NCAA College Basketball

[Lord Kayoss]

Duke lost again........   If they're not out of the top 10 this week, we've got serious problems.

Agreed!  Duke is the Hulk Hogan of college basketball.  Media hype, lame propaganda hoping to generate interest.

But all the crap can only take a team so far.  Duke is not a top 10 team, and never should've been there to begin with.


Good luck with Pitt.

[faldor]

Well, all the praise I've been heaping on Thabeet came back to bite me in the ass last night.  He was in foul trouble the whole game and completely neutralized and outplayed by DaJuan Blair.  That man is a beast.  BUT, I must say.  Hasheem picked up his first foul by getting tangled up with Blair and was slammed to the floor by a accidental arm bar.  He nearly broke his arm.  Then he came back into the game and picked up another foul, and Calhoun sticks to his guns and sits any player for the remainder of the half once they pick up 2 fouls.  Then he picked up a 3rd foul early in the 2nd half and once again took to the bench.  Then he got called for a phantom 4th foul and once again sat the bench until the 4 minute mark or so.  So he never was able to get into the flow of the game, yet when he was out there Blair had his way with him.  Not sure if things would've been different if he was allowed to stay on the floor or if Blair would've continued to dominate.  We'll see what happens when they meet again in Pittsburgh.

As for the rest of the game, their first big test without Dyson.  Their perimeter D was great until the last 5 minutes of the game or so.  They had no answer for Blair or Young, but they held the guards to like 1 field goal to that point.  But then Dixon hit a 3 with Stanley Robinson trying to guard 2 guys on the perimeter thanks to the lack of help defense from Kemba Walker.  And again Kemba played poor defense on Lavance Fields on the 2 killer 3's he made to ice the game.  So I thought for the most part they did pretty well for the most part without Dyson, but they certainly could've used him down the stretch.  Walker made some great plays on both sides of the ball, but he also made some real bad ones on D especially.  Dyson is more solid and has the experience.  Walker is gonna be great, but he's not there yet.  I think it's tough to get a read on how this team is without Dyson just yet, because last night they were basically without Thabeet.  I've said all along, as long as he's playing they're fine.  But he barely played last night and they were still in position to win.

Good game by Pitt though, I'll take the high road and not blame it on the questionable officiating like Calhoun did.  Despite the bad calls, they still had a chance to win in the end.  The refs didn't help Fields hit those crushing 3's or make the Huskies miss some key FT's.  I said a couple weeks ago that I hoped the Huskies weren't peaking too early.  I know it's only one game, you can't win them all, but lately they haven't played nearly as well as they did at Louisville and home against Providence.  They've taken a few steps backward.  I hope they can correct things and move forward from here, but one thing's for sure, Jerome Dyson is not walking through that door.  Thanks for that quote Rick Pitino.

[D]

Thabeet looked very weak and bad last night and every college coach in America is gonna see that all u have to do is get super physical with him.


Love that Rick Pitino quote! Damn Ping Pong Balls.

If he gets Tim Duncan, He would be considered one of the greatest coaches of all time cause he'd have the final fours and NCAA title plus about 3 rings or so.

[faldor]

Thabeet looked very weak and bad last night and every college coach in America is gonna see that all u have to do is get super physical with him.


Love that Rick Pitino quote! Damn Ping Pong Balls.

If he gets Tim Duncan, He would be considered one of the greatest coaches of all time cause he'd have the final fours and NCAA title plus about 3 rings or so.

I'm not so sure it's such a big surprise that to be successful against Thabeet you have to be physical with him.  The thing is, very few teams have a guy like DeJuan Blair on their team.  The guy is a mountain of a man.  He's not as tall as Hasheem, who is?  But he's certainly got him in bulk and he threw his weight around.  The Huskies haven't faced anyone like him yet this year and I'm not sure there are many like him.  Blake Griffin and Tyler Hansbrough are good big men, but they don't have the body type of a Blair.  I think Hasheem would actually do better against those guys.

[Axl4Prez2004]

Thabeet looked very weak and bad last night and every college coach in America is gonna see that all u have to do is get super physical with him.


Love that Rick Pitino quote! Damn Ping Pong Balls.

If he gets Tim Duncan, He would be considered one of the greatest coaches of all time cause he'd have the final fours and NCAA title plus about 3 rings or so.

I'm not so sure it's such a big surprise that to be successful against Thabeet you have to be physical with him.  The thing is, very few teams have a guy like DeJuan Blair on their team.  The guy is a mountain of a man.  He's not as tall as Hasheem, who is?  But he's certainly got him in bulk and he threw his weight around.  The Huskies haven't faced anyone like him yet this year and I'm not sure there are many like him.  Blake Griffin and Tyler Hansbrough are good big men, but they don't have the body type of a Blair.  I think Hasheem would actually do better against those guys.

Louisville and UConn both, they didn't get a taste of a healthy Onuaku from Syracuse.  When healthy, he's an imposing guy.  He's been battling patellar tendonitis, and if he can heal up before the tournaments, watch out Big East! 

[faldor]

I got some inside info that Hasheem Thabeet was seen out Sunday night celebrating his 22nd birthday in Springfield, MA.  Maybe he partied a little too hard, and thus his sluggish play on Monday night.  Probably not, but it's possible.  I remember back in high school I went to a party the night before a baseball game and I got quite drunk.  I was scheduled to pitch the next day, and I thought I felt fine, but I didn't make it out of the first inning.  I retired the first batter and that was it for me.  I walked like 6 guys in the inning, gave up a few hits, and many runs.  I just couldn't find the strike zone to save my life.  I never blamed it on the alcohol, but the evidence surely is there.  So my advice to Hasheem is to behave the rest of the season for heavens sake.  There's plenty of time to drink and party in the spring, and the weather's much nicer.

[D]

Huge Oklahoma vs Texas game tonight at 9pm

I cannot wait for this one!

[faldor]

Huge Oklahoma vs Texas game tonight at 9pm

I cannot wait for this one!

Oklahoma put up a good fight against Texas without Blake Griffin.  They were close to getting blown out at the start of the second half, down 11, but they rallied back and were in it till the end.  Not sure when he'll be back.  Since 1, 2, and 3 lost I'd assume Pitt will be #1 next week with the other teams moving down 1 spot respectively.  UConn beat a bad South Florida team yesterday but looked quite unimpressive in doing so.  It wasn't the bounceback effort I had hoped for after losing to Pitt earlier in the week.  Things don't get any easier as they head to Marquette this Wednesday.  If they play anywhere near what they did yesterday they'll lose that game.

[GunnerOne 84]

That UMD-UNC game was FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANTASTIC, and I was there to rush the court!

[faldor]

That UMD-UNC game was FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANTASTIC, and I was there to rush the court!

Sweet!  I was pulling for MD.  That should help the resume for the tournament selection committee.

[GunnerOne 84]

That UMD-UNC game was FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANTASTIC, and I was there to rush the court!

Sweet!  I was pulling for MD.  That should help the resume for the tournament selection committee.

Boomer Esiason has floor seats to all MD games, and as we rushed the court I ran past him, yelled BOOMER, and he turned around and gave me a very enthusiastic high five.

[gilee7]

As a huge fan of UNC, and having watched nearly every one of their games this season, I'm not very confident that they'll win the NCAA tournament. They were the favorites going into the season, but they just don't play good enough defense, nor do they seem to have enough mental toughness. They had no business losing that game against MD. They were up by like 15 or 16 points at one point. And even up by six or more with less than a minute to go. But then they start turning the ball over, Hansbrough commits an offensive foul, they allow MD to take way too much time off the clock before fouling. I don't know. I just don't get the sense when watching them that they're a National Champion kind of team. They're definitely a Final Four team, but I think guys like Thabeet and Blake Griffin will be able to make Hansbrough kind of a non-factor. I hope I'm wrong, though. We'll see in a month or so.

[pilferk]

As a huge fan of UNC, and having watched nearly every one of their games this season, I'm not very confident that they'll win the NCAA tournament. They were the favorites going into the season, but they just don't play good enough defense, nor do they seem to have enough mental toughness. They had no business losing that game against MD. They were up by like 15 or 16 points at one point. And even up by six or more with less than a minute to go. But then they start turning the ball over, Hansbrough commits an offensive foul, they allow MD to take way too much time off the clock before fouling. I don't know. I just don't get the sense when watching them that they're a National Champion kind of team. They're definitely a Final Four team, but I think guys like Thabeet and Blake Griffin will be able to make Hansbrough kind of a non-factor. I hope I'm wrong, though. We'll see in a month or so.

The thing that will hurt them, if it doesn't change, is there defense.  They are a great offensive team who look either lazy or confused on defense much of the time.  Maybe I feel that way because I watch so much more Big East ball than ACC ball.....

I think they're all capable defensive players, and they show flashes of it at times...but unless they can play at least 5 NCAA (because the first will likely be a blowout) tourney games of solid D..they're going to have  a tough go.

[faldor]

Yeah, I've got Big East bias as well, so my views may indeed be skewed.  But I don't see UNC winning it all because of their lack of defense.  The ACC is an offensived league.  Duke scored over 100 points and beat Wake last night.  That just doesn't happen very often in the Big East.  Not that you can't win that way, but you need some sort of a balance.  That being said, I'm a UConn fan, and I'm now having doubts about them in the tourney myself.  A few weeks ago things were looking great.  Now Dyson's out, and it's unclear whether they can recover from that or not.  That's yet to be determined.  They've got a big week this week, Wed. at Marquette and at home Saturday against a hungry Notre Dame team.  Although, ND is one of those teams that doesn't play much defense, so as long as they're not shooting the lights out UConn should be able to take care of business there.  Marquette can jump ahead of UConn and into 1st place with a win on Wednesday so that's the big test.  Then next Saturday there's the rematch at Pitt.  But we'll take it one step at a time.

One thing is clear, there's no clear cut favorite right now.  Maybe one will emerge when the dust settles and the brackets are set.  But right now there's a dozen or so teams that have legit final four aspirations.

[Lord Kayoss]

Pitt must not like being #1.  They just fell to Providence.

[D]

Louisville should get a chance to wear the number 1 crown

hell, everybody else has had it

Uconn Play marquette tomorrow in what will be a HUGE game.

[pilferk]

Pitt must not like being #1.  They just fell to Providence.

Man...they can't stay at #1 for more than the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee.

That's 2 number one rankings...and 2 losses RIGHT after getting there.

Now, lets see if Uconn can handle Marquette and ND.

Then they get about a week off til their last game....the BIG one AT Pitt.


It's looking like the Big East might get 9 (and potentially 10, if someone in the bottom half of the league wins the tourney...which is doubtful, but possible with teams like Georgetown and ND in that 1/2 of the league) teams into the tourney. 

CT, Louisville, Marquette, Pitt, Villanova, West Virginia, Providence, Syracuse and maybe Cincy (depending on their last 2 games..they gotta finish at least .500 in the league with 18 wins, I think, to get in). 

Granted that's best case scenario.  I think Providence (to a lesser extent) and Syracuse can potentially play their way OUT of the tourney.  Cincy has a good shot of playing themselves IN, if they beat ND and the Hall.

[faldor]

Yeah I think the Big East has 7 teams for sure right now with Providence, ND, and Cincy on the proverbial bubble.  Big win for PC last night that will obviously help the resume.  Plus they're assured of finishing at least .500 in conference play, possibly 10-8 if they can't win at Rutgers.  But really they only have 2 wins over quality teams all year, Pitt and Syracuse.  Most of their wins in the Big East came against the bottom half of the league and their overall record isn't all that impressive at 17-11.  I think they still have some work to do.  Wins at Rutgers AND Nova would probably be enough, but that won't be easy.  If they split those 2 they'd need to win at least one game in the Big East tourney to have a shot. 

Cincy could use another quality win against West Virginia or at the Cuse, then they need to win @ South Florida and at home against the Hall.  If ND can win its 3 remaining home games including a win over Nova they'd help themselves a great deal.  They'd finish 9-9 in league play and they'd be playing well at the right time.

[faldor]

Good win for UConn tonight, Jim Calhoun's 800th by the way.  A.J. Price was a man on a mission.  Stanley Robinson was posessed.  Jeff Adrien, the model of consistency all season, had a down game.  But it didn't matter.  They survived a feisty Marquette team.  Unfortunately for them, their starting senior PG Dominic James broke a bone in his foot in the first 5 minutes is done for the season.  That is a big blow to the Golden Eagles.  UConn pretty much controlled the whole game but Marquette was pesky and wouldn't go away.  Many people are saying this weekends game is a must win for Notre Dame @ UConn.  So the stage is set.  ND wins and they pretty much secure a spot in the tourney.  UConn wins and they go back to #1.

[D]

ND is a very scary team. They do have some quality wins like the huge one over Louisville, so I say Big East gets at least 8 and I think ND will get in there

UConn,Pitt,UL,Villanova,Marquette,Syracuse,


I say two spots are open for Big East teams. ND and Cincy