College Basketball Chatter...

[Tony D]

ND only goes 7 deep and play one guy over 6'5". Not a good recipe vs Kentucky length and depth.

 

[Deuce]

ND only goes 7 deep and play one guy over 6'5". Not a good recipe vs Kentucky length and depth.

If it makes you feel better, there is no good recipe against this Kentucky team.

 

[Simpleton]

Normally when playing a more talented/superior team in a 1 game situation you hope to slow down the game, limit possessions, maybe try to take away the one thing the other team does best and then hope that they have an off night shooting the ball while you get hot. The problem with this Kentucky team is that none of that works because in alot of ways it plays into their hands. There is no way you can combat the fact that they start 3 guys that are 6-10+, and have two more on the bench. You can't combat that size and defensive/rebounding ability.

The Harrisons, Ulis and Booker are nice players but the real difference is that they have 5 guys that are 6-10+, all with plus athleticism, which is unheard of at the college level. Even if you completely shut down their offense you won't be able to keep them off the glass for 2nd chance points and you still won't be able to do much of anything in the lane offensively.

Basically, they're unbeatable at this stage when you know there won't be a lack of focus. Arizona is just about the only team who could have a shot because they have a frontline that can somewhat counter Kentucky's size and athleticism, if they get hot from 3 while Kentucky goes cold, maybe. Other than that, it's a wrap.

It's also why I wasn't too upset with Trimble being unable to play and killing any chance Maryland had against West Virginia, I knew what was coming, and if we were without Trimble it may have been even worse than what happened to West Virginia.

 

[Tony D]

If it makes you feel better, there is no good recipe against this Kentucky team.

Oh, I know. But ND's two biggest weaknesses (depth and length) play right into two of Kentucky's strengths. Ugh.

 

[Tony D]

Normally when playing a more talented/superior team in a 1 game situation you hope to slow down the game, limit possessions, maybe try to take away the one thing the other team does best and then hope that they have an off night shooting the ball while you get hot. The problem with this Kentucky team is that none of that works because in alot of ways it plays into their hands. There is no way you can combat the fact that they start 3 guys that are 6-10+, and have two more on the bench. You can't combat that size and defensive/rebounding ability.

The Harrisons, Ulis and Booker are nice players but the real difference is that they have 5 guys that are 6-10+, all with plus athleticism, which is unheard of at the college level. Even if you completely shut down their offense you won't be able to keep them off the glass for 2nd chance points and you still won't be able to do much of anything in the lane offensively.

Basically, they're unbeatable at this stage when you know there won't be a lack of focus. Arizona is just about the only team who could have a shot because they have a frontline that can somewhat counter Kentucky's size and athleticism, if they get hot from 3 while Kentucky goes cold, maybe. Other than that, it's a wrap.

It's also why I wasn't too upset with Trimble being unable to play and killing any chance Maryland had against West Virginia, I knew what was coming, and if we were without Trimble it may have been even worse than what happened to West Virginia.

Yep, you're going to have to do something unorthodox to beat them. Burn the clock, execute on offense and shoot a ridiculous %. Hope Kentucky is ice cold. ND is going to get absolutely abused on the boards.

 

[Simpleton]

Maryland just got center Diamond Stone, a consensus top 10 recruit next year. Should be a pretty decent team.

 

[Deuce]

Normally when playing a more talented/superior team in a 1 game situation you hope to slow down the game, limit possessions, maybe try to take away the one thing the other team does best and then hope that they have an off night shooting the ball while you get hot. The problem with this Kentucky team is that none of that works because in alot of ways it plays into their hands. There is no way you can combat the fact that they start 3 guys that are 6-10+, and have two more on the bench. You can't combat that size and defensive/rebounding ability.

The Harrisons, Ulis and Booker are nice players but the real difference is that they have 5 guys that are 6-10+, all with plus athleticism, which is unheard of at the college level. Even if you completely shut down their offense you won't be able to keep them off the glass for 2nd chance points and you still won't be able to do much of anything in the lane offensively.

Basically, they're unbeatable at this stage when you know there won't be a lack of focus. Arizona is just about the only team who could have a shot because they have a frontline that can somewhat counter Kentucky's size and athleticism, if they get hot from 3 while Kentucky goes cold, maybe. Other than that, it's a wrap.

It's also why I wasn't too upset with Trimble being unable to play and killing any chance Maryland had against West Virginia, I knew what was coming, and if we were without Trimble it may have been even worse than what happened to West Virginia.

I think the Duke/Gonzaga winner has a shot because of their size and, in Dukes case athleticism and Gonzaga's case...ummm....court intelligence and moxie.

but in reality, it'll take in seriously bad effort from UK to lose. Even if they have an terrible night shooting, doesn't mean you can score on them and stop them in transition.

 

[Deuce]

Props to ND. They got damn close.

 

[Tony D]

Oh well. Great game though.

 

[Deuce]

Tommy friggin' Izzo.

His players haven't had the greatest success at the next level, but I've never seen a coach take more teams deep in the tourney when their talent says they don't belong in my life. If I were a premium high school player, I'm not sure how I don't commit to the guy. All he does is win.

 

[Cotton]

 

[1bigfan13]

Kentucky-Wisconsin was a good game last night, not a great game.

I was rooting for Wisconsin because I'm in the group who doesn't think this Kentucky team should be mentioned among the all time great NCAA teams.

And after seeing the actions of the Kentucky players after they lost it made it even more satisfying to see them come up short. Many of the UK players walked off the court w/o shaking hands with the Wisconsin players and coaches. Then during the post-game press conference, Andrew Harrison says "F**k that N-word" about Frank Kaminsky.

What a bunch of classless douches.

Could you imagine if Kaminsky said that about Harrison. It would be front page news nationally. And there would be calls for Kaminsky to be kicked off the team and expelled from UW immediately.

 

[Deuce]

Kentucky-Wisconsin was a good game last night, not a great game.

I was rooting for Wisconsin because I'm in the group who doesn't think this Kentucky team should be mentioned among the all time great NCAA teams.

And after seeing the actions of the Kentucky players after they lost it made it even more satisfying to see them come up short. Many of the UK players walked off the court w/o shaking hands with the Wisconsin players and coaches. Then during the post-game press conference, Andrew Harrison says "F**k that N-word" about Frank Kaminsky.

What a bunch of classless douches.

Could you imagine if Kaminsky said that about Harrison. It would be front page news nationally. And there would be calls for Kaminsky to be kicked off the team and expelled from UW immediately.

Wow, I didn't stay up for the presser but what a douche.

Meanwhile, Kaminsky is chilling in the NC game with probably a player of the year trilogy on his mantle.

 

[fortsbest]

MY wife wants me to say "On Wisconsin!!!!!!!!!!" It was a decent not great game, but it was satisfying to see KU get beat. The announcers we listened to on tv were all about KU and that sucked.

 

[1bigfan13]

MY wife wants me to say "On Wisconsin!!!!!!!!!!" It was a decent not great game, but it was satisfying to see KU get beat. The announcers we listened to on tv were all about KU and that sucked.

You must have tuned into the Kentucky Team Stream on TNT. If you tuned into TruTV or TBS you had your choice of either the Wisconsin broadcast crew or the "straight down the middle/neutral" national crew.

I listened to the UK team in the 1st half and the Wisconsin team in the 2nd half. The UK guys (Rex Chapman & some unknown dude) definitely out-homered the Wisconsin crew. They whined and complained about every single call that didn't go Kentucky's way. Absolutely no objectivity whatsoever. Whereas the Wisconsin guys were somewhat objective.

 

[Deuce]

Great final game. I didn't think there was a chance Duke could hang around with their foul trouble, but their role players stepped up huge.

Grayson Allen is the type of Duke player I love...mostly cause I know he's the type of Duke player Duke Haters absolutely loathe.

 

[Cotton]

Great final game. I didn't think there was a chance Duke could hang around with their foul trouble, but their role players stepped up huge.

Grayson Allen is the type of Duke player I love...mostly cause I know he's the type of Duke player Duke Haters absolutely loathe.

That fucking 3 with about 2 minutes left was the dagger. So clutch.

 

[Smitty]

Fuck Duke and all the calls that shouldn't have gone their way but mysteriously did anyway.

 

[Simpleton]

Fuck Duke and all the calls that shouldn't have gone their way but mysteriously did anyway.

Can't argue with that. See you in the Final Four next year.

 

[Smitty]

65 FTAs by dook's opponents in the tournament.

Fewest by a NC winning squad since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

I guess Dook just plays historically excellent defense without fouling!