginia is the nation's most methodical team and excels at controlling tempo. That contrast in styles is intriguing, as is the matchup between the Cyclones' elite offense and the Cavaliers' formidable defense. How Tony Bennett deploys ACC defensive player of the year Malcolm Brogdon will be an important decision. Brogdon would typically draw an opponent's best wings, but Iowa State's top two weapons are point guard Monte Morris and power forward Georges Niang. Brogdon switched onto Butler's Andrew Chrabascz in the second round and locked him up in the second half. Could he do the same at crunch time Friday? 5. Villanova (2) vs. Miami (3) (South Region): Watching Villanova and Miami will be strange because both teams are mirror images of one-another. They're both experienced, they're both guard-oriented and they both rely on their starting centers for rim protecting, their top wings for perimeter scoring and their senior point guards for emotional leadership. The individual matchups between Daniel Ochefu and Tonye Jekiri, Josh Hart and Sheldon McClellan and Ryan Arcidiacono and Angel Rodriguez appear to be very evenly matched, so it would be no surprise if this game is exceptionally tight. Villanova is the more 3-point reliant of the two teams, while Miami's guards are better at attacking off the bounce and getting to the free throw line. 6. Oklahoma (2) vs. Texas A&M (3) (West Region): A longtime Big 12 rivalry will be reborn Thursday in Anaheim. Oklahoma and Texas A&M will meet for the first time since the Aggies left for the SEC in 2012. The appeal of this matchup stems from the presence of national player of the year candidate Buddy Hield, the NCAA tournament's most lethal scorer. Hield torched Cal State Bakersfield for 26 in the opening round and then erupted for 36 against VCU two days later. Texas A&M could have an advantage inside against the Sooners, but can the Aggies contain Hield and the rest of Oklahoma's array of shooters? It seems unlikely. Opponents shoot a hefty 40.1 percent of their shots against Texas A&M from behind the arc and that number has increased in March. 7. Syracuse (10) vs. Gonzaga (11) (South Region): Only a couple weeks ago, Syracuse was one of the last teams out of the field in most mock brackets and Gonzaga needed to win the WCC tournament to avoid the NIT. Now both are a win over a double-digit seed from advancing to the Elite Eight. The slight favorite is probably Gonzaga based on how well the Zags have played so far in this tournament. In dispatching Seton Hall and Utah, their frontcourt tandem of Domantas Sabonis and Kyle Wiltjer have excelled and their backcourt has shown great improvement. Syracuse's zone will be an adjustment for Gonzaga, however, the undersized Orange may have an even harder time with Sabonis. The skilled yet physical 6-foot-11 forward is a menace in the post and on the glass. 8. Notre Dame (6) vs. Wisconsin (7) (East Region): How good are these Sweet 16 matchups? My least appealing one pits two teams who won a combined eight NCAA tournament games last March and have a recent history of postseason classics. Wisconsin got here thanks to a pair of Bronson Koenig 3-pointers, the last one a fall-away buzzer beater that helped the Badgers edge Xavier. Notre Dame had to rally to beat Michigan in the opening round before nipping Stephen F. Austin on a late Rex Pflueger tip-in. The key for Wisconsin may be shaking forward Nigel Hayes out of his slump. Hayes is 10-for-42 in his last three games and 0-for-17 from behind the arc. That doesn't seem to be the recipe for beating Notre Dame even if the Badgers have survived so far. - - - - - - - Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @JeffEisenberg Continue to Article

March 23, 2016 10:47:am EST

Upsets and wild finishes have altered the NCAA Tournament landscape for No. 1 seeds Virginia and North Carolina in their bids for the Final Four. Ten of the top 16 seeds have reached the Sweet 16, and seven of those are with fellow top seeds Oregon in the West Region or Kansas in the South. No one talked much about Virginia thanks to the presence of second-seeded Michigan State, which had ousted the higher-seeded Cavaliers the past two years. Continue to Article

March 21, 2016 3:24:pm EST

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