Hoosiers II

The question, somewhat rhetorical, was posed by a colleague between editions Sunday night on the sports desk at the New York Post:

"Is there anyone in the country not rooting for Butler?"

Good question, with seemingly only one answer -- unless you're a student or alumnus of Connecticut or need UConn to win tonight in order to win your bracket pool ... NO!

Full disclosure: I was the only entrant in the Post bracket pool (entertainment purposes only, of course) to select the Huskies to win the national championship, so I've already won, no matter what happens tonight. I do have a slight level of appreciation for UConn, but in this what-have-you-done-lately world we live in, I have to admit it would be tremendous to see Butler win the whole thing.

Sure, the miraculous Bulldogs are back in the championship game, where they lost by a mere bucket to Duke last year. And they're a real-life Hickory High, in just about every sense.

The face of their team, Matt Howard, is a quirky persona who rides a rusty bicycle around campus, and their coach, Brad Stevens, looks like the nerdy kid who's immersed in fantasy basketball stats.

And the best part of all of this is Butler plays its home games at storied Hinkle Fieldhouse, the same building in which the championship game in "Hoosiers" was filmed.

Can't you see Stevens, in Butler's final walkthrough at Reliant Stadium, pulling out the tape measure and having Shelvin Mack climb onto Howard's shoulders underneath the basket? "Ten feet," Stevens would say. "I think you'll find it's the same measurements as our gym back in Indianapolis."

Not to mention all the gauzy, poetic backstory of a team from the Mecca of Indiana basketball representing our imaginations as much as the proud region they call home.

And they might not even need Norman Dale or Jimmy Chitwood to make their dream a reality.

***

Had to be an awkward moment at the conclusion of the UConn-Notre Dame women's semifinal Sunday night, when Rebecca Lobo, the former Huskies star, drew the assignment of the on-court postgame interview with her former coach, Geno Auriemma, after a very rare loss that denied UConn a shot at its third straight national title.

And when Auriemma was talking about how special and wonderful Maya Moore is, you almost expected Lobo to inject, "More than me?"

Maybe not so dumb, after all

After watching sports all my life, it's amazing enough to see something you've never seen before. But to see something you've never seen before twice within moments of each other, especially with one incident more inexplicable than the one before, well, that's something else again. A perfect storm.

It's even more amazing, inspiring, even, when the perpetrator of said most inexplicable act might even be able to turn it into a life lesson.

You may not know the name Nasir Robinson (above, left), and hopefully for his sake, the junior from the University of Pittsburgh won't find himself rubbing elbows in perpetuity with the likes of Bill Buckner, Chris Webber, Steve Bartman and Fred Merkle when it comes to being in the wrong place at the wrong time in sport annals. But this morning, Robinson's definitely in the same room.

With 1.4 seconds left in Pitt's NCAA tournament game against giant-killer Butler Saturday night, Robinson was standing as a defender while Pitt teammate Gilbert Brown hit the first of two free throws to tie the game 70-70. Seconds earlier, Brown had been the victim of a mind-boggling foul by Butler's Shelvin Mack, who bumped Brown at midcourt with Butler holding a one-point lead.

Now, it looked like Butler would pay the price for such a mindless act with Pitt at the line with a chance to somehow steal the game. And after Brown sunk the first free throw, at least this would be decided in overtime.

That is, until Brown missed the second shot, which put Robinson in the spotlight. The rebound came down to Butler's Matt Howard (above, right), who only had to hoist a full-court prayer, and make it, and do it all in 0.8 seconds for the game NOT to go into OT.

Which is what should have happened, until Robinson's left arm, for some reason, came down on Howard's right arm. Foul. Butler's Howard to the line, and one free throw later, it was over, as the Bulldogs escaped with a 71-7o win.

That all brings us back to my earlier point, which is why Robinson might be able to sneak out the back door before Bartman offers to buy a round for the house.

"I take the blame, man. I take the blame for the loss," Robinson told the Associated Press afterward. "I've been playing basketball my whole life and I know I shouldn't have done that. It was a stupid play. It wasn't the ref's fault. It was my fault."

The fact Robinson was able to face the criticism and spotlight he never wanted speaks volumes for his maturity and accountability. It's hard to fathom now, but one day he may be able to look back and say the experience helped him.

He's only a junior, so he'll get another chance next season on the basketball court, and then for the rest of his life off it.

I'm rooting for him. And you should too.

Three you later

I was all set to write this morning about how the common script usually unfolds during the NCAA Tournament: Inspired, nothing-to-lose lower-seeded team takes early lead against higher-seeded, playing-on-their-heels higher-seeded team. Lower-seeded team, forgetting what got them to this point, gets greedy and begins to fire up a barrage of misguided 3-point shots that find nothing but rim. Higher-seeded team grabs rebound, ignites fast break and scores in transition, cutting into lower-seeded team's lead.

Repeat until higher-seeded team collects itself and wins.

Quick digression: I'm reminded of a scene from when I covered the Pat Riley-led Knicks in the mid-'90s. The Knicks were playing the Sixers in Philly, and our media seats were on the baseline, about 15 feet from the Knicks bench. Greg Anthony, now a commentator on ESPN and then a sometimes-undisciplined point guard, dribbled the ball up court. With about 19 seconds left on the shot clock, Anthony threw up a ridiculous 3 attempt that bricked off the rim. The Sixers got the rebound, flew down court and scored on the fast break. Riley immediately called time. As the Knicks sat in front of him, Riley said nothing, glaring at Anthony. Finally, with the 30-second break about to expire, Riley screams at Anthony, "What the f--- were you thinking?!?" With that, the buzzer sounded and the Knicks quickly retook the floor.

Back to the present. The scenario at the beginning of this post unfolded twice Thursday night; Xavier connected on only 12 of 28 from 3-point range in a double-OT loss to Kansas State (8-for-19 from 3), and the erstwhile-Cinderella Cornell was only 5-of-21 as it was ousted by mighty Kentucky (only 2-of-16 from 3).

Leave it to someone to buck the trend, though. The Butler did it.

The Bulldogs shot 6-of-24 from beyond the arc against Syracuse, but the Orange -- taking its usual bracket misstep -- fell prey to Butler's defense and was outscored 11-0 down the stretch on the way to a 63-59 elimination. Syracuse, the best 3-point shooting team in the NCAA during the regular season (7-for-19 on Thursday), thus joins Kansas as top-seeded tourney teams that will be watching the Final Four from their living rooms.

So keep a keen eye on the 3-point numbers on Friday -- especially from upstarts Northern Iowa (vs. Michigan State) and St. Mary's (vs. Baylor).

And we'll see if these longshots keep shooting short from far away.