2021 NCAA Tournament - Meta thread

[Pimphand 5,926]

6 minutes ago, Bevo said:

I was wondering why no one mentioned that game.

Fuck that game in it's face that was the 4 corners bullshit which is why the NCAA introduced the shot clock the following season.

[Wulaw Horn 19,153]

4 minutes ago, Helobious said:

None of you guys watched the Nova/UNC title game a few years back? UNC hit a circus shot to tie, Nova hits the buzzer beater to win. But damn this game was right up there with that one.

That ending was insane and amazing. The play in the game was much lower quality than this leading up to the ending. 

[PittsburghTiger 6,204]

1 minute ago, Machinator said:

That’s amazing 

[TwiceHorn 31,554]

Catlicks versus ratfuck Babtis in the final./needful things

[J.R. Juniors Junior Jr. 1,084]

Props to UCLA, going from a nail biter in the play-in game to missing the championship game on an all-timer shot.

[Pimphand 5,926]

Branch Covidians or Zags who ya got?

[NorthLoop 14,251]

3 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

That ending was insane and amazing. The play in the game was much lower quality than this leading up to the ending. 

That's bullshit. That game was great from tip to finish. 

[Message Board User 12,396]

2 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

That ending was insane and amazing. The play in the game was much lower quality than this leading up to the ending. 

Will need ArmyBrat to chime in on the ND-UCLA game and the Loyola-Cincy Oscar Robertson game.  

[Wulaw Horn 19,153]

3 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

This. Yes, Nova shot the insanely high percentage, but they also slowed the game way down.   This game, like the Laettner Duke/UK game, was high scoring with both teams shooting really high percentages.

The Laettner game is basically impossible to top, but I’m still not thinking of anything that beats this game for number 2 all time that I’ve seen.

Yep. It can’t ever be topped when you consider the talent drain to the NBA. Those were upperclassmen at blue blood schools we’d been following for 2,3 and 4 years. That context, I don’t think, is reachable in this day and age. 
but yeah- this game is an all timer tonight. 

[Blotto 23,584]

22 minutes ago, conVINCEd said:

5

yeah, I was originally was going to post Zags by 3-5, but decided to post an exact spread rather than a range. 3 might be a little light.

I don't know where it opened, but its -4.5 now on my book

Edited April 4, 2021 by Blotto

[dcar00 14,378]

3 minutes ago, Helobious said:

None of you guys watched the Nova/UNC title game a few years back? UNC hit a circus shot to tie, Nova hits the buzzer beater to win. But damn this game was right up there with that one.

i agree given that it was a champ game the UNC/Nova is the best game.  there are a ton of great champ games

Butler/uconn, unc/nova, mich/duke, UNLV/duke, NCState/Hou, UNC/Georgetown, Keith Smart Indiana, even KU/Memphis

[Message Board User 12,396]

Just now, Wulaw Horn said:

Yep. It can’t ever be topped when you consider the talent drain to the NBA. Those were upperclassmen at blue blood schools we’d been following for 2,3 and 4 years. That context, I don’t think, is reachable in this day and age. 
but yeah- this game is an all timer tonight. 

This is an excellent point and what made tonight special.

It "felt" like a game before all the one-and-dones (yes I know Suggs is gone after this year) and HSers to the NBA.  I'm not nearly the fan of college basketball I was 20-30 years ago, but tonight's game felt like a game back then.  Can't really explain it better than that.

[Machinator 32,099]

[Message Board User 12,396]

 

[Message Board User 12,396]

 

[Wulaw Horn 19,153]

12 minutes ago, NorthLoop said:

That's bullshit. That game was great from tip to finish. 

That sounded harsher than I meant it. 
The UNC v Nova game you are talking about lacked NBA talent, was between teams that felt good but not great (Gonzaga I think is a great team- not like GOAT or anything but one of the best I’ve seen in college hoops in a long while) and was played in the mid 70’s. Not a bad game. Not like that rockfight with duke and Butler- but not a high quality game that felt like I was going to put it in my memory capsule forever. 
proof of that- I think- is that it took 2 or 3 pages to get brought up. 
That game was a B or B+ with an A++ ending. 

Edited April 4, 2021 by Wulaw Horn

[Wulaw Horn 19,153]

10 minutes ago, NorthLoop said:

That's bullshit. That game was great from tip to finish. 

Just so we are clear- I’m saying the play in the game tonight was way better than the play in that UNC v Nova game. 

[Beantown Express 2.0 6,559]

11 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

This. Yes, Nova shot the insanely high percentage, but they also slowed the game way down.   This game, like the Laettner Duke/UK game, was high scoring with both teams shooting really high percentages.

The Laettner game is basically impossible to top, but I’m still not thinking of anything that beats this game for number 2 all time that I’ve seen.

Another thing that made Duke/UK a little more dramatic was that each team’s shot put them up one, so Duke was going to lose if they didn’t make the miracle play.  They were the defending champs, there was a timeout to build drama, etc.   There was no pause before Suggs’s shot tonight, and if he missed they still would have had a chance in another OT.   But still, this was unbelievable - it just didn’t have every possible way to inject drama and let the audience process it like the Duke game.

For me its easy to top that Duke game because I hated Duke, Laettner, Hurley, the Hills, Coach K and the rest of those slap the floor, cry about every foul Dookies.  Any game that I don’t have to watch Duke win is a better game than that one.

[Sbbruin 21,898]

14 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

That ending was insane and amazing. The play in the game was much lower quality than this leading up to the ending. 

Wrong.  That game is going to go down as one of the best in final four history.  All games are full of ugliness.  That game was amazing.

[pch 1,261]

29 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

Heartbreaking

My Bruin daughter in law endorses this sentiment.  Such an amazing effort by UCLA but a once in a lifetime shot by Gonzaga wins it.

[Cairn Horn88 8,285]

31 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

Heartbreaking

Yep.  Missed it....by that much.  

[conVINCEd 21,469]

1 minute ago, longhornmatt said:

Butler/Duke was good.   Butler/UConn was abysmal.  

Duke blew out Michigan if you mean the Fab Five team.   Duke/UNLV was UNLV blowout in the championship in 90, then the next year when Duke beat undefeated UNLV it was in the semifinal.

UNC/Georgetown, KU/Memphis and Indiana/Cuse were all good.  I think at least - I don’t actually remember much about the Indiana game except Keith Smart.

That Syracuse team is probably one of the best teams that didn’t win.  Good lord the talent on that team.  See the Chris Beard thread.

[Wulaw Horn 19,153]

2 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

Wrong.  That game is going to go down as one of the best in final four history.  All games are full of ugliness.  That game was amazing.

I don’t think you read me right friendo. When I said “that game” without the highest quality of play I was responding to Helo talking about UNC v Nova. That UNC v Nova did not have as high a quality of play as this game tonight. 

[Pimphand 5,926]

Yeah 2001 felt like the last year of the old guard.  You had Duke vs Arizona

Gilbert Arenas, Richard Jefferson, Luke Walton, & Loren Woods all logged time in the NBA for AZ where Duke had Boozer, Battier, Jay Williams, Mike Dunleavy, and Chris Duhon.  After that the NBA talent in the championship game really took a nose dive.

[pch 1,261]

18 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Catlicks versus ratfuck Babtis in the final./needful things

I prefer Papists vs Rapists, even though Gonzaga is a Jesuit institution.

[Dr. Teeth 5,845]

This kids in this game had to deal with paint splatter all over the court. So the degree of difficulty was higher. 

[Beantown Express 2.0 6,559]

3 minutes ago, conVINCEd said:

That Syracuse team is probably one of the best teams that didn’t win.  Good lord the talent on that team.  See the Chris Beard thread.

Sherman Douglass, Derek Coleman, Rony Seikaly was crazy talented.  Seikaly and Douglass would make up the crappy Miami Heat teams I watched in their early years in the NBA.

[dcar00 14,378]

2 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

Butler/Duke was good.   Butler/UConn was abysmal.  

Duke blew out Michigan if you mean the Fab Five team.   Duke/UNLV was UNLV blowout in the championship in 90, then the next year when Duke beat undefeated UNLV it was in the semifinal.

UNC/Georgetown, KU/Memphis and Indiana/Cuse were all good.  I think at least - I don’t actually remember much about the Indiana game except Keith Smart.

ugh yeah meant Michigan UNC, Butler Duke, and forgot UNLV Duke was semi.

[Wulaw Horn 19,153]

8 minutes ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

For me its easy to top that Duke game because I hated Duke, Laettner, Hurley, the Hills, Coach K and the rest of those slap the floor, cry about every foul Dookies.  Any game that I don’t have to watch Duke win is a better game than that one.

Just hate the fact that they are on your corner (I assume pats with your handle/avatar) as most arrogant and condescending teams and fanbases around? 

[conVINCEd 21,469]

Just now, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

Sherman Douglass, Derek Coleman, Rony Seikaly was crazy talented.  Seikaly and Douglass would make up the crappy Miami Heat teams I watched in their early years in the NBA.

Don’t forget Stevie Thompson.  Was Billy Owens on that team as a freshman?  I feel like he was but not sure.

[LonghornSean 4,024]

That was fucking great. Now go finish it, Zags

[Machinator 32,099]

 

[Pimphand 5,926]

1 minute ago, conVINCEd said:

Don’t forget Stevie Thompson.  Was Billy Owens on that team as a freshman?  I feel like he was but not sure.

Yes Billy Owens was with Cuse from 1988-91 led the team in scoring his last 2 years.

[Hagbard Celine 10,935]

16 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

i agree given that it was a champ game the UNC/Nova is the best game.  there are a ton of great champ games

Butler/uconn, unc/nova, mich/duke, UNLV/duke, NCState/Hou, UNC/Georgetown, Keith Smart Indiana, even KU/Memphis

1979

33-0 Bird

25-6 Magic

Bird went 7-21 and Magic went 8-15 so it wasn't the "greatest game evar" but it remains the #1 rated title game.

Michigan State 75

Indiana State 64

Sycamores made the dance again in 00 01 & 11, winning a game in 01.

Not certain but believe this was the last time an undefeated made the title game.

[Wulaw Horn 19,153]

2 minutes ago, Hagbard Celine said:

1979

33-0 Bird

25-6 Magic

Bird went 7-21 and Magic went 8-15 so it wasn't the "greatest game evar" but it remains the #1 rated title game.

Michigan State 75

Indiana State 64

Sycamores made the dance again in 00 01 & 11, winning a game in 01.

Not certain but believe this was the last time an undefeated made the title game.

Correct. Last two unbeatens to advance to final 4 lost in the semis. 

Edited April 4, 2021 by Wulaw Horn

[Beantown Express 2.0 6,559]

4 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

ugh yeah meant Michigan UNC, Butler Duke, and forgot UNLV Duke was semi.

That UNLV team that lost to Duke in the Semi’s is probably the best team I have seen in my lifetime.  Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony, Anderson Hunt were just incredible ball players.  To this day I defy anyone to watch that game and say that UNLV wasn’t robbed by the refs.  Every 50/50 call went Duke’s way and some were pretty egregious.  Still pisses me off as a basketball fan as I am not a UNLV fan.

[Pimphand 5,926]

4 minutes ago, Hagbard Celine said:

Not certain but believe this was the last time an undefeated made the title game.

Yeah 1991 UNLV and 2015 Kentucky both lost in the Final Four.

[WhatTheBuck 28,806]

52 minutes ago, orangecat92 said:

Best tourney game ever?!!!   Show me one better.

Recency bias much?

[Beantown Express 2.0 6,559]

2 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

80s and early 90s college basketball talent was insane.   Georgetown had Mourning and Mutombo, plus other NBA guys, together for several years and were like a fringe top 25 team.  You can go back and look at random teams that didn’t even do much and plenty of them were stacked.  For example,  Alabama had like 4 or 5 NBA players every year for a number of years (including some good ones, too, like Derrick McKey, Robert Horry, Latrell Sprewell and Antonio McDyess) and was an afterthought.  

North Carolina rosters from the late 70s through mid 90s under Dean Smith are really insane if you go back and look at those.  Oh, are you sure Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Sam Perkins, Brad Daugherty and Kenny Smith is enough to win?  Don’t think maybe you need to hit the transfer portal there, Dean?

It is strange how stacked teams were back then.  Look at LSU back when they had Shaq and Chris Jackson and then had Stanley Roberts to boot along with a bunch of good college players.  

[dcar00 14,378]

2 minutes ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

That UNLV team that lost to Duke in the Semi’s is probably the best team I have seen in my lifetime.  Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony, Anderson Hunt were just incredible ball players.  To this day I defy anyone to watch that game and say that UNLV wasn’t robbed by the refs.  Every 50/50 call went Duke’s way and some were pretty egregious.  Still pisses me off as a basketball fan as I am not a UNLV fan.

and thus begins the beginning of "hate dook".  the NCAA did not want Tark to win again. they took them off probation after everyone was giving them shit.

K - Skywalker, Tark - Vader

[Wulaw Horn 19,153]

1 minute ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

It is strange how stacked teams were back then.  Look at LSU back when they had Shaq and Chris Jackson and then had Stanley Roberts to boot along with a bunch of good college players.  

Yep. Weren’t they like an 11 seed one year?  Dale Brown man. Dale Brown. 

[Beau Vine 54,466]

 

[conVINCEd 21,469]

3 minutes ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

It is strange how stacked teams were back then.  Look at LSU back when they had Shaq and Chris Jackson and then had Stanley Roberts to boot along with a bunch of good college players.  

I’m pretty sure there was a year when Vince Carter and Antwan Jamison were backing up Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace at UNC.

[Wulaw Horn 19,153]

1 minute ago, longhornmatt said:

Another great example.  Even Shaq stayed in college 3 years back then.  He easily would have been number 1 overall had he declared after his sophomore year.

Did he really?  I thought he went after his sophomore year. Didn’t realize he was a junior. 
I think Bobby Knight was talking about that team some years later and he said something like I saw Shaq  and Jackson and was pretty nervous then I saw Dale Brown on the other sidelines and was like- yeah- we got this. 

[Pimphand 5,926]

4 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Yep. Weren’t they like an 11 seed one year?  Dale Brown man. Dale Brown. 

LSU was a 5 seed in Shaq's freshman year, a 6 seed his soph year, and a 7 seed his junior year.

[Wulaw Horn 19,153]

Just now, Pimphand said:

LSU was a 5 seed in Shaq's freshman year, a 6 seed his soph year, and a 7 seed his junior year.

That’s fucking amazing. 

[aggie08 21,555]

18 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

 

I think it's my responsibility to say this:

[conVINCEd 21,469]

19 minutes ago, conVINCEd said:

I’m pretty sure there was a year when Vince Carter and Antwan Jamison were backing up Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace at UNC.

I was off by a year on this.  They still had some really stacked teams.

[TexasGolf 5,022]

29 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

 

Advantage aggy

 

[Napoleon 8,700]

7 minutes ago, conVINCEd said:

I was off by a year on this.  They still had some really stacked teams.

They had a stacked house back then.