Official 2009-2010 NCAA Basketball Thread

[Felix]

Gophers tore apart Stephen F. Austin tonight 82-42. They struggled for most of the first half (before a run at the end of the half gave them a slightly more respectable 7 point lead going into halftime), but came out with guns blazing in the second, quickly opening up a 20 point lead. The defense was fantastic in the second, and Rodney Williams was great again coming off the bench. If he keeps this up, he's going to be starting sooner rather than later.

[Jenksismyhero]

Kentucky, the most overrated team in the history of college basketball? You simply can't be a top 5 team based on freshmen.

 

Blasphemy! Calipari is the Jesus of college basketball. Not a questionable act on his record. And all he does it win!

[farmteam]

IU played really well from about 5 minutes left in the first half to about 8 minutes left in the second; outside of that, they were awful. Very out of sync, lots of turnovers, and dreadful from the stripe (16/30).

 

Watford played well again, finishing with 17 and 10, but at times he still looks pretty raw. Elston continues to impress me, as does Creek. I'm still not sure about Hulls -- I think he'll be one of those guys that steadily gets better, and by his junior and senior year will be a 12 points with 5 assists a game sort of guy, with a fair amount of steals and good defense. I also think Bawa can be pretty damn good by his junior or senior year but I haven't seen too much of him. Verdell Jones is also becoming very, very good.

 

Doc Rivers was in attendance. I wonder why.

[Rowand44]

The UCLA-Fullerton game is very entertaining for all the wrong reasons.

[whitesoxfan99]

The UCLA-Fullerton game is very entertaining for all the wrong reasons.

 

UCLA's roster and talent level is not impressive at all.

[danman31]

Jason is about to be really excited or really crushed.

 

Excited is the winner. That was a battle of 2 mid-majors though. UCLA has no talent. How did that happen?

[kev211]

A little something to add to the ISU-Illini debate.

 

SIUE coach after playing ISU two days after they played Illinois.

"“We fouled their bigs because we couldn’t contain them a lot. We got outmuscled inside,” said SIUE coach Lennox Forrester, a former Bradley and Evansville assistant. “I know Illinois is long and athletic (inside), but I thought Illinois State’s big guys were just as physical or even more physical than Illinois.”

 

Yep 1% chance of ISU beating Illinois sounds about right.

[Jimbo's Drinker]

Blasphemy! Calipari is the Jesus of college basketball. Not a questionable act on his record. And all he does it win!

 

 

Is that you Jimmy Dykes?

[LittleHurt05]

A little something to add to the ISU-Illini debate.

 

SIUE coach after playing ISU two days after they played Illinois.

"“We fouled their bigs because we couldn’t contain them a lot. We got outmuscled inside,” said SIUE coach Lennox Forrester, a former Bradley and Evansville assistant. “I know Illinois is long and athletic (inside), but I thought Illinois State’s big guys were just as physical or even more physical than Illinois.”

 

Yep 1% chance of ISU beating Illinois sounds about right.

 

I concur

[Kyyle23]

Hmm, I wouldnt be taking the word of a coach whose team just got moved up to Div 1 last year as gospel on how great your team is, but thats just me.

[Jordan4life_2007]

A little something to add to the ISU-Illini debate.

 

SIUE coach after playing ISU two days after they played Illinois.

"“We fouled their bigs because we couldn’t contain them a lot. We got outmuscled inside,” said SIUE coach Lennox Forrester, a former Bradley and Evansville assistant. “I know Illinois is long and athletic (inside), but I thought Illinois State’s big guys were just as physical or even more physical than Illinois.”

 

Yep 1% chance of ISU beating Illinois sounds about right.

 

Um, OK? Who cares what Lennox Forrester (who the f*** is that anyway? Never heard of him in my life) says after playing both teams one time this damn early in the season? Nick Smith would seem physical to them compared to the competition they usually faced. And 1% is wrong. I'm thinking .001.

Edited November 17, 2009 by Jordan4life

[Felix]

A little something to add to the ISU-Illini debate.

 

SIUE coach after playing ISU two days after they played Illinois.

"“We fouled their bigs because we couldn’t contain them a lot. We got outmuscled inside,” said SIUE coach Lennox Forrester, a former Bradley and Evansville assistant. “I know Illinois is long and athletic (inside), but I thought Illinois State’s big guys were just as physical or even more physical than Illinois.”

 

Yep 1% chance of ISU beating Illinois sounds about right.

lol

 

I'm not even an Illinois fan, but do you realize how silly this post it? I honestly can't tell when you're being serious or not.

[RockRaines]

So my Alma Mater got kentuckied last night, absolute bulls***. This isnt the first time this has happened to Miami since they have given some big time programs some trouble the last several years yet always seem to lose due to lopsided calls down the stretch.

[Chisoxfn]

The UCLA-Fullerton game is very entertaining for all the wrong reasons.

CAL...STATE....FULLERTON!!!!!

[Chisoxfn]

Jason is about to be really excited or really crushed.

 

Excited is the winner. That was a battle of 2 mid-majors though. UCLA has no talent. How did that happen?

By awesomeness!!!!

[Balta1701]

Basketball officiating can be very subjective, with a variance between what is and what isn't a foul. Anderson and Pierce set out to measure officials "fairness" by examining the number and timing of fouls called during games. They looked at 272 regular season games, 30 neutral-court conference tournament games and 63 neutral-court NCAA tournament games. To avoid the effect of trailing teams intentionally fouling at the ends of games, only foul calls in the first half were included.

 

Among their findings:

 

* The probability of a foul being called on the visiting team was 7 percent higher than on the home team.

* When the home team is leading, the probability of the next foul being called on them is about 6.3 percentage points higher than when the home team is trailing.

* The larger the foul differential between two teams, the greater the likelihood that the next call will be made against the team with fewer fouls. For example, when a home team has three or more fouls than the visiting team, the probability that the next foul call is made against the visiting team is more than 60 percent. When the foul differential is as high as five, then that probability rises to 69 percent. The researchers also observed this trend when they looked at neutral-court games.

 

"We talk about crowd as a factor, but we're able to rule that out as a complete explanation because it happens to the visiting team too," Anderson said. "There's clearly a score effect on both sides. The team that is leading is more likely to get a foul call."

Link

[kev211]

lol

 

I'm not even an Illinois fan, but do you realize how silly this post it? I honestly can't tell when you're being serious or not.

I'm just trying to show you guys the talent level isn't as lopsided as you think, and you all think that ISU would lose no matter what if they played Illinois when it's not the case.

 

Like I said earlier Illinois probably wins 75% of the time because they are a better team there is not denying that. But it's not 99% of the time like a lot of you guys think.

 

Well never know though because Bruce Weber refuses to play in state teams at their place(Because he unlike you guys realizes that ISU upsetting them in normal and SIU upsetting them in Carbondale is not that far fetched), and Tim Jankovich refuses to play any power conference team @ their court without a return game.

Edited November 17, 2009 by kev211

[kev211]

Um, OK? Who cares what Lennox Forrester (who the f*** is that anyway? Never heard of him in my life) says after playing both teams one time this damn early in the season? Nick Smith would seem physical to them compared to the competition they usually faced. And 1% is wrong. I'm thinking .001.

If I had to guess I'd say Lennox Forrester knows a lot more about College Basketball then you.

[Jenksismyhero]

I'm just trying to show you guys the talent level isn't as lopsided as you think, and you all think that ISU would lose no matter what if they played Illinois when it's not the case.

 

Like I said earlier Illinois probably wins 75% of the time because they are a better team there is not denying that. But it's not 99% of the time like a lot of you guys think.

 

Well never know though because Bruce Weber refuses to play in state teams at their place(Because he unlike you guys realizes that ISU upsetting them in normal and SIU upsetting them in Carbondale is not that far fetched), and Tim Jankovich refuses to play any power conference team @ their court without a return game.

 

And we're just trying to show you that there's a HUGE disparity in talent level there which you apparently just want to ignore. Do you really believe that ISU would win 1 out of every 4 games played? That's ludicrous.

 

And he refuses to schedule those teams for two reasons (neither of which involve a fear of losing): (1) there's ZERO incentive to playing ISU or SIU. None. They win and it gives them nothing, but if they lose, it's a big negative mark on their ranking at the end of the year; (2) More importantly, with the pre season tourneys, the big/ten challenge, etc, they have very few, if any, open games available, and they want to fill those games at home so they can make some $$. Going to ISU or SIU COSTS them money.

 

Here's an article that just came out today about Webers thoughts on this topic:

 

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2009/...ame-vs-siu.html

 

 

 

[kev211]

And we're just trying to show you that there's a HUGE disparity in talent level there which you apparently just want to ignore. Do you really believe that ISU would win 1 out of every 4 games played? That's ludicrous.

 

And he refuses to schedule those teams for two reasons (neither of which involve a fear of losing): (1) there's ZERO incentive to playing ISU or SIU. None. They win and it gives them nothing, but if they lose, it's a big negative mark on their ranking at the end of the year; (2) More importantly, with the pre season tourneys, the big/ten challenge, etc, they have very few, if any, open games available, and they want to fill those games at home so they can make some $$. Going to ISU or SIU COSTS them money.

 

Here's an article that just came out today about Webers thoughts on this topic:

 

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2009/...ame-vs-siu.html

And that is what is messed up with the NCAA. How the hell are Mid-Majors supposed to get into the tournament because the main argument right now is who did you beat if no one will play you? It's basically gotten to the point where you have to win your conference tourney to get into the tournament.

 

And the 2nd point is just Weber's excuse. Since getting to U of I he has played 3 MVC teams ISU, BU, and WSU. He barely won all 3 of those games so trust me he knows the MVC isn't a joke conference.

[Felix]

I'm just trying to show you guys the talent level isn't as lopsided as you think, and you all think that ISU would lose no matter what if they played Illinois when it's not the case.

 

Like I said earlier Illinois probably wins 75% of the time because they are a better team there is not denying that. But it's not 99% of the time like a lot of you guys think.

 

Well never know though because Bruce Weber refuses to play in state teams at their place(Because he unlike you guys realizes that ISU upsetting them in normal and SIU upsetting them in Carbondale is not that far fetched), and Tim Jankovich refuses to play any power conference team @ their court without a return game.

I'm just saying that no one cares.

 

We've gone over this argument for the past 3 years in this yearly thread and it never changes. I know you think ISU is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I'm sorry, they really aren't that good and big schools such as Illinois have absolutely no reason to go on the road to play them. You citing some no name coaches opinion about ONE game against both teams means absolutely nothing, and NO ONE CARES. I don't know how to stress that last point enough.

 

The ISU/Illinois argument is old and boring. Find something new to complain about.

[Kyyle23]

I'm just saying that no one cares.

 

We've gone over this argument for the past 3 years in this yearly thread and it never changes.

 

yes

 

. You citing some no name coaches opinion about ONE game against both teams means absolutely nothing, and NO ONE CARES.

 

no. I went to SIU, I care. Rowand, Sonik, Brian, they care. Kev, shoe, they care. Just because the team is classified mid major doesnt mean nobody cares. We are the team struggling for notoriety, for exposure, and wanting it doesnt make it wrong. You guys get it without asking for it, so it doesnt make sense to you, I get that.

 

But we do care, we want to the same thing you have. The way kev presented it, I was giving him a hard time about it because SIUE isnt the team I would be quoting(and because he is an ISU fan ), but I totally understand what he was saying. I was saying the same thing a few years ago when SIU went to the sweet 16 and had a chance to play Illinois in round 2(but Illinois lost to Va Tech, which SIU manhandled), just saying "we can beat this team".

 

We just want a chance to go out and play the big teams without that throwaway 2nd game in the contract(which the major schools always buy out).

 

 

[kev211]

yes

 

 

 

no. I went to SIU, I care. Rowand, Sonik, Brian, they care. Kev, shoe, they care. Just because the team is classified mid major doesnt mean nobody cares. We are the team struggling for notoriety, for exposure, and wanting it doesnt make it wrong. You guys get it without asking for it, so it doesnt make sense to you, I get that.

 

But we do care, we want to the same thing you have. The way kev presented it, I was giving him a hard time about it because SIUE isnt the team I would be quoting(and because he is an ISU fan ), but I totally understand what he was saying. I was saying the same thing a few years ago when SIU went to the sweet 16 and had a chance to play Illinois in round 2(but Illinois lost to Va Tech, which SIU manhandled), just saying "we can beat this team".

 

We just want a chance to go out and play the big teams without that throwaway 2nd game in the contract(which the major schools always buy out).

Great Post

[Felix]

no. I went to SIU, I care. Rowand, Sonik, Brian, they care. Kev, shoe, they care. Just because the team is classified mid major doesnt mean nobody cares. We are the team struggling for notoriety, for exposure, and wanting it doesnt make it wrong. You guys get it without asking for it, so it doesnt make sense to you, I get that.

 

But we do care, we want to the same thing you have. The way kev presented it, I was giving him a hard time about it because SIUE isnt the team I would be quoting(and because he is an ISU fan ), but I totally understand what he was saying. I was saying the same thing a few years ago when SIU went to the sweet 16 and had a chance to play Illinois in round 2(but Illinois lost to Va Tech, which SIU manhandled), just saying "we can beat this team".

 

We just want a chance to go out and play the big teams without that throwaway 2nd game in the contract(which the major schools always buy out).

None of this changes the fact that the ISU/Illinois argument is boring and annoying to read. It's been gone over fifty times using the same arguments back and forth, and it's really tiring to see it happen again and again.

 

I do understand that mid-majors have a tough time scheduling matchups with big schools, and that sucks. But look at it from a big schools perspective. If they play a mid-major on the road and lose, they take a serious blow to any tournament hopes they may have. If they play them and win, no one cares about it. With this in mind, why would a big school ever play a mid-major on the road, especially when they can schedule them for a game at home and actually make some real revenue?

 

The system sucks for mid-majors, sure. But that's no reason to have the same stupid ISU/Illinois argument that no one cares about all over again.

Edited November 17, 2009 by Felix

[kev211]

None of this changes the fact that the ISU/Illinois argument is boring and annoying to read. It's been gone over fifty times using the same arguments back and forth, and it's really tiring to see it happen again and again.

 

I do understand that mid-majors have a tough time scheduling matchups with big schools, and that sucks. But look at it from a big schools perspective. If they play a mid-major on the road and lose, they take a serious blow to any tournament hopes they may have. If they play them and win, no one cares about it. With this in mind, why would a big school ever play a mid-major on the road, especially when they can schedule them for a game at home and actually make some real revenue?

 

The system sucks for mid-majors, sure. But that's no reason to have the same stupid ISU/Illinois argument that no one cares about all over again.

The only way to fix this is if the selection committee realizes that a lose on the road to a mid-major is not a bad lose.