2011 Final Four

[Lights Out]

I hope UConn's fans enjoy raising their banner as much as the rest of us will enjoy seeing them having to take it down later.

We will. You, however, will be waiting for a long time, methinks.

Not really. Calhoun is now a known cheater.

If referencing a two-year-old story is all you've got, then your case is really weak. Try harder next time.

If he was so willing to cheat two years ago, what makes you think he isn't now? College coaches who cheat pretty much never stop cheating after they get caught - see Calipari, John.

Congrats on the win and all, but I'm just saying, I wouldn't be surprised if UConn got in trouble again.

[Kevin W.]

So after both Kentucky and UConn get in trouble with the NCAA, can we and UNC claim Final Four appearances?

I kid, I kid...

[Still MIGHTY]

1-Jim Nantz went to UH and still has a house in Houston. He is a homer for them.

2- Nantz also has a house in Conn. and his divorce proves that.

And that matters how?

you frustrate me.

[CS85]

Another east coast championship, another midwest team sucks in the big game. ESPN is going to strain their necks blowing themselves the rest of the evening, so no TV for me.

[FiddySicks]

Connecticut is going to boat race Butler. They have to.

It's the law of nature in college basketball. Anything even remotely exciting must be squashed out by Duke, North Carolina, or Connecticut.

Yeah, just like I said.

College basketball is so boringly predictable it makes watching Jimmy Fallon seem entertaining. Thank God people only really care about it for around a month or so, good riddance to it.

[See Red]

This really is an awful game. If I wasn't a UConn fan it'd be nearly unwatchable.

Is it just me or has this game looked like a couple of bad high school teams? I don't have a horse in this race so I put the game on my secondary TV and switched my main "feed" to Pirates - Cardinals. The NC game was just too awful to warrant my full attention.

When a National Championship game is so awful that you choose to watch a Pirates game over it, that says just about everything. Like I said, I wouldn't have been able to watch if I didn't have a dog in the fight. The first half was just sloppy and awful, the second half was one-sided, sloppy and awful.

With that said, I'm pretty happy with the game!

[infrared41]

1-Jim Nantz went to UH and still has a house in Houston. He is a homer for them.

2- Nantz also has a house in Conn. and his divorce proves that.

And that matters how?

you frustrate me.

That's because you're trying to find coherent thought where none exists. dfwabel's posts are like Jackson Pollock paintings...only they're not quite as organized.

[WJMorris3]

This really is an awful game. If I wasn't a UConn fan it'd be nearly unwatchable.

Is it just me or has this game looked like a couple of bad high school teams? I don't have a horse in this race so I put the game on my secondary TV and switched my main "feed" to Pirates - Cardinals. The NC game was just too awful to warrant my full attention.

Back when I wasn't really following the NBA I didn't think there was that big a difference between college ball and the NBA. This year I've been watching the NBA regularly. Now I can't believe how huge the gap is between the two. No offense to any of our college hoops fans, but what I've seen of this tournament has been at best bearable and at worst simply some of the worst basketball I've ever watched. Tonight's game is definitely the latter. I'd rather watch Cavs- Wizards than have to sit through any more of this.

I was having flashbacks myself to a couple weeks ago at Monmouth for our state's tournament of champions in basketball, where my alma mater shot 28% for the game (and 2-for-19 in the first half). Just simply bad basketball.

That said, I'm wondering if the NCAA talent pool somewhat suffers because the NBA has the draft policy that they do? If they adopted one similar to MLB (out of high school OK, but once in college, three years must pass), maybe the quality of the college game might improve.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Not to crow, but what happened to the "Big Least" guys?

[dfwabel]

Not to crow, but what happened to the "Big Least" guys?

I thought the same thing UConn was 9-9 in conference yet 13-0 outside of the conference with two wins against Kentucky, a win against Michigan State, Wichita State, San Diego State, Arizona, and Butler.

This tournament is not giving us the best team, but gives us a final of the teams which can play the best under that circumstance.

Plus in the NCAA basketball thread we both talked that nothing matters since we are both west and cannot see Big Monday as much as we would like.

[infrared41]

This really is an awful game. If I wasn't a UConn fan it'd be nearly unwatchable.

Is it just me or has this game looked like a couple of bad high school teams? I don't have a horse in this race so I put the game on my secondary TV and switched my main "feed" to Pirates - Cardinals. The NC game was just too awful to warrant my full attention.

Back when I wasn't really following the NBA I didn't think there was that big a difference between college ball and the NBA. This year I've been watching the NBA regularly. Now I can't believe how huge the gap is between the two. No offense to any of our college hoops fans, but what I've seen of this tournament has been at best bearable and at worst simply some of the worst basketball I've ever watched. Tonight's game is definitely the latter. I'd rather watch Cavs- Wizards than have to sit through any more of this.

I was having flashbacks myself to a couple weeks ago at Monmouth for our state's tournament of champions in basketball, where my alma mater shot 28% for the game (and 2-for-19 in the first half). Just simply bad basketball.

That said, I'm wondering if the NCAA talent pool somewhat suffers because the NBA has the draft policy that they do? If they adopted one similar to MLB (out of high school OK, but once in college, three years must pass), maybe the quality of the college game might improve.

Pretty much.

[dfwabel]

Butler shot 19% from the field. Yuk!

Dick Vitale could have done that with his one eye, baby!

[HedleyLamarr]

That said, I'm wondering if the NCAA talent pool somewhat suffers because the NBA has the draft policy that they do? If they adopted one similar to MLB (out of high school OK, but once in college, three years must pass), maybe the quality of the college game might improve.

There's two schools of thought on this. I guess it depends on which you'd prefer.

If the NBA adopts an MLB-style rule to their drafts, the college game probably improves some (the top talents that'd be a one-and-done in college now go straight to the NBA prevents the college game from improving dramatically), and it also probably cleans up the NBA talent pool some and improves the pro game. Of course, the major conferences' teams likely get stronger, as the mid-majors' schools success usually comes from players staying for 3-4 years, and that advantage gets taken away from the likes of Butler, Gonzaga, etc.

Of course, if we keep the current draft policy, parity will remain in college basketball, and we'll no longer be suprised if mid-major schools make the Final Four and no #1 seeds make it to the Final Four.

[dfwabel]

This really is an awful game. If I wasn't a UConn fan it'd be nearly unwatchable.

Is it just me or has this game looked like a couple of bad high school teams? I don't have a horse in this race so I put the game on my secondary TV and switched my main "feed" to Pirates - Cardinals. The NC game was just too awful to warrant my full attention.

Back when I wasn't really following the NBA I didn't think there was that big a difference between college ball and the NBA. This year I've been watching the NBA regularly. Now I can't believe how huge the gap is between the two. No offense to any of our college hoops fans, but what I've seen of this tournament has been at best bearable and at worst simply some of the worst basketball I've ever watched. Tonight's game is definitely the latter. I'd rather watch Cavs- Wizards than have to sit through any more of this.

I was having flashbacks myself to a couple weeks ago at Monmouth for our state's tournament of champions in basketball, where my alma mater shot 28% for the game (and 2-for-19 in the first half). Just simply bad basketball.

That said, I'm wondering if the NCAA talent pool somewhat suffers because the NBA has the draft policy that they do? If they adopted one similar to MLB (out of high school OK, but once in college, three years must pass), maybe the quality of the college game might improve.

But the players who really destroyed the NBA in terms of salary were two year players: Kenny Anderson and Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson

It was not HS jumpers like Kobe and KG which had me look at HS hoops in terms of the future. It was more like the players such as Webber, Hardaway,and such.

I loved Big Dog since ESPN showed the Indiana HS Final on ESPN and they beat Alan Henderson's school. He was guy from that day.

[Eye]

This really is an awful game. If I wasn't a UConn fan it'd be nearly unwatchable.

Is it just me or has this game looked like a couple of bad high school teams? I don't have a horse in this race so I put the game on my secondary TV and switched my main "feed" to Pirates - Cardinals. The NC game was just too awful to warrant my full attention.

Back when I wasn't really following the NBA I didn't think there was that big a difference between college ball and the NBA. This year I've been watching the NBA regularly. Now I can't believe how huge the gap is between the two. No offense to any of our college hoops fans, but what I've seen of this tournament has been at best bearable and at worst simply some of the worst basketball I've ever watched. Tonight's game is definitely the latter. I'd rather watch Cavs- Wizards than have to sit through any more of this.

I was having flashbacks myself to a couple weeks ago at Monmouth for our state's tournament of champions in basketball, where my alma mater shot 28% for the game (and 2-for-19 in the first half). Just simply bad basketball.

That said, I'm wondering if the NCAA talent pool somewhat suffers because the NBA has the draft policy that they do? If they adopted one similar to MLB (out of high school OK, but once in college, three years must pass), maybe the quality of the college game might improve.

But the players who really destroyed the NBA in terms of salary were two year players: Kenny Anderson and Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson

It was not HS jumpers like Kobe and KG which had me look at HS hoops in terms of the future. It was more like the players such as Webber, Hardaway,and such.

I loved Big Dog since ESPN showed the Indiana HS Final on ESPN and they beat Alan Henderson's school. He was guy from that day.

But, players didn't destroy the NBA from a fiscal standpoint; dumbass owners did.

[rams80]

Not to crow, but what happened to the "Big Least" guys?

Doesn't UConn winning the whole thing diminish the importance of the Big East Conference season? Send a league-wide memo next season about how there is basketball to be played in March.

[NJTank]

I always felt a way to add importence to the reguar season is to cap all conference tournament at 8 teams, and cap the number of teams that can go to NCAA at 8 per league as well.

[Billy B]

I always felt a way to add importence to the reguar season is to cap all conference tournament at 8 teams, and cap the number of teams that can go to NCAA at 8 per league as well.

That really only hurts the Big East though. All 11 teams that they sent to the Tournament this year deserved to make it. Most teams didn't capitalize on their opportunity, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't have made it in the first place. The Big East only sent a slightly bigger proportion of their teams than the Big Ten did.

[McCall]

I always felt a way to add importence to the reguar season is to cap all conference tournament at 8 teams, and cap the number of teams that can go to NCAA at 8 per league as well.

That really only hurts the Big East though. All 11 teams that they sent to the Tournament this year deserved to make it. Most teams didn't capitalize on their opportunity, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't have made it in the first place. The Big East only sent a slightly bigger proportion of their teams than the Big Ten did.

The Big East did not deserve 11 and the Big Ten did not deserve seven. Out of those 18 teams, only 4, 2 each conference, made it to the sweet 16. Cap each conference selections at half their league total. Big East no more than 8, Big Ten and the other 12 team leagues no more than 6, and the Big 12 no more than 5 starting next year. I'd rather they cap a conferences total number of teams at 12, but it doesn't seem likely.

[slapshot]

That said, I'm wondering if the NCAA talent pool somewhat suffers because the NBA has the draft policy that they do? If they adopted one similar to MLB (out of high school OK, but once in college, three years must pass), maybe the quality of the college game might improve.

There's two schools of thought on this. I guess it depends on which you'd prefer.

If the NBA adopts an MLB-style rule to their drafts, the college game probably improves some (the top talents that'd be a one-and-done in college now go straight to the NBA prevents the college game from improving dramatically), and it also probably cleans up the NBA talent pool some and improves the pro game. Of course, the major conferences' teams likely get stronger, as the mid-majors' schools success usually comes from players staying for 3-4 years, and that advantage gets taken away from the likes of Butler, Gonzaga, etc.

Of course, if we keep the current draft policy, parity will remain in college basketball, and we'll no longer be suprised if mid-major schools make the Final Four and no #1 seeds make it to the Final Four.

For every KG, Kobe and LeBron, there's about 10 more Sebastian Telfairs, Kwame Browns and Korleone Youngs. In my day, the only pro ballers who never played in college were Moses Malone and Shawn Kemp.

The talent level of the league has dropped to the point where great high school player can fit right in. More teams equal diluted talent, it's a fact. Scoring is down. Is it any coincidence that since the influx of high schoolers to the NBA that out of the top 21 lowest scoring games, 18 have happened since 1996? (Source: http://www.nbahoopsonline.com/History/Records/pointsfew.html)

Here's an excerpt from a 2004 SI article http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/writers/john_hollinger/10/25/defense.stats/

Just 20 years ago, the NBA was in the midst of an offensive renaissance that had teams filling the nets like they were on an Alaskan fishing boat. It's difficult to remember now, but in 1984-85, the average NBA team scored 110.8 points per game. Every team in the league scored at least 104, while the Nuggets, Warriors and Kings all averaged more than 117. For a bit of perspective on how far things have sunk, that's a total the world champion Pistons didn't achieve once in the 2003-04 regular season.

In fact, last season, scoring plummeted to just 93.4 points a game for each team, a whopping 17.4 point decrease in two decades. The top teams were even more defensive-minded. In the Eastern Conference finals, for instance, Detroit and Indiana played a horrific six-game series in which neither team managed to eclipse 85 points.

I haven't been able to find a better record of individual team scoring from the mid 80s to now. But if it weren't for the hype machine known as ESPN, most of the prep/high schoolers wouldn't be in the league until they were older, and more skilled.