The Road To The NCAA Final Four....& March Madness!

[EagerBeaver]

Abe,

The truth is that teams like Gonzaga can compete with the powerhouses teams like Duke and UConn. There is a lot of parity in the college game. Although UConn has 6 guys on their team who could be drafted by the NBA, the fact is they were not a dominant team most of this season. If they play a team like Gonzaga it is not an automatic win. I think college basketball is as good now as it has ever been. Because so many guys have gone straight from high school to the NBA in the last 10 years, and have left college early, teams like Duke, UConn and some others have been prevented from building dynaties as UCLA once had 1964-1975 when they won 11 titles. Instead, they are constantly in reload and rebuild mode, as UConn will be next year when they lose possibly 6 guys to the NBA.

Were the rules changed to stop UCLA from having a dynasty?

If it is not broke don't fix it.

 

[eastender]

Rules no,laws yes

Abe,

The truth is that teams like Gonzaga can compete with the powerhouses teams like Duke and UConn. There is a lot of parity in the college game. Although UConn has 6 guys on their team who could be drafted by the NBA, the fact is they were not a dominant team most of this season. If they play a team like Gonzaga it is not an automatic win. I think college basketball is as good now as it has ever been. Because so many guys have gone straight from high school to the NBA in the last 10 years, and have left college early, teams like Duke, UConn and some others have been prevented from building dynaties as UCLA once had 1964-1975 when they won 11 titles. Instead, they are constantly in reload and rebuild mode, as UConn will be next year when they lose possibly 6 guys to the NBA.

Were the rules changed to stop UCLA from having a dynasty?

If it is not broke don't fix it.

The rules were not changed but the laws were - INTEGRATION.Once the major southern schools in FB and BSKB started offering scholarships to blacks
and busing integrated the high schools exposing more black teenage athletes to opportunities plus better schooling and coaching it became a different game vis a vis recruiting,coaching,etc.

Conversely it also started the downward spiral for the programs at Grambling,Morgan St. etc.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Eastender,

That's actually a very good point. It was not until the 1970s when many major colleges started recruiting black players in larger numbers. Even traditional powerhouse schools like Kentucky were very slow to recruit black players. Competition forced recruiting practices to change.

The other big change was TV coverage of college basketball. TV made the Big East the conference it is today, and it enabled UConn to become a major power. A lot of players UConn recruited in the 1990s mentioned that they came to UConn after seeing the team on TV.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Gonzaga Rallies To Win!

Gonzaga 79, Xavier 75

Big comeback win, but Bulldogs fans had to sweat this one to the end!

 

[eastender]

TV coverage

Eastender,

That's actually a very good point. It was not until the 1970s when many major colleges started recruiting black players in larger numbers. Even traditional powerhouse schools like Kentucky were very slow to recruit black players. Competition forced recruiting practices to change.

The other big change was TV coverage of college basketball. TV made the Big East the conference it is today, and it enabled UConn to become a major power. A lot of players UConn recruited in the 1990s mentioned that they came to UConn after seeing the team on TV.

TV coverage of college basketball was a fluke - the arrival of various cable sports networks required programming.College basketball was plentiful and cheap with a flexible schedule seven days of the week - not locked into the Saturday slot like FB during the fall months,with 20+ games per team, so it received much needed exposure.Coupled with the down turn in the NBA - the cocaine era, college basketball seized the opportunity.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Take this for what it's worth (heard this on ESPN radio), but word is when they put the LSU-Iona game on the board in Vegas, the so-called "insiders" went wild and ran to the windows to lay money on Iona. May know something we don't...

Line: LSU +7.5

The so called "insiders" are idiots. I watched this game and it was obvious that Iona had nobody on their team who could match up with LSU's 6'9", 350 pound behemoth Glen Davis who abused Iona inside, nor did Iona have any answer for Tyrus Thomas. Iona looked very fatigued at the end of the game and hoisted a lot of bad, tired-looking jumpshots. LSU won by 16 and covered.

 

[EagerBeaver]

UConn - Albany

#1 UConn vs. #16 Albany
Tip off time: 7:25 p.m. (CBS)

I read in the morning papers that Albany coach Will Brown last night made his team watch the movie "Miracle" about the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team's epic upset of the USSR. Also read that Albany practiced this week with the assistant coaches holding broomsticks to simulate UConn's size and shotblocking ability. Interesting strategy, but of course the Albany players will not be allowed to carry broomsticks on the Court when they get back on defense.

Game Storyline: Will Albany make good on Will Brown's prediction that Albany will become the first #16 seed to win a game in NCAA tournament history, thereby earning Eastender his first free meal at Queue de Cheval?

 

[spin]

Speaking of "Power Conferences" did anyone else notice that the Big East went 0-3 on day 1

I was only 4pts away (Gonzaga 79 Xavier 75) from making my bookie cry on St. Particks Day.

Looking forward to watching UConn tonight, my prediction is they will blow Albany away coming off a disappointing showing in their conference tournement.

 

[EagerBeaver]

spin,

I hope you are right. I have watched UConn all year, and attended or watched on TV almost all of their games. UConn has a very talented but very unpredictable team. In my view they slightly underachieved despite their 27-3 regular season record and #1 NCAA seeding. Their best player, Rudy Gay, slumped at the end of the year and has disappeared during key stretches of big games. But the NCAA tourney presents a chance for redemption. We'll see what happens!

 

[eastender]

Broomsticks

#1 UConn vs. #16 Albany
Tip off time: 7:25 p.m. (CBS)

I read in the morning papers that Albany coach Will Brown last night made his team watch the movie "Miracle" about the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team's epic upset of the USSR. Also read that Albany practiced this week with the assistant coaches holding broomsticks to simulate UConn's size and shotblocking ability. Interesting strategy, but of course the Albany players will not be allowed to carry broomsticks on the Court when they get back on defense.

Game Storyline: Will Albany make good on Will Brown's prediction that Albany will become the first #16 seed to win a game in NCAA tournament history, thereby earning Eastender his first free meal at Queue de Cheval?

Have seen cheerleaders that could use broomsticks.Will start lobbying Queue de Cheval to raise prices.

 

[HonestAbe]

Speaking of "Power Conferences" did anyone else notice that the Big East went 0-3 on day 1

I was only 4pts away (Gonzaga 79 Xavier 75) from making my bookie cry on St. Particks Day.

Good observation Spin,

This is a good example of what I was talking about. Despite being the Big East Champs, having beaten UConn during that run, Syracuse was eliminated without much fanfare by Texas A&M, a #12 seed who obviously had no ones respect going into that game. Take into account all the other close games, including #2 seed Tennessee who won on a last second shot, #5 seed BC who needed double OT to win, #6 seed Indiana who won on a last second shot, #5 seed Nevada who lost to #12 seed Montana, etc...etc... and a picture emerges, as it does almost every year, that many of the teams which got high seeds because of their "names" and their Conference were overrated.

Some interesting notes I took from last night were Duke getting 29 pts each from Reddick and Williams and a grand total of 12 pts from the entire rest of the team. Southern was close most of the game and came within 5 points of mighty Duke in the second half. Thats not a hallmark of a Duke "team", its a two man show.

Not that Gonzaga did much better although Xavier was a better opponent according to the rankings. Adam Morrison dropped a quiet 35 on them to pick up the slack when All-American power forward JP Batista was assessed his 4th foul just 5 minutes into the second half.


BTW Spin, How did you lose your bet? Surely Xavier covered the spread. When I saw the final I thought you had won. Did your bookie take the bet straight up? If so he must be quite busy, I don't know any bookies who take straight up action, especially on college hoops! AS a note of interest I saw where Oral Roberts odds of winning the championship are listed at 16,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 to 1. So a one penny bet on them that came in would make you the richest man on the face of the planet.

 

[EagerBeaver]

To solve this problem why not have an elite Div I league consisting only of teams who play in the ACC and Big East with a few selected others

Honest Abe,

I would like to see you go in the Northwestern State lockerroom after today's game and tell those players, "sorry guys, but you cannot play with the big boys." You would be tossed out of that lockerroom ass first faster than you can say "upset."

There is one thing you cannot do, and that is take away the dreams of these players. What the NCAA Tournament is about is dreams. And today, Northwestern State had their dreams become reality in an incredible fashion. Down 17 with 8 minutes to go, they win with a 3 at the buzzer. Go tell those boys they can't run with the big boys, but you better say it while ducking.

 

[HonestAbe]

Go underdogs

Obviously I said that facetiously EB,

I'm the last person who would ever say that seriously. No one cheered louder for Villanova than me when they beat Georgetown in the National Title game. I usually root for the underdog and I thrive on exposing the biases I see in sports, and life, where "names" mean more than results.

 

[eastender]

Match-ups

Obviously I said that facetiously EB,

I'm the last person who would ever say that seriously. No one cheered louder for Villanova than me when they beat Georgetown in the National Title game. I usually root for the underdog and I thrive on exposing the biases I see in sports, and life, where "names" mean more than results.

In college basketball, some of the key issues are match-ups and adjustments.
A typical NBA player plays roughly the equivalent of a college career in one season, having to match-up against roughly one of 30 different pros every game and adjust his game, at times ever so slightly.At the college level it is alot easier to take a player or a team out of their comfort zone or away from their game plan and strengths.Rankings and tournament seeds do not account for this.

Also the college game is more of a coaches game.The power house schools have their offensive and defensive systems in place and recruit accordingly.
They know what it takes to win their conference.Playing a randomly generated tournament schedule removes some of these advantages resulting in upsets.

 

[spin]

BTW Spin, How did you lose your bet? Surely Xavier covered the spread.

HonestAbe,

Yes Xavier covered and I did win but I had a little side action on this one (Xavier to win straight up - a little like EagerBeaver & Eastender on the UConn/Albany game - I'm assuming their bet is also straight up). You are 100% right though my bookie doesn't take straight up action, this was a more of a personal bet between the two us.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Spin,

Eastender is not a fool and did not agree to a straight up bet on the UConn-Albany game. I gave him odds roughly equivalent to 20-1, the cost of dinner at Queue de Cheval at my expense if UConn loses vs. the cost of a souvlaki sandwich at Arahova plus 12 bagels at his expense if UConn wins.

 

[spin]

EagerBeaver,

Yes I understood your bet and the odds given (Queue de Cheval vs souvlaki - I was willing to take your action remember), I meant I was assuming your bet was straight up - win or loose with no point spread involved. (Albany must win the game outright not just come within a certain amount of points of winning).

I was just using it as example of a side bet really, not for the specific details of the wager.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Spin,

Yes, it is a straight up bet in the sense of no points and UConn must win or lose on the court.

 

[EagerBeaver]

UConn Rallies To Defeat Albany!

FINAL SCORE: UCONN 72, ALBANY 59

I was really sweating bullets until the last 5 minutes of this one. I was even thinking about what Eastender might be ordering at the Q.

UConn was down 12 with 11 minutes to go, then Calhoun went to a two point guard lineup which appeared to settle UConn down. UConn finished the game on a 34-9 run to win.

The hero: point guard Marcus Williams with 21 points and 8 assists.

Congratulations to Albany for putting up a good fight for 30 minutes, unfortunately for them basketball is a 40 minute sport.

Eastender loses the bet, but he's only out one souvlaki sandwich with extra tzaziki sauce and raw onions, and a dozen bagels.

 

[eastender]

Congratulations EB

FINAL SCORE: UCONN 72, ALBANY 59

I was really sweating bullets until the last 5 minutes of this one. I was even thinking about what Eastender might be ordering at the Q.

UConn was down 12 with 11 minutes to go, then Calhoun went to a two point guard lineup which appeared to settle UConn down. UConn finished the game on a 34-9 run to win.

The hero: point guard Marcus Williams with 21 points and 8 assists.

Congratulations to Albany for putting up a good fight for 30 minutes, unfortunately for them basketball is a 40 minute sport.

Eastender loses the bet, but he's only out one souvlaki sandwich with extra tzaziki sauce and raw onions, and a dozen bagels.

Interesting game - Albany lacked depth at the end could not adapt.Will pm you to arrange scheduling.