**** 3-20 NCAA TOURNEY THREAD *****
- Thread starter ScottGreene22
- Start date
Very surprised Illinois is a decent underdog in this game. Neither team is very good but I would go with Illinois
What a weak flagrant call. I guess he is just supposed to just barely touch him so he gets the and 1.
Curbelo is completely awful at basketball outside of transition. Remember the Illini fan smack about how good he was going to be during the Kofi saga?
IDK what it is, but I really love the way Houston plays. Reminds me a little of last years Baylors team. Rooting for them now to win it all.
I love the energy they bring. They have been good for a while. When we beat them a few years back they were tough (so were we). Their guards are always legit.
Today and any other day they are playing.
If there's one good thing about Izzo, he's always likely to make a random tournament run as a low seed. Would've helped us a lot when his team knocked off the Zion squad a few years back but we couldn't convert against Auburn. Sadly, I still expect Duke to win but that's why I rooted for Gonzaga and will root for Texas Tech today to make their path as hard as possible.
The officiating in some of these games have been terrible. As long as Duke or Kansas lose is what I want to see.
Guy hits a 4 point play and immediately they hard double him on movement and screens the next play. I love the adjustments from Sampson on the fly
Houston with a valiant effort but Kansas gets an injured Houston to get to elite 8. Then probably auburn or Michigan lol.
Kelvin Sampson lost his two best scorers, has now gone to three straight S16s. That’s a very solid team, 31 wins so far.
I know Sampson had the text messaging fiasco at Indiana, but losing him was a HUGE blow to that program. They've never recovered.
I want to point out that Houston has won just 1 Quad 1 game all season long coming into this game. I believe Illinois won 6.
While I believe in general the committee gets most of the way there, this is a prime example of where Quad records shouldn't be the end all be all.
Houston lost two starters and pretty much didn't miss a beat this entire season. The advanced metrics supported a seeding way higher than 5.
While I believe in general the committee gets most of the way there, this is a prime example of where Quad records shouldn't be the end all be all.
Houston lost two starters and pretty much didn't miss a beat this entire season. The advanced metrics supported a seeding way higher than 5.
This.
Kenpom had them currently at #2. They were top 5 entering the tournament.
#4 in Sagarin
Yep.
An example that the NCAA seeds based on resume (unless you have barely any opportunities then they seem to switch course). For example, it's almost as if they took Houston and said "well I don't know lets just slot them here on the 5 line". Ditto Murray St. San Francisco......any mid major that lacks resume opportunities.
But that's not exactly a ranking of the "best teams".
This is why you get mis-seeded teams and why you also get sometimes the worse seed being the favorite.
An example that the NCAA seeds based on resume (unless you have barely any opportunities then they seem to switch course). For example, it's almost as if they took Houston and said "well I don't know lets just slot them here on the 5 line". Ditto Murray St. San Francisco......any mid major that lacks resume opportunities.
But that's not exactly a ranking of the "best teams".
This is why you get mis-seeded teams and why you also get sometimes the worse seed being the favorite.
Love watching college basketball but with UK losing the way they did, and seeing how much smoother and better organized other teams offenses are. Just so frustrating and annoying. Not working nearly as hard to get good open shots. Always seems to be a struggle in the half court.
We have what I call ugly offense.
We rely on offensive boards for a big portion of our offense. FWIW, we did have a top 5 offense in college basketball this season. So while it didn't look as good as some of the stuff other teams run, it was effective.
But man the defense fell off a cliff.
We rely on offensive boards for a big portion of our offense. FWIW, we did have a top 5 offense in college basketball this season. So while it didn't look as good as some of the stuff other teams run, it was effective.
But man the defense fell off a cliff.
Depending on rebounding for offense eventually will bite you. Eventually the other team rebounds or as in our game the bounces were long most of the night.
True. But this can be said about pretty much any kind of offense.
Offense relies on rebounding? What if you don't rebound
Offense relies on threes? What if you aren't hitting that day
Offense relies on not turning the ball over? Well what happens if you are playing a D that forces a ton of turnovers.
Just like it's better to be balanced on offense and defense so in case one fails you can get by, just as important to be better at more than one thing on offense and defense.
I think a lot is being made of our offense but if you want to know the difference between pre 15 and post 15 UK teams, look to the defense. Namely the interior defense. Which goes back to that other thread where I felt we needed a rim protector that we've been missing for so long.
Offense relies on rebounding? What if you don't rebound
Offense relies on threes? What if you aren't hitting that day
Offense relies on not turning the ball over? Well what happens if you are playing a D that forces a ton of turnovers.
Just like it's better to be balanced on offense and defense so in case one fails you can get by, just as important to be better at more than one thing on offense and defense.
I think a lot is being made of our offense but if you want to know the difference between pre 15 and post 15 UK teams, look to the defense. Namely the interior defense. Which goes back to that other thread where I felt we needed a rim protector that we've been missing for so long.
The difference is that we aren't getting the stars to cover up for Cal's faults right now.
This 100%. But the idiots over there still call Sampson a cheater and blame him for it.