Things I Thought About While On The Road
posted by Scott Hood on Tuesday, March 18, 2008
-- The just completed SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament may have been the wackiest conference tournament of all time. Ignoring the impact of the tornado for a moment, how often do you see the last place team rise up and earn the automatic bid by winning the whole thing? It happens very rarely. But the tournament also featured several wild endings and last-second baskets. It actually began on Thursday night in the Georgia Dome when Georgia beat Ole Miss with a last-second shot by Dave Bliss in overtime.
-- Obviously, the tornado slamming into the Georgia Dome Friday night about 9:30 p.m. changed the complexion of the tournament. I can assure you, without that happening, Georgia doesn’t win the tournament. The SEC office made the right decision to move the tournament out of the Dome. I have to admit I was a little surprised when I heard the event was being moved to Georgia Tech’s arena. It was surreal to watch SEC teams playing on a floor with the “ACC” logo splashed on the court with the Yellow Jackets’ logo.
-- Fortunately, I was in Nashville covering the USC-Vanderbilt baseball game Friday night when the tornado blew through downtown Atlanta around 9:30 p.m. We left Atlanta on Friday shortly before 12 noon. I left the Georgia Dome around that time on Thursday night when I had finished my tournament notebook. So, had I stuck around on Friday, I would have likely been outside the Dome when the tornado hit. You can be sure I’ll be going to church this weekend. And not just because it’s Easter, either.
-- South Carolina’s basketball season ended in an all-too-familiar fashion with another last-second loss. Please, don’t shower me with ‘feel good’ chatter about how much heart USC played with against Tennessee. This is ‘Big Boy’ basketball. You either win or lose. It’s all about the winning. That’s how coaches and players are judged. Win or lose. Frankly, USC should have beaten LSU on Thursday, which they did, since the Tigers were a bad basketball team. I was glad USC was able to win at least one tourney game before Dave Odom’s exit.
-- Who’s going to be the next head basketball coach at USC? Right now, I would say Jeff Capel, currently the head coach at Oklahoma. There have been a bunch of names thrown around over the past several weeks, but it will come down to whether Oklahoma is willing to match any lucrative offer USC presents to Capel and his agent. Steve Spurrier earns a guaranteed $1.75 million per season as head football coach. USC will have to come close to that to pry Capel away from Oklahoma, which is a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament. I believe Sean Miller of Xavier is waiting in the wings if Capel decides to remain in Norman.
-- I saw nothing from the USC baseball team this weekend in Nashville to indicate they won’t be right in the race for the SEC Championship when late May rolls around. Sure, they lost two of three games to Vanderbilt. But here’s the kicker: the Commodores are one of the best, if not the best (wait until Pedro Alvarez returns from a hand injury) baseball team in the SEC. Frankly, USC should have won two of three games in the series. Friday night’s loss was frustrating, to say the least. USC had its best reliever on the mound and he still gave up a game-tying home run.
-- However, if the Gamecocks want to make it to Omaha for the College World Series, they must make improve in several areas. First, just as Ray Tanner told me today, the Gamecocks have struck out too many times in recent games, an average of nine times over the last six games. That’s too much. Second, when they’re playing good teams, USC has to avoid committing four errors in a game. They’ve done it twice already this year and they’ve been trounced both times by East Carolina and Vandy. The Gamecocks are usually a pretty good defensive team. But that wasn't the case on Sunday.
-- The pitching has been better than most people thought. Mike Cisco has been stellar as the Friday night starter with a 3-0 record and 2.84 ERA in 25.1 innings. He pitched his heart out in Game 1 of the Vanderbilt series, but came away with a no-decision because Vanderbilt’s Mike Minor shut down USC’s offense, as well. Cisco deserved a better fate. He’s remarkable in that he rarely walks anyone. In other words, he doesn’t beat himself. If he can sustain his level of performance, USC will register a lot of Friday night wins this season.
-- When Phil Disher makes solid contact with the baseball, he can hit it a country mile, as he exhibited Saturday with a major league blast to left-center that nearly reached Memorial Gym, home of the Vanderbilt basketball team. But those occasions have been few and far between this season. Currently, Disher is batting .211 with four HR and 12 RBI. He’s also fanned 20 times in 57 at-bats. Disher can crush a 95 mph fastball, but he susceptible to off-speed pitches and breaking balls on the outside corner or a few inches off the plate. How long will Tanner stick with him as the DH? Tanner is fanatically loyal to his older, more established players. Will the time come when he has to make the difficult decision whether to keep Disher in the lineup?
-- Spring football practice begins Wednesday. See you there.
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After four days on the road in Atlanta and Nashville, here’s some observations, thoughts and notes I put together during my travels:
-- The just completed SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament may have been the wackiest conference tournament of all time. Ignoring the impact of the tornado for a moment, how often do you see the last place team rise up and earn the automatic bid by winning the whole thing? It happens very rarely. But the tournament also featured several wild endings and last-second baskets. It actually began on Thursday night in the Georgia Dome when Georgia beat Ole Miss with a last-second shot by Dave Bliss in overtime.
-- Obviously, the tornado slamming into the Georgia Dome Friday night about 9:30 p.m. changed the complexion of the tournament. I can assure you, without that happening, Georgia doesn’t win the tournament. The SEC office made the right decision to move the tournament out of the Dome. I have to admit I was a little surprised when I heard the event was being moved to Georgia Tech’s arena. It was surreal to watch SEC teams playing on a floor with the “ACC” logo splashed on the court with the Yellow Jackets’ logo.
-- Fortunately, I was in Nashville covering the USC-Vanderbilt baseball game Friday night when the tornado blew through downtown Atlanta around 9:30 p.m. We left Atlanta on Friday shortly before 12 noon. I left the Georgia Dome around that time on Thursday night when I had finished my tournament notebook. So, had I stuck around on Friday, I would have likely been outside the Dome when the tornado hit. You can be sure I’ll be going to church this weekend. And not just because it’s Easter, either.
-- South Carolina’s basketball season ended in an all-too-familiar fashion with another last-second loss. Please, don’t shower me with ‘feel good’ chatter about how much heart USC played with against Tennessee. This is ‘Big Boy’ basketball. You either win or lose. It’s all about the winning. That’s how coaches and players are judged. Win or lose. Frankly, USC should have beaten LSU on Thursday, which they did, since the Tigers were a bad basketball team. I was glad USC was able to win at least one tourney game before Dave Odom’s exit.
-- Who’s going to be the next head basketball coach at USC? Right now, I would say Jeff Capel, currently the head coach at Oklahoma. There have been a bunch of names thrown around over the past several weeks, but it will come down to whether Oklahoma is willing to match any lucrative offer USC presents to Capel and his agent. Steve Spurrier earns a guaranteed $1.75 million per season as head football coach. USC will have to come close to that to pry Capel away from Oklahoma, which is a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament. I believe Sean Miller of Xavier is waiting in the wings if Capel decides to remain in Norman.
-- I saw nothing from the USC baseball team this weekend in Nashville to indicate they won’t be right in the race for the SEC Championship when late May rolls around. Sure, they lost two of three games to Vanderbilt. But here’s the kicker: the Commodores are one of the best, if not the best (wait until Pedro Alvarez returns from a hand injury) baseball team in the SEC. Frankly, USC should have won two of three games in the series. Friday night’s loss was frustrating, to say the least. USC had its best reliever on the mound and he still gave up a game-tying home run.
-- However, if the Gamecocks want to make it to Omaha for the College World Series, they must make improve in several areas. First, just as Ray Tanner told me today, the Gamecocks have struck out too many times in recent games, an average of nine times over the last six games. That’s too much. Second, when they’re playing good teams, USC has to avoid committing four errors in a game. They’ve done it twice already this year and they’ve been trounced both times by East Carolina and Vandy. The Gamecocks are usually a pretty good defensive team. But that wasn't the case on Sunday.
-- The pitching has been better than most people thought. Mike Cisco has been stellar as the Friday night starter with a 3-0 record and 2.84 ERA in 25.1 innings. He pitched his heart out in Game 1 of the Vanderbilt series, but came away with a no-decision because Vanderbilt’s Mike Minor shut down USC’s offense, as well. Cisco deserved a better fate. He’s remarkable in that he rarely walks anyone. In other words, he doesn’t beat himself. If he can sustain his level of performance, USC will register a lot of Friday night wins this season.
-- When Phil Disher makes solid contact with the baseball, he can hit it a country mile, as he exhibited Saturday with a major league blast to left-center that nearly reached Memorial Gym, home of the Vanderbilt basketball team. But those occasions have been few and far between this season. Currently, Disher is batting .211 with four HR and 12 RBI. He’s also fanned 20 times in 57 at-bats. Disher can crush a 95 mph fastball, but he susceptible to off-speed pitches and breaking balls on the outside corner or a few inches off the plate. How long will Tanner stick with him as the DH? Tanner is fanatically loyal to his older, more established players. Will the time come when he has to make the difficult decision whether to keep Disher in the lineup?
-- Spring football practice begins Wednesday. See you there.
- Permalink, Discuss, Blog Home
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.