Octopus Overlords

65 was more than we scored in 10 games this year, including 5 wins.

On my cell. Please pardon auto-corrects.

Pyperkub wrote:

Lorini wrote:ESPN had an article this morning discussing the fact that the author felt that everyone who is in the 16 belongs there and that's what I saw as well. I don't think Michigan overperformed, there are stars in some people's eyes,meaning that they don't always see the issues that the supposed Final Four teams really have.

I'm not sure South Carolina can score 65 in a half again.

IMO they scored 65 in a half not because of a crappy Duke defense, but because they had to, to win.

This is what makes the tourney so fun - you have these obviously outclassed teams (in terms of sheer talent) winning against all odds because they dig down deeper than they have before, almost willing themselves to win.

Side note: who knew Frank Martin could smile (not sarcastically), much less cry?! Wonders never cease.

They did get some help from Dukes pressure d late, between foul shots and slams after breaking the press.

On my cell. Please pardon auto-corrects.

GOOOO Pac 12! Sorry Michigan! I'm still hoping three out of the Final Four will be Pac 12 teams Doubt it, but I can dream!

Michigan had a shot at the end with the right guy taking the shot - it just didn't fall. It's kind of the reverse of 2013 with Trey Burke sinking the 3 to tie up Kansas. Oh, well. It was a fun ride, especially considering I doubted this team would even make the tournament in the middle of the year.

ImLawBoy wrote:Michigan had a shot at the end with the right guy taking the shot - it just didn't fall. It's kind of the reverse of 2013 with Trey Burke sinking the 3 to tie up Kansas. Oh, well. It was a fun ride, especially considering I doubted this team would even make the tournament in the middle of the year.

Those summer months can be hard to stay positive.

Isgrimnur wrote:

ImLawBoy wrote:Michigan had a shot at the end with the right guy taking the shot - it just didn't fall. It's kind of the reverse of 2013 with Trey Burke sinking the 3 to tie up Kansas. Oh, well. It was a fun ride, especially considering I doubted this team would even make the tournament in the middle of the year.

Those summer months can be hard to stay positive.

But you can keep yourself entertained with deliberate obtuseness and pedantry.

It is a hobby of mine.

'Zona's out, even better (I know Zona is Pac 12 but we just lost to them so I wanted them out). So now the Bruins just have to win their game.

Sorry, Lorini, but it's obviously going to be Xavier this year. They have Bill Murray on their side.

Lorini wrote:GOOOO Pac 12! Sorry Michigan! I'm still hoping three out of the Final Four will be Pac 12 teams Doubt it, but I can dream!

You jinxed us dammit!

Pyperkub wrote:

Lorini wrote:GOOOO Pac 12! Sorry Michigan! I'm still hoping three out of the Final Four will be Pac 12 teams Doubt it, but I can dream!

You jinxed us dammit!

Although their Achilles heel, no defense, rose up to bite them.

Wow. Gamecocks! What a run.

On my cell. Please pardon auto-corrects.

And then the Gator finish was unbelievable! Wow.

My 1st round bracket was awesome. Since then it's been a graphic display of Let The Bodies Hit The Floor. Tough round for the Big Ten. They had 2 lower seeds lose by 1 point. Purdue got spanked but I expected that. There are a few Cinderellas left as 11 seed Xavier obliterated their bracket and 7th seed SC is still alive but the rest of the survivors are 4 seeds or better. At this point, Kansas seems to be the most dominate team left. Their lowest margin of victory is 20 points.

Cortilian wrote:And then the Gator finish was unbelievable! Wow.

Just caught the highlights. Absolutely insane.

Thanks Ducks! Represent the Pac 12 well!!!

Go Cocks.

Luke Maye! My heart can't take these UNC games.

Ralph-Wiggum wrote:Luke Maye! My heart can't take these UNC games.

Lorini wrote:

Pyperkub wrote:

Lorini wrote:GOOOO Pac 12! Sorry Michigan! I'm still hoping three out of the Final Four will be Pac 12 teams Doubt it, but I can dream!

You jinxed us dammit!

Although their Achilles heel, no defense, rose up to bite them.

Think it was the turnovers more.

That UNC-Kentucky game was everything would you want in an NCAA tournament game. Two storied programs duking it out. Great basketball played by both teams and a fantastic finish. Thats why this tourney is so much fun.

Grats to the Ducks for handling Kansas, the Jayhawks were looking pretty strong going in but Oregon simply outplayed them.

We have an interesting final 4 this year. Two #1 seeds, two teams who have never been before and only one program that can be considered one of the perennial final four type teams. The Zags have come close and are well known for their basketball so its nice to see them finally make. The Duck have been before but that was back in 1939. SC is definitely a new comer but they have been playing great bball in the tourney and bumped off Duke and Butler to get here. Finally theres NC, this is their 20th final four. I think NC is the team to beat but I wouldnt count out any of these teams at this point.

rshetts2 wrote:The Duck have been before but that was back in 1939.

I think I read that the tournament was actually just 8 teams that year!

My friend from Eugene Oregon is very excited to be excited about basketball!! She's hoping their football curse (always a bridesmaid never a bride) doesn't carry over however.

Go Tar Heels!

I'm convinced Roy Williams signed a deal with the devil at some point in his life. He's a terrible coach who hordes time outs like he gets a bonus for each one he doesn't use, but somehow come tournament time his team miraculously makes it to the top through a combination of luck games, brackets parting like the Red Sea, and dadgum Southern gumption.

The only silver lining I have is that should the Tarholes win, then Duke whipped the national champions twice this season. And should they lose, then, yay.

Lorini wrote:My friend from Eugene Oregon is very excited to be excited about basketball!! She's hoping their football curse (always a bridesmaid never a bride) doesn't carry over however.

(sad trombone)

Two pretty good games yesterday. Obviously disappointed in the Gamecocks loss, as it feels like we didn't play our best game, and it could be forever until we get back, but also so proud of our team and how they fought. Plus, there's always the consolation of watching the women play tonight for the national championship! What a weekend for Gamecock basketball.

YellowKing wrote:I'm convinced Roy Williams signed a deal with the devil at some point in his life. He's a terrible coach who hordes time outs like he gets a bonus for each one he doesn't use, but somehow come tournament time his team miraculously makes it to the top through a combination of luck games, brackets parting like the Dead Sea, and dadgum Southern gumption.

The only silver lining I have is that should the Tarholes win, then Duke whipped the national champions twice this season. And should they lose, then, yay.

There is nothing quite as sweet as the tears and whiney rationalizations of Duke fans.

Roy gets the "he's a terrible coach" thing all the time, which is crazy if you look at his accomplishments. Since 2000, he's been to more Final Fours than any other coach (8 times, I think). And it's not just because he can recruit well - UNC has been losing out on the top recruits for the last three or four years due to the academic scandal. So clearly he's been doing something right. And I challenge someone to name another team where the players consistently improve from year to year like UNC (e.g. Justin Jackson this year compared to last or Brice Johnson the year before).

In any case, I don't have a great feeling about tomorrow. Gonzaga has the bigs to match up with us and Berry is playing with his ankles practically falling off. If we play tomorrow like we did last night, there's no way we win.

Well tears or no tears, I can't justify Duke's shitty performance this year. Injuries, Grayson Allen being a dick, blah blah. Fact of the matter is we choked at NCAA time just like we seem to do almost every year. It's like they put forth all their effort into winning the ACC tournament which doesn't mean a hill of beans except better seeding in a tournament you're not going to show up for.

As for Roy's bad coaching, I hear it more from my Carolina fan friends than Duke fans.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I complain about Roy all the time too. But logically, it's hard to argue that he's anything but one of the best active coaches, especially when it comes to the tournament.

PLW wrote:Two pretty good games yesterday. Obviously disappointed in the Gamecocks loss, as it feels like we didn't play our best game, and it could be forever until we get back, but also so proud of our team and how they fought. Plus, there's always the consolation of watching the women play tonight for the national championship! What a weekend for Gamecock basketball.

The consolation prize felt pretty good. Dawn Staley might be the best coach in the country.

Ralph-Wiggum wrote:In any case, I don't have a great feeling about tomorrow. Gonzaga has the bigs to match up with us

I keep hearing that but they are not even a top 20 rebounding team. Rebounding is helped by size but is more about positioning and we do that much better than they do. Their main big, while really f-ing big, did not look at all athletic and I think will struggle more with us than expected. Should be a really good battle underneath.

and Berry is playing with his ankles practically falling off.

This worries be more than anything else. We need him to excel to be our best. The one flaw I always see in Roy's teams is the lack of depth at the point. The backups are decent but the fall off from the starter to the backups at that position always seems so dramatic.

If we play tomorrow like we did last night, there's no way we win.

The last minutes were killing me. Make an f-ing free throw already.

PLW wrote:

PLW wrote:Two pretty good games yesterday. Obviously disappointed in the Gamecocks loss, as it feels like we didn't play our best game, and it could be forever until we get back, but also so proud of our team and how they fought. Plus, there's always the consolation of watching the women play tonight for the national championship! What a weekend for Gamecock basketball.

The consolation prize felt pretty good. Dawn Staley might be the best coach in the country.

Congrats. Saw the highlights on SC this morning. What a fun ride for your school this March.

Remus West wrote:

Ralph-Wiggum wrote:In any case, I don't have a great feeling about tomorrow. Gonzaga has the bigs to match up with us

I keep hearing that but they are not even a top 20 rebounding team. Rebounding is helped by size but is more about positioning and we do that much better than they do. Their main big, while really f-ing big, did not look at all athletic and I think will struggle more with us than expected. Should be a really good battle underneath.

Historically, Meeks has had trouble matching up against people larger than him. And I'm not sure they come any larger than the Gregor Clegane that plays for Gonzaga. The other worry is Hicks. He was terrible on Saturday (1 for 12, I think) and has a tendency to get in foul trouble when he presses. My hope is that even with Berry's ankles we can push the tempo and make their big dude exhausted. However, their freshman center looked great on Saturday, so might not be much of a drop-off for them.

Ralph-Wiggum wrote: However, their freshman center looked great on Saturday, so might not be much of a drop-off for them.

The dude (Zach Collins) is a rapidly rising star, and IMO the X-factor in the game tonight. He's a projected lottery pick.

I think UNC rolls tonight, as I can't help but still feel Gonzaga is overrated. They had a couple good OCC wins (Arizona and Florida), but the WCC isn't a very good conference. Then in the tourney, they've played a 16 seed, an 8 seed, a 4 seed, an 11 seed, and a 7 seed.

I'm going with UNC by 12, with the game not really being that close.

Skinypupy wrote:I think UNC rolls tonight, as I can't help but still feel Gonzaga is overrated. They had a couple good OCC wins (Arizona and Florida), but the WCC isn't a very good conference. Then in the tourney, they've played a 16 seed, an 8 seed, a 4 seed, an 11 seed, and a 7 seed.

I'm going with UNC by 12, with the game not really being that close.

I hope you're right but.... UNC has struggled to keep solid leads all year. In just this tourney, we squandered a massive lead to Arkansas and almost lost, and we choked good leads against UK and Oregon in final few minutes but thankfully pulled out the W. Unfortunately, this is has been the norm rather than the exception for us all year long.

If Berry is his old self, I think we've got a damn good shot to win. He's our motor and everything runs through him. It's a good sign that we won on Saturday even with him playing terribly-- that wouldn't have happened earlier in the year-- but I don't think we can count on that necessarily happening again. I also can't imagine the pressure our players will be feeling after last year's game. I hope it doesn't make them play tight. We shall see.