NCAA tournament 2011 — running thread

Ben Hansbrough is still in his shooting rut. And now the rest of the Irish have joined him.

Notre Dame lucky to only be down 13 now.

 

Heard a great quote from Bob Knight repeated today: "Dumb will lose you more games than stupid will win you."

 

And yet, when I caught some of the women's tournament yesterday, they were playing on the normal courts at the arena.

 

I do still have a soft spot for

 

Shooting rut? Try Florida State's defense. That's the Seminoles in a nutshell.

If Leonard Hamilton had some consistent offense out of this team, it would be frightening.

 

Yep, the NCAA missing a golden opportunity brand itself with literally dozens of TV viewers.

 

He also shot poorly against Akron and in the second half against Louisville in the Big East semis.

Notre Dame is another one of those major conference basketball programs that can never seem to get over the hump, even with all of the resources it has. Forget Final Fours - only one Sweet 16 appearance since 1987.

 

Chuck laying down some seriously philosophical shit, right now.

 

Not arguing that Hansbrough or anyone else from Notre Dame hasn't shot poorly of late. But Florida State and its commitment to defense has made a lot of teams look really bad. Duke shot something like 31 percent in their matchup in Tallahassee earlier this season. Mike Krzyzewski showed no disgust in regards to his team or the media after the game, deciding that Florida State's defense won the game.

The only thing keeping Florida State from a deep run is more consistent offense. Chris Singleton is as effective an offensive player as Leonard Hamilton has on a consistent basis, though Derwin Kitchen is capable of big games on occasion and James can crash the boards for a few points alone, much less his presence underneath on the other end of the floor. The Seminoles can be baffling because the offense can completely disappear.

 

Can the committee now stop putting 11 teams from the Big East in the tourney? No .500 conference record, you're not in - and yes, I know UConn had a .500 conference record. Had the Huskies not loaded up on patsies to come to Storrs and maybe tried playing a mid-major on the road, they wouldn't have the record to get to the tourney.

Oh, and this is bracket justice. My men's pools are all a wreck.
My women's bracket I hit 29 of 32 and have every Sweet 16 still playing.

 

Haha @ Barkley ripping on the Big Least while Pitino was starring at him with his droopy eyes. And looky looky, Notre Dame is down double digits.

 

Kenny Smith made a good point when he described Notre Dame as a rhythm team that is susceptible to disruption by a defense like Florida State's. That's what the first half looked like to me.