2018-19 NCAA Basketball Thread

[Beerfish]

More outstanding basketball today.  Duke goes home and MSU goes through. 

[nyjunc]

A terrible end to the season for the Heels, Auburn may have won anyway w/ how incredible they were shooting from 3 but it just sucks that 3 of Carolina's best players were sick.  They battle all year to get to that spot and it's not even an injury but an illness running through the team.  those are the breaks sometimes.  I have no idea what this team will look like next year, the assumption is Little is leaving regardless and that Coby White could be back.  If White is back they can contend again next year, w/o him it will be tough.  They are expected to land Cole Anthony who is the top PG in this class but it's hard to be a great freshman PG at Carolina which makes what Coby White did even more amazing so w/o Coby I don't think they will be FF contenders next year so hopefully he's back.

 

[nyjunc]

Now for the good news.  When I woke up yesterday Kentucky and duke has great chances to both make the final four and eventually meet in the title game which would be my college basketball equivalent of a Giants-pats super bowl.  Thankfully both lost especially duke so it sucked that Carolina lost as 1 seed in the sweet 16 for the first time(and only time) since 1984 but it couldn't have been even worse.

[Jetsfan80]

11 hours ago, Beerfish said:

More outstanding basketball today.  Duke goes home and MSU goes through. 

Goodbye blue bloods!

[Jetsfan80]

I picked Virginia to win the title.  Glad my faith in them might pay off.

[nj meadowlands]

38 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

I picked Virginia to win the title.  Glad my faith in them might pay off.

+1

 

Can't wait for Nova to win it all again next year

[greenwichjetfan]

1 hour ago, Jetsfan80 said:

I picked Virginia to win the title.  Glad my faith in them might pay off.

Nice. I had Auburn taking out UNC in the sweet 16 and Louisville beating Duke in the elite eight. So even though Louisville didn't even make to the Sweet 16, my bracket is still number 1 in my league because almost everyone had Duke UNC or Duke Kentucky in the final. I didn't have Virginia but I've been actively rooting for them all tourney after the way they went out last year.

[Jetsfan80]

6 minutes ago, greenwichjetfan said:

Nice. I had Auburn taking out UNC in the sweet 16 and Louisville beating Duke in the elite eight. So even though Louisville didn't even make to the Sweet 16, my bracket is still number 1 in my league because almost everyone had Duke UNC or Duke Kentucky in the final. I didn't have Virginia but I've been actively rooting for them all tourney after the way they went out last year. 

Yep, nicely done.  You have to play the odds.  While nearly everyone had Zion mania, nearly everyone was simultaneously picking against UVA because of that UMBC game, which wasn't really fair.  Lots of teams have suffered big upsets in round 1 one year, only to come back in a big way the next season.  Duke has done that a few times in recent years.  But because its Virginia and they aren't a historical powerhouse, they were overlooked. 

I'm sure most people had them as the first # 1 seed to go.  And here they are as the only 1-seed left standing.  Going against the grain worked in peoples' favor this year when it came to their Final 4 selections.

[greenwichjetfan]

1 hour ago, Jetsfan80 said:

Yep, nicely done.  You have to play the odds.  While nearly everyone had Zion mania, nearly everyone was simultaneously picking against UVA because of that UMBC game, which wasn't really fair.  Lots of teams have suffered big upsets in round 1 one year, only to come back in a big way the next season.  Duke has done that a few times in recent years.  But because its Virginia and they aren't a historical powerhouse, they were overlooked. 

I'm sure most people had them as the first # 1 seed to go.  And here they are as the only 1-seed left standing.  Going against the grain worked in peoples' favor this year when it came to their Final 4 selections.

When upsets occur in the round of 64, March Madness is fun for a few days.

When upsets occur in the S16, E8, F4, or championship, March Madness is fun for a whole month.

[nyjunc]

Goodbye Nassir Little and Coby White.  

[JustEndTheSuffering]

That Auburn vs Virginia game is probably the worst possible ending to a final four game. To be up two and lose on three free throws is awful. 

[Larz]

1 hour ago, JustEndTheSuffering said:

That Auburn vs Virginia game is probably the worst possible ending to a final four game. To be up two and lose on three free throws is awful. 

Yeah but it's an easy call. Defender has to know better. 

[JustEndTheSuffering]

20 minutes ago, Larz said:

Yeah but it's an easy call. Defender has to know better. 

Yea I understand but it’s just a sucky way to lose and for someone who’s not a fan if either team it’s not how I would like to see a big game end. 

[CotcheryifyouCan]

what a crazy game between uva and auburn. thought barkley was gona cry doing the post game

[nyjunc]

The second time in a week that we've seen a last second 3 point foul.  I hate seeing but this one was definitely a foul.  The bigger issue was the non double dribble call though the Auburn player was grabbing Jerome's Jersey to hold him at the time.  Crushing way to lose for Auburn and UVa pulls out another miracle.  Do they have one left?

[Jetsfan80]

Texas Tech and Virginia will be the ultimate rock fight.  # 1 team in defensive efficiency vs. the # 3 team.  Could be that both teams fail to hit 40 points in this one. 

[Peace Frog]

Still can’t believe how great that Purdue Virginia game was. One of the most exciting games I saw all year. 

Tonite might be a snooze fest. 

[nyjunc]

Congrats to UVa, another thrilling late game where it looked like they may be done.  

[nyjunc]

Here's a nice article about the dominance of the best conference in college basketball.

 

https://www.dailypress.com/sports/dp-spt-acc-basketball-ncaa-success-0417-story.html

[nyjunc]

What a difference a month makes, it's going to be a very different Carolina team but a very talented team.  They added the top PG in the Country in Cole Anthony, a 3-4 yr guard in Anthony Harris then 2 highly covered grad transfers in Christian keeling and Justin Pierce.  They already had a big time recruit in Armando bacot as well as another pg in Jeremiah Francis (though he has had major injury issues and may never be the player they thought when he committed a couple of yesterday ago).  

After losing 2 one and done guys they will lose at least 3 this year after only one year including the grad transfers.  Unfortunately they lost a rare transfer in Seventh Woods,  I hate to see that happen but it should be an interesting year.

[HashThat]

On 5/2/2019 at 2:10 PM, nyjunc said:

What a difference a month makes, it's going to be a very different Carolina team but a very talented team.  They added the top PG in the Country in Cole Anthony, a 3-4 yr guard in Anthony Harris then 2 highly covered grad transfers in Christian keeling and Justin Pierce.  They already had a big time recruit in Armando bacot as well as another pg in Jeremiah Francis (though he has had major injury issues and may never be the player they thought when he committed a couple of yesterday ago).  

After losing 2 one and done guys they will lose at least 3 this year after only one year including the grad transfers.  Unfortunately they lost a rare transfer in Seventh Woods,  I hate to see that happen but it should be an interesting year.

If Roy coaches like it is 2016-2017, Cole Anthony is a wonderful fit and he can dominate out there.  If he coaches like it was last season, Cole Anthony is a poor fit.  We shall see how it all works out.  Anthony was #1 in the 2019 Class in Assist%.

Bacot is physically the type of big who succeeds at UNC, Roy has a clear type when it comes to his bigs.  As far as his actual play, his best fit was actually at Georgia... UNC was middle-of-the-pack. 

[HashThat]

On 4/6/2019 at 10:13 PM, Larz said:

Yeah but it's an easy call. Defender has to know better. 

Pearl was being told by his players after shootaround that they were comfortable with the sight lines at U.S. Bank Stadium, they actually weren't and their shots were way off during the game.  Pearl made a shrewd adjustment to get them back in the game offensively, which was to remove the depth perception issues by only having his guys shoot 3s from the corners since the sight lines were more like they were at the SEC Tournament or at Vandy. 

Pearl and other coaches made the mistake of approaching UVA's Pack Line Defense wrong.  The only coach who got it right during the NCAA Tournament was Tim Craft and he got away from it, which is when the UVA Defense was able to force bad shots and get wear down Gardner-Webb.  You have to approach the Pack Line like it is a junk defense or even like it is a zone, the Pick and Slip with the option of a ball screen and pop was ALWAYS THERE.  G-W had opportunities to get to the center of the offense from the wings, but they were running Pick and Rolls with poor spacing from there and that just ruined them.

[nyjunc]

37 minutes ago, HashThat said:

If Roy coaches like it is 2016-2017, Cole Anthony is a wonderful fit and he can dominate out there.  If he coaches like it was last season, Cole Anthony is a poor fit.  We shall see how it all works out.  Anthony was #1 in the 2019 Class in Assist%.

Bacot is physically the type of big who succeeds at UNC, Roy has a clear type when it comes to his bigs.  As far as his actual play, his best fit was actually at Georgia... UNC was middle-of-the-pack. 

He'll do what he thinks is best, I think with the grad transfers and the freshman they can get back to a more traditional lineup.  

[Jetsfan80]

@JiF Florida G Mike Okauru was officially announced as a transfer to UNCW.  Any insight on him?

[nyjunc]

Congrats to Danny Green on winning another NBA title.  I never would have thought he'd be the most successful NBA player from the 2009 champs.  I still think Lawson should have been a star but off court issues really hurt him.

[nyjunc]

The season is almost here, the first AP poll is out.

 

Rank	Trend	Team	Record	Points	Share
1	-	Michigan State	32-7	1,619(60)	Share
2	-	Kentucky	30-7	1,497(2)	Share
3	-	Kansas	26-10	1,457(3)	Share
4	-	Duke	32-6	1,399	Share
5	-	Louisville	20-14	1,386	Share
6	-	Florida	20-16	1,313	Share
7	-	Maryland	23-11	1,134	Share
8	-	Gonzaga	33-4	1,096	Share
9	-	North Carolina	29-7	1,060	Share
10	-	Villanova	26-10	1,048	Share
11	-	Virginia	35-3	1,007	Share
12	-	Seton Hall	20-14	863	Share
13	-	Texas Tech	31-7	837	Share
14	-	Memphis	22-14	773	Share
15	-	Oregon	25-13	742	Share
16	-	Baylor	20-14	523	Share
17	-	Utah State	28-7	491	Share
18	-	Ohio State	20-15	407	Share
19	-	Xavier	19-16	356	Share
20	-	Saint Mary's (Cal)	22-12	330	Share
21	-	Arizona	17-15	265	Share
22	-	LSU	28-7	234	Share
23	-	Purdue	26-10	230	Share
24	-	Auburn	30-10	210	Share
25	-	VCU	25-8	193	Share

Others Receiving Votes:
Others receiving votes:Washington 164, Colorado 152, Tennessee 78, Marquette 68, Florida St. 36, Davidson 34, Harvard 24, Illinois 14, Missouri 13, Mississippi St. 12, Houston 11, Georgetown 11, Cincinnati 8, Notre Dame 7, Creighton 4, Syracuse 3, NC State 3, Vermont 2, Alabama 2, Southern Cal 2, Liberty 2, Michigan 2, Dayton 1, Colgate 1, Providence 1.

[nyjunc]

The season tips off tonight with UK vs MSU and KU vs Duke.

With the ACC going to a ridiculous 20 conference games the Heels and the rest of the ACC open up with a conference game tomorrow as they host ND.  Carolina is very banged up and ND brings back a veteran squad.  This will be a tough one.  

Looking forward to another season, they help take my mind off the Jets 😢

[nyjunc]

Cole Anthony looked pretty good in his debut, setting UNC and ACC freshman records for scoring with 34 points as he led the Heels over ND.  Right back at it tonight at uncw.

[nyjunc]

Another week, another #1 goes down.  UK loses at home to Evansville. Unfortunately this means Duke will move to #1 though.

 

[Jetsfan80]

Hofstra knocked off UCLA on the road last night.  Biggest win in program history.

[section314]

17 hours ago, Jetsfan80 said:

Hofstra knocked off UCLA on the road last night.  Biggest win in program history.

Did they find one year of eligibility for Speedy Claxton? Seriously, that is a great win for them. Talk about a dynasty that is almost at the irrelevant stage now in college hoops. Between the decline of UCLA BB and USC football, LA college sports fans must think they became Jets fans overnight.😎

[nyjunc]

Michigan was really impressive rolling through Carolina and Gonzaga to the battle for Atlantis title.  Great start for juwan Howard.

Carolina was awful vs Michigan Thursday but played much better in beating #11 Oregon Friday.  It's going to be a roller coaster ride for this team this year, they have a really tight stretch coming up where get can lost 2 or 3 games.  

[nyjunc]

They lost their next 2 and still have to travel to Gonzaga.  I was hoping they'd get at least 1 of these 3.  That are really struggling offensively but are starting to get healthier.  It may get worse before it gets better but I think a month from now we'll see a quality team, not a national title team but a team that can win a couple of games in March.

[nyjunc]

Another game, another loss.  This time to Wofford.  Cole Anthony and Leaky Black missed the game. They describe Cole out as "indefinitely" which scares me, is he's out long term we have another 2010 situation.  Hopefully he's back soon, they go to Gonzaga this week and that could get ugly even if he plays.

[Jetsfan80]