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The [College Basketball] thread that thinks it knows better than Bilas (details in OP)
WuShock
Lawful GoodSouth BrownbackistanRegistered User regular
Lawful GoodSouth BrownbackistanRegistered User regular
Welcome to the College Basketball Thread. Somehow, Wichita State is a lock for the tournament even though they didn't win their league. I don't even know what to think anymore. Still bracing for the inevitable 10-seed.
Bracket Sign-Ups (courtesy of Raijin) on ESPN:
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This message is from Steve Garlo who is challenging you to play Tournament Challenge on ESPN.com.
Get in on the excitement of this year's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Invite friends and family to join your group, fill out up to 25 brackets, and earn bragging rights by winning it all! Compete for a chance to win the grand prize package worth $19,950!
Get in the action now:
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Group: PENNIES ARCADES
Password: wang
Bracket Sign-Ups (courtesy of Raijin) on ESPN:
Hey, listen!
This message is from Steve Garlo who is challenging you to play Tournament Challenge on ESPN.com.
Get in on the excitement of this year's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Invite friends and family to join your group, fill out up to 25 brackets, and earn bragging rights by winning it all! Compete for a chance to win the grand prize package worth $19,950!
Get in the action now:
http://games.espn.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/en/group?redirect=tcmen://x-callback-url/showGroup?groupID=2224298&ex_cid=tcmen2018_email&groupID=2224298&groupp=d2FuZw==&inviteuser=ezlDNTA0MEI4LUE3OTUtNDY3NS05MEY4LUM0QTAwMzE3MDBFQ30=&invitesource=email
Group: PENNIES ARCADES
Password: wang
WuShock on
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Posts
I now wait for the Aaron Craft apologists' rebuttal.
I have UW Badger season tickets this year, and this year's team is shockingly fun to watch by Big 10 standards. They start five shooters, move the ball well, and Dekker makes some fairly ridiculous dunks. They even run a little bit, which is usually anathema for a UW team. The downside is that they only go 7 deep and then the talent levels falls off a cliff.
XBox LIVE: Bogestrom | Destiny
PSN: Bogestrom
As for UCLA, the tilt with USC should be fun, just because I think Enfield is a flash-in-the-pan coach.
KU is...improving, I guess. This is pretty clearly Ellis and Embiid's team rather than Wiggins', which is just fine. They complement each other so well in the frontcourt and have been great running the high-low. The motion stuff that Self likes to run has been stalling out a lot; players just aren't moving off the ball and cutting like they should. Shaky outside shooting is a real problem, too. I'm hopeful that they can come together, but I really see this a Sweet 16 or maybe Elite 8 team.
WSU isn't running that deep themselves right now. They're trying, but Darius Carter has pretty much won the starting 5 job, with Lufile supporting and Kadeem Coleby really kind of underachieving. Nick Wiggins is streaky, and you get the feeling Wessel still doesn't trust his hand to shoot after the injury.
Go Knights!
My dad spent 2 years telling me how good Orukpe was going to be when he finally got on the court. Bummer it didn't pan out that way, but at least I have something to give him shit about.
Forever and always.
also
Fuck Duke
And Kansas State is TOTES better than Wichita State, 'cause they beat Gonzaga and Okie State. :P
In the spirit of full disclosure, I should tell/remind you that I have several legitimate reasons to root against UNC:
1. My brother got his PhD from NC State.
2. Roy Williams is an evil, vindictive, glad-handing huckster who has no problem whining to the NCAA when a recruitment doesn't go his way (Maurice Evans).
3. Okay, I have two, but I think that's enough.
Duke, KU, UNC, Oklahoma State, AND Oregon all lose in the same weekend?! It truly must be Christmas!
Illinois State on Wednesday should be another back-alley brawl. Although since Karate Kid Carmichael graduated it should be less interesting.
KU looked like complete dogshit but only lost by 4, so that's something. They are clearly struggling badly with the motion offense and Self keeps forcing it. Asking freshman to make the kind of quick reads and decisions that are required is just a losing proposition.
SDSU is a tough out. I hate to say it, but it was a ballsy move scheduling them, and I can understand why they're still top-20. I think they pull it together by the end of the season, go in as a 4 or 5-seed, and overachieve a bit (relative to the seeding, I mean).
What has to be scarier is that they have to go to Viejo Arena in two years. I was there for the WSU game a couple of years ago, and it's a nasty place to play.
I think you could apply that to pretty much all the Valley outside of WSU this year.
KU hung tough against Oklahoma last night. Wiggins made two absolutely terribly decisions in the closing 2 minutes and turned it over both times. I love him as a Jayhawk, but he would be absolutely killing in a simpler offense. I can't even imagine what he could do in Calipari's drive-and-kick scheme with some shooters around him. At least Selden was tuned up last night and Frankamp finally gave some decent minutes.
Stupid turnovers will doom this KU team.
17 points 19 boards
I'm usually not one for pity on other Valley teams, but Bradley was horrible tonight, and that used to be one of the flagship programs.
And I think Craft had more turnovers last night (5) than Fred VanVleet has had in the last month. Just sayin'.
The 'FredEx' nickname is gaining traction in the local circles. I like it, except that I'm not sure I want there to be any link between FVV and Freddie Mitchell. That being said, I think it's a much better nickname for a point guard than for a wide reciever.
The more I think about it the crazier this run is: 4 wins against ranked teams, 2 in the top 10. I'd take KU's frontcourt against anyone in the country right now and it's not even close. Still, it's hard for me to take them seriously as a tournament team unless they can cut down on the turnovers.
I love that this is basically a state of Kansas basketball thread.
That said, apparently Quicken Loans is going to offer $1B (yes, with a B ) to anyone who does a perfect bracket this year.