SubscribeJewps: March Madness edition
First of all, mazel tov to Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils, the number one seed in the South Division in the NCAA men’s tournament. They’ll take on Arkansas-Pine Bluffs on Friday night. A-PB won their play-in game against Winthrop last night, 61-44.
Duke won the ACC title by beating Georgia Tech, 65-61 on Sunday with Scheyer hitting the game-clinching shot. He was the 2009 ACC tournament MVP and runner-up in the 2010 ACC Player of the Year voting.
Other Jewish college players whose teams have made it to the tournament include:
- Brandon Reese, Syracuse
- Ethan Chemerinski, Cornell
- Carmel Couchman, Temple
- Steve Pearl, Tennessee (little nepotism here?)
- Nimrod Tishman, Florida
- Jordan Weiner, UC Santa Barabar
(Thanks to The Great Rabbino for the list, who covers the NCAAs so well that I don’t have to.)
Meanwhile, back in the pros…
Omri Casspi continues to struggle. His minutes are down over his last three games (16, 19, 18), as are his points (2, 9, 10).
Jordan Farmar has played a combined 19 minutes in his last three games, for a total of two points. He’s playing with a sprained pinky, but reports say he “has seen his playing time cut recently in favor of fellow guard Sasha Vujacic. Coach Phil Jackson is trying to get Vujacic in playoff shape….”
Was disappointed to see two notable Jewish coaches squeezed out, Seth Greenberg from VT and Josh Pastner from Memphis. Both are headed to the NIT tournament.
Yes, a bit of nepotism for Steven Pearl. Caught a few UT games this year, and while he does bring energy, he couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean as they say. He did have a few rebounds though. Maybe he’ll follow in his Dad’s coaching footsteps.