ESPN Insiders???

[panther2317]

Can anyone copy and past Whelliston's article from ESPN.com today?

I'd like to read what he has to say.

[TheMacHouse]

I'm not sure if this is the one you want but only one date 3/6.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- OK, so maybe this double-bye thing isn't such a good idea.

After winning the Metro Atlantic regular season title Feb. 26 with a dramatic win against archrival Iona, Manhattan earned the regular-season championship, an automatic NIT berth and a "do not pass go" card into the MAAC's final four. Waiting there was No. 5 Saint Peter's, which was playing its third game in as many nights after blowing out Rider in the first round and surviving a 63-62 heart-stopper against Siena in front of several thousand of Siena's hometown fans. Despite the long hours, the Saints survived, taking out top-seeded Manhattan 84-74.

"I don't know if the week off hurt us," Manhattan head coach Bobby Gonzalez said. "All those second and third efforts, we could not come up with the ball for whatever reason. They were quicker to the ball than us; I don't know if playing the two games helped them, or if we were out of sync for not playing since last Sunday."

The Saint Peter's Peacocks are usually helped a whole lot by "KeeKee," the hottest onomatopoeic property since e.e. cummings and CeCe *****ton. and it's true, keydren clark's diminutive 5-10 stature seems to demand lowercase.

The senior guard won the previous two national scoring titles and recently became one of the select few players in NCAA history to have scored 3,000 points (only Pistol Pete Maravich and five others have done so). But Saint Peter's has often been a one-man show: KeeKee would put it up 30 times, score 30 points and SPC would lose. Despite Clark's presence, the Peacocks' previous three season win totals were 15, 17 and 10, campaigns that always ended in quick MAAC tourney exits.

This weekend, however, when it mattered most, the supporting cast stepped up -- the other Peacocks graduated from backup band to equal billing, and the shared load has taken them all the way to the league title game. On Sunday, Clark got his 29 on 11-of-19 shooting, but each of the starting five -- players like future double-double machine Todd Sowell (10 points, 8 rebounds) -- scored in double figures in the win.

"Being the star is tough," Clark said after the game. "I'm a team player. My team knows if I keep going, they're going to pick it up in the second half, because I'm going to create for them."

But while KeeKee's heir apparent, Kaimondre Owes, scored the final field goal of the win, this was Clark's night. When the win was sealed, he paced the floor smiling and nodding slowly, savoring the semifinal win that was so long in coming. After nailing the final two free throws, he delivered a devastating jersey pop so huge that everybody in the arena could feel the fabric.

"I've seen that kid go through four years of struggling to try to win games and put his team on his back," said Gonzalez. "He missed getting Player of the Year twice, behind [Manhattan's] Luis Flores [who won twice] and [Niagara's] Juan Mendez last year, and he finally got his due. Now he's going to be on ESPN in a championship game. Our guys are crushed and devastated, and there was some crying in the locker room, but my guys feel the same way as me. If we could lose to anyone, it would be Keydren Clark."

Finally, it's happened to he.


***
So we meet again, J.J. Jumper. The green amphibian with the orange sprig of hair and a perpetually shocked expression attended Sunday's semifinal session, the most recent step in his endless and futile campaign to convince America that college hoops really does need a living embodiment.

In the past, he would distribute fun activity books for kids that included word jumbles, mazes and tips on how to "Be Like J.J." (fair play, character development, community spirit). But in light of his recent smash-up and near-arrest at Columbia ($6,500 in damage to television equipment during a backflip stunt gone horribly wrong), there are hints that the official mascot of NCAA basketball might be developing a new, street-tough, adult image.

A longtime staple of J.J. Jumper's repertoire is the "broken radio" bit, in which he sets up a giant foam boom box in the middle of the court and dances to a song until unexpected static blasts force dial adjustments and a humorous change of dancing style, each wilder than the last. Previously, J.J.'s radio contained only FCC-friendly fare like Li'l Bow Wow's version of "Basketball," dated country songs like "Achy Breaky Heart" and mellow pop hits you might find on Radio Disney.

But during a media timeout in Sunday night's Manhattan-Saint Peter's game (in an apparent nod to his recent property damage), J.J. violently kicked the radio across the floor when it played "The Barney Song." Then in the nightcap, he brought out the radio again for another spin. While "Let's Get It On" played over the Pepsi Center P.A., he engaged in a slow grind with an Iona cheerleader.

Cuh-reepy.


***
Despite Manhattan's heartbreak, its most passionate cheerleader was unfazed. After the final buzzer he held court -- as he often does -- in the media room during the "cool-down" period before player and coach interviews.

"I'm very proud of our kids," Ronnie Weintraub said after the Jaspers' loss. "We still get to go to the NIT!"

Weintraub is a mentally challenged dude who's attended every Manhattan home game for the past 15 years, who sits at the end of press row filling out a complicated scorecard and calling out play-by-play. He always seems to find his way out to Jaspers road games too, and is always given a ride home on the team bus. Every year, the league grants him a media pass to the league tourney, and his credential lists "#1 MAAC Fan" where media affiliation would be.

"KeeKee Clark is a special player," proclaimed Ronnie to anyone who would listen. "But he's not going to be there next year! Next year, they're gonna have nothin'. You'd better look out for us next year!"


***
In the late game, No. 2 Iona and No. 3 Marist traded 69.6 percent shooting halves, but the Gaels had the good fortune of having theirs in the second and pulled away late for a 100-84 win. And it really doesn't matter whether Iona wins or loses to Saint Peter's on Monday night, because they've already locked up the all-important MAAC hair championship. For viewers at home who will be having their first Iona Experience on Monday evening (ESPN2, 9 p.m. ET), here's how to easily identify the Gaels' starting five.

Ricky Soliver (Mohawk): The MAAC Defensive Player of the Year. Set off a faux-Mo' craze on campus back in January, even though the rubber skullcaps were salmon-colored -- didn't match his (or anyone's) actual skin tone.

Gary Springer (downy blond-tipped mini-dreadlocks): Only nonsenior starter, will have two more years after this one. At 6-9 and 230 pounds, he's a summer in the weight room away from being a MAAC factor.

Kiril Wachsmann (blow-dry puff top): The Gaels' post presence, a couple shades away from averaging a double-double for the year (11.6 ppg, 8.7 rpg). When he doesn't show up for work mentally, Iona loses.

Marvin McCullough (tire-tread cornrows): The truest point man in their three-guard backcourt, he always finds the open man. Sometimes that's him: He's 10th on the school's all-time list for 3-pointers.

Steve Burtt Jr. (closely shorn): Team's leading scorer (25.0 ppg), recently passed coach Jeff Ruland on the Iona scoring list (Burtt is currently second with 1,983). Won't have enough time to catch his dad, who poured in 2,534 on 1,003 field goals. Now those are some KeeKee numbers.

[TheMacHouse]

Here is the story about SIU from 3/5.

Now the story can be told.
I visited Southern Illinois' Carbondale campus on Jan. 22 as part of my tour through the Missouri Valley and watched as the Salukis effortlessly dismantled Illinois State 65-52, their nationally ranked defense transforming the SIU Arena floor into highly selective quicksand. A crowd that included guests of honor from SIU's first-ever tournament team witnessed the Salukis' 41th straight home victory against MVC opponents, which tied the longest such streak in the 98-year history of the conference.

While I didn't get to join the Dawg Pound or anything, I was able to hang out with Alvy Armstrong, the best equipment manager in all of Mid-Majorland. Alvy runs the show behind the scenes -- he makes sure the Salukis' whites stay white and their maroons stay maroon, and lovingly tends to those gigantic, 12-inch-tall numerals on the backs of their jerseys.

After everybody else had left the arena that evening, Alvy and I hung out in the Salukis' locker room, watching their giant plasma television while sitting on their plush maroon couches. But while their TV set is usually reserved for game tapes of tough Valley opponents, that night we tuned into ESPNU's SWAC game of the week. I took notes as Grambling beat Jackson State 77-73 in overtime, a game that featured an amazing 97 missed shots. Brion Rush, Grambling's star, had quite a few of those: He scored 36 points on 13-for-34 shooting.

"Man, this is some bad basketball," said Alvy. "Turn it off."

Ten days later, once those low-RPI vibes had fully permeated the building, Southern Illinois' run of 42 home conference wins was snapped suddenly, against an Indiana State team that was 1-10 in the league at the time. The Salukis shot 37 percent that evening, a number that usually belongs to the team that's playing them. The shocking loss touched off a brutal stretch in which SIU lost five of seven, turning a for-sure at-large bid into a giant question mark. Another home loss, to Louisiana Tech in the BracketBusters, transformed that into a huge red exclamation point. SIU didn't even look like an NIT team anymore.

As I watched the Salukis from afar, I had trouble living with myself. I tossed and turned in my bed at night. While my love for the Swickity-SWAC runs deep and wide, my selfish research on that Sunday afternoon had disrupted the delicate continuum that separates leagues in the conference RPI scale. I knew that and maybe, just maybe, I was to blame for what had happened to the Salukis.

But Southern Illinois' defense is stronger than any spell, hex or wavelength-altering vibeology. It keyed an 11-game winning streak in December and January which included victories in their first six Valley games. It ranked as the fifth-most efficient in the land (0.87 points allowed per defensive possession), trailing only Kansas, Bucknell, Texas and Iowa in that category. And it held SIU's three opponents this weekend to an average of 49 points on the way to the Salukis' first MVC tournament championship in a decade.

So congratulations to Chris Lowery, the only man to win the Valley as both a player and a coach. Congratulations to Randal Falker, the rebounding whiz (36 over three tourney games) who was named the MVP of Arch Madness. Congratulations to the Salukis for conquering the toughest mid-major conference in the land and emerging as true champions.

And also, I'm sorry about the whole SWAC thing. So thank you for clearing my conscience.