6:02 - OOh, before we even introduce Dickie V., Brad Nessler hits the trifecta: Larry Bird, Pistol Pete, JJ Redick. That's one.
6:04 - Holy crap, Nessler and V. are wearing faux-staches. Dickie looks like the Pringles guy.
6:05 - Tip off. 5-0 Stanford right off the bat.
6:08 - "They take everyone's best shot, just like Duke." Doesn't quite count, 8-2 Stanford.
6:10 - Stache is 0-2, plus an out of control turnover. "You think he knew Mr. Redick had 35 today?" That's one!
6:15 - On the board with two FT's. They show a stat that says Morrison takes just under 1/3 of their shots. I could live with that...The Gonzaga crowd chants JJ, Dickie thinks it's funny. 2.
6:19 - Gonzaga has the longest current home win streak. Which gives Vitale the opportunity to remind us that Duke is 3rd on that list, in case we forgot. Also, Morrison has diabetes. Alonzo Mourning has one kidney, how is diabetes an issue for his NBA prospects?
6:20 - Morrison hits a nice pull-up J in his defender's grill. "OOOOH. Larry Legend was the last guy to carry a non-marquee conference team to the final four, can Morrison do the same". Next possession "just like Redick, he can be quiet for a while, then put up points in a hurry." The double dip gets us to 4 by the under 12:00 TV timeout.
6:23 - Out of the time out, tough leaner in the lane, and-one. "Only a matter of time, just like Redick. There are 3 locks for All-American. Mr Morrison! Mr. Redick! and Shelden Williams!" He goes on for a bit, we'll call that just one since it was a continuous stream of comparison. 5. (The other two Dickie V. all-americans are Rudy Gay of UConn and Mardy Collins (???) of Temple. How about Randy Foye? Brandon Roy? LeMarcus Aldridge? Rodney Carney of Memphis? Mike Gansey from West Va? But what do I know, I only watch 2-3 games a night.)
6:28 - J.P. Batista is carrying the Zags right now, 25-21 Stanford, Gonzaga does not look sharp.
6:32 - Another and-one for the 'Stache on a put back. That's the part I love about his game is how he finds crafty ways to score, moves well off the ball, hits the O-Boards. Dickie V. rattles of some stats comparing Morrison to...you get the idea. And Nessler says he likes what Morrison and Redick do off the ball. I should be getting paid for this.
Vitale also notes how odd it is for the top two scorers in the country to play for teams that don't suck. Which is a good point, as is the obvious "Morrison needs to work on his defense" as his guy blows by. Oh yeah. 6.
6:35 - "No conspiracy in favor of Duke or Gonzaga" blah blah blah. "Redick piles up points at the end of games because they're ahead and he's getting fouled." Dickie, we're in Spokane here. I'm sure you have 2 or 3 Duke games on your schedule next week, so save some material... 7
6:40 - The white shoes again, what's the deal? Nice pull-up J drifting right by Stache. Dickes says "He's one of the best two in the country" That counts, since I'm pretty sure he means JJ. 8.
6:45 - Ah, the white shoes are part of the Coaches Vs. Cancer thing. Cool.
6:47 - Pull up trey at the first half buzzer. A very quiet 15 at the half for Morrison, largely because Stanford has led thewhole way 43-38 at the half. Worth noting that Gonzaga plays very little D most of the time.
7:04 - Back from half-time. MMM Beef Stew.
7:06 - After a jumper "Look at the passion, that's what JJ Redick has!" 9. Gonzaga takes the lead after an A-Mo steal and a P-Mac layin. 44-43, 17 for Stache.
7:13 - 26 Footer, good. Dickie V. says book him for 35 by the end of the night. "Are you watvhing JJ?" 10. "In a perfect world, J.J. would win the Naismith, Morrison would win..." 11. I might book you for 35 by the end of the night, Dickie.
7:16 - Spokane wit = cardboard signs reading "JJ Who?" Morrison needs to finish with 37 to take over the national scoring lead from
Dickie thinks both guys are winners. That's the kind of analysis that gets you the big bucks. 12. Stanford's point guard looks just like Terrance Howard, FWIW. It's hard in Palo Alto for a pimp.
7:20 - Stanford not so much missing shots, tied at 54. Batista bulls his way to 2 more, he has 22.
7:34 - Nothing really doing for Gonzaga right now. Nothing realy working on O, down 5. Vitale hasn't talked about anything Duke related in at least 10 minutes. A new record?
7:38 - Biggest advantage Morrison has over Redick is rebounding. He tipped the ball out to teammate, ran the floor, drew the foul, 61-58 Stanford. "Morrison and Redick, player of the year battle blah blah blah"13. Morrison passes inside for a layup. "That was a big asset of Larry Bird, passing." 14. 61-60.
7:47 - 66-64 Zags at the 4 minute timeout. Good game. It is sometimes hard to tell how good a team you haven't seen before is when they're making shots to stay in the game vs. a 'better' team. Is Stanford pretty decent, or are they just making more shots than usual? FT by Morrison makes it 67-64, he has 22. Dickie V. has 14 and might win with a strong finish.
7:52 - Big trey by Morrison, Zags up 4. "PTPer baby!" Intentional foul???? Wow, tough call against Stache at home...
7:56 - News Flash! Adam Morrison watches Larry Bird tapes. "There's a lot of similarities." Uh, they're ugly white guys, so that's one...15
7:57 - 3 Guys on him, he scores anyway, he's got 27, Zags by 5. Another, er, great sign in the crowd. "Adam, Larry Called he wants his talent back". WHAT? Dickie V. tells a Bird story apropo of wanting to talk.
7:59 - After a 3 pt player cuts it to 2, a ludicrous 3 with a guy in his face pushes the lead back to 5. Dickie V. says give a gold trophy to both him and Redick. I think I've heard that one, though I'm not sure because of the ringing in my ears from the howling 16. Seriously everyone in the gym knew exactly the play Gonzaga was running and where he was going to shoot it from, and it just didn't matter. Respect.
8:02 - Morrison gets fouled. "Duke and Gonzaga go to the line alot, forget about conspiracies, it's about winning players." 17. 77-73 Zags with 30 seconds left. Morrison has the last 11 for Gonzaga.
8:04 - The Double-Dip! "I'll tell you one thing about Morrison, just like Redick they want the ball when the game's on the line. That was a trademark of Larry the Legend." Count it for 2. 19. Morrison also claims he banked the game winner against OK. State on purpose. Dickie V. doesn't buy it, but I thought he meant it at the time...
8:07 - Two FT's for Morrison. He finishes with 34, Gonzaga wins 80-76, good game. Vitale seemed almost...subdued in the second half.
Well there you have it folks, Morrison 34, Vitale 19. Good times.
Update Sportscenter has the following comparison of Morrison and Redick
Points today: Redick 35 - Morrison 34
PPG season: Redick 28.7 - Morrison 28.6
Fg%: Redick 50.4% - Morrison 51.1%
3pt.FG%: Redick 43.9% - Morrison 43.4%
No comments:
Post a Comment