2012 March Madness (and the buildup to said event)

[ghost]

FLor

[Paelos]

Bye Bye Duke! Good to know you're going to set NCAA history along with Mizzou for being the biggest suckers in tournament history!

AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH 

[ghost]

Bye Bye Duke! Good to know you're going to set NCAA history along with Mizzou for being the biggest suckers in tournament history!

AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH 

I told you they sucked.   

It always makes me happy to see Duke lose. 

[Abagadro]

Haha!  Suck it Duke you wankers!

[ghost]

As for the other big upset, it was really great to see the Norfolk State players and their families.  Talk about a happy bunch of folks.  It was very heartwarming.

[Paelos]

I love Duke's team this year, except for Mason Plumlee. That dude feasts on bad teams, but he's also been fading down the stretch. He's great for rebounds, but I need some points out of the guy to balance him out.

Mizzou sucks. Put any kind of big team on them and they will get beaten to death. Play run and gun with them, and you'll foul out before 8m left in the game.

My favorite teams? Duke, UNC, Michigan State, Florida State, and probably Louisville because of their rebounding.

So I was wrong about Duke. However, even in February I knew that Mizzou was awful. I still stand behind my picks of UNC, Michigan State, FSU, and Louisville. Those are all solid programs.

[ghost]

Yeah, those are pretty reasonable picks.  FSU is a real headscratcher of a team sometimes though.  They can beat UNC one day and then barely beat Saint Bonaventure the next.  Louisville's defense has been killer. 

I think OSU doesn't get the props that is should.  That will be a tough game for UNC, should it happen. 

[ghost]

Just in case anyone was curious about whether Duke won tonight.....   

[Nevermore]

Go Bulls! 

[Abagadro]

I like that Lehigh has shit-brown for their color scheme and some, shall we say, zaftig cheerleaders.  It's just all so "wrong" that it makes it right.

[ghost]

I love Vitale trying to say that Duke overachieved this year, with the national high school basketball player of the year in Rivers, Seth Curry, Ryan Kelley and the Plumlee brothers.  It's not like these guys weren't well regarded coming out of high school. 

[Paelos]

Vitale needs to retire. Better yet, maybe he'll just get non-lethal throat cancer so he will finally STFU, BABY!

[ghost]

Ohio State just got everything they wanted from Gonzaga.  Ohio State doesn't seem to play like a contender, to me.  Syracuse looked very good today though.  They may be able to make a nice run to the final four even without Melo.

[ghost]

Well this is an awkward interview with Dickie V.  It's worth watching. 

[Paelos]

Well this is an awkward interview with Dickie V.  It's worth watching. 

HEEEEEEY DICKEEEE VEEEEE, I LOVE HOOOOOOOOTAAAAAHS!

[Nebu]

Apparently picking Louisville and Ohio State to go to the final 4 puts you in the 92nd percentile for brackets.  I'm looking forward to the finale. 

[Paelos]

Apparently picking Louisville and Ohio State to go to the final 4 puts you in the 92nd percentile for brackets.  I'm looking forward to the finale. 

Well that's who I picked. My 4 is Lousiville, OSU, UK and UNC, with UK and UNC at the finals.

[Nebu]

Well that's who I picked. My 4 is Lousiville, OSU, UK and UNC, with UK and UNC at the finals.

Exactly my picks.  I picked UNC to win it all (due to fan loyalty), but think that Kentucky may have been the better choice. 

[Paelos]

I also picked UNC to win. That was before the point guard oopsies.

I think anybody who watched Louisville late in the year shouldn't be shocked by their performance at all. The sports culture today is so obsessed with offense, but that's not what helps you win in single-game playoffs when you have the best defenses in the league.

[ghost]

Kentucky versus Louisville should be a defensive showdown.  Both teams play excellent defense.  It will probably come down to talent in the end, and Kentucky is much, much more talented at every position. 

[Nebu]

I do agree... but heart can overcome talent.  I'd love to see Louisville upset Kentucky. 

[ghost]

I do agree... but heart can overcome talent.  I'd love to see Louisville upset Kentucky. 

It can, certainly.  And this is a rivalry game.  But UK is an 8-10 point favorite, which puts their chance of winning at about 75-80%, I imagine.  I personally hope they pound the shit out of Louisville.  Kentucky versus KU or OSU would be a much more interesting finals game.

[Paelos]

I hate Kansas. As long as they lose to OSU, I'm fine.

[ghost]

Kentucky versus Ohio State or a healthy UNC is what this season has been about all year.  That is going to be your best finals game.  Kansas versus Kentucky will be much more entertaining than watching Louisville slog it out to 50 points.  U of L has to be the shittiest team I've watched all year when it comes to entertainment value.

[Paelos]

Kentucky versus Ohio State or a healthy UNC is what this season has been about all year.  That is going to be your best finals game.  Kansas versus Kentucky will be much more entertaining than watching Louisville slog it out to 50 points.  U of L has to be the shittiest team I've watched all year when it comes to entertainment value.

Wow, I disagree completely. Did you watch that Florida game? Tell me that wasn't the best game of the day with a straight face.

[ghost]

I don't like Louisville's style.  The reason it was interesting was because Florida was hitting 80% of their three pointers in the first half.  After that it became a slogfest.  That Kansas/UNC game on Sunday was one of the better ones so far, IMO.

[Paelos]

I don't like Louisville's style.  The reason it was interesting was because Florida was hitting 80% of their three pointers in the first half.  After that it became a slogfest.  That Kansas/UNC game on Sunday was one of the better ones so far, IMO.

Again, disagree. The first half was fine, then UNC absolutely faded. No, check that, they DISAPPEARED in the second half. For starters, UNC didn't make a single point for 3 minutes in the second half. Then from 12 minutes left, they made 2 FGs. TWO FUCKING FIELD GOALS. I mean, how are we even comparing these two games? You wanna talk slog? UNC couldn't throw it in the ocean.

Florida did the same thing, except they were ahead. For the last 8 minutes, Louisville shut them down. It wasn't just that they were missing, they were turning it over. Louisville was suffocating them. It's the very definition of tension. One team trying to hold on, another team charging hard. It was a magnificent finish that went down to the very last shot.

[ghost]

I just found it to be much less compelling of a game.  Actually, I felt like it was the shittiest of all of them.  Only UK's shitty second half was close. 

[Paelos]

I just found it to be much less compelling of a game.  Actually, I felt like it was the shittiest of all of them.  Only UK's shitty second half was close. 

You are wrong and your opinion is bad! 

[Rasix]

[ghost]

 

Now don't be bitter just because your team blew this year, Raxix.   

[ghost]

Here's a funny and completely predictable story about a couple of 80 year old rednecks from Kentucky fighting about the game at a dialysis center. 

[ghost]

Austin Rivers is funny.

"If this was to happen, I would want him to treat me like anybody else," Rivers said. "If I'm messing up, I want him to be hard on me. If I'm doing good, I want him to pat me on the back. That's the way he coaches. However he coaches [Rajon] Rondo or Kevin Garnett or Avery Bradley or any other player on that team, I want him to coach me. I don't want anything handed to me. I never have my whole life. I would have to mature and accept that responsibility. That's one of the things you look forward to when you decide to go pro."

 

I'm sure his life has been a veritable impoverished hell. 

[Paelos]

Winter Park in Orange County Florida is hardly the ghetto. It's an 86% white town home to Oral Hershiser, Matt Kuchar, Nick Faldo, Doc Rivers, Daniel Webster, Davey Johnson, and Rashard Lewis.

[ghost]

Note that his dad is that Doc Rivers.