Official '14 NCAA Tournament Thread

[bosoxlover12]

Leggoooooo


Bazz4Life

 

[bosoxlover12]

Also, I can't imagine Danny not wanting to take Gary Harris after today. If we don't get a Top 3, put Gary in Green!

 

[Teagz]

Uconn beats MSU next round.

heh

 

[MapleLeaf]

Bill Raftery looked like Shawn Bradley next to Tom Izzo is Izzo just short or is Raftery just that tall?

 

[CameronCrazy06]

Hard to believe Kentucky is going to the final four

 

[$tunna]

Hard to believe Kentucky is going to the final four

 
Not for me 
 
hahahahahahahaha 

 

[CameronCrazy06]

Come on. This team lost to South Carolina haha. You can't say there wasn't any point in this season where you doubted this team...

 

[Hurricane Season]

Still pretty proud of myself for having UConn in the final four.

 

[RipCity32]

 

[$tunna]

Come on. This team lost to South Carolina haha. You can't say there wasn't any point in this season where you doubted this team...

 
Lol true, but I knew it would take time before they really came together. I don't think any Cal team has just been dominant from day one with freshmen starters, especially with the amount on this team. 
 
I definitely felt like they could make a run in the tourney though, no matter who their opponents were. I feel like they've had the hardest road to the Final Four of any of the teams there though lol

 

[CameronCrazy06]

 
Lol true, but I knew it would take time before they really came together. I don't think any Cal team has just been dominant from day one with freshmen starters, especially with the amount on this team. 
 
I definitely felt like they could make a run in the tourney though, no matter who their opponents were. I feel like they've had the hardest road to the Final Four of any of the teams there though lol

 
I think 2012 was pretty elite right away, only losses they took were @ Indiana on a buzzer beater and the SEC Championship game. I remember them beating Kansas pretty solidly in the Garden early on and they beat a really good UNC team at home in December.They're obviously the exception to the norm though.
 
They definitely have had the hardest road this year though. You could make the argument that Wichita State, Louisville, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Florida (if that's who they would end up playing) are all top 10 teams in the country.
 
This run honestly has me wondering what they could've done last year if Noel hadn't gone down. Think about it, since Cal has gotten to UK, the other four seasons than 2013 were Elite 8 (2010), Final 4 (2011), Champions (2012), and then this year. People were starting to write off the "one-and-done" model after last year's flameout in the NIT and this year's slow start, but I think Calipari's method looks pretty darn good right about now.

 

[elcheato]

Just so we're clear, no one sees anything coming in the tourney, it's all a crap shoot. Correct guesses are just that, guesses.

They shot 32% from three in the regular season, and are shooting 40% in the tourney. Nothing has come together, they just got hot at the right time and are shooting better than they're capable of.

 

[Elite]

Just so we're clear, no one sees anything coming in the tourney, it's all a crap shoot. Correct guesses are just that, guesses.

They shot 32% from three in the regular season, and are shooting 40% in the tourney. Nothing has come together, they just got hot at the right time and are shooting better than they're capable of.

Is it really better than they're capable of if this is what was expected from them before the season though?

 

[elcheato]

Is it really better than they're capable of if this is what was expected from them before the season though?

Doesnt matter what pre-season expectations were. The full season shows more than the last four games. 40 percent from three would suggest they are an elite shooting team, they're not. Pretty awful perimeter shooting team.

 

[CameronCrazy06]

Just so we're clear, no one sees anything coming in the tourney, it's all a crap shoot. Correct guesses are just that, guesses.

They shot 32% from three in the regular season, and are shooting 40% in the tourney. Nothing has come together, they just got hot at the right time and are shooting better than they're capable of.

 
Lol this just sounds like somebody who is bitter over a bad bracket or something (have no idea if this holds true for you or not).
 
If you have watched Kentucky play all year you would've seen that they struggled to win close games against good teams, and this is something they've clearly gotten better at with close wins over Michigan/Louisville/Wichita State. They've clearly brought it together.

 

[elcheato]

Didn't make a bracket, but I picked Kentucky and Uconn to make the final 4 once the Sweet 16 started. And I'm not gloating either, it is what it is. I got lucky.
 
People love to act like the tournament is the end all be all and automatically shows how good a team actually is. It's fun and the sport would suck without it, but it's so overvalued in terms of determining how good a team is.
 
In November-December North Carolina had a 5 game stretch where they beat Louisville, Michigan State & Kentucky. Shit happens, teams who aren't great can string wins together. Ohio State made the elite 8 and nearly beat Wichita to make the final 4 last year. I thought they were a severely flawed team who was getting eliminated in the round of 64. Still don't believe the team was that good.
 
Did Connecticut randomly "put it together" and become a top 4 team? No, they're just on a nice stretch.

 

[CameronCrazy06]

Well there's a flaw in anyone's logic who says "the final four are the best four teams, the elite eight are the best eight, etc."
 
But there's no way anybody can say kentucky hasn't figured things out. They look like a much different team than they did, even just one month ago. Trust me, I watched this team lose to SOUTH CAROLINA.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

I watched UConn lose to Houston. Such a better team now, lol. 

 

[bosoxlover12]

Shabazz is the man

 

[Giantmetfan07]

Shabazz & DeAndre are gods to me now. And Kevin Ollie. And Khalid.