Re: 2009 NCAA Tournament thread

[Careless]

the question "how big a lead does Duke have to have before people in a market for neither team can see a close game?" is active.

[illiniguy]

Purdue has a double edged sword type thing coming up now. If they beat UCONN I would imagine it would be from Johnson outplaying Thabeet. If that happens I can't see him not going pro. This will be such a weak draft.

[Guest]

the question "how big a lead does Duke have to have before people in a market for neither team can see a close game?" is active.

 

They're not going to switch games in the first half, Duke or no Duke, for a game in which a team is only up eight or 10 especially when the only other game they can show is also in the first half.

[Prior4CyYoung]

can we get some defense on freaking WKU guards. Shut them down they would have 0 offense.

[Illini Iceman]

Haha, I love how they honored the 1971 Villanova team at halftime on a "neutral" court.

 

Dragovic and Shipp have clearly quit.

 

Hey you know being a #1 seed earns you that home court edge.........wait Nova is a 3 seed? Nevermind. lol

 

I really don't care for the increased regionalization they put into the brackets the last few years. It is pretty sad when even a #8 seed gets to play close to home (Ohio State)...I think that privilege should be reserved for the top 4 teams.

 

Yeah but you have to accept it going in. The NCAA is trying to cut travel costs, so there are going to be scenarios where a #3 seed plays in their home city, etc. It sucks but its going to happen. Not the same becuase they were a 1 seed but last year UCLA got to open up in Anaheim, and the year before as a 2 seed they opened up in Sacramento. Now they have to play Nova in Philly.

 

I would be interested in finding out how much they are actually saving on travel costs. For every team like Villanova that plays close to home there is a team like UCLA that still travels cross country. Heck, Illinois and Western Kentucky both had to travel to Portland to play a "South" region game. How did that save travel costs?

 

Unless you do strict region games - making the Pac-10, Mountain West, WCC, BW, etc. teams play each other in brackets - for the four regions, you're going to have a couple teams per four-team pod that have to travel. It's better to have to teams travel a long ways than three or four. It's better to have UConn, Chattanooga, BYU and Texas A&M play their West region games in Philadelphia than in a true West site like LA, Portland or Sacramento (though I know LA and Sac aren't available options this year).

 

I haven't really taken the time to study it, but in your example you are right that the "West" regional pod in Philly of UConn, Chattanooga, BYU and Texas A&M saved some travel. UConn and Chattanooga definitely less, Texas A&M maybe about equal and BYU more than if it were in a true West coast site. However, then you have the "South" regional pod in Portland of Gonzaga, Akron, Illinois and Western Kentucky. In that case 3 of the 4 actually travel more than if it was a South site like Atlanta. Maybe it would come out better if every single pod is considered (again, personally not sure one way or the other), but it does create some wierd situations where teams actually have to travel more than if they were just left in the correct region for their games.

[Guest]

It probably comes out fairly even overall - no matter what, teams are going to have to travel. Some will travel a long way, some a decent distance, and some won't travel much at all. The NCAA probably figures that if a few teams aren't going to have to travel no matter how they do it, it's better to make those teams the top seeds, and then the lower seeds deal with whatever they get.

[Careless]

the question "how big a lead does Duke have to have before people in a market for neither team can see a close game?" is active.

 

They're not going to switch games in the first half, Duke or no Duke, for a game in which a team is only up eight or 10 especially when the only other game they can show is also in the first half.

Which is why I started when Duke had a 10 point lead. Turned out it stopped growing then, so it quickly became moot.

[CubbieBum]

Purdue has a double edged sword type thing coming up now. If they beat UCONN I would imagine it would be from Johnson outplaying Thabeet. If that happens I can't see him not going pro. This will be such a weak draft.

 

I mentioned in the CBB thread a couple months ago that he was playing well enough to perhaps go pro early. I just can't see it though. He still needs to pack on 10-15 pounds. If he goes this year after beating UCONN he is could be at the highest a 15-25 pick. If he stays another year and again makes first team Big Ten and is 10-15 pounds heavier he could go 10-15 with his blocking and shooting ability.

[TruffleShuffle]

If he goes this year after beating UCONN he is could be at the highest a 15-25 pick. If he stays another year and again makes first team Big Ten and is 10-15 pounds heavier he could go 10-15 with his blocking and shooting ability.

 

this draft sucks. i can easily see him going in the lottery. plus most guys going from college to the nba need to put on some weight, but that doesn't stop teams from drafting them because they know they'll put the weight on quickly (see kevin durant).

[Guest]

How the hell does a team go 2-10 from the free throw line? I'm not sure I've ever seen a team do that before, at any point in a game.

[Guest]

WKU 3PT: 10-21

WKU FTs: 5-14

 

It's like all they do is shoot 3's in practice and forget that free throws are actually a part of the game.

[Careless]

And the late games come through again. Odd.

[Careless]

Well that was exciting.

[Butterscup1679666578]

man what a finish in the gonzaga game.

[Derwood]

WTF was WKU doing on defense that last possession? They let the guy drive to the basket completely untouched

[Guest]

Miserable defense by WKU on the last play.

[Derwood]

Texas didn't need to shoot the 3 there

[Careless]

aww how do you get a foul therE?

[Butterscup1679666578]

terrible shot selection by texas there.

[Derwood]

wow, terrible calls against Texas, even for a Duke game. Why does every ref love Duke?

[TruffleShuffle]

wtf are you doing texas

[Guest]

wow, terrible calls against Texas, even for a Duke game. Why does every ref love Duke?

 

You mean the blatant shove by Texas shouldn't have been called?

[Derwood]

wow, terrible calls against Texas, even for a Duke game. Why does every ref love Duke?

 

You mean the blatant shove by Texas shouldn't have been called?

 

upon seeing the replay, I stand corrected

[TruffleShuffle]

wow, terrible calls against Texas, even for a Duke game. Why does every ref love Duke?

 

how are those terrible calls? they're easy calls.

[Butterscup1679666578]

ugh.