2008-2009 NCAA Basketball Thread

[YanksHater213]

Only reason I dislike Duke this year is because they still largely rely on the jumpshot. Zoubek isn't reliable enough to run plays to him in the post, and Henderson can't take it to the rack every time. Singler can play, I just don't think jumpshooting teams fare well in March.

 

Duke wouldn't surprise me though. This is the best team they've had in a while.

[TheKilo]

Unfortunately I think UK is definitely the class of the SEC. After the 'Cats I'd say LSU, Florida, and State are probably the best teams. We're a streaky team. We live and die by the 3 and when on we can play with pretty much anyone, but when we aren't we're capable of losing to some lousy teams. The bright side is that we don't have any seniors who get quality minutes. Everyone is young.

 

Hey Kilo, would you take Varnado's D over Thabeet's D? Just wondering what your thoughts on him were. Hands down the 2 best defensive players in the nation.

 

Thabeet is only tall - he's a very good defensive player but he's still too tentative for my liking. Guys like Harangody and Hansborough will eat him for lunch because he can't defend further than 10 ft away from the basket, and he can be posted up on.

 

I'd take Varnado.

[TheKilo]

I'd pick Duke as well. As much as I hate Duke' date=' I've watched UCONN long enough to know that they choke in big situations. [/b']

 

When was the last time Duke came through in a big situation?

 

Calhoun owns Coach K in March.

[italstallianion]

To be honest I think anyone can make a case why a specific team won't win the NCAA tournament. I'm just pessimistic about the Huskies...

[TheKilo]

I have reasons for pessimism myself, but they have a lot of things going in their favor, namely they have the most wins vs. ranked teams out of the entire NCAA.

 

To be honest, I won't really buy into their title hopes until I see how they do in the BET - it'll be their first real test for a do-or-die scenario and I'd like to see how they respond to that.

[msubulldogs21]

To be honest' date=' I won't really buy into their title hopes until I see how they do in the BET - it'll be their first real test for a do-or-die scenario and I'd like to see how they respond to that.[/quote']

 

The BET has expanded to all 16 teams right? It's going to be insanely good this year.

[TheKilo]

Yes, it's expanded to 16 - it'll be even more interesting as that tournament will decide if they get 10 teams in (I don't think they will, though).

 

UConn

Pitt

Louisville

Notre Dame

Syracuse

Marquette

Georgetown

Villanova

 

WVU

 

Cincinnati

Providence

[msubulldogs21]

Yeah, agreed. I doubt they get 10. I think obviously the top eight you listed, as well as West Virginia makes it.

[msubulldogs21]

Speaking of the Big East, Marquette @ Notre Dame is on ESPN. ND has gone cold down 20-14.

[ORS]

When was the last time Duke came through in a big situation?

 

Calhoun owns Coach K in March.

When they had the talent?

 

FTR, since 1990, the schools are 2-2 vs each other in the tournament. UConn lost to the Grant Hill Duke teams. Duke lost to the Rip Hamilton and Gordon/Okafor teams. In other words, they lost when the other teams had their best talent, as one would expect. When both were high seeds, the margins were 3 points or less (with one 1-pt OT game), when Uconn was an 11 vs. Duke's 2, it was a 13 point game, as one would expect.

 

There is no ownership in their tournament history.

[ORS]

Oh, and I'm really looking forward to Wednesday. Duke at Wake. I'll start thinking this Duke team is more than a team I consider to be fun to watch if they can pull one off in Winston-Salem.

[Mr Crunchy]

Every night in the big east is a tournament like setting, its one of the reasons i got pissed off when bc left for the acc,bc could compete in the east pretty much every year but in the acc its always duke and nc with maryland wake and sometimes gtech taking up the also rans

but the big east is every team,every gym, every night

if you can win 18 while playing in the east you're pretty good.

as far as uconn goes,this team is always better in march because they have the best coach in the nation.

K is a nice guy and a gentlemen and all that s*** but calhoun owns his ass when it matters

gerald henderson is something else but that team looks the same every year,big slow white guys in the inside with adept athletic swingmen and a white point guard who looks like an accountant going to prison when the big games come around,scared f***ing shitless..I see Michelle Paulus is coming off the bench now?...Senior leadership at its finest...

[ORS]

Every night in the big east is a tournament like setting, its one of the reasons i got pissed off when bc left for the acc,bc could compete in the east pretty much every year but in the acc its always duke and nc with maryland wake and sometimes gtech taking up the also rans

but the big east is every team,every gym, every night

if you can win 18 while playing in the east you're pretty good.

as far as uconn goes,this team is always better in march because they have the best coach in the nation.

K is a nice guy and a gentlemen and all that s*** but calhoun owns his ass when it matters

gerald henderson is something else but that team looks the same every year,big slow white guys in the inside with adept athletic swingmen and a white point guard who looks like an accountant going to prison when the big games come around,scared f***ing shitless..I see Michelle Paulus is coming off the bench now?...Senior leadership at its finest...

It didn't matter in '90 when UConn was a #1 and lost to Duke, a #3? You own somebody when you beat them by one when you have the Player of the Year and the tournament's MVP (two different players)?

 

Check the matchups, the team with more talent won in all 4 of their matchups, with each going 2-2.

[italstallianion]

I agree, I just (along with much of the country) f***** hate Duke...

[Mr Crunchy]

in 90 uconn was breaking into the bigtime for the 1st time and if you recall it took a christian laetner jumper with 1 second left to get it done,this was after tate george beat clemson on a similar play the game before.

and in 99 when duke was an 8 pt favorite in the national title game uconn manhandled them.

duke was never a dog to uconn that i recall and K,inspite of being the darling of the media world for his class act and nice guy image,has been an underachiever in my opinion...Hes a quintessential final 4 favorite year in and year out and has managed 2 national titles, 1 against the jayhawks led by all world mark randall and 4 guys i couldnt pick out of a lineup of chinese bartenders and the other was more deserving against the fab 5 of michigan,a team that had a higher payroll than the celtics that year.

I f***ing hate Duke but i do give them credit for graduating their kids and running an honest program.

Anyone seen Cherokee Parks lately?

[TheKilo]

To be fair, Coach K has three national titles.

[ORS]

Also, the year they beat that Kansas team was the year they upset the next highest paid (after the Fab 5) and undefeated UNLV Runnin' Rebs. The one Crunch neglected to mention was when they beat an Arizona team with Gilbert Arenas, Richard Jefferson, and Luke Walton (2 all-stars and an NBA regular).

[TheKilo]

Didn't Gilbert Arenas go undrafted though? He wasn't very highly regarded in college.

 

Your overall point stands though.

[ORS]

He went undrafted because he was a shooting guard in a point guard's body. He was very good as a college ball player who showed flashes of brilliance, but how he was regarded had to do with estimations that his body wouldn't be fit with his skills at the next level.

 

Here's his statsheet page.....Gilbert Arenas.

 

EDIT: Actually, he was taken with the 31st pick (2nd pick, 2nd round) by Golden State.

[YanksHater213]

Wake and Duke on ESPN right now... this game has been awesome so far. Wake is looking awesome. Great defense being played. 24-18 Wake with 5 and change left in the first.

[See Red]

I'm not one to argue in Duke's favor, and this may be the only time I ever do it, but these refs have missed a lot of calls at Duke's end of the court, in my opinion.

 

Hope it keeps up...

[ORS]

There is a noticeable difference in the the level of acceptable physical play depending on which side of the court the ball is on.

[ORS]

The knome running the bench-side line (top of your TV screen) has been the one making the most unbalanced calls.

 

FTA - 12 to 2

[See Red]

I assume Teague didn't realize the shot clock had been reset on that last three... a hell of a shot, though.

[ORS]

7 footer on the dribble = basketball IQ fail

[ORS]

This guy Johnson looks like a potential star if he could bring his game in from the park.

[CrespoBlows]

Wow.

 

What a finish.

[italstallianion]

Sweet....

[hype21]

Man.. It's been a unusual season.. Everyone is not sure who's really the best team in the country.. Damn it.. Duke lost to Wake forest...

[TheKilo]

Man.. It's been a unusual season.. Everyone is not sure who's really the best team in the country.. Damn it.. Duke lost to Wake forest...

 

I think it's pretty clear that UConn is the best team in the country right now.