2011-12 NCAA Men's Basketball Thread

[winghaz]

I was watching the interview with Roy Williams, and I swear, Williams is getting to look more and more like Dean Smith. Must be the nose.

[Cujo]

Some are already dubbing this KU-UNC game an "instant classic", and while there has been a ton of scoring, this has been some of the sloppiest combined basketball I have seen in quite some time.

[Kramerica Industries]

That's only because CBB has been plagued for years by games with final scores in the 60's.

Given one that looks like an 80's-90's final by comparison, it looks much better. Even though there's been plenty of sloppiness to go around.

[Kramerica Industries]

Carolina's 2nd half can only be described as abominable.

And because of that, Kansas advances to a re-match with Ohio State with a spot in the championship at stake.

[Cujo]

North Carolina didn't deserve to win this one. Sloppy turnovers, passing on open shots and missing easy putbacks throughout.

Props to Kansas on rounding out the Final Four.

[knnhrvy16]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but is there anyone else who's kind of put off by this Final Four? Maybe it's just because we've been spoiled by Butler and VCU the past two seasons, but I really am not finding these matchups all that exciting. I was hoping a cinderella (or at least a fresh face like Baylor) would slip in, but oh well. I'm still going to watch, but I'm not as intrigued this year as I've been the past few seasons.

[OnWis97]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but is there anyone else who's kind of put off by this Final Four? Maybe it's just because we've been spoiled by Butler and VCU the past two seasons, but I really am not finding these matchups all that exciting. I was hoping a cinderella (or at least a fresh face like Baylor) would slip in, but oh well. I'm still going to watch, but I'm not as intrigued this year as I've been the past few seasons.

You are likely in the minority. I would bet CBS would love a Kentucky/Kansas final. People tend to enjoy seeing VCU get to a final four, but not so much play in a final four.

I am kind of with you; I like seeing whether a Butler or VCU can take down two giants to win it all, but there's also something to be said for some of the best teams. We probably have 3 of the to 8 and four of the top 15; so that's pretty good too.

[pmoehrin]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but is there anyone else who's kind of put off by this Final Four? Maybe it's just because we've been spoiled by Butler and VCU the past two seasons, but I really am not finding these matchups all that exciting. I was hoping a cinderella (or at least a fresh face like Baylor) would slip in, but oh well. I'm still going to watch, but I'm not as intrigued this year as I've been the past few seasons.

You are likely in the minority. I would bet CBS would love a Kentucky/Kansas final. People tend to enjoy seeing VCU get to a final four, but not so much play in a final four.

I am kind of with you; I like seeing whether a Butler or VCU can take down two giants to win it all, but there's also something to be said for some of the best teams. We probably have 3 of the to 8 and four of the top 15; so that's pretty good too.

The first weekend nobody cares about how good the games are. All everyone is interested in is the last five minutes. It could be the crappiest game ever played but if its a 2OT buzzer beater people will be thrilled with it.

At this stage though these are stand alone games and I much rather see a #1 seed who steamrolled everybody on their way to the Final Four over the #8 seed that won their four games by a combined 13 points. 9 times out of 10 that #1 seed is going to play a much better game then the #8 seed will, and 1 time they don't will be a tossup as to who wins. Best case scenario you get two teams like that facing off in the title game. Those are usually what wind up being your all-time classics as opposed to your 53-41 UConn over Butler title games.

It also why I would be all for reseeding the Final Four teams. This year it happened to work out so there would be no need for it, but they've been years where clearly the two best teams left went at it in the National semi-final and it wound up being a much better game then the title game was.

[Kramerica Industries]

Well, last year's UConn/Kentucky game wasn't exactly some great played game either.

Even if, by comparison, it was twice a good a game as the awful Title game that followed.

[Cujo]

Frank Martin is leaving K-State for South Carolina.

Kinda scratching my head on this one. I get that everyone wants out of the Big XII before it totally implodes on itself, but I thought Martin could've done much better than the 'Cocks.

[pmoehrin]

Frank Martin is leaving K-State for South Carolina.

Kinda scratching my head on this one. I get that everyone wants out of the Big XII before it totally implodes on itself, but I thought Martin could've done much better than the 'Cocks.

South Carolina has been trying to land a big name head coach for about a decade now ever since they built that giant ass arena, but must coaches view it as a trap job (tough competition, tough area to recruit and unreasonable expectations) which is why they haven't landed a big name coach. And if your going to challenge yourself like that and go to a place where your job security is virtually non-existent, you might as well just go to the NBA.

Guarantee you they threw a boatload of money in order to land Martin. If they gave Darrin Horn over $1 million, I'd say Martin probably got around $2 million.

Really sucks for K-State because I would say you would have to be out of your mind as a coach to try and follow up what Frank Martin did. They will almost certainly wind up overpaying for some second tier hire to come there.

[Cola]

Frank Martin is certainly the polar opposite of Horn. I like the hire but it is unfortunate that a google of his name comes up 50/50 with news of the hire and news that he admitted to helping out former high school players in the form of cash.

I am also interested to see the amount we pay Martin because we will be paying Horn's buyout simultaneously for a couple more years.

Like mentioned above, we have a first class facility to play in- just nothing to be really excited about since Dave Odom faded into nothing and Horn really screwed things up.

What I like most about Martin is his ability to possibly recruit Florida. The two markets we try to focus on most but do a poor job in regards to competition are Atlanta and North Carolina. If we could get a few of the leftovers from the big pullers in those areas, we may be able to do a little something.

[Billy B]

Frank Martin is leaving K-State for South Carolina.

Kinda scratching my head on this one. I get that everyone wants out of the Big XII before it totally implodes on itself, but I thought Martin could've done much better than the 'Cocks.

That's kind of surprising as there were some talks about Illinois making a run at him. I'm not sure why Martin would leave K-State for South Carolina either. I've read that K-State has about reached their peak for where they are as a basketball program, but I don't see South Carolina being an upgrade over that. And about the Illinois coaching search, there were a lot of rumors Friday afternoon surrounding Brad Stevens. Everything from saying both sides had interest to that they agreed to a deal that day. The Butler AD even came out and said "No comment" about Stevens being contacted. It turns out that Illinois and Stevens never talked. Guess that shows how far rumors can spread on Twitter and other sources without having any factual backing.

[Sport]

A lot of people I see on twitter are saying that Illinois is going to hire John Groce.

That's a bummer, personally. I liked his attitude and his record at OU. He went 3-2 (and one of those two was an OT loss to a #1 seed) in the tournament with a MAC school, which is quite an accomplishment. I definitely saw this coming, but that's the life of a MAC sports fan.

[Cola]

Guarantee you they threw a boatload of money in order to land Martin. If they gave Darrin Horn over $1 million, I'd say Martin probably got around $2 million.

Just got word the salary will be $1.9 million for 5 year deal.

[rams80]

Frank Martin is leaving K-State for South Carolina.

Kinda scratching my head on this one. I get that everyone wants out of the Big XII before it totally implodes on itself, but I thought Martin could've done much better than the 'Cocks.

It's called, "K-State's athletic director is a miserly dick." Martin makes $1.5 million annually, and wasn't going to get a raise after this season, which happens to be Kansas State's 4th trip to the dance in the last 5 years; Kansas State has made at least the round of 32 in all 4 trips, and an Elite 8 trip once. Needless to say, Martin should be making a tad more than what he does make.

[pmoehrin]

Frank Martin is certainly the polar opposite of Horn. I like the hire but it is unfortunate that a google of his name comes up 50/50 with news of the hire and news that he admitted to helping out former high school players in the form of cash.

I am also interested to see the amount we pay Martin because we will be paying Horn's buyout simultaneously for a couple more years.

Like mentioned above, we have a first class facility to play in- just nothing to be really excited about since Dave Odom faded into nothing and Horn really screwed things up.

What I like most about Martin is his ability to possibly recruit Florida. The two markets we try to focus on most but do a poor job in regards to competition are Atlanta and North Carolina. If we could get a few of the leftovers from the big pullers in those areas, we may be able to do a little something.

We'll see what happens.

I would put South Carolina in the top five for toughest jobs in the country because they do have all the perks of a Kentucky, a Duke or a UNC in terms of facilities and are in one of the best conferences in college basketball.

Problem is because of that the alumni expect the program to be top notch, but the program also has no history, five legit National powerhouse schools within 400 miles of the school (Duke, UNC, Florida, Kentucky and Louisville) not to mention a bunch of solid second tier programs (Georgia Tech, Florida State, Alabama, NC State) to compete with for recruits, a brutal in conference schedule so if they fall behind even a little the losses can and will pile up fast, as well as being in an area where there's not much second tier talent because football has first dibs on the talent pool.

The good news is that Martin had many of the same challenges at K-State and was able to get that program to be decent even after Michael Beasley left.

[pmoehrin]

A lot of people I see on twitter are saying that Illinois is going to hire John Groce.

That's a bummer, personally. I liked his attitude and his record at OU. He went 3-2 (and one of those two was an OT loss to a #1 seed) in the tournament with a MAC school, which is quite an accomplishment. I definitely saw this coming, but that's the life of a MAC sports fan.

That's looking like as well.

Don't really know much about Groce. He's done really well with Ohio but Illinois is a different beast altogether.

You never know what guys like this will do. May be a good hire may be a bad one. Alot of people were probably expecting a more established coach, but someone like him was who I thought they were going to get.

[Billy B]

A lot of people I see on twitter are saying that Illinois is going to hire John Groce.

That's a bummer, personally. I liked his attitude and his record at OU. He went 3-2 (and one of those two was an OT loss to a #1 seed) in the tournament with a MAC school, which is quite an accomplishment. I definitely saw this coming, but that's the life of a MAC sports fan.

That's looking like as well.

Don't really know much about Groce. He's done really well with Ohio but Illinois is a different beast altogether.

You never know what guys like this will do. May be a good hire may be a bad one. Alot of people were probably expecting a more established coach, but someone like him was who I thought they were going to get.

They still haven't got a deal done with Groce, which is kind of unsettling because most people thought today would finally end the coaching search. But after learning a little more about Groce I'm really hoping he's the next head coach. Everyone from Ohio has great things to say about him and he looks to be a great recruiter. Another side-story to the head coaching search is the possibility of filling in an assistant coaching spot with Simeon High School head coach Robert Smith. He's definitely lobbying to get the job and there's a very good chance he'd bring along the #1 recruit in the 2013 class Jabari Parker and one of his teammates who's in ESPN's top 60 right now.

[ninersdd]

Sophmore Forward Kyle Cain has left the Arizona State Sun Devils. 11 Scholarship Players have left in the last 4 years. Losing seasons and players leaving should equal Sendek being fired. Losing Cain is a blow and I bet wherever he goes he will succeed if he can calm his attitude, he has shown that he has potential to be a good player. I want ASU to succeed, but with Sendek I am having my doubts. Harden was the only reason why they won in his heyday, but now with him gone, Sendek doesn't have anything to hold to get the Devils to win. Lisa Love should at least look into why Eleven players have left. First Erickson, now Sendek, the choice should have been made, but the upset over Arizona may have saved Sendek for another year of being a Head Coach for an under achieving team.

You're not gonna like this: Lockett to Transfer. Too bad for him and his personal situation. Now that makes 3 Devils transferring (Lockett, Cain, and Cheekmur I believe). As for trying to fire Sendek, this came out last month, but the AD and president seem commited to Herb long term: Sendek part of ASU's long term plans.

Why even bother having a basketball team... Hell, at this point, convince Brock Osweiler to drop out of the NFL Draft and join the basketball team like he was going to two years ago.

I know Lockett is a personal situation and is different from the other drops, but Gary's right. You don't lose 11 players (12 with Lockett) for no reason or just because you are a bad team. There is something fundamentally wrong with Sendek and the program. Unfortunately, that win over UA this year just might have bought him more time, but it shouldn't make a difference. Sendek is holding on to the legacy he got with James Harden. If Harden was never a Sun Devil, Sendek probably still wouldn't be either. I can see Love making excuses and reasoning that Sendek is being dealt a tough hand with players leaving so what should we expect. We should expect you to look into why these players are leaving, and I'm pretty sure the answer is staring them in the face. ASU has been awful, and I don't see any reason that's going to change.

The answer would be to FIRE LOVE. She brought on a coach who was coaching a coaching legend who was over the hill that never brought on great success, a baseball team that is banned from post season play, and hanging onto another over rated coach that like Still Mighty said is hanging onto a legacy that Harden brought. 12 guys that left because he doesn't know how to run a program. Love stays, the Athletic program will only be deteriorated even more. She never brought anything to the Sun Devils and no success has ever come from her.

You get your wish:http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/DougHaller/158372