College Basketball

[ebk57]

I was beginning to think they'd forgotten about the Terps.  But they're in.  I can go back to not paying attention for a few days.

[AimingforYoko]

22 minutes ago, mojoween said:

I found the answer to my question, that automatic qualifiers DO NOT play on Tuesday/Wednesday.  

The 11s are at-large, but all the 16s are automatic qualifiers from 1-bid leagues.

52 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

My #1s: Kansas, Gonzaga, Villanova and Arizona. (Though I won't be shocked if they give the last #1 to the Tar Heels)

I give myself a B+, I hedged my bet, fearing the dreaded East Coast Bias

[bosawks]

The good news:  Marquette is in!

The bad news:  My pool is doomed!

[mojoween]

UNC should not be a number one.  They should have swapped them with Kentucky.

Congrats on your first round NIT home game Cuse!  Gotta stop with the early season cupcakes.  This is your punishment for last year when you embarrassed the committee and busted all those brackets.

The first four games this week have some serious names this year.

Edited to add that the NIT committee has earned all the love for sending UNC-Greensboro to Syracuse.

Edited March 13, 2017 by mojoween

[MyAimIsTrue]

I missed the selection show for the first time in forever so I caught some coverage on ESPN and damn, they're horrible.  I have no dog in this show but I couldn't help but giggle with glee at seeing the excitement of the Northwestern team and fans and loved the quips about them playing Vanderbilt and determining which school is smarter.

[mojoween]

I hope Greensboro is already here because travel is going to be very limited today.  24 years after The Blizzard of 93 we get the Nor'easter of the Century and SU hosts a NIT home game, go figure.

Update - the game has been postponed to tomorrow.  Good choice, the roads are not the best out there.  I'm sure the Greensboro kids are loving this weather, ha.

Edited March 14, 2017 by mojoween

[mojoween]

Notre Dame losing would have shredded most of my brackets but I get so caught up in the hysteria of the underdog I was all about Princeton pulling it off. I wish they had tried to get in closer to the basket than take that three though.

Happy Best Weekend of the Year everyone!

[AimingforYoko]

4 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Happy Best Weekend of the Year everyone!

Unless your name's Tom Crean.

[xaxat]

From the university announcement of Crean's firing,

Quote

 The expectations for Indiana University basketball are to perennially contend for and win multiple Big Ten championships, regularly go deep in the NCAA tournament, and win our next national championship—and more after that. 

No pressure.

[MyAimIsTrue]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

Notre Dame losing would have shredded most of my brackets but I get so caught up in the hysteria of the underdog I was all about Princeton pulling it off.

I've been rooting for Princeton since 1989 when as a 16 seed they lost to 1 seed Georgetown by a single point.  All I could do today was watch the live scoreboard and from that it seemed like it was a good game and a great effort.

[mojoween]

It was a great game!  At the end of the game, each team still only had six fouls.  I found that remarkable.

[Minneapple]

1 hour ago, AimingforYoko said:

Unless your name's Tom Crean.

As a Badger fan, this is a sad day indeed. I loved Crean at Indiana.

[Ohwell]

*sigh* I'm old enough to remember when the NIT was the tournament to watch, not the NCAA.  How times have changed.

[mojoween]

Holy balls the game hasn't even started yet and I'm already beyond over seeing Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the stands and hearing the announcers say her name.  Just let her watch her kid ball in peace for cod's sack.

[xaxat]

I'd prefer her over Lavar Ball.

ETA, the fact that Wisconsin plays Settlers of Catan makes me like them even more.

Edited March 16, 2017 by xaxat

[AimingforYoko]

2 hours ago, mojoween said:

Holy balls the game hasn't even started yet and I'm already beyond over seeing Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the stands and hearing the announcers say her name.

The announcer just said "Yada, yada, yada, Northwestern wins." In other news, is that Julia's father sitting with her?

[Calvada]

7 hours ago, Minneapple said:

As a Badger fan, this is a sad day indeed. I loved Crean at Indiana.

Yes indeed.  Badger fans feel about IU firing Crean as Packer fans feel about the Bears cutting Jay Cutler.  The common reaction:  NOOOOOO!  And hey Gophers!  Enjoy that 5 seed on the bus trip home HA HA HA HA HA HA HA . . . ahem.  I know I should root for Big Ten teams, but I am a petty, petty person. 

A friend suggested we drink each time there's a mention of the Masters.  Not wanting to end the opening weekend by needing a new liver, I decided not to go with that. 

And since Julia's father died last year, I'm going to guess that no, he wasn't sitting next to her.  But I wasn't able to watch that game - was there an urn in the seat next to her?  Or was that a shot about how old Brad Hall is looking, AimingforYoko?

Bronson Koenig - threemendous!  Lots of fouls in that game, but Badgers kept up the defense and actually made foul shots.  Bronson with the school record 8 3's and another double double from Nigel Hayes.  On to Saturday! 

Edited March 17, 2017 by Calvada
more to say!

[mojoween]

I feel badly for that kid from Vandy but I'm going to blame Drew for blowing all of his timeouts with seven minutes left.  The Ringer had a good point that if they had a TO they could have stopped and set up a play before the foul happened.  As it was, the kid was trying to get instruction from the sideline while the clock was ticking and panicked.

It's a shame nothing else exciting happened during the first day because that error is the main topic.

[MyAimIsTrue]

13 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

The announcer just said "Yada, yada, yada, Northwestern wins."

Now that's funny!

Okay, I was pretty much out of pocket yesterday and last night so what happened to the Vandy kid?  I've not heard about this.

[AimingforYoko]

47 minutes ago, MyAimIsTrue said:

Now that's funny!

Okay, I was pretty much out of pocket yesterday and last night so what happened to the Vandy kid?  I've not heard about this.

Vandy was up by one, but the kid thought they were down by one, so he intentionally fouled. NW hit both free throws and won the game.

[mojoween]

Also, Vandy didn't help themselves with that desperation heave after NW hit their foul shots.

[ElDosEquis]

Before this is over, I am going to owe Warren Buffet a million dollars.

[Minneapple]

@Calvada I will never forgive the committee for giving Minnesota that five seed in Milwaukee. It was ours, dammit.

Koenig is Klutch, Hayes played well, Khalil Iverson played well with Happ in foul trouble. Good game, let's move on.

I have to admit Northwestern is a good story even with the constant Julia Louis-Dreyfus shots and the Seinfeld references. Hard to cheer against them.

[Calvada]

23 minutes ago, Minneapple said:

@Calvada I will never forgive the committee for giving Minnesota that five seed in Milwaukee. It was ours, dammit.

Koenig is Klutch, Hayes played well, Khalil Iverson played well with Happ in foul trouble. Good game, let's move on.

I have to admit Northwestern is a good story even with the constant Julia Louis-Dreyfus shots and the Seinfeld references. Hard to cheer against them.

Enjoyed reading Frank Kaminsky's tweets on Selection Sunday, especially when he said "Submitting my formal application to be on the selection committee... because apparently you don't even have to watch basketball to be on it."  Yes, Wisconsin got screwed.  #2 in the Big Ten and they get an 8 seed and sent to Buffalo, and the Gophers #4 in the Big Ten, lost to Wisconsin twice, and they get a 5 seed and head to Milwaukee?  Someone on that committee has it in for Wisconsin and I would love to know who.  For f's sake, what more does Wisconsin have to do to prove themselves?  I get so damn tired of all these experts talking about Wisconsin's slow play, like Dick Bennett is still on the sidelines.  They scored 84 points against VA Tech, and only 5 other teams scored as much or more yesterday. 

BTW, Frank the Tank picked Wisconsin to win in his bracket, beating North Carolina in the championship game 100-0.  God, I love Frank!  I think all the college media folks miss him too. 

I was happy for Khalil, since it's been a terrible time in his personal life.  I think no one was more eager to play than he, to get on that court and just think about basketball. 

Northwestern is a good story, but if I were one of their backers, I would worry about them exhausting themselves emotionally.  They were lucky to get the win yesterday, due to a major mistake by their opponent, and then they celebrated like they just cut down the nets.  Take a breath guys, you've got another game in 48 hours. 

Minneapple, do you think IU will go after Tony Bennett?  It seems every time there is an opening in the Big Ten his name comes up.

Edited March 17, 2017 by Calvada

[AimingforYoko]

2 hours ago, Calvada said:

Northwestern is a good story, but if I were one of their backers, I would worry about them exhausting themselves emotionally.  They were lucky to get the win yesterday, due to a major mistake by their opponent, and then they celebrated like they just cut down the nets.  Take a breath guys, you've got another game in 48 hours. 

They can celebrate. If they beat Gonzaga, it would be a huge upset. If they lose as expected, it still would be the most successful basketball season in school history.

[Ohwell]

3 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

They can celebrate. If they beat Gonzaga, it would be a huge upset. If they lose as expected, it still would be the most successful basketball season in school history.

Yeah, I say enjoy the ride!  

I've got a couple of friends who attended Mt. Saint Mary, who won the play in and, therefore, won the opportunity to be served up as dessert to Villanova.  These friends are happy, and I suspect the players, while disappointed, are happy that they went to the dance. Nothing to hang their heads about.  

Edited March 17, 2017 by Ohwell

[ElDosEquis]

F USC

[mojoween]

I think USC maybe got me one loss, but I don't even care because the scuttlebutt was that USC stole SU's spot and USC didn't even deserve the bid.

[ElDosEquis]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

I think USC maybe got me one loss, but I don't even care because the scuttlebutt was that USC stole SU's spot and USC didn't even deserve the bid.

F SMU instead?

Then the local sportscaster comes on and starts to laugh, "are your brackets destroyed yet?"

Kinda?

-----------

I can watch pretty much any sporting event, but BB gets on my nerves pretty quickly?

It's like being stuck on the fucking Ventura Freeway during rush hour and the asshole behind you has just figured out how to use the horn.

[Minneapple]

Re: Northwestern. Nigel Hayes has said that one of the things he's learned over the years is that, particularly during an emotionally charged time like the tournament, it's important to keep your cool. 

IU may go after Bennett. Illinois could too. But I doubt he'd go to Indiana since they fired his sister as women's basketball coach a few years ago. I think Indiana is more likely to take a run at Steve Alford, Billy Donovan. If those big names don't work out they could go for a guy like Chris Mack or Archie Miller. 

[enlightenedbum]

I just want to say that CBS' announcing teams are just as bland as their scripted shows.  Except Raftery, obviously.  I dearly wish ESPN had the tournament.  Their absolute worst team is Dave Pasch and Bill Walton, and because they hate each other even they're entertaining.

[biakbiak]

On 3/16/2017 at 3:42 PM, AimingforYoko said:

The announcer just said "Yada, yada, yada, Northwestern wins." In other news, is that Julia's father sitting with her?

No her dad died last year.

[AimingforYoko]

9 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

No her dad died last year.

It was a joke, I know that was Brad Hall. It's just that he's aged, apparently, and Julia hasn't.

[WichitaStateShock]

Hoping Wichita State can pull off the win against Kentucky. 

[DrSpaceman73]

14 hours ago, Minneapple said:

Re: Northwestern. Nigel Hayes has said that one of the things he's learned over the years is that, particularly during an emotionally charged time like the tournament, it's important to keep your cool. 

IU may go after Bennett. Illinois could too. But I doubt he'd go to Indiana since they fired his sister as women's basketball coach a few years ago. I think Indiana is more likely to take a run at Steve Alford, Billy Donovan. If those big names don't work out they could go for a guy like Chris Mack or Archie Miller. 

Yeah I don't see Bennett going to Indiana

And honestly even as an alum. going for Alford I think is a mistake.  I don't think he is that much better of a coach than Crean.  His coaching history is good but no great.  I was surprised when UCLA hired him, didn't think he would get a chance at a big time program like that based on his history. 

I would be shocked if Billy Donovan left a pro job where he is still pretty successful for Indiana.  That's a pipe dream. 

It will most likely be an up and coming coach.  My choice would be Greg Marshall from Wichita State.  I am not sure he would take it though.  Which is a sad comment on Indiana's current state in the basketball world.  They are pretty much mimicking Notre Dame in football.  Its a once great program but its been too long since they were consistently good to convince top coaches and top players to come to the school. 

The administration completely bungled the post Knight years.  I don't blame them for firing Knight, it was only a matter of time for him for many reasons.  But they kept Mike Davis far too long when it was obvious he could not coach, one final appearance run notwithstanding.  No idea why they EVER hired Kelvin Sampson.  That made no sense at the time and never made any sense, at all, why they did it.  Crean was a good hire and has done well.  He did have some success at Indiana.  I have no ill feelings toward him.  Its just obvious he is not the coach to lead the program to a title or to make them a consistent contender.  You need to make the tournament at least every year at a program like Indiana.  Crean is the type of coach that SHOULD have been hired around 2004 or 2005 though, after Mike Davis left, not 5 years later after Sampson.  Sampson devastated the program. 

Both Davis and Crean were both better recruiters than coaches.  They need a coach that is an Xs and Os master, knows how to win close games and with lesser talent.  You do that at Indiana and the recruits will start coming as a result. 

[ketchuplover]

How 'bout dem Badgers? :)

[Calvada]

HOLY CRAP!!  Badgers down by 7 with 5 minutes left, just about everybody on the team in foul trouble, and they get to the Sweet 16 again.  Four consecutive Sweet 16s.  Whew - I need a drink.  I really hope these officials aren't going to New York City too.  Really thought Badgers might not overcome all the fouls, and also the non calls.  Thinking in particular about when the Nova guy took down Showalter after the fast break bucket. 

Check out the March Madness twitter feed to see Vitto (of after today, Threeto) Brown sing One Shining Moment.  Today was certainly OSM for the Badgers!

[Ohwell]

Congrats to Wisconsin.  It's hard to repeat but I didn't think Villanova would go out so soon.

[WichitaStateShock]

3 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

Yeah I don't see Bennett going to Indiana

And honestly even as an alum. going for Alford I think is a mistake.  I don't think he is that much better of a coach than Crean.  His coaching history is good but no great.  I was surprised when UCLA hired him, didn't think he would get a chance at a big time program like that based on his history. 

I would be shocked if Billy Donovan left a pro job where he is still pretty successful for Indiana.  That's a pipe dream. 

It will most likely be an up and coming coach.  My choice would be Greg Marshall from Wichita State.  I am not sure he would take it though.  Which is a sad comment on Indiana's current state in the basketball world.  They are pretty much mimicking Notre Dame in football.  Its a once great program but its been too long since they were consistently good to convince top coaches and top players to come to the school. 

The administration completely bungled the post Knight years.  I don't blame them for firing Knight, it was only a matter of time for him for many reasons.  But they kept Mike Davis far too long when it was obvious he could not coach, one final appearance run notwithstanding.  No idea why they EVER hired Kelvin Sampson.  That made no sense at the time and never made any sense, at all, why they did it.  Crean was a good hire and has done well.  He did have some success at Indiana.  I have no ill feelings toward him.  Its just obvious he is not the coach to lead the program to a title or to make them a consistent contender.  You need to make the tournament at least every year at a program like Indiana.  Crean is the type of coach that SHOULD have been hired around 2004 or 2005 though, after Mike Davis left, not 5 years later after Sampson.  Sampson devastated the program. 

Both Davis and Crean were both better recruiters than coaches.  They need a coach that is an Xs and Os master, knows how to win close games and with lesser talent.  You do that at Indiana and the recruits will start coming as a result. 

No way Gregg Marshall will take Indiana. It is not to say that Indiana doesn't have incredible pull but with bonuses etc 3G is making 4 mil here in Wichita which can buy you a lot. He is the KING of our city and gets everything he wants. He uses Charles Koch's private plane whenever. His daughter will be a senior in HS here next year so there is that in play. Lynn, 3G's wife, had publicly said she loves this city. His son went to smu for 2 weeks this fall and came back to Wichita to go to wsu because he loves our city. I strongly think that he would only leave for UNC, Duke, Kentucky, or maybe Lousiville. He has gone on record to say he thinks we will be a top 10 team next year and we don't lose anybody (except for our 2 senior walk ons). 

Edited March 18, 2017 by WichitaStateShock

[Minneapple]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

That is all.

[biakbiak]

The tween boy Northwestern fan they keep showing needs to relax. I am worried about his blood pressure.

[Ohwell]

Eh, he's young.  He'll be fine.

The Northwestern players were obviously very disappointed but very gracious in defeat.  They went down swinging, so good on them.

[shoregirl]

Grrrr  ☹Villanova does this to me every year. If I pick them to go far they go out in the first weekend. Last year I had them going out early and they win the whole thing.

[twoods]

52 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

The tween boy Northwestern fan they keep showing needs to relax. I am worried about his blood pressure.

That poor kid looked like he was having a nervous breakdown and the camera person was so obsessed with him. Was he the coach's son? 

[AimingforYoko]

Now can the Cheeseheads stop bitching about the seeding? I kid, I kid. Congrats Badgers, helluva job.

[DrSpaceman73]

4 hours ago, WichitaStateShock said:

No way Gregg Marshall will take Indiana. It is not to say that Indiana doesn't have incredible pull but with bonuses etc 3G is making 4 mil here in Wichita which can buy you a lot. He is the KING of our city and gets everything he wants. He uses Charles Koch's private plane whenever. His daughter will be a senior in HS here next year so there is that in play. Lynn, 3G's wife, had publicly said she loves this city. His son went to smu for 2 weeks this fall and came back to Wichita to go to wsu because he loves our city. I strongly think that he would only leave for UNC, Duke, Kentucky, or maybe Lousiville. He has gone on record to say he thinks we will be a top 10 team next year and we don't lose anybody (except for our 2 senior walk ons). 

You may be right, but is he ever going to win a title at Wichita State?  Or are they destined to be Gonzaga, or Butler, or like Boise State in football, the mid major than can step up and be consistently good, top 10/20 program, but never win a title?  And there is no sign any of those schools you mention are going to have a job opening anytime soon.  If you wait and pass up a chances, your window could close and in 5 years you might not have another chance, there is no guarantee if you wait it out for a job of that caliber that it will be available to you when the time comes.

And when you make millions a year, your family can stay behind for a period of time to finish school while you have a job elsewhere. 

But if not him, there are other good coaches Indiana can hire that I think can be better than Alford, even if Alford would leave UCLA for Indiana.  And I am not sure he would right now.  Dayton and Butler both have quality coaches as well and would be considered. 

The point being though Indiana needs a coach that is best at actually coaching, which sounds obvious and stupid to say but has been the actual problem since Knight left. 

[Calvada]

Too bad about Northwestern.  I was hoping they would keep winning, and so would Xavier, and they would eventually meet.  CBS would have had to bring in extra cameras, since I assume they would have had one on Bill Murray and one on Julia Louis Dreyfus the entire game. 

I will never understand how Minnesota got that 5 seed.  I would love to know why the selection committee thought they should be seeded higher than Michigan, Wisconsin, and Maryland.  Maybe the brilliant minds on the committee got confused by all those M states, and golly, the W in Wisconsin is just an upside down M, so what's a group of "experts" supposed to do?

[ganesh]

38 minutes ago, Calvada said:

CBS would have had to bring in extra cameras, since I assume they would have had one on Bill Murray and one on Julia Louis Dreyfus the entire game. 

Did JLD go to Northwestern?

[WichitaStateShock]

1 hour ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

You may be right, but is he ever going to win a title at Wichita State?  Or are they destined to be Gonzaga, or Butler, or like Boise State in football, the mid major than can step up and be consistently good, top 10/20 program, but never win a title?  And there is no sign any of those schools you mention are going to have a job opening anytime soon.  If you wait and pass up a chances, your window could close and in 5 years you might not have another chance, there is no guarantee if you wait it out for a job of that caliber that it will be available to you when the time comes.

And when you make millions a year, your family can stay behind for a period of time to finish school while you have a job elsewhere. 

But if not him, there are other good coaches Indiana can hire that I think can be better than Alford, even if Alford would leave UCLA for Indiana.  And I am not sure he would right now.  Dayton and Butler both have quality coaches as well and would be considered. 

The point being though Indiana needs a coach that is best at actually coaching, which sounds obvious and stupid to say but has been the actual problem since Knight left. 

Why can't you win a title at Wichita State? I'd say with WSU's success in the past 7 years we could win a title just as easy as Indiana. There is a reason we are now a household name and teams are pissed when they pull us.

 

Underwood from okie state to Illinois is an odd lateral move. Heard the AD at osu is toxic.

[theatremouse]

19 hours ago, ganesh said:

Did JLD go to Northwestern?

Yes but my understanding is that her son is on the current team. That's why she's there.