Running 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament thread

Why? No one in the NBA has played any defense since 1969.

 

That 1988 Kansas team was a grease fire for much of the year. They were printing NIT tickets when they stumbled along at 12-8, already weighted down by being ranked #2 or #3 going into the year.

Then they just happened to catch fire in the tournament - but it took a while. They beat Xavier in the first round, then Murray State by a whopping three points. ALL of the great teams in their bracket got knocked out. #2 Pitt (by Vanderbilt), #1 Purdue (by Kansas State), #3 NC State (by Murray State). KU contained Vandy in the Sweet 16 before outlasting K-State, led by Mitch Richmond.

Even in the Final Four, they played Duke and Oklahoma, teams that had beaten them in all three matchups. Fabulous coaching throughout.

I wonder, at this age, if Norm Stewart just avoids the tournament altogether. ALL of those teams that may have had "the goods" to make the Final Four, across three different eras no less (Stipo/Sundvold, Chievous/D. Smith, the 14-0 Big 8 team of 1994 with Melvin Booker). They had their chances but all of the Xaviers, Rhode Islands, Northern Iowas took the eventual toll.

Of course, I could never understand how a guy like Rich Daly "Dr. Detroit" was able to get all of those Detroit blue-chippers to spend four years in Columbia, Missouri. Still boggles the mind.

 

. . . and as Cal keeps singing "Myyyyyy
Wayyyyyyyyyyyy . . ", the NCAA is taking
copious notes, and sanctions should not be long in coming.

Insanity is consistently witnessing the same
shit from the same source, and expecting a different result.

 

Kansas was ranked as high as No. 7 in the AP poll. Basketball Times had Kansas as its preseason No. 1, so it's not like Kansas had no expectations that year, especially with Manning. And when you look at their 11 losses, not many bad ones in that group - two to Oklahoma, two to Kansas State, and one each to Duke, Iowa, Illinois, St. John's, Iowa State and Nebraska (fuckabuncha Beau Reid).

You're right about Kansas not exactly rolling through the tournament that year. Murray State actually had the ball down one with a chance to win. The Final Four, however, was some incredible basketball by Kansas. They led Duke 14-0 and 24-6. Milt Newton was an effing stud that game and again against Oklahoma. I still maintain that 50-50 first half in the finals was one of the greatest halves of basketball ever.

As for Norm Stewart, his baby was the Big 8 Tournament. That's the tournament he spent everything to win, and it's why his Tigers often did well at Kemper Arena. I always felt he just considered the NCAAs secondary. And don't forget the first-round bomb to UAB.

 

The NCAA is relieved of the burden of vacating another Final Four appearance.

"I know why I'm smiling"

 

Bullshit. Simply being the only other small mid-major to make it does not automatically make them the next worst.

This Butler situation is no way comparable to George Mason in 06. That was an unranked unknown 11 seed with no recent winning history that came completely out of nowhere. Whereas this Butler group was in everybody's pre-season Top 20 (even reached the Top 10 at one point), has the nation's longest winning streak, has one legtimate NBA talent in Hayward and three other guys (Mack, Howard and Nored) with the talent to play nearly anywhere. And the program itself has become an annual fixture in the tournament and has reached the Sweet 16 or higher three times in the last 8 years.

In short, there were legitimate expectations for Butler, some even PICKED them for the final four going in (I know Forde did), there were none whatsoever for GMU.

And, if I were to play your "rank the final four teams" game, there are plenty (Georgia in 83, Virginia in 84, LSU in 86, Wisconsin and UNC in 2000 are a few that come to mind) that I'd probably rank below this Butler team.

 

The idea of a "bad" Final Four team is insane to start with. If you won four straight tournament games, you can't be
"bad." Playing over your head, yes. Lucky, sure. But not "bad," not "weak." There has to be some fundamental ability on the team, or it wouldn't be there.
I noticed that somebody listed 2003 Marquette as a "weak" Final Four team. The team had Dwyane Wade. That alone means it wasn't weak. It got murdered by Kansas, but so what? Even good teams can get routed.

 

Re Butler and "Hoosiers:" Milan, the inspiration, was no come-from-nowhere story either. In 1953, the year previous to its state title, it had reached the Indiana HS final four with the same lineup that won the '54 title.

 

And given they're getting a shot IN Indianapolis, and they're going to get either
crippled Spartans or Cousin Brucie, it's going
to be very, very interesting, come Saturday.
Cue the Twilight Zone music. There fortunate K-State was coming off the double OT rack, but it's not like they're wholly
undeserving. That's ridiculous.

 

Nightmare of nightmares would be a Baylor-Butler tilt.

 

That is, of course, 100 percent true.

But the purpose of the tournament is to determine a national men's basketball champion. not to entertain casual fans, provide monster TV ratings and profits for Indianapolis profiteers.

And Butler and West Vorginia were clearly the better teams on Saturday, and in every other tournament game they've played. That's what matters.

 

He is both, though I vote a higher % on stupid.

Case in point. WVU's point guard --back up point guard -- goes to the bench with foul trouble last night and Kentucky plays zone for several possessions.

I wonder which assistant had to remind the coaching genius: Ah, John. John? Wake up John. The've got five forwards on the court and no primary ball-handler on the court. Maybe we should press the shit out out of them.

Eventually KY switched to man but it was a passive man. Not the tight, in-your jock they normally play.

He'll get you some of the best athletes in the nation. But he can't coach 'em up, particularly on game day.