2016 NCAA Tournament Game Discussion

[NYGFan_Section208]

DH is no different than most coaches. They have a philosophy and system and stick to their guns, even through adversity. That was the point. Maybe the Cuse could have 5 national titles if Boeheim played more man-to-man, or maybe they would have 0 and he would have been fired a long time ago. Hindsight is 20/20 and the easiest job is to sit back and second guess after knowing the outcome.

2nd easiest job = just maintain constant pessimism and 'or else'ishness.

[ace]

The defensive approach they prefer here isn't straight up man to man. There's a little more to it than that, and when it's executed correctly with the right personnel, it's literally one of the best defenses in the country. So why make major changes? He also said before the season and all the injuries that they were going to play some zone and they did.

[bressler3south]

DH is no different than most coaches. They have a philosophy and system and stick to their guns, even through adversity. That was the point. Maybe the Cuse could have 5 national titles if Boeheim played more man-to-man, or maybe they would have 0 and he would have been fired a long time ago. Hindsight is 20/20 and the easiest job is to sit back and second guess after knowing the outcome.

2nd easiest job = just maintain constant pessimism and 'or else'ishness.

OOOOOH-HA-HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Boeheim didn't always play a 2-3 zone defense full-time until the Carmelo Anthony NCAA Championship squad.

Boeheim said he realized that if the Orange was going to play zone, it had to do it all the time.

"So finally it dawned on me,'' said Boeheim, "after about 27 or 28 years, finally, takes me a while, that if we played zone all the time and didn't waste time playing man to man and put some wrinkles in the zone because we had more time to practice it, that our defense would be better.''

[rodfromcranston]

It's not second guessing if you're saying it in the moment.
I can't tell you how many times I lost my voice at
Keaney yelling "GET OUT OF THE ZONE!" to
Brendan Malone.
Penders showed with the same players, going man
to man with uptempo offense, got the best out of
his players.
That said, a situational zone to keep out of foul trouble or
if a team is short handed, is smart.
Cooley did that exclusively three years ago for those reasons.
Flexibility over rigidity works every time.

[Ramblinrose]

Brendan Malone ...that was a rough patch in 1984-85.

[rodfromcranston]

Personality of a dead fish.
Did get to coach in the NBA, though.

[rambone 78]

Malone could recruit, but coach an offense?

Makes Dan look like a Hall of Famer in that regard......

I remember watching us lose to Manhattan 54-44 at Keaney with BM as coach.

Worst offensive performance I've ever seen. And he just sat there the whole game looking clueless.....

By the end of that game, people were booing.

[rhodysurf]

I like to think the syracuse zone is a numbers game. They play it the whole game and basically say "We like the odds that you can't hit enough shots to beat us" and ignore streaky shooting thorughout the game. Basically gaming teams into shooting towards an average rate and lose. And sure enough, the year everyone says is a "Down" year, the teams they are playing cant beat them.

[rambone 78]

That zone just doesn't sit back and let guys fire up uncontested 3's.

If players want to shoot 25+ ft. shots, then yes.

When it comes to tourney time, teams not in their league have a hard time against it.

Even league teams do, when they turn up the pressure. Look what happened to Virginia, one of the best at not getting rattled, did.

It's not just their defense. They are making shots too. Good time to do it.

They remind me of UConn when they won their last 2 titles. Defense steps up, and the shots that didn't always fall during the regular season, start to when it counts.

That being said, I expect their magical run to end against UNC. But under pressure, UNC has been known to wilt. So who knows?

[rodfromcranston]

Virginia could have won the game.
How many times did they easily break the press,
only to mess up on the way to the basket?
They just flubbed on finishing.

[NYGFan_Section208]

I agree...VA should've won the game. When Syracuse started to press, I thought it was going to go the same way VA's previous game went...layup city, end of ballgame. But, much to my great surprise..they kept botching the finish at the basket. Am still amazed....

[rodfromcranston]

I don't think I've seen that many breaks
messed up in one game.
Easily 10 or more points could have resulted.
UVA kids will see those in their nightmares.

[rambone 78]

Speaking of Elite 8 nightmares....am still having those.........

It was all my fault. I was watching the end of another program that day, and switched back to the game just as fucking Arthur Lee started our downfall with that lucky 3 pt. shot.

I had switched away from the game a couple minutes earlier, thinking "we got this!".

Impeccable timing, as usual.

[rambone 78]

Had to add, for a couple minutes there [before the fall] I started to dream about a Rhody Final Four.

Payback for '78 and '88, where we were robbed of any chance to get there.

Didn't even care if we could win the semis and play for the whole shebang.

Dreamed of 6 whole days of the country being focused on the tourney Cinderella. Us. URI.

Talk about what kind of exposure that would have been.

And then......fuck

[rodfromcranston]

Wait. You turned off at the end of a
game that would have sent URI to it's first Final Four?
Wow!
As a fan, anyone would want to savor the moment.
Unless Jesus was making a live appearance on TV,
nothing would have made me switch stations.

[rambone 78]

Rod, just for a minute or 2. I thought we had it. I came back expecting us to be celebrating the last minute.

Instead, it was The Last Minute From Hell.

I was at a friend's house, and he wanted to check the end of the Nascar race. So I said OK, for just a minute.

I remember it all like it was yesterday. I remember more of it than when my soon to be 3rd wife moved in with me that spring......

That's another memory that I would like to go away.......

[bressler3south]

Rod, just for a minute or 2. I thought we had it. I came back expecting us to be celebrating the last minute.

Instead, it was The Last Minute From Hell.

I was at a friend's house, and he wanted to check the end of the Nascar race. So I said OK, for just a minute.

I remember it all like it was yesterday. I remember more of it than when my soon to be 3rd wife moved in with me that spring......

That's another memory that I would like to go away.......

You know, Rambone, with this trip down Memory Lane, you're just inviting 208 to post another chart.....

[NYGFan_Section208]

can't....it's just all too sad......

[rambone 78]

I was in a daze for days after that.......went to Casey's the day after....was a morgue......couldn't and wouldn't read anything about it....or listen to the radio....

[Ramblinrose]

Turn off the Stanford game? I recall Al Maguire scolding Tyson for prematurely celebrating and being scared that Al was right. He was.
I don't get the idea we were robbed in 1978. It was a great game that came down to a few missed freebies and a John Nelson missed jumper.
The 1988 game was a different story.

[ramster]

Steve Harvey meet Dan Gavitt

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketb ... re-tourney

[Shaolin Swat]

Steve Harvey meet Dan Gavitt

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/15104952/ncaa-errantly-told-south-carolina-gamecocks-were-tourney

Frank Martin seems like the kind of level-headed guy that would take this kind of thing in stride

[NYGFan_Section208]

^ I would say Frank would have to be odds-on favorite to be the next guy to go "Woody Hayes" on a player....wouldn't even have to be an opponent necessarily....

[Ramblinrose]

Wonder how Hurley would've handled this.

[rodfromcranston]

So much for buddy Hield being the new Glen Rice.
What a crap pile of a game.

[rambone 78]

Hield does not pass the ball. Never saw a shot he didn't like.

Nova's D took him right out of the game.

Thought Villanova would win this game, but a 33 point lead with 7 minutes left?

I think they win it all.

[Ramblinrose]

I had put Nova in the nice little team category early on. Much more than that now.

[rambone 78]

44 point blowout. Wow.

[Ramblinrose]

Can't remember a Final Four blowout like that on ages ...maybe the Tark era at UNLV.

[PeterRamTime]

Heck yeah go Nova! If they win it all I win $160 in a work pool.
So, Wildcats, keep on Archideacanoing !!!

Championship game should be a great one.

[bressler3south]

As exciting as the first two rounds were, and maybe a couple of other good games later on, this has been one of the worst in terms go good basketball. The games last night were like watching the last couple of split-squad exhibition baseball games.....

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Anyone notice the between-games thing about the special-needs game? They showed pre-game locker-room talks and the coaches were Tan-o-rama Tom and St. Daddy-o the Great.

[ramfan85]

I still think Villanova takes it all. They're playing better with every game.
Besides, how else could this season for A10 ( and URI) fans end but with a Big East national champion?

[ace]

I like the way this Villanova team plays. Their defense has been outstanding throughout the tournament.

[Ramblinrose]

There was talk of hiring Jay Wright when Jerry got canned. He wasn't interested and it ended there.

[kal-65]

the ncaa womens final has Syracuse playing UConn.the uri women lost 67-54 at Syracuse this past season.imo the team seemed to underperform the rest of the year with a sub 500 record

[kal-65]

Syracuse score should be 57-54---my typo

[rodfromcranston]

Rhody WBB disappointed with losing seven straight,
to close out the regular season.
Especially coming off their surprise season the year before.

[Rhodymob05]

Uconn women will win by 45 points. It's the worst but its true. Vill wins in a tight one (I hope)

[rodfromcranston]

OT, but Auriemma hasn't had the top recruiting class
in 3 years.
Everyone plays by the same rules.
Nobody has accused UConn of cheating.
Players are fine in academics and do well after
graduation, outside of basketball.
Maybe Geno is just better than everyone else?

[ramfan85]

At least the women's game isn't dominated by the P5 schools.
If they're not happy with UCONN's run, too freakin bad.

[rambone 78]

Next season, UConn has 1 of the top 10 rated recruits.

Auriemma has said that he looks for players who will fit his system, which isn't for everybody.

Then he gets the most out of them.

Remember when Delladonna transferred out of UConn before she ever played a game for them?

It wasn't talent, she's obviously very talented. I heard it was because she didn't want to do the work in practice.

Geno isn't easy to play for. Only the ones who want to win and put up with him no matter what, play for him.

And Daley is the calming influence. She's likely his successor.

[Billyboy78]

Yeah, but UConn's 3 seniors might be the top 3 players in the country this year.

[Ramblinrose]

People keep wanting Geno to move to a men's team. Why would he?. Anything he does would seem disappointing compared to his UCONN career.
He's comfortable coaching women and doesn't have to worry about players bailing after a season.

[rambone 78]

Geno will retire as the UConn coach. It's a pretty cushy gig.

Just like K. People have said why not coach in the NBA? Why would he?

Besides, he's coached the national team, made up of pros. He's done it all......and I don't think he'd want to coach guys day in and day out who make more than he does.....

BTW, anybody been to Storrs lately? The place is a shrine to UConn basketball.....the facilities are light years ahead of anything URI could ever do....

[Ramblinrose]

Wow. What a game. I was rooting for Villanova. But I was mainly hoping for a fun game. And it was.

[TruePoint]

So since the BCS broke up you've had two non P5 teams win. That's good.

[twisted3829]

that was friggin insane

[Billyboy78]

Classic.

[rambone 78]

Nice to see such a great game after those blowouts.....