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The **OFFICIAL 2009 NCAA TOURNAMENT** Thread

PS17

By PS17
in College Sports

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vanDoug

vanDoug

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Not in a JN pool, but plenty of others.

For those of you fondling your genitals after taking the top 4 in each region so far....take note...

The real stuff starts next Thurs.

If you have all #1's going to the FF...........good luck..

Only 1 of them makes it.

:character42:

:cheers:

:)

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PS17

PS17

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This thread is more than half about peoples' individual brackets rather than the games LOL

Anyway....I hated to see Marquette lose like that, they played well and fought hard to come back. Also, I'm mad at the fact that Arizona is in the Sweet Sixteen, they shouldn't even be in the tourney. Pitt & Louisville keep squeaking by and my Orangemen are looking good. Already having a few people over Friday night for the SU - OU game. Gonna order a few pizzas, hopefully the Cuse will keep rolling.

MAN I can't wait already, this week in school is gonna be tough.

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Otter

Otter

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I'm surprised to see no real Cinderella's in the Sweet 16 (I don't consider Arizona a Cinderella). But with that I think there are going to be great games next weekend. Syracuse-Oklahoma is a great game. Carolina-Gonzaga will be a shootout. I have a feeling whoever wins between Dook and Villanova will get to the Final Four. Please let it be 'Nova. Pitt-Xavier will be a war.

Nothing on the other side of the bracket gets me too excited. Kansas-Michigan St. is probably the best Sweet 16 game on that side of the bracket.

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gangreenman

gangreenman

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I just have a feeling SU-OU will go to overtime, and agihgabioagibopagoibagopiag I can't even express my thoughts HAHAHAAHA I'm so pumpedddddddddddddddd!!!!!!!

Ha. I was thinking about going to Memphis for the weekend...But decided staying home and watching on my new HDTV, comfy on my couch with a few friends that graduated in my class at SU and a 30-pack would be less of a hastle, and more fun, too.

If we win our two this weekend though, no amount of lounging or beer is going to keep me from heading to Detroit for the Final Four. I really hope we get there!

(Wouldn't a UCANT-SYRACUSE championship game be something??) HAHA, okay dream over. Time to snap back to reality.

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uart

uart

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Jay Wright brought in not only Rollie Massimino, but also Jack Kraft (and the 1971 team) to talk to this his guys. These Wildcats have been thoroughly pep-talked.

We WILL play 40 minutes of Villanova (Killanova?) Basketball against Duke, and the Dookies will leave the arena bruised and broken.

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Otter

Otter

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Jay Wright brought in not only Rollie Massimino, but also Jack Kraft (and the 1971 team) to talk to this his guys. These Wildcats have been thoroughly pep-talked.

We WILL play 40 minutes of Villanova (Killanova?) Basketball against Duke, and the Dookies will leave the arena bruised and broken.

I hope so. I picked them to make the Final Four and I hate Dook. Should be a great game.

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DaBrick Wall

DaBrick Wall

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Ha. I was thinking about going to Memphis for the weekend...But decided staying home and watching on my new HDTV, comfy on my couch with a few friends that graduated in my class at SU and a 30-pack would be less of a hastle, and more fun, too.

If we win our two this weekend though, no amount of lounging or beer is going to keep me from heading to Detroit for the Final Four. I really hope we get there!

(Wouldn't a UCANT-SYRACUSE championship game be something??) HAHA, okay dream over. Time to snap back to reality.

Good call, I decided the same.

I think the game against Oklahoma is very winnable. I think the zone will be effective in stopping Blake Griffin. Devo and Andy need to knock down shots like they were against ASU though.

If we win and play UNC I don't know how I'll make it to Sunday. It's a horrible matchup but I can't think of anyone who's hotter than Syracuse right now.

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gangreenman

gangreenman

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Good call, I decided the same.

I think the game against Oklahoma is very winnable. I think the zone will be effective in stopping Blake Griffin. Devo and Andy need to knock down shots like they were against ASU though.

If we win and play UNC I don't know how I'll make it to Sunday. It's a horrible matchup but I can't think of anyone who's hotter than Syracuse right now.

Flynn vs. Lawson has the potential to be epic. Im not sure if UNC has faced a zone as good as ours all season long...

It'll be interesting to see how they adjust and if they can maneuver it.

I just hope we get by Oklahoma first, which I think we will.

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SouthernJet

SouthernJet

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Flynn vs. Lawson has the potential to be epic. Im not sure if UNC has faced a zone as good as ours all season long...

It'll be interesting to see how they adjust and if they can maneuver it.

I just hope we get by Oklahoma first, which I think we will.

well it will be greta matchup IF Lawson healthy,,

we have to see how his toe will react to playing Gonzaga 2 days earlier..if they beat gonzaga :(

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PS17

PS17

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well it will be greta matchup IF Lawson healthy,,

we have to see how his toe will react to playing Gonzaga 2 days earlier..if they beat gonzaga :(

UNC should have no problems with the Fags, even if Lawson is not 100%.

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gangreenman

gangreenman

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Speaking of Jonny Flynn:

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=530600

Wooooooooo.

And yes, Flynn vs. Lawson would be incredible.

I'll believe it when I see it. Its a good idea for athletes to be in that mind frame while theyre still in college. If they get themselves to believe that no matter what they do on the court theyre going to be back in college next season, they dont feel the pressure to perform or be great..They can just relax, let the game come to them, and focus on winning.

However his stock is definitely going through the roof as we speak. When this tourney is all said and done and all that money is staring him in the face, many people in his situation, well, change their tune just a little.

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nyjunc

nyjunc

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I'll believe it when I see it. Its a good idea for athletes to be in that mind frame while theyre still in college. If they get themselves to believe that no matter what they do on the court theyre going to be back in college next season, they dont feel the pressure to perform or be great..They can just relax, let the game come to them, and focus on winning.

However his stock is definitely going through the roof as we speak. When this tourney is all said and done and all that money is staring him in the face, many people in his situation, well, change their tune just a little.

Exactly. he may come back and it will be good for College basketball if he does but I'll believe it when I see it.

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DaBrick Wall

DaBrick Wall

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I'll believe it when I see it. Its a good idea for athletes to be in that mind frame while theyre still in college. If they get themselves to believe that no matter what they do on the court theyre going to be back in college next season, they dont feel the pressure to perform or be great..They can just relax, let the game come to them, and focus on winning.

However his stock is definitely going through the roof as we speak. When this tourney is all said and done and all that money is staring him in the face, many people in his situation, well, change their tune just a little.

Yeah I realize that. The whole "there is no as of right now" thing makes it seem like he really wants to be here though. But a Final Four run could change that.

I just can't help but get giddy when thinking about the team next year if Flynn comes back...

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SouthernJet

SouthernJet

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Flynn vs. Lawson has the potential to be epic. Im not sure if UNC has faced a zone as good as ours all season long...

It'll be interesting to see how they adjust and if they can maneuver it.

I just hope we get by Oklahoma first, which I think we will.

Tar Heel nation rests hopes on Lawson's toe

By Robbi Pickeral - Staff Writer

Published: Wed, Mar. 25, 2009 04:25AM

CHAPEL HILL -- For obsessed Tar Heels fans, it's all about the toe.

The toe in question is so famous that you don't even have to hear Ty Lawson's name to know that everyone who refers to the injured digit is discussing UNC's star point guard.

Since it walked off the court after North Carolina's NCAA Tournament second-round victory Saturday, Lawson's right big toe has been iced, elevated, wrapped and compressed pretty much around the clock. With another Final Four berth two victories away, this is no time for experimenting with home remedies. That rules out the hot water and Epsom salt soak that Lawson's father recommended two weeks ago, which may have resulted in swelling that sidelined him for three games.

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The Associated Press - North Carolina's Ty Lawson prepares to put a sneaker on his injured foot during opening-round play in the men's NCAA college basketball tournament in Greensboro. Lawson says he plans to play in the Tar Heels' game against Gonzaga on Friday.

This time, "My dad didn't come nowhere near me," Lawson said Tuesday. "He said, 'Yeah, I learned my lesson the first time.' "

It's also unlikely, UNC officials said, that Lawson will receive another painkilling injection, as he did before the Heels' regular-season finale against Duke.

The swelling is now relatively minor, and Lawson -- who gritted through the pain to score 23 points against LSU on Saturday -- said he's sure he'll be ready to play in Memphis on Friday when his top-seeded team faces No. 4 seed Gonzaga in the NCAA regional semifinals.

Lawson won't be playing at 100 percent, but his treatment sheds light on the unpredictability of foot injuries -- and how one big toe can affect tens of thousands of UNC fans.

"It's an extremely, extremely painful problem," said Dr. Robert D. Teasdall, a professor of orthopedics at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

"An awful lot of motion goes through that great toe joint, especially for a basketball player," Teasdall said. "They're using it to push off, when they're jumping or rebounding. Just in running, there's a lot of motion and force going through the joint."

According to Dr. Tim Taft, the Tar Heels' orthopedic surgeon and director of sports medicine at UNC, Lawson's injury -- suffered during a practice March 6 -- is similar to "turf toe."

And what is turf toe?

"Hyperextension injuries of the hallux metatarsophalangelal (MTP) joint," according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons' book "Advanced Reconstruction Foot and Ankle." That's the joint that connects the big toe to the foot.

The term has been around since the mid-1970s. It was first used to describe the phenomenon where athletes wearing hard shoes on artificial turf fields pulled or tore ligaments. But "turf toe" can occur on any surface, and it has become more common in other sports, including basketball.

Ice, tape, gel and so on

There are different degrees of the injury, and from the beginning, Lawson's has been treated with combinations of ice, compression, taping, rest, painkilling gel, and an in-shoe brace that stabilizes the toe when he plays or practices.

Taft, who has said he does not like giving injections and will likely not give Lawson another, said Tuesday he does not have any regrets about numbing the toe for the March 8 game. Lawson, Lawson's parents and the coaches all had input in the "collective decision," Taft said, "and it's not something we make kids do. As a matter of fact, we're usually the ones discouraging it as a general rule."

The risk of the injection causing additional harm was "slim to none," Taft added.

After that game, Lawson's toe swelled so badly that he said he couldn't see some veins in his foot. But Taft insisted the injection didn't make the injury worse, adding that the hot water treatment did not help.

"Normally, we like to treat acute problems with ice rather than heat," he said. "Heat after an acute injury tends to make things swell, and we generally think that swelling is not a good thing, and then that usually takes a couple of days to get that worked out."

Lawson said that during Saturday's game, his toe felt "about a 6 or 7" on a scale of 10. During the first half, he got another slight scare when he heard the toe pop when he was jumping on defense. After the initial pain, he said, his foot felt better. Taft said he suspects the noise came from scar tissue.

Coach Roy Williams was impressed with his point guard's toughness.

"I don't think he's going to be 100 percent, but we'll take whatever we can get, especially if it's like that performance Saturday," Williams said. "Because that's about as good as I've ever had a point guard play in 21 years as a head coach."

Lawson is now icing the foot up to seven times a day. Tuesday, for instance, he dunked his foot in an ice bath in the morning and planned to do it again before practice, after practice, and three or four more times before he went to bed.

"I take a trash can at my house, put a bunch of ice in it, put water in it, and just sit there for 10 minutes," said the ACC player of the year, who has also been doing pool therapy in the mornings. "Then I wait an hour and put it on another 10 minutes. It's just around the clock."

Tyler Hansbrough, the team's star center, said the topic of Lawson's piggy has become tiresome.

"I thought it was ridiculous. I got a lot of questions about how Ty's toe feels," he said. "It's not my toe. I don't know."

And until tipoff Friday night, only the toe knows.

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SouthernJet

SouthernJet

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NCAA teams lovin' McDonald's all-stars

All-Americans beef up 11 of the remaining 16 rosters

Ken Tysiac - Staff Writer

Published: Wed, Mar. 25, 2009 12:30AM

It's Ronald McDonald's bracket now.

The 24 high school players selected to the McDonald's All American High School Basketball Games each year generally are considered the most coveted recruits in the nation.

Having at least one of those players on your roster is one of the most surefire ways to advance in the NCAA Tournament.

The tournament opened last week with 21 teams featuring at least one McDonald's All-American on their roster and 44 with none. Eleven teams with McDonald's All-America talent reached the round of 16.

Thirty-nine of the other 44 have been eliminated. Except for No. 12 seed Arizona, a perennial national power with elite recruit Chase Budinger at forward, the 16 regional semifinalists consist entirely of teams seeded No. 1 through No. 5.

Virtually all of them contend for top recruits every year.

"Recruiting success, particularly getting quality point guards and big guys, is essential to having a team that's capable of making the round of 16 and beyond," said All-Star Sports recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons.

Tobacco Road giants

Of the 62 McDonald's All-Americans who remain in college and who are not redshirting this season, 29 play for teams still alive in the NCAA Tournament.

And nobody in the tournament has more McDonald's All-Americans than North Carolina (eight) and Duke (seven).

Kevin Broadus used to be able to compete for those kinds of elite athletes when he was an assistant coach recruiting at Georgetown. As a member of John Thompson III's staff there, he tried to recruit Duke's Nolan Smith and North Carolina's Danny Green.

So Broadus knew what he was up against when he met Duke in the first round as the second-year coach at Binghamton, a school that doesn't often attract the interest of top-100 recruits.

"These guys can really play," Broadus said of the Blue Devils. "They have McDonald's All Americans. They have a lot of good players. Everything concerns me about Duke, trust me."

Sure enough, Duke won 86-62.

Players at Duke and North Carolina downplay the importance of playing on teams stocked with elite recruits, because they see it from the other side. They face opponents who are motivated to make a name for themselves with a big performance against a marquee program.

But it's impossible to deny the advantage pure talent gives North Carolina and Duke.

"Every team is really hungry, especially now [at] this time of the year. This is March, and they want to win," Green said. "They want to get a chance to play in the Final Four and win a national championship. But I guess when you have [top] recruits like that, I guess it is easier to play and not think about, 'Well, they have this guy,' or [someone's] better than us."

Case study: Rick Barnes

Rick Barnes coached three Clemson teams to the NCAA Tournament in the 1990s, but he didn't have any McDonald's All-Americans.

Only one of those Clemson teams survived the first round.

"As you continue to go [in the tournament], there is one common denominator, and it's talent," Barnes said.

It isn't easy to attract top talent at Clemson, which has signed just three McDonald's All-Americans out of high school in its history.

Clemson struggles to recruit at the same level as regional rivals Duke and North Carolina, and Barnes left for Texas after four seasons. There, he targets elite talent in a state with a fertile recruiting area in Houston.

Coming into this season, Texas under Barnes had been one of three schools to reach the NCAA round of 16 five times in the past seven seasons. During that time, the Longhorns always had at least one McDonald's All-American on the roster.

But after D.J. Augustin left early to be selected by the Charlotte Bobcats in the first round of last year's NBA Draft, Barnes was left without a McDonald's All-American this season.

Duke and its seven McDonald's All-Americans edged Texas 74-69 on Saturday in a second-round game in Greensboro.

'A player's game'

America's love of underdogs generated national support for George Mason in its trip to the Final Four in 2006 and for Davidson in its trip to a regional final last year.

Those tournament performances were memorable because they were unusual. For the most part, though, big-name teams with the most highly sought athletes survive and thrive.

And if you're in that elite group of schools, the cycle perpetuates itself because many top recruits want to play for proven winners. This year's McDonald's All-America game will be held April 1, three days before the national semifinals at the Final Four.

Fifteen of the 23 committed players in the game have chosen schools in the current round of 16. North Carolina is getting four. Duke has signed two. They should be among the favorites to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament again next year.

"There is no doubt," Barnes said, "that it's a player's game as you continue in March."

Players who help serve up success

Twenty-nine of the 62 former McDonald's All-Americans in college basketball who are not redshirting this season are on the 11 teams that reached the NCAA Tournament's round of 16. Here is the breakdown:

North Carolina (8): Bobby Frasor, Danny Green, Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington, Ty Lawson, Larry Drew, Ed Davis, Tyler Zeller

Duke (7): Greg Paulus, Gerald Henderson, Jon Scheyer, Lance Thomas, Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler, Elliot Williams

Kansas (2): Sherron Collins, Cole Aldrich

Louisville (2): Earl Clark, Samardo Samuels

Oklahoma (2): Blake Griffin, Willie Warren

Syracuse (2): Eric Devendorf, Jonny Flynn

Villanova (2): Scottie Reynolds, Corey Stokes

Arizona (1): Chase Budinger

Connecticut (1): Kemba Walker

Gonzaga (1): Micah Downs

Memphis (1): Tyreke Evans

Note: Michigan State, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Purdue and Xavier advanced to this year's round of 16 without McDonald's All-Americans on their rosters.

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PS17

PS17

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Next year's villanova team will have 5 McDonald's all Americans.

Reynolds, Stokes, King, Wayns and Cheek.

AND Mouphtaou Yarou and Isaiah Armwood were also nominated, but not selected.

are you ready for Duke, uart? That's the game I'm looking forward to other than SU-OKLA.

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uart

uart

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are you ready for Duke, uart? That's the game I'm looking forward to other than SU-OKLA.

I'm ready. Dukes' going to try to flop their way to victory. We are the more athletic team though. We need to smother them on defense and attack the hoop.

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