2018 March Madness thread

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sr
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by sr »

Guess they don't coach 'follow your shot' anymore. Seems the whole team now stands in place waiting for the swish ...
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by tjtlja »

What a tough loss for Houston. Missed FT’s and desperation three sends Michigan to the sweet 16. Just a heart breaking loss. Why didn’t Houston put anybody on the guy inbounding the ball? Isn’t it better to make the inbound pass difficult to execute?
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by BACONWAVE »

tjtlja wrote:What a tough loss for Houston. Missed FT’s and desperation three sends Michigan to the sweet 16. Just a heart breaking loss. Why didn’t Houston put anybody on the guy inbounding the ball? Isn’t it better to make the inbound pass difficult to execute?

No clue why you let someone throw in a wide open inbound pass. Especially when you could have actually had time for a quick pass before a shot also.
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by tulaneoutlaw »

Really disappointing for the AAC to have both Houston and Wichita St. lose this early. This was the best group of teams the conference had in the tourney in several years. For Wichita to come out flat and then Houston to have the game won and blow it like that is frustrating.

On the plus side, Cinci has a clear path and no excuse not to make it to the Elite 8. If they can take care of business against Nevada today and then Loyola, they'd likely meet Kentucky with a chance at the Final Four. Having said that, I probably just jinxed them to a 20-point loss today.
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by gerryb323 »

tulaneoutlaw wrote:Really disappointing for the AAC to have both Houston and Wichita St. lose this early. This was the best group of teams the conference had in the tourney in several years. For Wichita to come out flat and then Houston to have the game won and blow it like that is frustrating.

On the plus side, Cinci has a clear path and no excuse not to make it to the Elite 8. If they can take care of business against Nevada today and then Loyola, they'd likely meet Kentucky with a chance at the Final Four. Having said that, I probably just jinxed them to a 20-point loss today.
The problem with Cincinnati was, I think, highlighted in the UMBC upset of Virginia. If your M.O. is to slow the game down, limit possessions, and win a 58-54 game, you run the risk of hitting a hot shooting team and getting destroyed. To maintain a streak of shutting everyone down, you need an elite elite defense. And you better hit some shots. I worry for Cincinnati today.
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

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gerryb323 wrote:
tulaneoutlaw wrote:Really disappointing for the AAC to have both Houston and Wichita St. lose this early. This was the best group of teams the conference had in the tourney in several years. For Wichita to come out flat and then Houston to have the game won and blow it like that is frustrating.

On the plus side, Cinci has a clear path and no excuse not to make it to the Elite 8. If they can take care of business against Nevada today and then Loyola, they'd likely meet Kentucky with a chance at the Final Four. Having said that, I probably just jinxed them to a 20-point loss today.
The problem with Cincinnati was, I think, highlighted in the UMBC upset of Virginia. If your M.O. is to slow the game down, limit possessions, and win a 58-54 game, you run the risk of hitting a hot shooting team and getting destroyed. To maintain a streak of shutting everyone down, you need an elite elite defense. And you better hit some shots. I worry for Cincinnati today.
Agreed. Until someone can prove the Cinci/UVA style of play can win a championship, it can't. Should they make it to the Elite Eight, it's hard to see them overcoming a lower-seeded but very athletic Kentucky.
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by Baywave1 »

Interesting conundrum. No doubt Cincy/VA approach can win series and regular season titles. Much harder in a knockout tourney of up to six games where at some point the fates will dictate you have to score a lot and quickly to win. Think of ground control football. The days of UN toss sweep going undefeated are pretty much over. Once in a while you do need a two minute offense.

Meanwhile you think West Virginia is on fire today? In this case perhaps literally every couch from the Ohio River to the Virginia state line is trembling.
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by tulaneoutlaw »

I think the UVA approach could work if you had one Carmelo type scorer who would play that style of defense. But most of the time guys that score like that aren't top level defenders or don't want to play grind it out defense as that limits their offensive strength.
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by gerryb323 »

WOW
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by tulaneoutlaw »

Called it. Incredibly disappointing performance from AAC teams yet again. How many years is this with no teams in the sweet 16? The conference needs to get its act together in basketball.
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

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It's gonna be interesting at work tomorrow. And by interesting, I mean utterly morose.

Actually a lot of Cincinnati fans dislike Cronin and have wanted him gone for years. They just assumed that because Huggins won CUSA every year, that was their right, and couldn't understand when ensuing coaches didn't blow through the old Big East and now AAC. Huggins' era has been so romanticized over time that they expect final fours annually. Even though Huggins only went once and his teams were generally known as tourney chokers too. But it would be tough to fire the AAC Coach of the Year.
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by Baywave1 »

I was pumped about AAC chances for a few hours. Results sure dumped me of that notion.
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by 1309th WAVE »

Make it that doubly interesting now. Xavier blows a lead to Florida State. As many 11s as 1s in the Sweet 16.

Are the Reds gonna be any good this year?
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by gerryb323 »

1309th WAVE wrote:Make it that doubly interesting now. Xavier blows a lead to Florida State. As many 11s as 1s in the Sweet 16.

Are the Reds gonna be any good this year?
So 50% more 1s than expected!?
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by GreenieBacker »

Disappointing year for the AAC, I really thought we would do better. And clearly at this level those deliberate, too slow offenses become a liability when you face a "lesser" team that gets hot and can score in bunches.
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by ml wave »

Baywave1 wrote:
sr wrote:
PeteRasche wrote:And history is made. UMBC not only takes down a #1, but utterly DESTROYS them.

UMBC 74, UVA 54!
A 16 takes down a 1 - got to love it. Destroys is the right word.
From Tuesday's WSJ. May qualify for most prescient award.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-no-1-v ... ge=1&pos=2

May be behind a paywall but headline says it all:

"Why No. 1 Virginia’s Plodding Pace Makes It Ripe for an Upset
The Cavaliers may be the best team in the country. But the fewer the possessions in a game means the fewer chances a good team has to separate itself."

So for those who asked in another thread: Possessions matter to make freak or random results less likely. It's science!
Yes, this is definitely true...more possessions means less variance. I am/was more interested in the next step of comparing across sports...since basketball will generally have more possessions than baseball has at bats and football has plays, does that make it less arbitrary?
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by PeteRasche »

Three upsets out of four to open the Sweet 16. What a crazy year. And what a good year for me to have not gotten around to participating in any brackets for money. :lol: :lol: :lol:

A 9 or an 11 will be in the final four. And they could end up playing against another 9.
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

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Next year, I am going to Vegas and bet every underdog, taking the points.
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by tulaneoutlaw »

As exciting as the left side of the bracket has been, there are still some real powers on the other side of things. Villanova, Kansas, and Duke are all still alive and licking their chops I'm sure. What would be fun would be a few more upsets and a Final Four that will produce a guaranteed first time national champion. But even with the chaos we've seen so far, it's hard to see that happening.
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by long green »

It always happens this way. There are a bunch of upsets, everyone thinks the tourney is wide open, and yet two or so brackets are left fairly intact.
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by djh »

Am I looking at this correctly, elite 8 and there are NO $EC teams left?
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by Rotorooter »

djh wrote:Am I looking at this correctly, elite 8 and there are NO $EC teams left?
They are spending all of their money on football...
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by MNAlum »

djh wrote:Am I looking at this correctly, elite 8 and there are NO $EC teams left?
Actually with 12 left no SEC teams! 4 ACC, 4 B12, 2 B10, Vill and LoyC
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

Post by GreenieBacker »

4 Big12 teams is a surprise. Other than Kansas they're really not known for Basketball.
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Re: 2018 March Madness thread

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long green wrote:It always happens this way. There are a bunch of upsets, everyone thinks the tourney is wide open, and yet two or so brackets are left fairly intact.
Always may be a little strong, many years the Sweet 16 only has 3 or 4 teams worse than like a 5 seed and many of those are 6s or 7s, and the Elite 8 often has no worse than maybe one 7 or 8. It's fun having multiple 9s and 11s this year. But it's true, we could easily end up with 1, 1, 3, and (9 or 11) in the Final Four, which would not be THAT unusual in the past decade. And if Loyola loses tomorrow, the Final Four will be all (football) P5s, which will be kinda disappointing, even if the seeds in the Final Four were 9, 9, 11, and 5.
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