Lackluster Big East Tournament Ends With A Dud.

Hey it happens. Every Big East Tournament can't be a classic. This years certainly in my view wasn't. Right from opening day many of the games were lopsided and tough to watch. 3 blowouts on opening day as Providence got beaten up by Seton Hall, St Johns got flogged by Pitt and Rutgers got trashed by Villinova. It hardly got better.

In my opinion there were 2 terriffic games in the whole tourney.  Cincinnati beating Georgetown in OT in round 2 and UConns thrilling win over West Virginia.

Personally I like defense but hey how about mixing in some good shooting. Clearly the erosion of quality can be traced to youngsters leaving for the pro's early and I don't think you can do anything about that. Denying a youngster a chance to make a paycheck is UnAmerican. However I am surprised more young kids don't learn to shoot better rather then just work on dunking. Hey boys there is plenty of money in shooting the Orange!!!

Even  the end was  dulled. Louisville defeated Cincy in the title game Saturday night 50-44. The Cardinals undoing in the NCAA's will be their vaunted point guard Peyton Seyva. Oh he makes some special plays alright but tends to get brain cramps in huge spots and make a dumb play or 3. The Cardinals could make a big run with the talent they have but you mark it down Seyva will make  a bonehead play and it will end short of a title for Pitino's team.

Anyhow back to the final. YAWN. The normally exciteable 3 some of Bill Rafftery, Jay Bilas and Sean McDonough sounded bored to me. Cincy made it close late but the game was never really in doubt. Not 1 buzzer beater in the entire tournament where thrills and chills have become the expected. Victorius Louisville shot a paltry 35.4%. Losing Cincinnati shot just 39%. UGLY for sure!

The big east is going to be revamped over the next few years with 3 teams leaving and many coming in. The Big East Tournament has been 1 of the great events on the sports calander. I anticipate this years was an abnormalty and the great play, great players, and great finishes will be back next year. For this season though this Big East fan was very dissapointed in the play, the games, and the championship game especially.

Congratulations to Pitino's squad for their 2nd Big East Conference title.