NCAA Basketball 23-24

[Shirley]

Yeah, that was an impressive shooting performance, particularly in the 3rd, by Clark.

I agree that Reece’s 5th foul was a bad call, but it didn’t really matter at that point. LSU wasn’t coming back.

Btw, I don’t agree that Reece is close behind Clark. I’m not even sure she’s the best player in her own team.

All that said, anyone who watches that and thinks Clark could play in the NBA or even D1 men’s basketball is delusional and doing women’s basketball a disservice. She’s amazing in her game, and let’s leave it at that.

[Ryan]

Her usage rate is higher than prime Westbrook and Luka combined so the stats are always going to be impressive. Fun as hell. The team knows how to play around her, that's for sure. Great coaching on that side.

[Nonlinear FC]

I actually hung around to watch USC-UConn and was not disappointed. Paige Bueckers, who had MASSIVE hype coming out of high school, squared off against FR phenom JuJu Watson and it was a slugfest.

The Bueckers-Clark hype train is going to be off the charts.

[L-Jam3]

I know that the excitement for the NIT finals is rightfully muted. But I appreciate that the two two teams fighting for it, Seton Hall and Indiana State, are two teams whose bubbles burst, thereby giving the winner some grist for the mill that they should’ve gotten in. Indiana State in particular was a fun team (in the one half of their game that I watched back in February).

[mister d]

I don't know how closely the tournaments all work together, but if they set the NIT as an autobid for next year it would probably stop teams from backing out or not caring.

[L-Jam3]

I don't know how closely the tournaments all work together, but if they set the NIT as an autobid for next year it would probably stop teams from backing out or not caring.

I can agree with this part. There were so many opt-outs from this year, which I don't appreciate if it were a coach's decision. If the players are ambivalent about it I can see it not being a good product, but a coach saying no is wrong. I think from a personal competitive standpoint that a player on a team that got "snubbed" would be pissed, and look to take their frustrations out on teams in the NIT. The two in the finals this years seem to be doing that.

[Shirley]

I don't know how closely the tournaments all work together, but if they set the NIT as an autobid for next year it would probably stop teams from backing out or not caring.

I think that's a bad idea though. Teams change a lot from year to year, especially now with the new transfer rules. Why would the NIT champion get an automatic bid the next year when the NCAA champion doesn't?

[mister d]

Because there's no rule saying present year can't affect subsequent year? European kickball tournaments do it all the time.

[Shirley]

Because there's no rule saying present year can't affect subsequent year? European kickball tournaments do it all the time.

Yes, but those teams generally have much more continuity from year to year. There's no rule that says you can't say on a soccer team for more than 4 years.

[mister d]

I get its not the same 12-15 guys but I also don't see much harm, especially given there's like a 0% chance they'd end up being worse than a lot of the low major auto-bids? Unless we just want to say no one should give a shit about the NIT either way, which is equally valid. I live walking distance from Seton Hall and haven't heard anything about their run other than one or two facebook posts from local businesses.

[sancarlos]

Meanwhile, the two Women’s NIT finalists, Minnesota and Saint Louis, had a combined regular season record of 32-33. NIT Fever! Catch it!

[DaveInSeattle]

I was thinking this morning about the '83 Final Four, when NC State won it...and trying to remember who was in that Final Four. I could remember NC State, Houston, and Georgia, but had to go to Wikipedia to see that the 4th team was Louisville.

But in reading that wiki article, I saw this:

Houston was hampered by foul trouble that plagued star Clyde Drexler, who picked up four first half fouls.

I definitely do not remember that (I do remember Guy Lewis throwing his towel at a NC State player on a fast break), but can you imagine the roasting/second guessing a coach would get these days?

*One time a housemate and I were do a long drive to an Ultimate tournament, and started to try and remember the 4 teams in each final four. This was in ~95, so pre-google/smart phones, and we were able to get pretty far back...I think about to 1975 or so.

[Shirley]

That's wild. I wonder if that happening on such a big stage led to so many coaches auto-sitting any player with 2 fouls in the first half. Some coaches will let a player get his 3rd, but leaving a star in with 3 fouls in the first half? That's criminal negligence.

[DaveInSeattle]

That's wild. I wonder if that happening on such a big stage led to so many coaches auto-sitting any player with 2 fouls in the first half. Some coaches will let a player get his 3rd, but leaving a star in with 3 fouls in the first half? That's criminal negligence.

I remember in the '88 finals, Danny Manning picked up his 4th early in the second half, and Larry Brown kept him in the game. The thinking was that if he sat, they weren't going to have a chance anyways.

[L-Jam3]

Fuck it. I’ll take it.

[mister d]

SHUT DOWN SOUTH ORANGE AVE BABY WE’RE THROWING A FUCKING PARADE WOOOOOOO!!!

[rass]

Free salsa with the purchase of chips with proof of purchase of a ticket to the NIT final at Tito’s Burritos!*

*offer not valid at South Orange location

[rass]

VRBO cabin has cable but didn’t spring for ESPN? Might be a smart TV though

[A_B]

VRBO cabin has cable but didn’t spring for ESPN? Might be a smart TV though

Didn’t take a laptop?

[rass]

VRBO cabin has cable but didn’t spring for ESPN? Might be a smart TV though

Didn’t take a laptop?

And an iPad. Just no TV. Dad is also gutted about the lack of ‘cock tomorrow AM

[L-Jam3]

VRBO cabin has cable but didn’t spring for ESPN? Might be a smart TV though

Didn’t take a laptop?

And an iPad. Just no TV. Dad is also gutted about the lack of ‘cock tomorrow AM

Hopefully not the Mrs. too.

[sancarlos]

Dad is also gutted about the lack of cock tomorrow AM

Jeebus, sometimes one doesn’t even have to edit the original.

[rass]

Dad is also gutted about the lack of cock tomorrow AM

Jeebus, sometimes one doesn’t even…a.nal…

???

[Ryan]

This game sucks!

[Ryan]

This game is ok!

[EnochRoot]

LOL at that being an offensive foul.

Fuck out of here with that nonsense.

[mister d]

That really fucked up a great game.

[rass]

LOL at that being an offensive foul.

Fuck out of here with that nonsense.

That was rough

[EnochRoot]

I mean, you could see how they might call that an illegal screen, but they hadn’t called the game that way all night.

Refs robbed the sport of a great ending (and Connecticut didn’t have to bury the shot for it to be a great ending).

[Giff]

It’s as if the profession has always been full of shitty employees!

[Giff]

Ok I was at a concert last night and didn’t see highlights until right now. Yeah, that’s a cut and dry foul and doubt they’d been letting the same play go all night. I could be wrong but that is absolutely a foul.

[Nonlinear FC]

This is like that dress no one could agree on the color. I've watched it a dozen times from all the angles and... I guess it's a foul. I've seen those called, I've seen them not called.

Kind of like holding. You could probably call it on every play... most refs don't.

[DaveInSeattle]

I was at a bar for a memorial gathering from my sailing friend who died a couple of months ago, so I was trying to discreetly watch the game....but in watching the highlights...it looked like a foul to me. But it definitely could have gone either way.

[sancarlos]

To me, it’s about consistency. Would the refs have called it a foul in the second quarter?

[EnochRoot]

It’s a play that either gets called or doesn’t get called. The refs dictate what you get away with, until a whistle comes out of the blue. That’s pretty much what happened last night.

[EnochRoot]

To me, it’s about consistency. Would the refs have called it a foul in the second quarter?

This.

[Shirley]

The problem is that the replay they showed on TV didn't show the UConn girl's legs and was at an angle where it wasn't easy to see her movement. So it was easy for everyone to declare it a bad call. Especially because nobody wanted that possession to end on an offensive foul.

But the live shot from the wider angle makes it very clear that it was a pretty egregious moving screen. Of course refs don't always call those, but there's very little that refs call 100% of the time. In this case, the screen was pretty bad - she was clearly still moving, her feet were set very wide apart, AND she leaned in and forearmed the defender. If that's not a moving screen, I'm not sure what is. And it did free up Bueckers for what would likely have been a wide-open game-winning shot. If you don't call that, how is that more fair than calling it?

[DSafetyGuy]

And Bueckers' responsibility on the play includes waiting for the pick to be set to help avoid getting a whistle.

Not trying to pick on her, just making the point that the cutter/ballhandler has a responsibility avoiding illegal screens, too.

[DaveInSeattle]

Purdue didn't play great...but good even for a comfortable win.

[DaveInSeattle]

UConn is probably going to win...but Alabama is really a fun team.