Friday, March 25, 2005 | 9:37 a.m.
The Great
Mike Krzyzewski, Duke coach
When he desires, Coach K reveals a keen sense of humor. Thursday, he talked about his respect for Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, who learned the game from stern boss Jud Heathcoate.
As an underling or young coach, "you had to laugh at all of (Heathcoate's) bad jokes," Krzyzewski said. "Tom didn't always laugh. I respected that."
The Good
Bob Weltlich, Fairhope (Ala.) middle school science teacher
The former Mississippi, Florida International and South Alabama coach has a new book, Crooked Zebra, on the market. It's about a financially strapped referee who attempts to fix a national championship game.
"I've always contended that if a game were to be fixed, it would be much easier for a referee to do it," Weltlich told the Lexington Herald-Leader. And the NCAA is worried about Vegas?
The Bad
Sean McManus, CBS Sports president
In a comment about high-profile coaches last weekend, McManus mentioned Roy Williams, Mike Krzyzewski and "Bill Weber" of Illinois. The team that has dominated the No. 1 ranking this season is coached by Bruce Weber.
The Ugly
UCLA
The Bruins get bounced in the first round and their faithful are happy? That's progress in Ben Howland's second year? An unforgiving group desperate for a return to the Wooden era will accept one NCAA appearance every three years?
Oh, right, Howland will turn it around quickly. What's quick, 10 years? He will struggle mightily just to get the program back to Lavin standards, or did you powder-blue folks take those five Sweet 16s in six years for granted?
Thank you, West Virginia. Not for anything you Mountaineers did or didn't do last night against Texas Tech, but for dismissing Wake Forest last Saturday in the grand tournament.
One ACC team down ...
What transpires today will go far in making us look sterling in our pre-tournament prediction that no Atlantic Coast Conference team will advance to the Final Four.
All the Eastern seaboard media has been agog over the league for, hmmm, how many years, or decades?
Enough. Which led to the F4 shutout forecast in this space nine days ago.
North Carolina State has snuck into the Sweet 16, but Wisconsin could trudge it into submission today in Syracuse.
Has anyone else noticed that the Wolfpack's one-man show, Julius Hodge, appears to have aged 25 years since he jammed here in Vegas with the New York Ravens at the Big Time Classic in the summer of 2000?
On the other side of the Syracuse Regional, meet mortal North Carolina. Has any other team had such an easy route in the tournament? Oakland and Iowa State were easily turned back, and the Heels today get a Villanova squad that won't have swingman Curtis Sumpter available.
Our nightmare is both North Carolina State and Carolina playing in the Syracuse finale, assuring the ACC of at least one spot on the big stage in St. Louis.
We're banking on Michigan State coach Tom Izzo ending his 0-4 drought against Duke today in Austin, Texas. Freshman point guard Drew Neitzel's success against the superb Daniel Ewing of the Blue Devils will play a pivotal role.
Ewing and J.J. Redick both went for 29 points against the Spartans at the start of the season, and Duke was still able to only win by single figures at home against one of the toughest programs in the nation.
MSU will extend its perimeter defense to disrupt Ewing and Redick, hit its free throws and dominate the inside, with Paul Davis, Alan Anderson and Drew Naymick.
If it's such a class above other conferences, why did just as many Big Ten teams reach the Sweet 16 as the ACC?
Why have the Big East (three) and Southeastern (three) won more national championships over the past 11 years than the "vaunted" ACC, which has two? That's as many as the Pacific 10 Conference.
Maybe one ACC team will squeeze into the Final Four, but even that would have to be a slap in the many faces of those broadcasting blowhards who picked a Final Four consisting of three Atlantic Coast teams.
They, and you, know who they are.
Let's look, with a nod to syndicated columnist Norm Chad for recently raising the issue, at the group of supposed impartial observers whose biases constantly seep through the screen.
CBS analysts Jay Bilas, Dan Bonner, Len Elmore, Mike Gminski, Billy Packer, Jim Spanarkel and Bob Wenzel each has either played or coached in the ACC.
Bilas, Gminski and Spanarkel all played at Duke. Wenzel, as a Duke assistant, coached Gminski and Spanarkel.
"Apparently, the ACC has the best RPI in basketball and broadcasting," Chad wrote.
Moreover, Seth Davis, whose Sports Illustrated feature deifying Wake's Chris Paul ran just before Paul tagged Hodge with a fist south of the border, has been chiming in next to Greg Gumbel and Clark Kellogg on the CBS set.
Davis attended Duke. Fortunately, he filled out his initial bracket with a pencil.
And Dukie Vitale ... we won't go there.
Say what you want about Bill Raftery, but he's a rare animal -- an allegedly unbiased talking head with no ties to the ACC.
Chad shouldn't yelp too loudly, either. He went to Maryland, Class of '81.
Our pick as the best impartial analyst with the brightest future is Doug Gottlieb, who drew some attention in the Feb. 21 issue of Sports Illustrated for criticizing Wisconsin reserve forward Brian Butch.
Vitale responded quickly, condemning Gottlieb on the air. Dukie, the game's loudest pr machine, needs to relax.
Gottlieb's analyses are insightful and straight-forward, without a hint of the arrogance or pomposity that so dominates the industry. We welcome the former Notre Dame and Oklahoma State point guard's style as, hopefully, the wave of the future.
Meanwhile, go Michigan State, Villanova and Wisconsin.
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