Go Wildcats

Congratulations to Villanova Men's Basketball team

0
1736
(San Antonio,Tx) Villanova Wildcats celebrate winning the NCAA Men’s National Basketball Title (Villanova Twitter)

 

Congratulations to the Villanova Wildcats for winning their second NCAA  National Men’s Basketball Championship in 3 years. Honestly: I predicted it (not boasting…well, maybe a little) When they were ranked #1 earlier in the regular season, I had a feeling they were going to take it then, even when Virginia held onto the #1 spot. The Wildcats confirmed experience still makes a difference when fighting for a championship.

  •  I also liked how the Wildcats were built: They were selfless and well-balanced. National Player of the Year Jalen Brunson was the face of the team, but to be honest, any player on that team could beat you, perfect example: The Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four  Donte DiVincenzo was Villanova’s 6th man , who scored 31 points off the bench. And he was also 5-7 from 3-point range. Brunson had only 9 points, and DiVincenzo picked up the slack. Kudos to head coach Jay Wright.

 

 

And speaking of Wright, he does belong with the elite coaches of the game. John Calipari, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Roy Williams all need to make room for this man, and he may not be done if most of this team stays together.

I want to give one more kudos to Loyola of Chicago for their awesome run in the NCAA Tournament that ended in the Final Four, and I feel that they could’ve beaten Michigan if they would’ve kept it going in the second half, but it apparently wasn’t meant to be, but they’re far from losers and they do take home their first Regional Trophy since 1963. And kudos to Sister Jean, who was their spiritual leader. My favorite quote from her? Reporter: “So what are you giving up for Lent? Sis. Jean: “Losing.” Ha! I love it

I was sorry to hear that Pitt Women’s basketball coach Suzie McConnell-Serio was fired Thursday. She certainly was a class act from day one. I remember her telling me at her introductory news conference (2012) that she wanted the Pitt job to be her last coaching job. Unfortunately, she couldn’t get this team going after leading them to the Big Dance in her second year. It didn’t help that several great players either graduated or transferred, but unfortunately recruiting wasn’t so successful. I wish her the best.

The New England Patriots are up to something. They allowed WR Danny Amendola to sign with Miami and traded leading WR Brandin Cooks to the LA Rams and in return they received the Rams 1st round pick. Some folks feel like they may trade for NY Giants WR Odell Beckham, Jr. It’s up to them if they want that self-attention getter, just remember when they had Randy Moss. He ended up getting traded back to the Vikings after 3 seasons. But nevertheless, the Pats are up to something.

And don’t give me that nonsense that the Patriots are trading TE Rob Gronkowski. I don’t care what issues he may (or may not) have with the organization, not even they’re not dumb enough to trade a Hall of Fame TE. And besides, QB Tom Brady can’t throw the ball to himself, mainly because he can’t catch, just watch the Super Bowl… (Oops…did I say that?)

 Sad to hear that the Boston Celtics Kyrie Irving’s season is done due to needing a second knee surgery. I still think he acted like a spoiled brat after wanting out of Cleveland, but he did prove to be an effective leader with the Celtics and was probably in NBA MVP talks. But now the Celtics must now see how they can fare without him, Gordon Heyward, and Isaiah Thomas, whom they traded for Irving. It’s gonna be interesting

I think the Cavaliers have met their stride, they’ve won 4 in a row and I think they’re still the team to beat in the Eastern Conference, especially after Irving is out for the Celtics. And the Toronto Raptors are good, but not championship good. They remind me of MLB’s Washington Nationals or NHL’s Washington Capitals, two of sports best regular season teams.

 Listen, for those NY Yankee fans who criticized newly acquired OF Giancarlo Stanton after his 5-strikeout game earlier this week, what do you have to say after he hit his 3rd HR the next day? Ok, so he’s only hitting .185, but the Yankees have only played 7 games. The dude hit 59 HR last season. Relax.

Please e-mail Ray at [email protected]
Follow him@urbanmediaRay on twitter