The House Of Heat: What do I have in common with Wil Fameni?

Monday, March 05, 2007

What do I have in common with Wil Fameni?

a) We're both very tall.
b) We have both won conference championships.
c) We both attended ASU and VCU.
d) Both a and c.
e) None of the above.

The answer is "d," and congrats to my fellow Devil/Ram for helping his team to a conference title and automatic NCAA berth. Bravo Wil, heaps of praise for you. (Oh by the way, you won't believe your eyes upon viewing the Google image search results for "Fameni.")

On an even better note, ASU out-defended Cal to pull out a close game for their first road win of the season, a 42-41 victory over the injured Bears. The Terrell Suggs-like defensive effort held Cal to a season low 16 second-half points and completely scoreless in the final 6:51 of the game. The win, however, has no bearing on conference tournament seeding. The Devils are firmly locked in to the ten seed, facing a white-hot Washington team coming off two straight top-25 upsets over USC and #2 UCLA.

If there is a team that has improved more than ASU over the course of the season, it has to be the Huskies. Their young talent (top 5 scorers include 2 frosh, 2 sophs, and 1 junior) has gelled into a true team that is quick in the backcourt and powerful down low, and the latter will most likely lead to Sparky's demise. Then again ASU wasn't supposed to beat Cal, or anyone else for that matter. The slow-down style can throw a wrench into a team's game, plus the Huskies haven't won outside of their own gym all season long. with youth comes inconsistency, as the U-Dub faithful will tell you after a loss to Oregon State a week and a half ago. And then of course there's this, from ASU's official press release:

FIRST-YEAR RUN: Herb Sendek's first ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C., produced one of the best four-day runs in NCAA conference tournament history. NC State entered the 1997 tournament as the eighth seed and 13-13 overall (4-12 in ACC). NC State beat ninth-seeded Georgia Tech 60-46 on March 6, topped No. 1 seeded and seventh-ranked Duke 66-60 on March 7, beat fifth-seeded and No. 22 Maryland 65-58 on March 9 before falling to third-seeded and fifth-ranked North Carolina in the March 10 championship.

I'm not exactly betting the beach house on it, but it certainly would be sweet. A third shot at the Cats is almost an impossibility, as it would require both teams to reach the championship game on Saturday. All that is left for the season is to play villian and screw other teams out of tournament hopes. Hooray for the team in the black hat!