Official College Basketball Thread

[Balta1701]

Where'd you see this?

 

That's badass if true.

CBSSportsline

 

CBS and College Sports Television have teamed up with the NCAA to provide free live video streaming rights for out-of-market game coverage of the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

 

For the first time, NCAA March Madness on Demand will be offered free of charge. Beginning March 16, 2006, fans will be able to watch live CBS Sports broadcasts of the NCAA tournament from outside their viewing area via NCAAsports.com, the official NCAA Website, produced by CBS SportsLine.com. NCAA March Madness on Demand will be supported by advertising sales.

 

The game of primary regional interest will be shown exclusively on the local CBS affiliate. NCAA March Madness on Demand will feature other games being played at the same time.

AP NEWS

[Chisoxfn]

Where'd you see this?

 

That's badass if true.

Seriously, that would be awesome.

[IlliniKrush]

From Katz's article today on MSU:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/stor...andy&id=2250617

Damn good article by Andy talking about how they shouldn't have dropped so far in the polls.

 

I'd be hard pressed to find 4 teams in the land better than MSU yet they are ranked No. 14.  Just goes to show how much the voters overreact to a couple of early season losses in Hawaii.

I watched a lot of that game last night and i still think highly of MSU. But Aboz that's just the nature of the polls - you lose, you drop down. They'll be back up there eventually. I mean Illinois shouldn't be ahead of them...but we haven't lost yet, that's why we are. I mean i think MSU is the better team but pollsters can only look at what you've done so far, you know? MSU will be fine. I was most impressed by their free throws at the end of the game last night. That's very Izzo esque. I look forward to facing off with you guys.

[Heads22]

sec159

 

This big thread works well for the general day-to-day of college basketball. If you want to start a thread on a specific topic, go for it. This is more meant to be one giant game thread.

[IlliniKrush]

Davis was outcoached by Eastern Michigan? 

 

No one can defend Davis last night; there's no explaining why Ben wasn't in at the end of the game, with what he did earlier in the night.

 

With that being said, a lot of people think they can have and eat their cake on the issue of Mike Davis.  I don't think he's ever received credit for one good thing this team's done while he was here, but he's certainly the only one to ever receive credit for a loss.

 

I know, I know Krush you've said it 9 times in the last 24 hours, but you're glad Davis is still here.  Have a cookie.

Hey, when you back Davis like you do you're going to hear about it that's for sure. You may have a cookie as well.

[aboz56]

I watched a lot of that game last night and i still think highly of MSU. But Aboz that's just the nature of the polls - you lose, you drop down. They'll be back up there eventually. I mean Illinois shouldn't be ahead of them...but we haven't lost yet, that's why we are. I mean i think MSU is the better team but pollsters can only look at what you've done so far, you know?  MSU will be fine. I was most impressed by their free throws at the end of the game last night. That's very Izzo esque.  I look forward to facing off with you guys.

I look forward to it as well.

 

We open the Big 10 schedule with Illinois on the road.

[Heads22]

Jas,

 

Horner is day-to-day.

[ZoomSlowik]

MSU will be a tough team as the season progresses. As of right now it looks like their defense still needs some work. Neitzel is playing pretty well, which helps them considerably. He needs to be hitting the open shots when the ball goes into Davis or on penetration by their wing players. One thing that would really put them over the top is if Sutton or Gray turns into a real PF toward the end of the season. They need someone that can help with their post defense and rebounding. They don't need their PF to score that much because of their other options, so it's possible.

 

From what I've seen, Illinois isn't there yet. Dee and Augustine are their only two players that they can consistently rely on, and if Dee isn't shooting well (like most of this year), things can get ugly. They should have handled UNC and Xavier fairly easily, but they struggled. I'll admit both teams have some talent, but they are also flawed teams, and a team like Illinois that has two senior leaders that were part of a Final Four run probably should have handled them more easily. They need someone else to develop into a reliable third scoring option (I'm not counting Smith because although he scores, he's been very inconsistent. That 23 point game is propping up his average).

 

I'll be very interested to see the Illinois-Georgetown game. Georgetown is a big, atheletic team that could give Illinois problems, although their best two players (Bowman and Green) have struggled a bit early. Illinois is going to need a decent game to get by the Hoyas.

[thedoctor]

From what I've seen, Illinois isn't there yet. Dee and Augustine are their only two players that they can consistently rely on, and if Dee isn't shooting well (like most of this year), things can get ugly. They should have handled UNC and Xavier fairly easily, but they struggled. I'll admit both teams have some talent, but they are also flawed teams, and a team like Illinois that has two senior leaders that were part of a Final Four run probably should have handled them more easily. They need someone else to develop into a reliable third scoring option (I'm not counting Smith because although he scores, he's been very inconsistent. That 23 point game is propping up his average).

 

I'll be very interested to see the Illinois-Georgetown game. Georgetown is a big, atheletic team that could give Illinois problems, although their best two players (Bowman and Green) have struggled a bit early. Illinois is going to need a decent game to get by the Hoyas.

 

you make good points, but at this point of the season what team really is "there."

 

duke needed a half-court shot to beat a mediocre virginia tech team at home. michigan state has lost twice. kentucky lost at home to the same unc team illinois beat in chapel hill.

 

offensively, no doubt there is tons of room for improvement, but that's to be expected, particularly in the motion where the understanding of your teammates' nuances and abilities is key. luther, dee and deron played so many games together that they made it look easy. it will take time for that to happen.

 

defensively, although there have been some breakdowns, they are still giving up 58.6 points per game which is pretty good. i'll grant you that the opposition hasn't been stellar, but that's what the numbers say.

 

personally, illinois has done better than i thought they would to this point. i did not think they would be unbeaten at this point, and am pleasantly surprised with what i've seen so far. weber said prior to the season that he thought this would be a good team by christmas. i think he was dead-on.

 

edit: to clean up typos.

Edited December 7, 2005 by thedoctor

[thedoctor]

From Katz's article today on MSU:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/stor...andy&id=2250617

Damn good article by Andy talking about how they shouldn't have dropped so far in the polls.

 

I'd be hard pressed to find 4 teams in the land better than MSU yet they are ranked No. 14.  Just goes to show how much the voters overreact to a couple of early season losses in Hawaii.

 

i wouldn't worry about the polls. they're pretty much meaningless at this point. i picked michigan state to win the league in the preseason, and up until this point i haven't seen anything that discourages me from that prediction.

[Chisoxfn]

Jas,

 

Horner is day-to-day.

Cool, thanks for the update.

[Heads22]

DM Register changes their tune, Horner out 2-5 weeks.

[sec159row2]

sec159

 

This big thread works well for the general day-to-day of college basketball. If you want to start a thread on a specific topic, go for it. This is more meant to be one giant game thread.

 

sorry grease forgot about e mich... was just talking about duke and sycamores..

 

and thanks heads... i'll at least wait till big ten season for my "fire mike davis" thread

[WHarris1]

They should have handled UNC

That's a weak argument. UNC is now a top 25 team and no 25 team should ever be "handled" AT HOME. Especially not UNC who had a 20+ game home win streak.

 

Very rarely will UNC be handled at home.

[IlliniKrush]

I look forward to it as well.

 

We open the Big 10 schedule with Illinois on the road.

Yeah, i'll be at that game, bought single tickets for it since they aren't covered through our student tickets. It won't be rocking as much because of the lack of students there, but it should be a great game.

[IlliniKrush]

MSU will be a tough team as the season progresses. As of right now it looks like their defense still needs some work. Neitzel is playing pretty well, which helps them considerably. He needs to be hitting the open shots when the ball goes into Davis or on penetration by their wing players. One thing that would really put them over the top is if Sutton or Gray turns into a real PF toward the end of the season. They need someone that can help with their post defense and rebounding. They don't need their PF to score that much because of their other options, so it's possible.

 

From what I've seen, Illinois isn't there yet. Dee and Augustine are their only two players that they can consistently rely on, and if Dee isn't shooting well (like most of this year), things can get ugly. They should have handled UNC and Xavier fairly easily, but they struggled. I'll admit both teams have some talent, but they are also flawed teams, and a team like Illinois that has two senior leaders that were part of a Final Four run probably should have handled them more easily. They need someone else to develop into a reliable third scoring option (I'm not counting Smith because although he scores, he's been very inconsistent. That 23 point game is propping up his average).

 

I'll be very interested to see the Illinois-Georgetown game. Georgetown is a big, atheletic team that could give Illinois problems, although their best two players (Bowman and Green) have struggled a bit early. Illinois is going to need a decent game to get by the Hoyas.

 

I agree with a lot of your sentiments. The one thing i will say is that while Smith's average is propping his average, he hasn't gotten many minutes thus far. Given minutes, he could become a good scoring option and open up the court for everyone else. You can only base a scoring average off of how many minutes you play. The guy can shoot the ball, and has all year. I think Randle will eventually become our '3rd' scoring option, but only time will tell. If he has a respectable outside and inside game (shoots well) he'll be tough to stop.

[ZoomSlowik]

That's a weak argument.  UNC is now a top 25 team and no 25 team should ever be "handled" AT HOME.  Especially not UNC who had a 20+ game home win streak.

 

Very rarely will UNC be handled at home.

 

UNC is a team full of freshmen, one legit big guy, and little outside shooting. Please tell me why another ranked team with a senior All-American PG and a senior All-Conference calibur PF shouldn't beat that team. They're ranked (24 at that, which means one loss drops them out again) because they had one good game against Kentucky, a team that is very overrated, and it took 10 3-pointers from a mediocre shooting team to do it. Kentucky is not that good a team, only Rondo and Sparks impress me at all. By the end of the year, UNC might be a team to worry about, but any team with experience and decent athelticism should be able to beat them, especially if their shooting from outside is as poor as it was in that Illinois game.

[Palehosefan]

UNC is a legit top 25 team, even this early. UNC does play alot of freshmen. But we also have Roy Williams as a coach and still have 3 McDonald's All Stars. UNC also has alot of depth in athletes, which allows us to overcome our lack of experience by trapping and fastbreaking each possession. We will get in trouble a few times this year due to Hansbrough's aggressiveness and likely subsequent foul trouble, but for the most part, we can run with anyone. With any other coach in the nation, we would be in alot of trouble, and would look alot like Kansas.

[whitesoxfan99]

I agree with a lot of your sentiments. The one thing i will say is that while Smith's average is propping his average, he hasn't gotten many minutes thus far.  Given minutes, he could become a good scoring option and open up the court for everyone else.  You can only base a scoring average off of how many minutes you play. The guy can shoot the ball, and has all year.  I think Randle will eventually become our '3rd' scoring option, but only time will tell. If he has a respectable outside and inside game (shoots well) he'll be tough to stop.

When Jamar plays he scores, it is really that simple. And now that his defense is improving he will probably see a lot more minutes.

[Rex Hudler]

just want to enter a complaint about this forum...  one thread for college basketball is outa control... i'm not going thru 60-some odd pages to find out the various topics that are being talked about... so please bear with me if i repeat topics..... how long will this thread be by march?...  i wish i could offer a suggestion with my complaint, but I don't know the intricacies(sp?) of messege boards....  but, i guess this has worked in the past, personnally I stop reading threads after about the second or third page, cause at that point they get pretty redundant.... 

 

this being said...  how many games will mike davis lose for indiana this year... outcoached back to back games... he's like a weatherman... he can be wrong and still have a job...

 

No need to read all 65 pages. This thread is basically an ongoing conversation. Just read a few pages from the end and then keep up as best you can. I read it every night, so rarely do I ever have to read more than a page or two at a time. Lots of stuff you can skip because it is talk about the days game.

 

I really like the format. If there is a hot enough topic then I guess another thread could be started, but for the most part, this thread is basically just a bunch of guys standing around the proverbial water talking about last night's games.

[Rex Hudler]

From Katz's article today on MSU:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/stor...andy&id=2250617

Damn good article by Andy talking about how they shouldn't have dropped so far in the polls.

 

I'd be hard pressed to find 4 teams in the land better than MSU yet they are ranked No. 14.  Just goes to show how much the voters overreact to a couple of early season losses in Hawaii.

 

The good thing about that is the the polls don't mean squat right now. So it doesn't matter if voters overreact. All they have to do is be there at the end.

[Heads22]

Wednesday, December 7, 2005

 

Kansas State 36 Colorado State 35 15:58 2H

Davidson 57 Missouri 39 12:53 2H

Louisiana Tech 51 Texas Tech 42 11:14 2H

Utah 8 Colorado 3 13:20 1H

[Heads22]

Wednesday, December 7, 2005

 

Kansas State 55 Colorado State 49 7:11 2H

Davidson 73 Missouri 64 3:41 2H

Louisiana Tech 61 Texas Tech 50 3:00 2H

Colorado 23 Utah 12 3:40 1H

[IlliniKrush]

UNC trails SLU by 1 with 13 mins left on espn2

[Heads22]

Quin blows.