Call Bill Raftery the Road Warrior of basketball.
There probably isn't a big-time college team that Raftery, who does college basketball games for both CBS and ESPN, hasn't seen by the end of the year, and when you add in his duties as analyst on New Jersey Nets games, you get the feeling that the word ubiquitous was made for Raftery.
And this season is nuttier than most, since the NBA season, dormant from November to February, will be accelerated to the point of ridiculousness.
"When you put [an] 82 [game schedule] in the mix and it's spread out over a normal season, it works out," said Raftery the other day. "When you put 50 into the mix in a few months, it gets crazy. But we get treated so nicely. The hardest part of this is making sure you're there."
Raftery, a former basketball coach at Seton Hall, who also coached hoops and golf at Fairleigh Dickinson, will be in Knoxville, Tenn., this weekend to call South Regional games with Sean McDonough, and like a lot of people, especially around here, his eyes will be on tonight's Maryland-St. John's semifinal.
And like a lot of people, Raftery thinks that the team that controls the game's tempo will obviously have the upper hand, but beyond that, Raftery will be watching to see how Maryland attempts to seize control.
Specifically, he'll be looking for the Maryland defense to create scoring opportunities by forcing turnovers, the formula that got the Terps to the best record in school history.
"They're so quick, and they gamble on defense, and they can do that because they can recover and move as well as anyone out there," said Raftery. "How well this team explodes to the other goal is going to be important. [St. John's coach] Mike [Jarvis]' biggest concerns are going to be reversing the ball and playing the half court well enough so that they don't speed it up for Maryland."
Raftery says one of the more interesting matchups of the evening could be Maryland wonder Steve Francis vs. 6-foot-6 swingman Lavor Postell of St. John's. The two may not spend a lot of time guarding each other, Raftery says, but their styles are so similar that they'll bear watching.
"Postell doesn't get much ink, but his ability to create instant offense and do damage to the defense is really special. He's the closest thing to Francis St. John's has, and that's saying a mouthful," said Raftery. "He probably can't handle as well as Francis, but his other assets, being quick to the basket, playing the pick and roll, are fine. He's a really tough player."
