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To expound on what you mentioned here, there really aren't that many lefties to worry about, anyway. Pittsburgh looks like they have 3 in their rotation with Maholm, Duke and Gorzelanny. Cincy has an all right handed rotation. Houston only has Wandy Rodriguez. Milwaukee currently has no lefties. St. Louis won't have a lefty in their rotation until Mulder comes off the DL. That's a total of 4 lefties in our division of potentially 25 starters. Granted, there are more lefties in the other divisions, but the bulk of our games shouldn't affect too much of Pie's playing time. Exactly. It's not going to stunt Pie's growth to relieve him of the weakest part of his game for a few at-bats throughout the year. And, for a one-year deal, it's worth the chance that Reed Johnson's far superior numbers against lefties will help us win a game or two more this year.

Ok, looks like that's the best I'll get out of you. :D Pomeroy interests me no doubt, but I'm confused by some of his metrics. From what I can tell he leaves out such things as difficulty of opponents and such when rating teams. Maybe I'm just not quite understanding the metrics (I'm no math whiz) but it seems like he ought to be taken along with things like RPI and Strength of Schedule. I think it does. At least, by my caveman understanding of math it does. http://www.kenpom.com/blog/index.php/weblog/ratings_explanation/ Interesting, thanks. I still don't think I'd use him exclusively, but Pomeroy definitely seems like a rating to keep in mind when analyzing teams.

Agreed. The Stones are awesome, but - as others have mentioned - it's not legit until you get some Seger, Eagles and (if applicable) Stevie Wonder.

Pie was never platooned in the minors, though. Nor do I think he was platooned early in his winter-league stints. So if his farm and winter stints so large and somewhat consistent splits, it may be harder to blame them on sample size or opportunity. I don't know how Pie's career will play out. He got a couple of hits versus LHP the other day, and my impression was that while he was bad versus LHP this winter league, he was actually even worse versus RHP. So maybe he's going to be fine or no worse versus lefties than versus righties. I don't know. But there are numerous LH hitters who don't hit LHP well, even when afforded extended opportunities. It's hardly "old school" ignorance to recognize that not-uncommon reality. Will Pie be one of them? I don't know. But it's certainly possible. And even if we knew right now that Pie was going to spend his career as an .850-OPS guy versus RHP but a .680-guy versus LHP, a guy who should rightfully play his career in a platoon if used right, I don't think that being "only" a platoon guy should mean we should trade him right now. A good lefty platoon player is very valuable. Pie's had a grand total of 58ABs againt LHP in MLB. And those at-bats match what Pie did in Iowa against left-handers in 2006 and 2007, and in West Tennessee in 2005 (there are no split numbers available for any farther back than that). Pie has had more than a 200 point split between right-handers and left-handers in each of those years, and he hasn't been platooned at any of those spots. It's been a dramatic and repeated split. If it were just the major league numbers, I would completely agree with you. When the extremely limited major league numbers match what all the available minor league numbers have been consistently saying for years, it becomes a much bigger issue. This is the reason why I don't have a problem with Pie platooning (at least for now). He's always adjusted to each minor league level he's reached, but throughout his minor league career, he's never hit lefties well. I see no reason why he'd miraculously start hitting them now. If he had a positive track record, I'd be cool with it. But he has a very bad track record.

Ok, looks like that's the best I'll get out of you. :D Pomeroy interests me no doubt, but I'm confused by some of his metrics. From what I can tell he leaves out such things as difficulty of opponents and such when rating teams. Maybe I'm just not quite understanding the metrics (I'm no math whiz) but it seems like he ought to be taken along with things like RPI and Strength of Schedule.

When you miss a layup has some level of significance. If Butler missed one layup the entire game and it came early in the first half, there is still plenty of time to make up for that mistake. It's up to Butler to make up for it and, partly because Tennessee played better, they couldn't. Had that one missed layup come in the final second of the game, there is no way Butler can overcome it. Therefore, the importance of it increases. And you can't just discount all factors. Isolating one group of mistakes a team made doesn't work because there are so many more factors involved in a game. Should Butler have made more layups and free throws early, Tennessee's strategy likely would have been different in the last few minutes (considering they'd be losing instead of winning). In a rematch maybe Butler wins. Not because they're a better team, but because they match up so well against Tennessee. But the simple fact of the matter is, Tennessee was more accomplished over the course of the season and outplayed Butler Sunday. Thus, the Vols deserve the Sweet 16 berth.

So independent of anything else, if Butler had hit more open layups they would have won the game. Problem is, you can play the what-if game like that all day long. By that reasoning Vandy should be in the Sweet 16 because they are likely more talented than any team they would have played to this point - how they actually played in the game against Siena is irrelevant. Tennessee is a more talented, better team that played better Sunday afternoon. Because of that they should be in the Sweet 16. Are there regrets for Butler? Sure, but there are for both teams. Tennessee played better Sunday and has been better throughout the year. They deserve to be where they are.

Tennessee shouldn't be in the Sweet 16 why? It wasn't exactly a miraculous upset we pulled over Butler. It was exactly as expected, they play a very disciplined style that usually gives Tennessee problems. The Vols played well and barely beat a very good mid-major. I would even argue Vandy is a better team than they showed against Siena, but I won't press the point. They lost and that's the way it is. But there's no good reason why Tennessee shouldn't be in the Sweet 16. Butler missed more layups in that game than they've missed all year. They also shot poorly from the FT line. And of course Vandy is better than they showed. They were blown out by Siena. And Tennessee didn't miss a single shot they should have made, eh? Neither team played at its best, that's pretty clear. Tennessee played pretty well, but got into more foul trouble than normal and turned the ball over a bit more than normal. Butler missed a bunch of layups and turned the ball over more than normal. By all rights Tennessee is the better team and played better Sunday afternoon, why should they not be in the Sweet 16?

Tennessee shouldn't be in the Sweet 16 why? It wasn't exactly a miraculous upset we pulled over Butler. It was exactly as expected, they play a very disciplined style that usually gives Tennessee problems. The Vols played well and barely beat a very good mid-major. I would even argue Vandy is a better team than they showed against Siena, but I won't press the point. They lost and that's the way it is. But there's no good reason why Tennessee shouldn't be in the Sweet 16.

If Cedeno falters, replace him with somebody else next year, and keep Theriot on the bench. I wonder if Cedeno is doing something/not doing something that really angers Lou. I've read a few times where they were disappointed in his work ethic and other things he's done that are not something you do when you're a young guy trying to make a team. Plus, he's a bonehead on the bases. I'm thinking he doesn't catch the damn ball Has he been misplaying the ball this spring? I was referencing Lou's tirade from last year regarding mainly Murton. Can't speak for Cedeno's spring performance, but despite his good range he has been a bit error-prone over his career. As I recall, most of Cedeno's errors have been a result of bad throws - not really an inability to catch the ball. And, I was thinking the "catch the ball" tirade by Lou last year was over Barrett's struggles - I could be remembering that wrong though.

I picked them because of matchups. Had them going to the Final Four and then they matched up very well against Tennessee.

He stopped and then completely moved his pivot foot. Looked like a pretty clear traveling call to me. Agreed My question was whether he had to lift his pivot foot or not. His pivot foot never actually left the ground - the toe was still firmly planted the whole time. Now, if simply pivoting on the pivot foot is a travel, that's where the confusion lies for me. From my recollection, he caught the ball with his left foot down and his right foot still in the air, establishing his left as the pivot. Then his right came down and he pivoted on it, making it a walk. That's the only way I see it as being a walk. I didn't see the exact time he got down his right foot compared to when he caught the ball, but I thought he had it down in time. Oh well, didn't hurt us. :D

That foul call on Graves with a couple minutes left in regulation was completely clean though You may very well have a point there.

I can't believe anybody thought Tennessee would blow out Butler. They're far too disciplined a team for that to happen. Like you astutely pointed out, we couldn't run the full court press because it would have done us no good and much harm. They simply don't turn the ball over enough for us to beat them by much. That was a really good win for Tennessee. Butler is an outstanding team and a tough match-up for the Vols. I wanted Butler to win, but am still very happy for Bruce Pearl (like him from his USI days). I really believe that Pearl's decision to only intermittently press won the game for them; not to mention attacking Matt Howard when he got in foul trouble. If Tennessee is to advance to the Final Four, they will have earned it. I'm not sure what highly seeded team was forced to face such a difficult opponent in the second round -- short of Georgetown. Following that up with probably Louisville and likely North Carolina is a path fraught with peril. I agree it was a terrific win. Butler actually scared me a little more than Louisville or UNC to be honest. Now, we won't have terrible mismatches, just opponents who do the same types of things we do very well. I feel good about our ability to match up against those types of teams. And it will most certainly be earned if Tennessee hits the Final Four. Pearl's going to have to do the coaching job of his life to get us there, but I think it can be done.

He stopped and then completely moved his pivot foot. Looked like a pretty clear traveling call to me. Agreed My question was whether he had to lift his pivot foot or not. His pivot foot never actually left the ground - the toe was still firmly planted the whole time. Now, if simply pivoting on the pivot foot is a travel, that's where the confusion lies for me.

I can't believe anybody thought Tennessee would blow out Butler. They're far too disciplined a team for that to happen. Like you astutely pointed out, we couldn't run the full court press because it would have done us no good and much harm. They simply don't turn the ball over enough for us to beat them by much.

What a game. I may not be able to relax the rest of the day after that. Butler gave it everything they had - which is no less than I expected. Second straight year for a Sweet Sixteen visit by Tennessee is extremely nice, but I'm very worried about our point guard play. Prince did alright there today, but Ramar Smith had another bad game and Jordan Howell hasn't hit a shot this calendar year, I don't believe. Since my bracket is now completely and utterly busted now (thanks Georgetown, who I had winning it all :banghead: ) I have no interest in the OU/Louisville game other than which is the easier opponent for Tennessee. I'm actually not sure at all which I should root for - probably OU but I'm not sure. And that travel by Prince at the end of regulation was not a travel. His right foot never completely left the floor - his toe remained the whole time. Unless I'm wrong on the rule (which is possible), that wasn't a travel. It didn't hurt us though, so I'm okay.

Holy cow...what a shot :shock:

They better do well, I've got them going to the Elite Eight. If by "do well" you mean "lose to Tennessee tomorrow", then I agree with you. ;) Since I put them in the Final Four, I desperately need Tennessee to win tomorrow. My bracket is hanging on by a thread and it didn't help matters when I noticed this morning that I had inexplicably picked UNLV to upset Kansas. I fully meant to correct that error a week ago, but apparently forgot...

Agreed. The media has overhyped Pacman Jones. He's a talented corner, but he isn't an elite corner, right now, and I doubt he'll ever be that guy. I'm just fortunate that my team (Bears) have two very good, young CBs on the team (Vasher/Tillman). But I do believe they should take another corner in the draft. Pacman was making some good strides in his coverage ability the more he played. I'm confident that if he stayed out of trouble, he could become an elite corner in time. And I didn't like the pick when the Titans made it. I was proven right on his attitude, but I believe I was wrong about whether he'd become an elite corner.

Foster and Ogilvey are very good players and I think Stallings might be in the top 3 in SEC coaches (behind Bruce Pearl and Billy Donovan). They're a tough team to beat. Stallings is an excellent coach. All things equal, I'd take him to win a game over anyone in the SEC. No question he's a terrific coach. There's very little margin between the top 3 coaches in the SEC, in my opinion, making them all fairly interchangable. Stallings appears to be turning around a Vandy program that always seems to be on the edge of a high quality program, Pearl is getting an incredible amount out of some good players (excluding Tyler Smith, he's great) while turning a dormant program into serious national contenders and Donovan has won back to back national titles. That's three excellent coaches right there. I've always been a fan of Pearl from his days at USI (located in my hometown, Evansville). Obviously, for a program builder, you want him or Donovan over Stallings. I'd actually prefer Pearl. I just think Stallings get the most out of the least in the SEC -- though you're right, Pearl has Tennessee better than their talent level suggests. No wrong choices. Tyler Smith and - maybe - Chris Lofton are the only really legit stars at UT. Guys like JaJuan Smith (walkon), JP Prince and Dane Bradshaw (last year, he's now graduated) have developed primarily due to Pearl. If not for him, I'm convinced Tennessee would still be languishing on the edge of an NIT bid.

Terrific, absolutely terrific. The coach seems like a good guy to play under.

Foster and Ogilvey are very good players and I think Stallings might be in the top 3 in SEC coaches (behind Bruce Pearl and Billy Donovan). They're a tough team to beat. Stallings is an excellent coach. All things equal, I'd take him to win a game over anyone in the SEC. No question he's a terrific coach. There's very little margin between the top 3 coaches in the SEC, in my opinion, making them all fairly interchangable. Stallings appears to be turning around a Vandy program that always seems to be on the edge of a high quality program, Pearl is getting an incredible amount out of some good players (excluding Tyler Smith, he's great) while turning a dormant program into serious national contenders and Donovan has won back to back national titles. That's three excellent coaches right there.

From everything I've seen, most people either have them going out in the first round or hitting the Elite 8. I have yet to see them winning one and then losing. I've also got Vandy beating Kansas to make the Elite 8 and that's primarily because of Shane Foster, AJ Ogilvey and their coach, Kevin Stallings. Foster and Ogilvey are very good players and I think Stallings might be in the top 3 in SEC coaches (behind Bruce Pearl and Billy Donovan). They're a tough team to beat.

I'm confused...what did you do with Tim, SanClementeFan?