At The Press last night I sat and watched the end of the UConn vs. San Diego St. game. Before the game I chose San Diego over UConn in my bracket, and after hearing Walker had wrist problems I thought for sure he was on his last legs and the Huskies would not see the Elite 8.
Husky fans you have to admit if Kemba was not on the team the Elite 8 would seem like some kind of fantasy. Without Kemba UConn does not have much of a chance against the Wild Cats of Arizona.
But nonetheless, last night I believe I was converted into a Kemba Walker fan... not a Husky fan... a Kemba Walker fan. I was blown away by his dominance against San Diego. The Aztecs are a very good team, but Kemba just made them look foolish last night.
Walker ended his night with 36 points, 22 of those from the floor. The moment I realized I was rooting for Kemba was when San Diego's Jamaal Franklin gave him a hard shoulder and knocked him to the ground. Terrible act of non-sportsmanlike conduct and I was hoping Kemba sunk those two technical foul shots right in his eye... and he did.
I would have liked it even more if San Diego lost by two and Franklin really felt the consequences of his actions. But UConn took the 74-67 victory.
After that game I watched the Arizona vs. Duke game. Of course I had Duke in the finals in my bracket but seeing as I have no chance of winning I was rooting for the Pac-10 team I had come accustomed to seeing during my days of covering the Pac-10 and the WCC.
I missed the first half due to my hour ride home from Middletown to South Hadley, MA. But the second half was the part of the game to watch anyway. Mo Mo (or Lamont) Jones and Derrick Williams took to Duke's defense like they were playing a high school basketball team.
William's dunk over Duke's senior Kyle Singler sealed the deal for Arizona and put a big smile on my face to see Coach K sit down in disgust. To be honest, it wasn't Duke's defense that did them in, it was the fact that Arizona could not miss no matter what they threw up there and Duke couldn't put it in the ocean.
Two enjoyable games to watch last night and one game that I am looking forward to - UConn vs. Arizona. Kemba Walker, Derrick Williams, and Mo Mo Jones will be fun to watch. I would give a prediction, but so far I have been very, very wrong.