2009 NCAA Tournament Thread

[Karlifornia]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

I don't see the fatigue thing coming into play - what has it been, 9 days since the double-OT game?

Agreed. One day off, and college kids should be good to go.

[Karlifornia]

Sendek gambled unsuccessfully, and now Pendergraph has to sit for a while with 4 fouls.

Get to know Eric Boateng, a Duke transfer who will probably always seem raw.

[Karlifornia]

ASU is in the bonus already, so they need to.....


go to the basket. Everytime.

[adubroff]

ASU can't get a couple stops in a row in this game to give them a chance, I wonder about pressing them even though Flynn handles it well, they can't stop them in half court enough.

[adubroff]

So much for ASU making that fun....I think Cuse has one more in them too, I think OK is vulnerable.

[timmynausea]

That game basically showed why Syracuse should've been better than they played most of the year. They have a lot of strength down low, one guard that can drive on anyone and another that isn't too far behind along with 2-3 guys that can consistently hit 3s. Plus their 2-3 zone is solid (though Paul Harris made a bunch of mistakes to keep leaving ASU's big guy open for 3s. Harris lead the Big East in dumb mistakes this year.) Looking at those pieces on paper, they should be a tough matchup for pretty much anyone, but they lose focus too often, and their depth is decent but not great.

[Swaggs]

Syracuse is as talented as anyone in the country when they want to play defense. Flynn is a top-notch all around PG, they have two excellent shooters (Rautins and Devedorf), three guys that are capable of slashing well, and enough big bodies to rotate in underneath. I think they are actually more well-rounded and better equipped, to make a long run, than most of the BE teams.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by timmynausea

That game basically showed why Syracuse should've been better than they played most of the year. They have a lot of strength down low, one guard that can drive on anyone and another that isn't too far behind along with 2-3 guys that can consistently hit 3s. Plus their 2-3 zone is solid (though Paul Harris made a bunch of mistakes to keep leaving ASU's big guy open for 3s. Harris lead the Big East in dumb mistakes this year.) Looking at those pieces on paper, they should be a tough matchup for pretty much anyone, but they lose focus too often, and their depth is decent but not great.

Damn... you stole my thunder.

I think Syracuse is really the most well-rounded Big East team offensively and they are capable of being one of the best defensively (when they choose to play it).

[spleen1015]

5 minutes in, Wisconsin 5, Xavier 2.

I remember all those years ago when Wisconsin made the Final Four. They won all of their games 44-40. It was fun to watch then. It is fun to watch now.

/wrists

[Swaggs]

ESPN is reporting that Dominic James will play for Marquette against Mizzou today. He had been out since late February with a broken foot. I'm sure he is probably not in great condition, but he has been a great player for them, so it is nice that he'll get to end his career playing, rather than injured and de-activated.

[RedKingGold]

I'll admit that I had Arizona State over Syracuse for reasons stated above. The Orange have just not played consistently this season.

Although my bracket is pretty much on life-support, at least I still have conference pride with at least five Big East teams probable to make the Sweet 16.

[adubroff]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

ESPN is reporting that Dominic James will play for Marquette against Mizzou today. He had been out since late February with a broken foot. I'm sure he is probably not in great condition, but he has been a great player for them, so it is nice that he'll get to end his career playing, rather than injured and de-activated.

I'm not sure how much he can play but if he's a solid contributor, they are a very live team today....

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

5 minutes in, Wisconsin 5, Xavier 2.

I remember all those years ago when Wisconsin made the Final Four. They won all of their games 44-40.

You mean 2000?

I think it just seemed like they were scoring in the 40's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki2000_NCA...all_Tournament
R1 - Won 66-56 over Fresno State
R2 - Won 66-59 over Arizona
S16 - Won 61-48 over LSU
E8 - won 64-60 over Purdue
F4 - lost 53-41 to Michigan State

[sterlingice]

To be fair, I remember all of those being about 44-40 in my mind, too. Their games were just painful to watch

SI

[sterlingice]

Damn! Cole Aldrich with a triple double with points, boards, and blocks

SI

[mauchow]

Well, Xavier capitalizing on a very uncharacteristic Badger team. Nobody is guarding their guys in transition thus leaving someone wide open for threes. It isn't looking good at this point being down by 8 without the ball. Going to take a small miracle.... 2 of 12 in threes today doesn't help but they've been contested so, that point goes to Xavier who has played pretty well today. Highly doubt the Badgers come back in this one, but I hope they do.

3:20 left, down by 8.

[mauchow]

Freakin' Hughes trying to do too much now.. lazy turnovers from him a lot today.

[INDalltheway]

Originally Posted by mauboy1

Freakin' Hughes trying to do too much now.. lazy turnovers from him a lot today.

Hughes has been "LOL" terrible today. There goes my surprise sweet 16 team.

[mauchow]

Well, good game Xavier. Hopefully you guys can beat out Pitt so I can feel better about losing to someone who goes further in the tourney.

Good players on this team.

I am very sad to see Krabbenhoft have his last game as a senior end when he fouls out. He had a great four years as a Badger and we will likely never have another guy like him. Landry will be missed as well although I think he will be more easily replaceable than Krabby. We'll have some good talent coming in over the next few years.

And why aren't the Badgers fouling more to TRY to get back into it? That's not like Bo, really.

[mauchow]

Originally Posted by INDalltheway

Hughes has been "LOL" terrible today. There goes my surprise sweet 16 team.

He had an underrated first half as he was drawing fouls left and right... then the second half I don't know where he went. Fuckin' A.

[INDalltheway]

Originally Posted by mauboy1

He had an underrated first half as he was drawing fouls left and right... then the second half I don't know where he went. Fuckin' A.

I agree he had a solid first half but he was just forcing way too much. Not the type of play I want out of my PG. I can't believe how he played after things stopped going his way.

[Solecismic]

I've stopped watching again. I hadn't seen the tournament in about 10-15 years, and I had forgotten why I stopped.

Now it's all coming back: CBS sucks. I had been watching a lot of basketball as the conference tournaments came into focus.

It's impossible to get into a CBS basketball telecast. Too many commercials. What's really galling is the full commercial time outs whenever there's a time out on the floor in the closing minutes of a game. You can't follow the game through that.

I also think it plays on the stamina of the players. Since every coaching time out and every four minutes of game time generates a four-minute break, players don't have to be in the same shape they were 20-30 years ago.

Today's players are bigger, stronger, and probably better outside shooters. But they wear down easily. It's a different game, and not in a good way.

[Scoobz0202]

If everything goes like it is going I will have 15 of my 16 Sweet Sixteen teams right. And the one I missed was Wake and I have them getting beat in the Sweet Sixteen anyways. Not too shabby.

[fantom1979]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

I've stopped watching again. I hadn't seen the tournament in about 10-15 years, and I had forgotten why I stopped.

Now it's all coming back: CBS sucks. I had been watching a lot of basketball as the conference tournaments came into focus.

It's impossible to get into a CBS basketball telecast. Too many commercials. What's really galling is the full commercial time outs whenever there's a time out on the floor in the closing minutes of a game. You can't follow the game through that.

I also think it plays on the stamina of the players. Since every coaching time out and every four minutes of game time generates a four-minute break, players don't have to be in the same shape they were 20-30 years ago.

Today's players are bigger, stronger, and probably better outside shooters. But they wear down easily. It's a different game, and not in a good way.

As a casual basketball fan, I have enjoyed CBS coverage. I don't know enough about basketball to know about how the coverage affects the players.

I thought that CBS is doing (and has done in the past) an excellent job of bouncing between games, and the scoreboard on the top of the screen is very informative, while not being in the way. I give major credit to CBS for allowing the games to be broadcast online.

[mauchow]

Basketball games are affected WAY too much by media. So much so that some of the breaks from the Badgers game in the first round were almost five minutes long. FIVE minutes. The reason? I don't know but I'd venture to guess CBS said, "HOLD ON, Siena and Ohio State are nearly over." The coverage for ME as a Badger fan was awful and I commented on it many times elsewhere. There is less than two minutes to go in a game and there are breaks reaching nearly five minutes.....that isn't basketball, I'm sorry. I enjoy college basketball so much and that's what pisses me off the most. I lose any enjoyment that I had going into the time out.

[mauchow]

Looks like we're in for a treat tonight with the final three games.

[mauchow]

I'm rooting for MSU, Siena, Marquette(even though as a Badger fan I never do..).

My bracket took a major shit today. Went from 97% on ESPN down to the 60's.... yuck

[JonInMiddleGA]

Oh wow, inbounds violation.

[hoopsguy]

It was a correct call, but that has to be a tough one to swallow for Marquette.

[mauchow]

Damn. No buzzer beaters in what could have been three great finishes.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

It was a correct call, but that has to be a tough one to swallow for Marquette.

Don't know why CBS twice called it controversial other than for drama. It was a clear call. I'd be more upset that Demarre Carrol appeared draped all over the shooter at the end. That made me very nervous.

The Boise Demon's have been exorcised for the Tigers. Please stop showing the Tyus Edney shot.

[Thomkal]

whew was watching my bracket go up in smoke when Siena, Marquette took the lead back and USC was close.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Damn! Cole Aldrich with a triple double with points, boards, and blocks

SI

Could've been a quadruple double, if they had called all those fouls he actually committed.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

If everything goes like it is going I will have 15 of my 16 Sweet Sixteen teams right. And the one I missed was Wake and I have them getting beat in the Sweet Sixteen anyways. Not too shabby.

Same with me-hey you copied my bracket!

[Scoobz0202]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Same with me-hey you copied my bracket!

Hehe.. What's your Final Four?

I got UConn beating Louisville, with North Carolina beating Nova. Uconn then taking it all.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

I've stopped watching again. I hadn't seen the tournament in about 10-15 years, and I had forgotten why I stopped.

Now it's all coming back: CBS sucks. I had been watching a lot of basketball as the conference tournaments came into focus.

It's impossible to get into a CBS basketball telecast. Too many commercials. What's really galling is the full commercial time outs whenever there's a time out on the floor in the closing minutes of a game. You can't follow the game through that.

I also think it plays on the stamina of the players. Since every coaching time out and every four minutes of game time generates a four-minute break, players don't have to be in the same shape they were 20-30 years ago.

Today's players are bigger, stronger, and probably better outside shooters. But they wear down easily. It's a different game, and not in a good way.

CBS has improved 50% from last year with the subtraction of Bill Packer.

I haven't noticed the breaks being more frequent. They do seem to take :30 or :60 second breaks during timeouts which are usually optional during regular season broadcasts. The final four-minute commercial break during the MU-MU game was four minutes though. Yikes.

A lot of the problems are the NCAA's fault. They are homogenizing and sanitizing the games within an inch of their lives. Next year, all the sites will even have the same courts because the NCAA is buying courts for all the sites. That's just way too controlling.

The players are stronger but I don't see a lot of differences in stamina -- guys still seem to play the same number of minutes and most teams still use the same depth of rotations. Most teams might go one man deeper and shave a few minutes off here, but compared to the dropoff in stamina of say baseball pitchers, college basketball players are like Cal Ripken.

My complaint with college basketball is too much reliance on the three-point shot. Watching teams that actually run offense and try to work the ball inside is a joy. But it seems like the college game is turning more and more into the NBA. If I wanted to watch the NBA, I would.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

Don't know why CBS twice called it controversial other than for drama. It was a clear call. I'd be more upset that Demarre Carrol appeared draped all over the shooter at the end. That made me very nervous.

The Boise Demon's have been exorcised for the Tigers. Please stop showing the Tyus Edney shot.

Those announcers were excruciating to listen too. Just call the f'n game...

After the first half, I was riding high.. but damn did Marquette make it an interesting game.. whew... very stressful.

We'll have our hands full with Memphis, but I'm happy to be here!

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

My complaint with college basketball is too much reliance on the three-point shot. Watching teams that actually run offense and try to work the ball inside is a joy. But it seems like the college game is turning more and more into the NBA. If I wanted to watch the NBA, I would.

It's easy to fall in to that trap, especially if you have a few guys who are really good shooters. I think come tourney time especially you see teams start to fall in to this trap. The mid-majors and below often don't have the size to work the ball inside against the higher-seeded teams, so they often have to hope they are hot from beyond the arc.

[SirFozzie]

The good thing about chalk advancing in the tourney is that I had 14 of 16 sweet 16 teams, and all 8 of my elite eight teams still in

[panerd]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Those announcers were excruciating to listen too. Just call the f'n game...

After the first half, I was riding high.. but damn did Marquette make it an interesting game.. whew... very stressful.

We'll have our hands full with Memphis, but I'm happy to be here!

Yeah there were a couple of times that you would have thought we were down like 20+ by how much they were praising Marquette and that was when we were still leading by 7! Wish I could listen to the radio and watch the game but it is furthar along than CBS. Even when they are praising Mizzou it is the same stories I have heard 1,000,000 times including inaccurate ones like Miguel Paul being related to Chris Paul.

Let's go Tigers!!!! That turnaround at the end changed the next 4 days at work from grueling to somewhat bearable.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

Hehe.. What's your Final Four?

I got UConn beating Louisville, with North Carolina beating Nova. Uconn then taking it all.

I have Louisville over UConn and Oklahoma over Duke. I have Gonzaga beating Carolina in the next round which will likely begin the unraveling of my bracket. Louisville winning it all

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

CBS has improved 50% from last year with the subtraction of Bill Packer.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

My complaint with college basketball is too much reliance on the three-point shot. Watching teams that actually run offense and try to work the ball inside is a joy. But it seems like the college game is turning more and more into the NBA. If I wanted to watch the NBA, I would.

On the other hand, inside play can lead to a certain amount of physicality that has been looked down upon at all levels of basketball.

[Karlifornia]

I cannot wait for Gonzaga/UNC. That's like the championship game for me. At the beginning of the season, I stated in the college basketball thread that I thought Gonzaga was better than they have been. I picked them to win it all in my bracket. If they lose to UNC, then I'm just another wingnut, but if they win, then I'll be feeling vindicated and validated.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

I cannot wait for Gonzaga/UNC. That's like the championship game for me. At the beginning of the season, I stated in the college basketball thread that I thought Gonzaga was better than they have been. I picked them to win it all in my bracket. If they lose to UNC, then I'm just another wingnut, but if they win, then I'll be feeling vindicated and validated.

That's my "crazy" pick in my bracket, too. It was mainly based on the assumption that Lawson wouldn't be healthy but it's the tourney and those teams are a lot closer matched up than people want to believe.

SI

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Those announcers were excruciating to listen too.

You think anybody on CBS this weekend has been bad? You should hear what ESPN has used during the women's tournament.

The guy doing the Tennessee-Ball State game keeps going on at length about this upset (Ball State leads by 10 with 4 minutes left, would be a 12 over a soft 5) sounds like somebody is about to beat one of the Wooden era UCLA teams.

It's pretty obvious that he hasn't watched this edition of the Lady Vols, they're quite capable of losing to anybody on any given night and were just 7-7 in their last 14. If it were this year's UConn team, okay, have a cow man. Heck, if UTSA manages to pull off the first ever 15-2 upset against Baylor, go crazy. But this? Ain't much of a shock to me or anybody who's been watching all year, even less than WKU over Illinois.

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

The good thing about chalk advancing in the tourney is that I had 14 of 16 sweet 16 teams, and all 8 of my elite eight teams still in

Heh. I actually put in an entry on ESPN that was a straight chalk setup. Sadly, it's tied with one other bracket I've got for the lead amongst those I did submit. Most all my other brackets are lying in ruins at this point.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

On the other hand, inside play can lead to a certain amount of physicality that has been looked down upon at all levels of basketball.

Yeah, that's what makes basketball such a tough sport to referee. As soon as teams start banging around inside the refs could pretty much call a foul every trip down the court. It really then comes down to the refs just calling the obvious fouls, or else every team's frontcourt would foul out in 5 minutes.

Nearly every slow motion replay I saw of guys scoring or rebounding inside the paint in today's games there was a foul of some kind from one of the teams. It really seems to me that pushing the player boxing out in the back isn't getting called as much as it should be, in particular.

[spleen1015]

First time in the history of the tournament that all of the 1-3 seeds have made it to the Sweet 16.

My brackets are shit. Only thing left is to root for Duke and against UNC.

[Groundhog]

My only complaint about some of the games I've caught is Bill Raftery. He annoys me in CH 2K8, and he annoys me when he does the colour commentary for real games even more. Does he just open up a thesaurus during random parts of the game and start reading out the entries under "strength" and "willpower" everytime any player does anything?