2012-2013 NCAA Basketball thread

[Jenksismyhero]

You mean when everyone will be watching the OSU-Duke game?

 

Not from 8-8:30ish!

[Brian]

And damn near every broadcast is exactly the same. Regardless of who is playing, he'll talk about Duke, Kentucky, one or two other top teams, and whomever has elite recruiting classes coming in next year.

 

He's the Hawk Harrelson of college hoops.

[cabiness42]

Vitale got old for me a few years ago. You don't have to talk over the whole game. Becomes distracting sometimes. And his ACC homerism is just so obvious all the time.

 

True story: Between my freshman and sophomore years at ND, we got a new phone/voice mail system in the dorms. The first person to discover that a voice mail message had a four-minute limit? Vitale's daughter.

 

[RockRaines]

Did you not watch the game last night? Maryland put up 49 in the second half and Indiana is a hell of a lot better.

 

Seriously, you sure you're not a closet NU fan? Even I have my doubts after they struggled through the last few games.

 

As for the other stuff, IU is the best right now because just about every other team with talent is losing. Their offense is awesome, the jury is still out on the D.

 

It's REALLY early to crown Michigan as a legit team, especially considering they let NC State shoot 57% from the floor last night. They're not a great defensive team, they go with one big most of the time, and they're only about 6 deep with quality players, 3 of which are freshman that'll likely have some rough games.

LOL. I've just seen NW do this to my teams over the last few years, just SLOOOOOWWWW it way down against conference foes and make us hit a last min shot to win it.

[ZoomSlowik]

Indiana is definitely better at the moment but Maryland is damn good. They'll be competing for the acc title.

 

REALLY not buying that. They don't have the backcourt to compete with legit teams.

[RockRaines]

Undefeated? I'll admit it's crossed my mind, but I can't see it. It ain't gonna happen, though I'd probably dance naked somewhere if it did. As you said, the Big Ten is way too good. I think the biggest obstacle for IU will be a team with length that has depth inside. Of course, a hot shooting team that is patient can provide problems for any team.

I've seen us come close, but undoubtedly somewhere on the road like in Madison you trip up. Or with Illinois against Matt Sylvester. It all comes down to getting a top seed and getting hot anyway, turns out nobody remembers conference titles or records.

[Jenksismyhero]

I've seen us come close, but undoubtedly somewhere on the road like in Madison you trip up. Or with Illinois against Matt Sylvester. It all comes down to getting a top seed and getting hot anyway, turns out nobody remembers conference titles or records.

 

That sucked so hard.

[IlliniKrush]

That sucked so hard.

Sucks even harder when you're there for it.

 

f***.

[farmteam]

I assumed Sheehey+others. Our guards match up well defensively, however if you shut Thomas down we are done.

Isn't Thomas about the same size as Reggie Bullock, or am I just way off? That's who Oladipo guarded last night.

 

It would be either Oladipo or Sheehey, most certainly.

[RockRaines]

Isn't Thomas about the same size as Reggie Bullock, or am I just way off? That's who Oladipo guarded last night.

 

It would be either Oladipo or Sheehey, most certainly.

He's 6'7" but plays in the post alot, probably will lead the team in boards. I would say he plays the 4 mostly as we run Craft/Smith/Ross or Thompson as guards.

[Buehrle>Wood]

DJ Byrd going off. 15 points in the first ten minutes.

[Rex Hudler]

Vitale got old for me a few years ago. You don't have to talk over the whole game. Becomes distracting sometimes. And his ACC homerism is just so obvious all the time.

 

 

I quite liked Vitale last night. But only because he didn't go on his standard rant #31 about the breakup between IU and Robert Montgomery Knight and how they should name the basketball arena after him. He Dick, if Bobby wants to come back, that's on him. Olive branches have been extended and until the other night in Brooklyn, he has refused to even mention IU, let alone talk about them. It's on him at this point.

 

He did however, go back into the scheduling (or lack thereof) with Kentucky and Indiana. I'm tired of hearing about that s***. Simply put, if Calipari wanted to play IU, it would have been done. But he was the one that wanted to change things and made demands about what Kentucky would and wouldn't do. He simply wanted no part of this IU team in Lexington. F*ck him!

[Rex Hudler]

Kind of ridiculous the lack of respect Indiana showed the basketball titans of north carolina/rimshot

 

+++

 

Pretty disgusted with Mizzou G Mike Dixon. Not really pining for him to come back any time soon, if ever.

 

Lack of respect? Am I missing sarcasm here?

[farmteam]

DJ Byrd going off. 15 points in the first ten minutes.

5/5 from 3. Yikes. Even got the bank.

[farmteam]

I quite liked Vitale last night. But only because he didn't go on his standard rant #31 about the breakup between IU and Robert Montgomery Knight and how they should name the basketball arena after him.

He didn't go on a rant per se, but he did mention twice they should rename it the Robert Montgomery Knight Center.

[Rex Hudler]

Isn't Thomas about the same size as Reggie Bullock, or am I just way off? That's who Oladipo guarded last night.

 

It would be either Oladipo or Sheehey, most certainly.

 

The other thing IU has that most teams do not is Christian Watford. I know he didn't show up offensively last night, but on defense he brings a versatility that many teams can't match. Late last year he was guarding the PG for several teams. He's not as quick as they are, but his length gives them problems. He really gave Kentucky fits at times, guarding Teague. With Sheehey being very versatile, Oladipo being able to guard bigger players and Watford being able to guard smaller players, it just gives Indiana a lot of flexibility.

[Rex Hudler]

He didn't go on a rant per se, but he did mention twice they should rename it the Robert Montgomery Knight Center.

 

Glad I missed it! Would diatribe be a better word than rant?

[Buehrle>Wood]

Purdue joins Nebraska as teams unexpectedly destroying their opponent.

[Rex Hudler]

Two things:

 

1) I am not buying this Illinois team yet at all. Last year's team was 10-0 before collapsing down the stretch. This is a team this is going to live and die with the three and doesn't really have an impressive win yet. Bertrand and Paul are the only two guys I expect will be able to create their own offense in the B1G and they will no post offense (part because Egwu isn't there yet and part because the guards are awful at feeding the post). They will win some games they shouldn't and lose some games they shouldn't. I like Groce, I like what I see so far, but I still fully expect this to be a bubble team come March.

 

2) I raise this observation from an NBA standpoint as to Zeller, not to be critical, but because I think it's an interesting discussion point. If I were an NBA GM, my concerns with Zeller would be (a) can he consistently knock down an 18 footer, and (b) can he beat bigger defenders off the dribble. I don't think he can showcase those skills this year because IU is extremely balanced offensively. With the weak draft class this year, it's irrelevant. Zeller will be a top 3 pick. But if IU had fewer options offensively, Zeller would get 20 shots a night and be able to show just how good he really is offensively.

 

In regards to a, yes. Or at least he will be able to. He won the 3pt shooting contest this year at Hoosier Hysteria (yes, Hulls participated) and reportedly has a nice soft touch, at least from 15' consitently. Part of why we don't see it now is IU's focus is so much on taking the ball to the hole to try and draw fouls on scoring plays, that he's not initially looking for a jump shot. The few times he took one last night, it seemed like he realized it was open and took it, after he was intitially looking to drive or pass. In regards to b, that remains to be seen. How many 7'ers can though? (I don't watch the NBA) He is about as complete a big man as I have seen lately, but he is far from a banger inside. He'll mix it up and get some rebounds, but he's still growing and getting stronger.

[Rex Hudler]

Things not looking too good for my old neighborhood buddy Brad Brownell at Clemson.

[farmteam]

Glad I missed it! Would diatribe be a better word than rant?

Not even. It was like two sentences each time, then on to a new topic, fortunately.

[RockRaines]

I quite liked Vitale last night. But only because he didn't go on his standard rant #31 about the breakup between IU and Robert Montgomery Knight and how they should name the basketball arena after him. He Dick, if Bobby wants to come back, that's on him. Olive branches have been extended and until the other night in Brooklyn, he has refused to even mention IU, let alone talk about them. It's on him at this point.

It's on him, but you have to understand that IU is IU because of Bobby Knight. Look at his accomplishments vs what the school has done overall. He should have never been treated the way he was. I'm sure a man of his temper and arrogance (not trying to be negative on him I LOVE Bobby knight) has a hard time giving up the frustration at IU.

[Jake]

Illinois ranked #22 in both polls. I'd love to finish the year right around there

 

Don't be such a pessimist!

 

Illinois can beat anyone in the conference on a given night but the frontcourt isn't good enough to be a threat to any of those 4 over the long haul. Unless the light goes on for Egwu, and I think that is at least a year away, we just aren't going to get enough production inside and our rebounding isn't good enough to really be a true threat to finish in the top 4 in the conference this year with how strong the league is.

 

The frontcourt could be a huge issue. I think they can defend, but the lack of rebounding is particularly confusing. I don't expect much offensively other than from Griffey, who has looked surprisingly good on offense.

 

Depth at PG could be a problem. Abrams is another guy that looks much improved, but we still haven't seen him against real good competition as much as I'd like. He has no backup, and I don't like Paul/Richardson bringing the ball upcourt.

 

And B-Paul looks like he wants a Wooden Award, we'll see if he can keep up anything like the pace he has so far.

[Balta1701]

It's on him, but you have to understand that IU is IU because of Bobby Knight. Look at his accomplishments vs what the school has done overall. He should have never been treated the way he was. I'm sure a man of his temper and arrogance (not trying to be negative on him I LOVE Bobby knight) has a hard time giving up the frustration at IU.

To be fair, Indiana in the modern era was Bobby Knight, but they had a history before that including 2 NCAA titles under Branch McCracken.

[Soxbadger]

Wisconsin is in complete disarray unless Bo Ryan was jobbing to Tony Bennett.

 

Bo just needs to free Sam Dekker. I dont know how much longer this can go on, something will have to give.