Running 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament thread

Somehow, I was seated directly behind the Butler bench tonight. Why a small fry like me was there is anyone's guess, but anyway ...

Stevens impressed the hell out of me with his demeanor. He just didn't act like this is that big of a deal. His calmness sets a great tone for Butler, who never got rattled and didn't show very much emotion themselves. I don't think anyone's going to be playing a Hoosiers clip, I think they think they're above that. They don't think they're a fluke ... and that's a good thing.

Stevens' demeanor was in sharp contrast to Bob Huggins, who was going off on his players, his assistant coaches, etc. When the Mountaineers went down, you knew it was very likely they would stay down. They didn't handle adversity well at all.

And this just in ... Duke fans are dicks. Walking to the stadium today, a bunch of Duke fans were chanting, "Fuck Carolina". Uh, last I checked North Carolina isn't anywhere near the Final Four, so, you know, who cares about your dumb ass rival? Sounds a lot like Red Sox fans chanting "Yankees suck" at games not involving the Yankees.

I hope Butler kicks the shit out of Duke on Monday, but they won't. Duke is going to be a very tough matchup for them.

 

Thing is, at times, it did look like West Virginia forgot how to defend. And I'm not talking about the 3-pointers following offensive rebounds, where maybe someone crashes the glass and leaves a man wide open. I'm talking Smith and Singler all alone on the baseline to drive to the basket uncontested and, of course, many more wide open outside looks. The Turkish kid seemed lost on defense, doubling down a couple times on someone who didn't even have the ball.

 

You've got to be shitting me - this is ridiculous.

This Butler team beat a much shittier version (no Suton, no Kalin Lucas, no Travis Walton) of Michigan State by the skin of their teeth and probably shouldn't have even won the game.

This Butler team would not have made the Elite Eight in last year's tournament. And neither would this Duke team.

The fact that a team like Butler is in the national title game -- and for that matter teams like Michigan State and West Virginia were in the Final Four - says everything you need to know about how awful the field was this year.

 

Because Butler is a nice story -- but they aren't a great team by any stretch or definition and frankly are not better than either Syracuse or Kansas State, but did what they needed to do to pull the upsets and so they are here in the Finals.

But being here, THIS year against THIS field, is not a validation of anything other than in a shitty year, if you play reasonably well and get a little lucky, you have a shot to get to the Final Four.

 

It is amazing to me how many people don't understand this fundamental fact of basketball -- I don't give a shit how well you defend - if a team is hitting 3's (what were they, 13 for 24 or something?) and offensive rebounding like that team was tonight, you have no chance of stopping them.

The only difference between Kentucky and Duke is that Duke knocked down those open 3's and Kentucky missed them against West Virginia. They were the same looks, one team hit them, the other team didn't.

I know that doesn't fit into the Coach K is a genius and Coach Cal is the worst coach on the planet mantra spewn by some of the John Wooden wannabes around here, but it really is that simple -- the game is a helluva lot easier to play and coach when a few shots go into the basket.

 

zag, I'm not trying to build up or tear down any particular coach here. Just stating that Duke got some wide open looks and knocked them down. Obviously, that's great execution on Duke's part and probably a mistake or two on the Mountaineers' part.

And let's face it. Duke is a much, much 3-point shooting team than Kentucky ever hoped to be. The Wildcats weren't going to win a national championship when a team played zone, sagged inside and forced them to hit some outside shots. Duke, obviously, can make shots all over the court. And when you're shooting those uncontested, without any pressure when the shot goes it, it's that much easier to hit those shots if you can shoot like Duke does.

You are right, though: No one would have beaten Duke tonight. Very Cornell-like (opening weekend) shooting performance.

 

But that was my point - those looks, Kentucky all those looks as well - the difference is, they didn't hit them and as a result WVU was content to sag in the lane and take away every other option, including Cousins.

The thing is, Kentucky didn't need to shoot like Duke did tonight to win the game - they just needed to do better than 0-for-first-20 and 4-for-33 overall in order to open some other things up.

I just was saying that last week some of the people around here used Kentucky's loss as a platform to rip Calipari and my point is -- if your guys are shooting horribly, there is much you can do to change things up.

 

Zag, I really don't think Duke will have that much time and space to shoot the three due to Butler's defense. No time and space equals a lower shooting percentage.

Also, who will be the best player on the court Monday night? In my book, it's Heyward. That should always be considered when picking a winner.

 

I was in the other room and I could've sworn CBS went to break with "And we'll be back with a tribute to the late Dick Enberg.''

 

Dook, -6 1/2.

 

Scheyer is the punk who needs to be taken out on a slab.

The nation would cheer.