all 4 games tonight with intriguing elements

Arkansas with a lot of energy early

Nova's lucky not to be down 10

5 missed FTs in a row, 3-4 missed bunnies, 3-4 great looks from 3, and a few minutes of ineffective 2-3 zone bc of Dickinson's silly foul. SUPER frustrating.

Timme did his thing. Chet at least had 11 and 14 in the little time he was on the court. that backcourt stunk up the joint tho

It's the whole Luka Garza thing-- if you have a slow big man who primarily scores 2s and who can't defend? You're going to have an insanely efficient offense, no doubt, but you're opening yourself up to teams picking you apart on defense. Like, Baylor absolutely MASSACRED Timme last year in screens and switches. And Arkansas was targeting him as well. He makes absolutely no effort to close out on the perimeter, he can't move his feet laterally. It's bad news against a certain type of team.

Last year's guards were fine to win it all-- Suggs, Nembhard, and Ayayi is plenty good imo. They just ran into the best perimeter defender college has seen in the last half-decade-- and a team whose physical dribble drive/3PT shooting combo is tailor made to destroy a slow-footed dude like Timme. This year's guards had a disaster game on offense, no question... but again, the guy Arkansas was targeting on switches wasn't one of the guards, it was def Timme. (And I thought the guards honestly did a pretty good job making Arkansas take tough shots, Arkansas just happened to make their tough shots.)

Timme's footwork in the paint and his touch around the rim are both absolutely elite, the best in the country maybe. But if you can't defend, you can't out-leap athletes for boards, you can't protect the rim against big bodies, etc... then your ceiling is hard-capped.

Gonzaga's guards were annihilated and if they had played better on offense, Gonzaga wins period

nobody expects Timme to offer up more than positional defense -- your senior backcourt can't go 5-21 with 4 assists and 6 turnovers

In regards to the notion that Gonzaga's guards aren't good enough, I'd say they generally are. I think, in general, if the Zags continue to focus on an offense that has a slow-footed PF/C like Timme, Tillie, Petrusev, Wiltjer, Karnowski, etc., they're always going to be offering up a clear point of attack for the opposition.

But yeah, Nembhard was a disaster last night, no question that's true. Ranks up there with Karnowski's last game and Timme's Baylor game last year as one of the truly horrendous individual performances in Gonzaga tournament history.

Michigan can’t match that. Brooks is giving a good effort, but all they really
have is Dickinson.

It’s bye bye time.

Villanova's guard play didnt force Michigan to miss 15 layups, 7 FTs (5 in a row at one point), and 8 wide open looks from 3

Making shots and FTs are part of the game. lol

Moore, Gillipse, and Daniels combined for 19 boards,
and Daniels had 9 boards coming off the bench. Those guards
battled in the paint, and they provided good ball handling.

Plus Daniels almost had a double/double

Moore was +10 and Daniels was +15

Michigan guards:

Brooks - 8
Jones -4
Houstan -11

The only player for Michigan with a positive plus/minus was Dickinson.

Michigan was always in the negative with either one of their guards on
the floor.

im glad you can read a box score tho

Plus/Minus illustrates if the performance of a player
is a negative or a positive for the team.

Michigan was outscored by 8 points with Brooks on the floor.

The all-around guard play of Villanova was simply better.

That’s all I’m saying.

because he will do exactly that.

idc if they go undefeated they arent a top 10 team

Nova covered too. I’m 2-0 so far. Best FT shooting team in
country. Forget about it.

I just need these other games to cover to go perfect in my
spread pool.

Some of these lines are too easy if you know college BB.

My bracket took a slight hit though with Gonzaga losing. I had
them losing in the final four.

it's college, so missed shots are expected, but they were struggling to run the basics of offensive basketball those last three minutes

Duke clamped down and hit super tough shots, as the more talented teams are able to do

One of the best defenses of the last twenty years, a very mediocre offense.

I was blown away by Duke's offense in the paint in the second half. That was the most efficient half of basketball any team played against Texas Tech this year by *a lot.*

it was just kind of staggering in such a big moment after playing decently for most of the game

dudes were having trouble making two passes in a row and needed a map for where the rim was

So much of their swagger and energy comes from their stops. Once the stops stopped coming, the confidence shriveled, and they went into panic mode.

Major shout out to Mark Williams too for some massive blocks/contests down the stretch. Theo John too, really.

I can’t be too mad. Bracket busted.

Mathurin is the truth,though, deserves to go number
1 in the draft.

God damn it...Duke advanced to the elite 8. It’s going to be a coach K
slob fest.

Frank is somewhere talking smack while drinking Dew and eating Cheetos

i dont think he won his matchup tonight. that's not to say he lost it, but UM got the looks they wanted.

and outside of that little stretch when Dickinson went out and UM played zone, Michigan had the perfect game plan defensively. the switching and rotations were excellent, and it seemed like most of their 2nd half scoring came from individual plays and guys taking defenders to the hoop 1v1.

i will say tho, that Nova moves the ball so well that it seemed like Michigan had to hold the turbo button down so long on defense that it made it really hard to come from behind. i can see why Nova doesnt blow second half leads.

Lol but he’s a Nova lifer

michigan is gonna win a title under Juwon Howard , and that’s not even me saying it as an OKP curse . The recruiting class coming in w almost everyone returning is a problem

I’m gonna throw up when it happens


>i dont think he won his matchup tonight. that's not to say
>he lost it, but UM got the looks they wanted.
>
>and outside of that little stretch when Dickinson went out and
>UM played zone, Michigan had the perfect game plan
>defensively. the switching and rotations were excellent, and
>it seemed like most of their 2nd half scoring came from
>individual plays and guys taking defenders to the hoop 1v1.
>
>i will say tho, that Nova moves the ball so well that it
>seemed like Michigan had to hold the turbo button down so long
>on defense that it made it really hard to come from behind. i
>can see why Nova doesnt blow second half leads.

I know Jay has the rings, and results over time talk, obviously...

... but the things Sampson has done over the last five years at Houston are absolutely spellbinding. This year, they lost two starters to injury, including their best player... and they're in the Elite Eight.

2019, their two best players from the 2018 team graduate, and what do they do? Get better, make the Sweet 16, almost beat Kentucky.

2021, Nate Hinton unexpectedly goes pro, and their best player Caleb Mills gets hurt then transfers midseason... and still they get *better*, making the Final Four.

It doesn't matter who's there, doesn't matter who's running the show. They don't make mistakes, they don't beat themselves. And they defend like hell.

I tweeted before the tournament that I may just end up taking Houston to the Final Four in my bracket annually from now on, regardless of matchup. That may end up proving prescient.

There are better coaches over a longer period of time, undoubtedly... but in the last five years, I think there's been no better coach than Kelvin Sampson.

seems like every time I pick them to go deep they get bounced early..

and every time I don’t pick them they make a run.

Arkansas was too fast and too hungry for the Zags

Even watching the game, you could tell Gonzaga got better quality looks. Arkansas had to make a ton of tough shots, the Zags missed good looks. Same thing was true at Nevada-- when Musselman's teams are rolling, it's because his guys are making their Hail Mary 3s and contested off-the-bounce mid-rangers. Like, JT Notre absolutely tried to shoot Arkansas out of the win yesterday, lol.

Musselman is, however, a terrific defensive coach and an outstanding motivator. Arkansas was playing harder, scrappier. They knew the Zags had the "softness" reputation, and they went for the jugular. And for that, he definitely deserves a lot of credit. They took no plays off.

of him stoking his kids' fire

i was about ready to run thru a brick wall myself

It's *so rare* to see college games where kids just don't take plays off.

Notae's gonna try to score 40 on 40 shots tomorrow.

Reveling in Gonzaga tears is becoming a nice annual tradition.

rat-faced now and always will refer to K.

:)

Between if UNC wins tonight and Duke wins tomorrow, I can't abide the thought that the only thing that could stop a Duke/UNC Final Four is a 15 seed, lol.

.

Purdue got cooked by a small time school out of Jersey.

Good. Hopefully, that will motivate Big Ten schools to get it together.

Let’s go. I like both squads, but my bracket is for UCLA

True blue bloods stand up!

Kansas got it done. This might be Bill Self’s year.

I will be shocked if he's still at St. Peters after this.

>I will be shocked if he's still at St. Peters after this.

although I'm sure he'll have a number of bigger offers that he'll be able to choose from.

So much of what defines whether a conference is good or bad is the middle of the pack and the bottom of the conference. The bottom six teams in the ACC are *easily* the worst bottom six of any high major this year. It's not close. And the middle of the pack? Teams like Cuse and FSU weren't even *NIT* picks this year. Even Wake, with its ACC COY and ACC POY, was *embarrrrrrrassed* in the NIT.

So yes, Duke has been Duke, UNC figured it out around February, and Miami has maintained their "team of destiny" thing somehow...

... but that doesn't change that the ACC sucked this year, lol. It just means that these three teams are very good at the right time, which is all that matters.

It's like when people tried to change the narrative about the Pac-12 last year because Oregon State and UCLA went on miracle runs. Miracle tournament runs don't change conference strength. Perception, sure... but unless someone can explain to me how the entire ACC is underrated because three teams played their best basketball in a two-week span against three opponents each, I always push back against these sorts of narratives, lol.

…to determine which conference might be better for the season year

Half the conference still runs archaic plodding offenses that just can’t keep up in the tournament

I just realized the last time a Big Ten team won the tournament was when Mateen Cleaves was at MSU, that’s horrendous

>I just realized the last time a Big Ten team won the
>tournament was when Mateen Cleaves was at MSU, that’s
>horrendous

I’ve been shouting that all year long, but a certain Michigan
fan said I was wrong.

The big ten hasn’t always been this way, because Illinois went to the chip
in 2005 and Michigan went in 2015 I believe, but the conference has since
regressed.

Teams put emphasis on bigs as opposed to guards, and
that gets exposed during the NCAA tournament.

They had 4 nba players on that team tho, Donovan had a squad



>I’ve been shouting that all year long, but a certain
>Michigan
>fan said I was wrong.
>
>The big ten hasn’t always been this way, because Illinois
>went to the chip
>in 2005 and Michigan went in 2015 I believe, but the
>conference has since
>regressed.
>
>Teams put emphasis on bigs as opposed to guards, and
>that gets exposed during the NCAA tournament.

Terrible offense. Terrible refereeing. Defenses that just run fast and foul a lot rule the landscape.

Awful product. This sport needs change.

1-19

That’s it.

Let’s roll.

Praying for a miracle.

Armando out here like Lou Alcindor. If he stays out of foul trouble, they have such a paint advantage.

>Armando out here like Lou Alcindor. If he stays out of foul
>trouble, they have such a paint advantage.

shit he look like Wilt out there.

.

The guy is too cold.

.

That is a huge huge loss. Dude has been a beast on both sides for them.

Villanova isn’t that deep of a team....that is probably their only weakness.

Damn, Duke is just getting all the breaks. I’m going to throw up!

jesus that is awful.

.

.

it was for sure rocky and you are gonna get some hate when you play defense that poorly for a long stretch

but he got them back to the Final Four for the first time in 5 years while replacing a legend

The last thing I ever wanted to see in the goddamn dance is a rivalry game. I get a heart attack when that shit's in the REGULAR SEASON.

Ugh.

this the first time in my life as a UNC fan I've gotten to purely enjoy a UNC tourney run. no stress, no dread about blowing it w/ a crazy talented team. this run is a blast. New Orleans has been good to us (2 titles there) and hopefully it is again. we got this far so lets go do it all. im not concerned about the rivalry at this point. i know that probably sounds crazy.

Duke fans should be excited that K gets another shot at UNC, this time with a title berth on the line (and no, a win and championship will never erase what happened at Cameron, but it would still be mission accomplished for K's last go)

only thing that would have made it better is if coach k faced unc for his final championship game.

double OT. Paige Bueckers was unconscious in the second half, only missed one shot.

14 straight Final Fours. that's ludicrous.

My heart aches for NC State. Paige simply was not accepting anything but a win. EVERY time she had the ball and curled off that screen, I knew it was going in.

That 3-pointer to take it into OT was HUGE.

I agree with Dstl1. NC State has had some great seasons recently but can’t ever seem to get over the hump. For a second, I thought they really might have been able to knock UConn off.

I feel the same way about Louisville. They’ve been a top 5 program for several years but they just can’t breakthrough.

I’m pulling for Stanford over UConn and South Carolina over Louisville.

Stanford/South Carolina. I love HVL (the Blonde Mamba, lol) and Louisville and of course Stanford got some absolute ballers...AND Paige Buckets and UCONN are fun to watch. I don't actually have anything against any of the other 3 teams...but, I want this SO BAD for Dawn.

but, still a good game. Hailey Van Lith said...don't ask the question, if you don't want the answer...
https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/1508644774177292289?t=WyyErbaYUIoUZAhb7BjSWQ&s=19

Shit sounded like a home game for UCONN

I agree they should’ve stuck one in Charlotte just in case but UConn a safer bet than State to sell tickets

and I’m not just talking home uniforms.

.

.

.

unless it's on a shot?

Seen at least 5 obvious fouls and the refs just letting them play football, I mean basketball.. lol

or they at least tell them to ref like that game. it was a breath of fresh air to see refs call proper fouls, let the players play and allow high quality shotmaking decide the game.

Both of Duke's last two games, neither team was in the double bonus ever IIRC. I think they understand that the eyeballs are on the Duke games, and they don't want to give audiences a foul/FT-fest in the most watched games on TV.

So in what's likely to be one of the most watched games in modern history? They'll let them play. And UNC fans will scream about a lack of Paolo charge calls, and Duke fans will scream about a lack of Bacot moving screen calls, and the game will actually play out with offense, like most audiences want.

Even if Duke wins by 15 (they won't, but if they did), there'll be a sea of "well, these fouls on Bacot were horseshit" or whatever. It won't matter.

So if the refs are going to help K, they better go all the way with it. I don't need ref help in the form of a bad foul call in a 1-point game with 2 minutes left. Give us our goddamn money's worth and rig this fucker into being a blowout, lol. My blood pressure would appreciate the assistance.

Combine that with Kansas shooting such a high percentage from 3, and this may be a wrap already.

Keep the pressure on and don’t let up.

Kansas would probably have 100 points if he was on top of his game.

John gets his fourth foul for receiving a Bacot elbow, lmao. Goddammit.

>John gets his fourth foul for receiving a Bacot elbow, lmao.
>Goddammit.

.

granted, manek hit that in rhthym 3 just now.


peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

balled out. and toughed out those last few minutes. manek played better later and hit a couple of big 3s.

caleb love was crazy. and davis was great, too. (they did make some careless passes, tho).


peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

Props to UNC for winning. But neither team deserved to lose.

K tried to "Boody Up" his last ride and caught that L

if he doesn't Boody Up, I'm going to miss moments like this.

What a game.

Hubert Davis about to be a legend

Much respect to Coach K. I have to give reverence when and where it is due.
He is one of the greatest coaches to ever do it.

I know one thing. This year’s draft is going to be seriously deep.

much as i really really hate duke, much respect and i'm glad he went out on a high note. (but not the highest note).

it was also dope to see roy williams in the stands throughout the season and tourney, enjoying himself, and with the pressure off.


peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

the Koach K dickeating was about to be over the top if they won a championship

good riddance


>all 4 games tonight with intriguing elements
>
>Arkansas with a lot of energy early