MARCH MADNESS 2014 - NCAA Tourney Thread

• Manhattan Buckeye

  I'm disappointed that Virginia didn't make the Final 4, but am proud of their season and their efforts. The people that are butt-hurt about UK need to stop. No one seemed to care when Carmelo Anthony went to Syracuse, or the many other 1 or 2 years and done guys. There are plenty of examples in the past.
• Azubuike24

  

  Carmelo was an exception too. He could have gone right to the NBA and chose not to. In many ways, he was the poster boy as to why people thought the one year requirement would work. Unfortunately, they took out the "choice" factor that Carmelo had where he actually WANTED to go to college. They only looked at the end result.
  
  How many guys like Daequan Cook (Ohio State) and Daniel Orton (Kentucky, and their only one thus far) who basically said "fuck it" after their season and left school REALLY wanted to spend a year in college? Why make them? Taking away "choice" from someone is eventually going to end badly in many cases.
• Laley23

  

  What other programs are doing and what UK is doing are not even comparable.
  
  Outside of Miller, I'm not sure I could name a meaningful upper classman for UK the last 5 years, if not longer.
• Manhattan Buckeye

  Josh Harrellson?
• Azubuike24

  

  Patrick Patterson?
• GOONx19

  

  Liggins, Patterson, Harrellson, and Eloy Vargas were all huge contributors. This is the first year they haven't had one.
• Azubuike24

  

  DeAndre Liggins?
• Laley23

  

  Ok, I didn't realize all this was so recent. But the point remains. Cal didn't have shit do to with anyone you've mentioned...not Miller who o
  mentioned.
  
  And lol at Eloy Vargas being thrown out there.
• SportsAndLady

  

  Eloy Vargas lol cmon..
• GOONx19

  

  Laley23;1601757 wrote:Ok, I didn't realize all this was so recent. But the point remains. Cal didn't have shit do to with anyone you've mentioned...not Miller who o
  mentioned.
  
  And lol at Eloy Vargas being thrown out there.

  It was a bit of a stretch lol. WGAF, 3 Finals Fours in 5 years says not me. Until they change the rule, let these kids come to a fun college town, win games, and be 1st round picks.
• SportsAndLady

  

  GOONx19;1601766 wrote:It was a bit of a stretch lol. WGAF, 3 Finals Fours in 5 years says not me. Until they change the rule, let these kids come to a fun college town, win games, and be 1st round picks.

  I have no problem with cal or what he's doing. I just thought eloy Vargas was a hilarious add-in lol
  
  I just wouldn't like dealing with cal as a fan. Yes, he's gone to final fours. But he also missed tournaments altogether. Id prefer someone like bo ryan, izzo, self..guys who never miss the tourney. Just personal preference.
• sportchampps

  BTW Bo Ryan is a huge asshole. How can Buckeye fans not remember when a Wisky Student spit on Sullinger and his response was "You Lost. deal with it."
• Azubuike24

  

  Haha, I laughed at Eloy Vargas. With that said, Patrick Patterson, DeAndre Liggins, Josh Harrellson and Darius Miller were all Juniors or Seniors that were major contributors.
  
  Next year, that will be Alex Poythress and very possible, the year after Marcus Lee. I think Cal has started to realize this, and has started to bring one or two guys in to fill this role. He will tell you first hand, he didn't expect Doron Lamb to be gone after 2 years, but he won a title and it made sense to go. Eric Bledsoe (was recruited behind John Wall) and Daniel Orton (was recruited behind DeMarcus Cousins), two others who he thought would get 2 years. I guarantee you he didn't expect Willie Cauley-Stein to be gone in 2 years, but it's very possible he will be. I know he expected to have both Marquis Teague and Archie Goodwin for more than a year, that's for sure.
  
  Face it, Cal has been burned just as often with the "Kentucky Effect" than he's benefited by it.
  
  It works both ways and it makes it difficult to continually sustain success.
• Azubuike24

  

  Steve Moss þsmosswkyt 45m
  16.3 MILLION watched UK-Wisconsin.. Most to watch college game on cable in history! Wow! wkyt
  
  
• Manhattan Buckeye

  One has to feel a bit sorry for Wichita State, they got the most loaded 8 seed ever in the second round, and really the entire midwest region was crazy this year with Louisville, Michigan and a very underseeded 11 in Tennessee with the play in.
• Azubuike24

  

  Manhattan Buckeye;1601799 wrote:One has to feel a bit sorry for Wichita State, they got the most loaded 8 seed ever in the second round, and really the entire midwest region was crazy this year with Louisville, Michigan and a very underseeded 11 in Tennessee with the play in.

  IMO, they should start seeding the tournament 1-68 and just aligning the regions like that. Obviously there are rules to abide by, but it's tough to justify having a West region and then trying to keep certain teams near home.
  
  I mean, Wisconsin was a 2-seed, had to go out to Spokane, but then got to go to Milwaukee for the regionals. Lets face it, the west very rarely has 4 teams who are worthy of 1,2,3 and 4 seeds and keep them in the "pod."
• Ironman92

  

  Drew up the defensive plan for Kevin Ollie
  
  
• Laley23

  

  The regions are fine for the 1/2 seeds. But the whole pod system aside from that is stupid. And I agree with 1-68. No way should a 7 seed UCONN be playing a home game in the NCAAs, unless it happens by chance. Rearrange a few slots if teams have played in the same conference and all that, but eliminate the concept of keeping ALL the teams in their home region and focus only on the top 8 seeds for that.
• Laley23

  

  Also, AZ, I'm not saying Cal hasn't been burned. But that is just another notch into what I hate about that style.
  
  Obviously, in 2014, you need some guys who are going to leave. It's just the fact that Cal has 8/10 of them on a team at once. It's just not good for CBK in my eyes. Give me 1-2 or even 3 who leave after 1 or 2 years and the other 7-8 guys in the rotation be jrs and srs.
• Azubuike24

  

  Much of it is a perpetuated thing though.
  
  Does Brandon Knight come to UK if John Wall and Eric Bledsoe are forced to stay 2 years?
  Does Nerlens Noel come to UK if Anthony Davis is forced to stay 2 years?
  
  There's numerous examples of this. In that sense, it makes sense why those guys continually go to UK. Playing time is almost always available. Media exposure is as high as it gets. Competition on the team is as high as you can get outside of the NBA. Calipari is a marketing genius when it comes to pumping up his own player's stock.
  
  Lets face it, his 2014 team has 8 guys (6 Freshman, 2 Sophomores) with NBA links because 2013 was such an epic failure. They basically had to start completely over. This season is an anomaly, in-terms of pure numbers.
• WebFire

  Manhattan Buckeye;1601799 wrote:One has to feel a bit sorry for Wichita State, they got the most loaded 8 seed ever in the second round, and really the entire midwest region was crazy this year with Louisville, Michigan and a very underseeded 11 in Tennessee with the play in.

  Why feel sorry for them? They should have won the games if they were as good as advertised. Kentucky had to, and they are playing for the title.
• reclegend22

  

  Ironman92;1601802 wrote:Drew up the defensive plan for Kevin Ollie
  
  

  Lol. If I'm UConn and the game is tied in the final minute, Aaron Harrison is getting punched in the face as soon as he touches the ball.
  
  Interesting thing about Monday night's game: Kentucky has seven McDonald's All-Americans, UConn none. Only once since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams (and eventually to 68) in 1985 has a team won a national title without a McDonald's All-American (Maryland in 2002). Hard to believe that Juan Dixon and Shabazz Napier were both virtual unknowns in high school.
• Manhattan Buckeye

  WebFire;1601829 wrote:Why feel sorry for them? They should have won the games if they were as good as advertised. Kentucky had to, and they are playing for the title.

  I mostly agree, but it was a bad draw for them. You win, you are in. That part I get. But damn, likely the best 8 seed ever in their region?
• Terry_Tate

  

  Laley23;1601734 wrote:And I have nothing against guys who are 1 and done, I'd do it too. Lost are in good standing when they leave as well. I absolutely HATE the way Cal runs Kentucky though. Just because they are in good standing does not mean they are there to learn. But that's not even my issue. I just hate the fucking factory that UK has made themselves into. It's bad for the college game, IMO. This year is even worse than the Davis team.

  I agree with this overall even though I don't hate UK because of how they do things. As a fan of Ohio State I love the guys who stay for 3 or 4 years and go there because they are from Ohio and grew up Ohio State fans, or came to Ohio State from out of state and stay 4 years and you can watch them develop. I realize that not every player is like that at all, but guys like Jon Diebler, David Lighty, Jared Sullinger(only stayed 2, I know, but from C-bus and brother played for OSU), Aaron Craft, etc. are what I love about college sports.
  
  Now, having said that, would I trade Ohio State's last 5 years for Kentucky's? HELL YES, lol. But given equal results, I'll take the guys who stay awhile over 1 and dones like UK all day long. If Matta started having top 3 classes every year with multiple guys only staying 1 year but it meant Final Fours and a championship then yes I would be thrilled, but would miss seeing guys like Diebler develop.
• Ironman92

  

  How's Vegas got this matchup?