March Madness (NCAA b-ball)

[Stokely]

What's crazy is that all those shooters didn't really win it for them.  They had a fair number of inside points, their 3 percentage wasn't great.  SC had a billion rebounds.  It's one of those games where the final score is kind of a surprise despite watching it the whole time.

[Sam Mullins]

3 minutes ago, Stokely said:

What's crazy is that all those shooters didn't really win it for them.  They had a fair number of inside points, their 3 percentage wasn't great.  SC had a billion rebounds.  It's one of those games where the final score is kind of a surprise despite watching it the whole time.

Yeah Warnock and Marshall have been huge shooters for us down the stretch and did nothing tonight on offense.  Weird game. 4/5 SC starters didn’t score in first half. 

[octa]

Congrats to the Hawkeyes. Caitlin looked like Kevin Durant out there and Iowa sure had an enthusiastic crowd! Lookin' forward to championship game. 

Hopefully my Lady Gamecocks will be back in the Final Four next year. 

[GovernorSilver]

1 hour ago, Sam Mullins said:

And I’m frequently wrong 😑 

 

Stunned. 

 

Congrats!  Caitlin Clark was unstoppable.

[bill5]

SD State gets to the title game on a buzzer-beater, wow. 

[GovernorSilver]

FAU had a game plan against SDSU's defense that worked really well. 

 

But Dutcher and SDSU made the adjustments to slow down them down.  

 

Gutsy move by Dutcher to not call a timeout on that final possession, setting up Butler's winning shot.

 

The commentator saying there's no scorers on the floor - right before Butler launched the winning shot - made me smile, because the Aztecs don't depend on that one or 2 special "scorer" - it's been a different person every game logging the most points.  Dutcher is known for not benching guys who miss shots, but instead benching guys who screw up defensive players.   I don't think he minded at all putting the ball in the hands of the 2022-2023 MWC Defensive Player of the Year for that final shot.

 

Aztecs were down by about 10 when I left to go see my friends play a set of ambient synth music at a brewpub.   When I got to the brewpub my cousin and mutual bud were blowing up my phone about them being down 14 or something.  I made an effort to watch my friends instead of the game, but managed to see the reflection of the TV in the window of Aztec players slapping the big magnet/sticker/whatever on the final spot of the bracket.

 

I'm sure at some point it'll hit me that a San Diego team is playing for a meaningful national championship game.

[bill5]

lol

 

Go SD! I'll be honest I don't like their chances against UConn, but stuff happens, who knows? UConn, even though they were hitting their fair share, launched too many 3 pointers tonight IMO...again can't blame them when they were generally working, but I was underwhelmed by their inside game. Miami just couldn't keep up and the shots weren't falling like they were for UConn.

[ProfD]

Congrats @GovernorSilver to your SDSU Aztecs. 

 

The Aztecs may be facing a buzzsaw in the Huskies on Monday night.

 

Lets hope it's a good competitive game.😎

[GovernorSilver]

Thanks, guys!

 

No surprise that the Huskies are the heavy favorite - 7.5 just like Alabama was.

 

When I first realized the Aztecs were going to play the Crimson Tide which was not only a 1 seed, but ranked #1 overall, I thought "Oh well, at least they made the Sweet 16 again this year".   After beating Bama, every win since has been a bonus from my perspective.   Even if they lose to the Huskies by double digits, their advancement to the Final Four and beyond will boost their recruiting and overall national profile.

 

Despite the Final Four game in which the Owls managed to force the Aztecs out of their preferred style, they're going go back to the physical, grinding half court defensive-oriented style that they like.

[MAJUSCULE]

Congrats Gov!

 

Boy, am I hyped for this Iowa-LSU final. Should be a great game.

[GovernorSilver]

Wow, the refs are not allowing any physical play in the women's natty.    Calling fouls left and right

[Geoff Grace]

Yes, a belated congrats, GovernorSilver!

 

Best,

 

Geoff 

[jazzpiano88]

3 hours ago, GovernorSilver said:

Wow, the refs are not allowing any physical play in the women's natty.    Calling fouls left and right

 

Yep, even the announcers were flabbergasted at how the refs inserted themselves into the game, calling large numbers of incidental contact fouls and altering the strategy of play.

 

Really was not a valid basketball game IMO.

 

This theme extends to the men's NCAA and explains the chaos in the brackets.   The refs are the deciding factor by far.

[surfergirl]

Yeah the officiating was bad, but Jasmine Carson decided the game. 

 

[GovernorSilver]

Carson and Morris did quite a number on Iowa.   Cimano and Warnock fouling out did not help Iowa either.

 

Morris shook off the early frustration of defending Clark for a dominant 2nd half shooting performance.

[drumtek101]

LSU did a great job tonight. Yeah early on the officiating was bad but the 2nd half they really let them play. I thought it was a good game. And I’m not just saying this because I live near Baton Rouge lol. I’m not an LSU fan either.

[MAJUSCULE]

Unfortunate ref show, yes, but some stellar shooting from LSU. Iowa could never truly get back in the game. Congrats to the Tigers.

[Sam Mullins]

Yes officiating was not great but that didn’t decide the game.  Hawkeyes were simply outplayed today.  Congrats to LSU. 

[Stokely]

I don't get why LSU was a 3 seed considering they had only two losses, and it's not like they play lousy competition being in the SEC.  At least one of those losses was to unbeaten South Carolina.

[bill5]

I noticed that in a few men's games...it's like touch the guy and it's a foul. Lame -

 

Hoping for a good game tonight!

[MAJUSCULE]

Btw, if you hadn't heard, LSU's Flau'jae Johnson is also a rapper. She's legit on the court and on the mic.

 

"Are you gonna rap or be an athlete? If I'm still doing both why you asking me?"

 

She was on America's Got Talent as a fourteen year-old. Her father was a rapper as well, under the name Camoflauge, but was tragically shot to death before her birth.

 

 

 

[bill5]

Well, turned this off already. Down 16 and nothing is going right. Can't get anything going in the inside game and 3-pointers aren't falling at all while UConn is hitting everything. Still a great run.

 

[ProfD]

SDSU Went on a 9-0 run. Brought the game within 5 points.

 

Otherwise, SDSU never put any real pressure on UConn on either side of the ball.😎

[TommyRude]

shocked SDSU made it this far.  Growing up in SoCal, SDSU was considered a party school*

 

*Note that dig is coming from someone who didn't even finish high school.

[bill5]

Credit them for hanging in and making it interesting for a bit, but basically this was similar to the Miami game...UConn got up early and more or less traded punches the rest of the way. SD just couldn't get their inside game going and the outside shots weren't falling. 

[GovernorSilver]

1 hour ago, ProfD said:

SDSU Went on a 9-0 run. Brought the game within 5 points.

 

Otherwise, SDSU never put any real pressure on UConn on either side of the ball.😎

 

At least it wasn't the b-ball equivalent of a 65-7 football loss, right?  😅

 

UConn had way too much talent on the floor compared to SDSU.  I'm glad SDSU didn't just lay down for them, though.  They were the annoying smaller junkyard dogs snapping at the bigger Huskies.  

 

SDSU had never gotten past the Sweet 16 before.  It was an unexpected treat to see them advance all the way to national championship runner-up.   I'd be upset if they were the heavily favored team and lost to the underdog but obviously this wasn't the case.

 

With 7 seniors out of the 9-man rotation, SDSU is unlikely to be back in the Final Four as early as 2024.  But this breakthrough season will help them recruit more 4-stars.  They have a 4-star freshman already waiting in the wings - he chose SDSU over Villanova and other power schools.   Kawhi Leonard (2x NBA champion) is not their last in-house 4-star.  😀  Needless to say, this loss does not mean the sky is falling for SDSU 😎 

 

They'll probably get more transfers from power conferences like Matt Bradley who came from Cal and Ledee who came from TCU.  They're already a fixture in the NCAA tournament and will continue to be so.

 

Despite the conference realignment talk, I think they'll do ok staying parked in the MWC as they continue to build up the basketball program.  Although they'd have a lot of fun in the PAC-12, I have to admit as PAC-12 opponents other than Arizona have posed little challenge to them.

 

Congrats to UConn on their 5th championship!

 

Oh and btw, the San Diego State Aztecs should not be confused with the San Diego Toreros, who play for the private University of San Diego and compete in the WCC as one of Gonzaga's many regular victims.  There's also the University of California San Diego Tritons who compete in the Big West - also a completely different conference.  

 

So when you say "San Diego basketball team" in CA, people will think you're talking about the Toreros, not the Aztecs.

[GovernorSilver]

PAC-12 6th Man of the Year Reese Dixon Waters committed to SDSU, over schools such as Texas who sent their coach to visit him.  He was a 4-star recruit at USC.   He had been spotted attending the festivities celebrating the Aztecs' historic tournament run.

 

 

[jazzpiano88]

Is there a thread on this, or any interest in College BB?

 

My Alma mater (Iowa State, Brock Purdy) and ranked #8 just won the Big 12 Tourney blowing out #1 ranked Houston by 30 pts.    

 

Expecting them to acquire a #2 seed in one of the NCAA brackets.     They seem to be peaking and I'd advise a final four pick in your brackets.