NCAA Basketball March Madness Discussion

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 9:53 am

I was going to post in the Gerry thread, but saw it was locked.

I'm really going to enjoy the Big East final tonight. Pitt will be making their 5th appearance in the past 6 seasons! I think they should be in fairly good condition entering tonight due to their 10 man rotation. I was also pleased to see how well Pitt shot the ball and broke Villanova's pressure. Even though he plays for a rival, I'm a big fan of the "Mayor of Scranton." It should be a fun game to watch.

I was also very relieved to see that Allan Ray's eye appears to be OK. I was worried about him because it looked so bad and they even mentioned during Sportscenter last night that it came out of the socket. I'm not sure if that was correct or not.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 2:46 pm

Also extremely glad Ray is okay. When I first heard about it, I thought for sure it was going to be a heck of a lot worse than it was. He is really lucky.

The following link is a little sketchy but you can kinda see what happened.

http://forums.espn.go.com/espn/thread?f ... D=20647629

Sport73 · Post by **Sport73** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:48 pm

Good day for the family today as my brother, assistant coach of Albany, won the AEC tournament and the school's first bid to the big dance.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 6:44 pm

Sport73 wrote:Good day for the family today as my brother, assistant coach of Albany, won the AEC tournament and the school's first bid to the big dance.

Congrats to your brother Sport! That's awesome. They had a very good year as well. Well deserved. Hope the Jayhawks don't have to face them in first round.

Zlax45 · Post by **Zlax45** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 7:22 pm

Sport73 wrote:Good day for the family today as my brother, assistant coach of Albany, won the AEC tournament and the school's first bid to the big dance.

One of my boys is the Director of Basketball Ops at Albany...

Sport73 · Post by **Sport73** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 9:42 pm

sportdan30 wrote:
Sport73 wrote:Good day for the family today as my brother, assistant coach of Albany, won the AEC tournament and the school's first bid to the big dance.
Congrats to your brother Sport! That's awesome. They had a very good year as well. Well deserved. Hope the Jayhawks don't have to face them in first round.

I'm sure the Jayhawks are sweating that

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 11:26 pm

THE 'CUSE IS LOOSE! Big East Champions!

Wow, what an improbable, fun run. Total guts and balls by SU.

This town is upside-down with delight right now. Bring on the Madness, baby!

Take care,
PK

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 11:30 pm

Bring on a second round loss. I love the 'Cuse, I just think they are gonna go in to the tourney a little too confident and lose early. We'll see I guess.

Zlax45 · Post by **Zlax45** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 12:32 am

pk500 wrote:THE 'CUSE IS LOOSE! Big East Champions!

Wow, what an improbable, fun run. Total guts and balls by SU.

This town is upside-down with delight right now. Bring on the Madness, baby!

Take care,
PK

Yea...I heard the Cuse was rioting after losing two straight lacrosse games...LOL

Good win by SU though in the Big East tourney...I am a big fan of the other guard now even though he made some stupid plays tonight. Should step right in for McNamara next year.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 12:38 am

And as much as it pains me to say...I think BC will be the sleeper tourney team this year. They are my pick...mark it down. And no I am not Parker.

Zlax45 · Post by **Zlax45** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 12:49 am

dbdynsty25 wrote:And as much as it pains me to say...I think BC will be the sleeper tourney team this year. They are my pick...mark it down. And no I am not Parker.

The problem with BC is the lack of a scoring Point Guard. If Craig Smith gets in some foul trouble they are in for a major problem. They also have matchup problems if teams try to play the "40 minutes of hell" theory on them because BC is not the deepest team in the world. Rice also for BC can become a major weakness at times because the guy is crazy and will shoot the ball at will.

I predict a sweet 16 and then losing in that round for BC.

I am not a BC basketball fan...just BC football!!!

MUTTS · Post by **MUTTS** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 12:50 am

Nice to see the Cuse play some good ball. Especially since Ive suffered thru every home game and a couple of roadies this year. I'm not sure theyll go too deep in the big Dance- 1 win would be great, 2 would be gravy as far as Im concerned. Tonights game was ugly all around as I think both teams were tired. I love March and the fact that conference tournies give everyone a chance to Dance. The powers that be for NCAA football obviously must ignore these next few weeks as a waste of time.

DB- the "other guard" for the Cuse is Eric Devendorf. He could be a great player but he's so hard to like. Talks smack all the damn time and has been T'd up for it on a few occasions. He even talks when down 20 points. Unfort. he seems to have some academic issues and better get things straightened out if he wants to be back. I loved the shot of him staring into the camera after the gaming yelling "We're going to the Mother F***ing Dance Baby!!!

Anyone notice the guy in the 54 Bears jersey and dread locks running around on the floor after the game? Thats Paul Harris--the big recruit for next year.

As much as I hate BC, especially for leaving the Big East, I do think they are dangerous as far as the NCAAs go. Although the ACC isnt loaded this year, BC turned it around after a rough start to conference play and have quietly crept up the rankings. Certainly will be a team to watch.

No wonder the time frame from the start of conference tourneys thru the first weekend of the Big Dance is my favorite of the year as far as sports are concerned.

Tony

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 10:17 am

Looks like my boys at Memphis will be a #1 seed. Haven't seen that in my lifetime.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 11:09 am

Tony:

Devendorf rubs me the wrong way, for all the reasons you stated. All he has to do is look 10 feet to his left or right and see the epitome of class, smarts and guts -- McNamara.

Instead, he puts on this horsesh*t Eminem wannabe act that gets really, really old. Talks sh*t constantly, is generally lazy on defense, doesn't have quick feet and makes boneheaded plays at times, especially that ill-advised charge attempt with 15 seconds left last night.

That said, the kid is talented. Has a nice shot and has a very, very strong drive to the hoop. He's a slasher and a scorer. And if he decides to work harder, work on his footwork and learn to play defense, he could become an excellent player, in my opinion.

But Eric Devendorf will not step right in to replace McNamara next year, if ever. I've lived in this town for essentially all of my 40 years, and the only two SU players I can remember with as much will and balls as G-Mac were Sherman Douglas and current SU assistant Mike Hopkins.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 11:10 am

fsquid wrote:Looks like my boys at Memphis will be a #1 seed. Haven't seen that in my lifetime.

Memphis never had a No. 1 seed during the Keith Lee era? Just curious.

Take care,
PK

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 1:27 pm

pk500 wrote:
fsquid wrote:Looks like my boys at Memphis will be a #1 seed. Haven't seen that in my lifetime.
Memphis never had a No. 1 seed during the Keith Lee era? Just curious.

Take care,
PK

I'm just that young! They were a #2 seed the year they went to the Final Four and claimed the "non-catholic national title".

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 6:25 pm

WOOOHOOO!!!! ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK, KU!

BIG 12 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!

HipE · Post by **HipE** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 6:52 pm

Iowa wins the Big Ten tournament, great way to cap a very surprising conference showing for the Hawks. Iowa ends up going 14-5 in the Big Ten, tied with Ohio State for the best record, but went 2-0 against them head to head. I'm already outraged by Iowa getting screwed with a seed lower than Ohio State and Illinois, even though the brackets haven't been anounced yet.

pigpen81 · Post by **pigpen81** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 7:28 pm

woohoo!

Bring on Indiana.

San Diego State matches up well with them.

Go Aztecs!

blueduke · Post by **blueduke** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 9:58 pm

Zlax45 wrote:
dbdynsty25 wrote:And as much as it pains me to say...I think BC will be the sleeper tourney team this year. They are my pick...mark it down. And no I am not Parker.
The problem with BC is the lack of a scoring Point Guard. If Craig Smith gets in some foul trouble they are in for a major problem. They also have matchup problems if teams try to play the "40 minutes of hell" theory on them because BC is not the deepest team in the world. Rice also for BC can become a major weakness at times because the guy is crazy and will shoot the ball at will.

I predict a sweet 16 and then losing in that round for BC.

I am not a BC basketball fan...just BC football!!!

I'm pretty sure BC plays at least 8 players double digit minutes do they not? You're right about their PG play though. Very suspect. I think they'll make a deep run in the tourney and has a great chance of making the Final Four though.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 10:12 pm

Tough draw for Syracuse with Texas A&M in the first round. How the hell does a team that is 21-8 overall and 10-6 in the Big 12 only get a No. 12 seed yet f*cking North Carolina-Wilmington gets a No. 9?

With wacky seeding like that and the Missouri Valley getting as many bids as the ACC (WTF?), this tournament will be a true test of the strength of the mid-majors.

Either way, Syracuse has a rugged road. If it beats A&M, and that's no lock, then it probably has to face LSU in the second round and then Duke in the Round of 16.

I think the Atlanta and Minneapolis regions are quite tough, while the Oakland and D.C. regions are comparative cakewalks.

Pitt could very well come out of Oakland, as I'm not convinced by Memphis, UCLA or Gonzaga. None of them have a conference schedule anywhere near as rigorous as the Big East.

D.C. only has three teams worth a sh*t: UConn, Carolina and Illinois. Michigan State could be a sleeper, but I still think UConn and Carolina have pretty easy roads to the regional final. And Tennessee as a No. 2 seed? Christmas came early to Knoxville.

Bring on the Madness!

Take care,
PK

ddtrane · Post by **ddtrane** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 10:19 pm

Tennessee as a No. 2 seed? Christmas came early to Knoxville.

And Florida wins the SEC and gets a 3. I call BS on this one. AFA, USU, TxAM, and Bradley getting in? Questionable selections, no?

billharris44 · Post by **billharris44** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 11:32 pm

I've watched quite a bit of the Big 12 games this year on t.v. Believe me, nobody wants anything to do with Texas A&M. They are a Temple team from the past--absolutely relentless, suffocating defense, and they compete every single second. Even if they lose, they'll wear you out. I'm not a fan, but anyone who meets those guys is in for a war.

DivotMaker · Post by **DivotMaker** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:16 am

pk500 wrote:Tough draw for Syracuse with Texas A&M in the first round. How the hell does a team that is 21-8 overall and 10-6 in the Big 12 only get a No. 12 seed yet f*cking North Carolina-Wilmington gets a No. 9?

Bring on the Madness!

Take care,
PK

It is called having a weak non-conference schedule. A&M has had cream-puff non-conference schedules two years in a row. Last year Billy Gillespie scheduled cream-puffs so A&M could get a few wins under their belts. The year before he arrived, they were 7-21 and were a sparkling 0-16 in Big 12 play that year.

This year, they had to find out who they were when they lost Antoine Wright who was the first A&M player drafted in the first round in 20+ years (not exactly sure of specifics here). They lost 5 of their 6 Big 12 conference games by an average of 1-2 points. They did manage to win their last 8 including an upset of #5 Texas at home until Texas returned the favor yesterday. If A&M can play like they did against Colorado or Texas in the NCAA, they might win a game or two. However, I think they are catching the hottest team in the tournament at the worst possible time. I'll be surprised if they beat Syracuse, but like Bill Harris says above, either way, the 'Cuse will know they have been in a game. One thing I love about Billy Gillespie is his teams tend to take on his demeanor than this team is certainly a reflection of him. I was fortunate to meet him at an A&M Letterman's award banquet last month and the intensity he gives off is amazing.

Good luck to both Syracuse and A&M in this game. It should be a good one...just hope the Aggies show up and play their game....

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:37 am

Pitt could very well come out of Oakland, as I'm not convinced by Memphis, UCLA or Gonzaga. None of them have a conference schedule anywhere near as rigorous as the Big East.

Memphis played the 2nd roughest OOC schedule to make up for the lack of a conference schedule.