美国国家公共电台 NPR--March Madness action resumes with the Sweet 16

March Madness action resumes with the Sweet 16

Transcript¹

The men's college basketball tournament resumes Thursday, and the women's on Friday — after several upsets in the opening rounds of both tournaments

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

March Madness - the NCAA basketball tournament began last week with the chaos² of 68 teams.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Just 16 teams are left in both the men's and women's Division I college basketball tournaments, and it's still wide open.

INSKEEP: Which is why we have called up NPR sports correspondent Tom Goldman, who's been watching. Hey there, Tom.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE³: Hi, Steve.

INSKEEP: OK. The men's tournament, we're down to 16. Normally, you would have a good sense of who's favored to win at this point.

GOLDMAN: Normally. But this year is kind of hard to pin down. There are two No. 1 seeds left in the last 16 - Alabama and Houston. Neither has looked like the hands-down best team. Two other No. 1 seeds, Purdue and defending champion Kansas, are out, as are two No. 2 seeds. That opens things up for teams not used to getting this far. Eleven conferences are represented in the Sweet 16. That's a lot. And some blue-bloods of men's college hoops⁴ are no-shows - Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky. This is the second time in the last three years not one of them got to the Sweet 16. Before that, from 1980 to 2019, at least one got this far each of those years.

INSKEEP: Which implies the talent is more spread out among other teams. Why would it be more spread out than in the past?

GOLDMAN: It does imply that. I think, certainly, the transfer portal system is having an impact. Since 2021, it has allowed athletes to switch schools and play immediately. Last year, about 1,650 Division I men's college basketball players went into the portal. It had a big impact on spreading talent among schools. This week, Tom Izzo, the longtime Michigan State head coach and transfer portal critic, talked about the pluses and minuses. Here he is.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TOM IZZO: The portal is not all bad. I mean, you have to - every place isn't for everybody. But to me, what's bad about it is the fact that every kid who has a bad day just thinks about leaving. And at this level, if you're half in, you're nowhere.

GOLDMAN: And despite this criticism, Izzo has taken advantage and benefited this tournament. He's gotten big contributions from a couple of players who transferred from other schools.

INSKEEP: OK. So a shifting talent pool. Which teams might surprise us in this final 16?

GOLDMAN: Princeton is your main Cinderella story as a 15 seed. I was at the Tigers' first two tournament wins, and they are not your old-fashioned Princeton from yesteryear. They play the modern game well. In their win over Missouri, they shot the lights out, outrebounded Missouri with a shorter, ultra-aggressive team. Then there's Florida Atlantic, another lower-seeded underdog in their first men's tournament since 2002. A lot of fans calling FAU a Cinderella team, but they're not having it. They say they're better than people think. And their next chance to prove it is today against a very good and physical defensive⁵ team, Tennessee.

INSKEEP: OK. What are you looking for on the women's side, the final 16?

GOLDMAN: You know, we've got parity⁶, which is great. For too long, the women's game has been defined by the best players and teams at the top without much depth in the game. But again, thanks to the transfer portal, thanks to the women's game growing in popularity, more good players are emerging. You're seeing the results. Two No. 1 seeds - Stanford and Indiana - lost before the Sweet 16. That's the first time that's happened since 1998. Defending champion South Carolina still is the heavyweight. The Gamecocks, so far, are rolling. But there are some worthy⁷ challengers remaining - Perennial⁸ power UConn, LSU powered by forward Angel Reese, Iowa with guard Caitlin Clark. There's enough skill out there, Steve, to catch South Carolina, but it's going to be tough.

INSKEEP: Tom, thanks. It's always good to talk with you.

GOLDMAN: Good to talk to you.

INSKEEP: NPR's Tom Goldman.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 hoops   

n.箍( hoop的名词复数 )；（篮球）篮圈；（旧时儿童玩的）大环子；（两端埋在地里的）小铁弓

参考例句：

• a barrel bound with iron hoops 用铁箍箍紧的桶
• Hoops in Paris were wider this season and skirts were shorter. 在巴黎，这个季节的裙圈比较宽大，裙裾却短一些。 来自飘（部分）

5 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

6 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

7 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

8 perennial   

adj.终年的；长久的

参考例句：

• I wonder at her perennial youthfulness.我对她青春常驻感到惊讶。
• There's a perennial shortage of teachers with science qualifications.有理科教学资格的老师一直都很短缺。