NCAA tournament 2011 — running thread

Is it me or am I under the impression that the players and coaches in this tournament have found ways to go brain-dead in pressure situations? Pitt/Butler, UNC/Wash (why in the hell didn't Isaiah Thomas have the damn ball in hands bringing up the court?), and in the Wichita/VaTech game, Wichita damn near pulled off a Pitt/Butler sideline redux, only for the VaTech player to step out of bounds and Wichita holds on to win.

This is about as dumb basketball as I've seen.

 

Wichita/Va. Tech is an NIT game. Just ask Seth Greenberg about it.

 

A lot of dumb basketball at the end of the Washington-North Carolina game. What was the Washington player doing launching that show with like 3 seconds left? God, he had plenty of time and he launches a prayer. Then the UNC player touches it instead of letting it go out of bounds. And on Thomas' last shot, the UNC guy could have easily gotten called for goaltending (although the shot was a two).

And the refs should have put more time on the clock at the end.

 

Only when the clock's running.


God knows, he can get the bodies . . . but that's not coaching. That's something else.

 

Darius Morris is just about as efficient of a shooter inside the paint as anyone I have seen.

 

Not now during the Church of Dukebluedevil portion of the broadcast day.

 

It's what happens when coaches are valued more for their ability to recruit, charm boosters and get their program on TV than, you know, coach.

It's why the likes of Rick Barnes and Jamie Dixon are trumpeted as great coaches even as their teams flop in March every year.

 

Duke already has 5 fouls with 10 minutes to go - not good, considering Michigan can't score on them. Their defense is too good.

 

Right after Greg Gumbel told viewers to stay tuned for Michigan-Duke, 'coming up next on ESPN.'

 

Exactly. The man can recruit. Coach? Well ...

Nope. It's why the viewers get Chris Collins and Steve Wojcichowski during the games. When doing Duke games, sideline folks get either the other head coach or a Duke assistant. It has been that way for years.