Congratulations to Basketball

Men's basketball: clinched a winning record and secured a spot in the NIT, thereby salvaging something from a disappointing season.

Women's basketball: TOOK DOWN THE VOLS!

The mens' game wasn't on television here, and I don't think it was on television anywhere. Unlike as in other games, the Tigers actually surged down the stretch to pull away from the Gamecocks.

I really hope Big Baby comes back. I hope that he doesn't leave LSU on such a sour note as has been left this season. I think the team lacked "chemistry", which is code for I don't know what the heck happened. Actually, I have some ideas:

• I think Brady never figured out who his best 8 players were.
• We didn't have enough dynamic offensive players who could create their own shots and make them.
• I hear rumblings of locker room issues, though that may just be a symptom of other problems rather than an independent problem in itself.
• Everyone seemed to stand around on offense waiting for Big Baby to do something, which can only work if Big Baby is actually Michael Jordan or Dwayne Wade.
• Too few players with any rebounding ability or the ability to play strong in the paint other than Big Baby, caused by too many beanpoles getting too much playing time.
  
• Big Baby getting worn out from having to play too many minutes for such a big guy.

But I really want to talk about the women. I watched their game for only the second time this year. The first time was on Friday night when we were in the hospital waiting to be sent home.

Sylvia Fowles is awesome. She had 19 points and 22 rebounds. Erica White is also awesome. Having a great center and a great point guard is a good formula for getting wins. We took down our nemesis Tennessee and shut down Candace Parker, one of the best players in the country. They held Tennessee below 40% shooting and won going away despite falling behind by 11 early. The win advances us to the SEC Tournament final against Vandy.

I've never heard Sylvia Fowles talk until her postgame interview. She talks very fast and seems to speak without punctuation, much like the babysitter in The Incredibles.

And yes, I have a mild crush on Allisson Hightower. The freshman hit some big shots at key times and had a very cute post-game interview.

The finals are tonight at 6:30pm. Watch it.