Running 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament thread

Remember, they also did the whip-around without ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNnews... potential exists for all-four games in the early rounds to be aired at once.
But yeah, they will indeed fuck it up...

 

They still snuck up on people - I don't think that the two teams who were better than them but got upset, Syracuse and K-State, realized how good they are until it was too late and Duke really only had one day to try and prepare for them.

Trust me when I say this - every team in the country will be breaking down their tape in the offseason and will be a lot more familiar with what they run, how they run it and how to attack them and a significant number of them will also try to incorporate what Butler does into what they do.

That is just what happens when you get to this stage.

And I cannot think of a single NCAA champion in a long time that this Duke team would beat and a number of them would blow this Duke team out of the water.

 

More likely is that ESPN ladens the tournament with cheesy, childish anecdotes the way they do with the women's tournament. They'll turn one of America's premier sporting events into Disney on the basketball court.

 

The worst part will be this -- since it is an ESPN entity, it will become 24-7 cheesy anectdotes and stories and reports from the tournament and it will get to the point where it is just too much.

 

I don't think Charley Steiner would be laughing here. He'd look right at the camera with buggy eyes and ask the viewer "What the fuck was that?"

 

Also, am I the only one (outside of those affiliated with Butler, of course) who has an empty feeling after that ending? While it was a great game, I would have rather seen Duke win by 15+ then like that. The Butler players and coaches are going to spend the rest of their lives wondering what if.

Of the dozens of plays and bounces in this game, if one more had gone their way, they would have written perhaps the greatest sports story since the Miracle On Ice. Instead, nothing.

 

One thing that is always funny is -- if a team wins, the idiotic strategy of the coach is never talked about.

Can someone explain - with 3.6 seconds to play (I get it, Butler had no time-outs), why did Zoubeck miss the free throw on purpose?

I just don't understand that strategy by coach K - and he'd have been rightfully roasted had Hayward's shot dropped at the end for the win.

It would have made a lot more sense to have him make the free throw, call a time-out and set up a 3/4-court press or something and then foul (like Butler did against Michigan State) after the ball is inbounded and advanced a few dribbles and trust your bigs - who had done a great job of blocking out in the second half - can get a rebound.

It made no sense to allow Butler a chance - particularly since they were in the bonus which means, if your guy fouls accidently on the rebound, you are putting them on the line with a chance to tie the game.

Again - it worked out because Hayward missed the shot but it really was one of the dumber coaching decisions I've seen in a long time - well since Calipari let Darryl Arthur shoot a 3-pointer last year.

 

I don't know about all that but I would have liked to see Duke win by more than 7 1/2 for sure......

 

Do you mean Mario Chalmers two years ago, sending KU-Memphis into overtime (Darrell Arthur being a starter for the Jayhawks on that team)? If so, Cal has always maintained that he wanted to foul and that play, and replays show Rose tried to foul Collins around midcourt before backing off, for whatever reason.

 

Hypothetical question, of course, but if Hayward's haflcourt shot had fallen is that the greatest ending to a sporting event since ... well, ever?
And count me among those with a hollow feeling. I was buying into the destiny thing, and it wouldn't have come against a more fitting team than Duke. This just kind of sucks. It's like seeing Cinderella make it to the ball, only to get gang-raped by Prince Charming and 10 of his douchebag frat buddies.

 

^^^ Nice Duke lacrosse reference. ^^^

 

Not defending them, but often they have no alternative in the women's tournament, since a disproportionate number of the games are blowouts played in 3/4-empty arenas.

Plus they won't be pushing an agenda.

I'd shudder of ESPN ever does one of those "spin from civilian clothes into a basketbal uniform" things for the men as it did to introduce the women last night.