Ongoing pro/college basketball thread (2023-24)

[SirFozzie]

Celtics were favorites this year.



Today, the Milwaukee Bucks acquired Lillard.


Now?


(krustytheclown'sWHATTHEHELLWASTHAT.GIF)

[Galaril]

Yeah not great for the Celtics that Yannis / Dame pick and roll will be tough. Sure the Bucks are taking a hit on the defense but if Yannis, Dame, Middl3ton and Portia stay healthy they will. Be tough out. I still like the Celtics matchup but I wish they had gotten some defensive help this offseason. I think for the Celtics there fortunes are tied to the heath of Kristin Porzingkis and Brogdon:banghead:

[SirFozzie]

Celtics trade Brogdon and Timelord Williams, the 2024 1st rounder from Golden State and an unprotected 2029 first rounder to get Jrue Holliday.

Not sure I like it, but we'll see how it goes.

[dubb93]

Are we sure Jrue is better than Brogdon? I know last year Jrue’s numbers were better but his numbers will be down next year playing with Boston just like Brogdon’s were down this year.

[SirFozzie]

I think we need to give the Blazers GM credit: When Lillard did his "Miami or nothing ultimatum", it seemed like everyone expected them to take a puu puu platter for him. The equivalent of trading a dollar for 6 dimes.

This is what they actually got.

Deandre Ayton
Robert Williams (on a pretty team friendly contract!)
Malcolm Brogdon
Toumani Camara,

three first-round picks: 2024 (Golden State, Top-4 protected), 2029 (Bucks and Celtics unprotected)

2028 and 2030 Milwaukee pick swaps.

That's rather impressive.

[Galaril]

Yeah basically Boston swapped Grant Williams, Derek Smart , Timelord,Brogdon, two first rounders and Galinari for Jrue and Porsingis. They are now very thin depth wise and a little older. There bugs are oft injured KP, 37 year Horford and Kornet. Good luck Celtics yikes.

[Galaril]

I think we need to give the Blazers GM credit: When Lillard did his "Miami or nothing ultimatum", it seemed like everyone expected them to take a puu puu platter for him. The equivalent of trading a dollar for 6 dimes.

This is what they actually got.

Deandre Ayton
Robert Williams (on a pretty team friendly contract!)
Malcolm Brogdon
Toumani Camara,

three first-round picks: 2024 (Golden State, Top-4 protected), 2029 (Bucks and Celtics unprotected)

2028 and 2030 Milwaukee pick swaps.

That's rather impressive.

Yes the Trailblazer's made out like bandits between this and the draft.

[JonInMiddleGA]

And the Portland haul will grow with whatever they trade Brogdon for

[Galaril]

And the Portland haul will grow with whatever they trade Brogdon for

True.

[SirFozzie]

Best line coming from last night's "Dillion Brooks gets ejected for punching an opponent in the groin

Dillion Brooks was ejected because of DEEZ NUTS Oh wait, he was ejected because of (Daniel) Theis's nuts. Never mind

[Ksyrup]

Not really basketball-related but Calipari-related. And funny.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">From Zillow in Lexington today… 😂😂😂 <a href="https://t.co/rvoBzRjwlX">pic.twitter.com/rvoBzRjwlX</a></p>&mdash; Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) <a href="https://twitter.com/KySportsRadio/status/1711833208432546169?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[miami_fan]

Preseason thoughts: This Wembanyama seems like he will do okay in the NBA.

[Ksyrup]

The look on that face!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thomas Bryant’s reaction to Victor Wembanyama dunking on him�� <a href="https://t.co/oZWv4ITF3f">pic.twitter.com/oZWv4ITF3f</a></p>&mdash; Tatum�� (@CookHimTatum) <a href="https://twitter.com/CookHimTatum/status/1713057166217658453?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[miami_fan]

I understand the look. Wemby took off outside the restricted area which is four feet from the basket, dunked the ball and still landed with most of his body outside of the restricted zone. He barely moved forward. Game manufacturers get crushed for releasing games with glitches that allow stuff like to happen.

[SirFozzie]

Celtics/Bucks in the East Finals.. God if I know who is making the West Finals, other than Denver.

[miami_fan]

Which one of you had Chuck asking Adam Silver the question about the league's response to domestic violence incidents involving its players on your opening night bingo card? Good on Chuck for bringing it up. I will probably rip him for something else he brings up later in the season but he gets a thumbs up today.

[stevew]

Weird Dwight Howard (gay) sex story developing. Seems Spacey-esque

[stevew]

Can we get Wemby to force his way to a better team yet?

[Thomkal]

Putting this over in this thread just to make Fozzie happy :)


I'm more of a casual NBA fan these days with Rik Smits long gone from the league, but how about the Pacers putting up 143 points in their first game? Been a long time since I could feel excited about their prospects for a season.

[HerRealName]

Putting this over in this thread just to make Fozzie happy :)


I'm more of a casual NBA fan these days with Rik Smits long gone from the league, but how about the Pacers putting up 143 points in their first game? Been a long time since I could feel excited about their prospects for a season.

I was a huge Pacers fan back in the day. Somewhere I still have a Chuck Persons jersey.

[JonInMiddleGA]

24 hours into Wembymania and thanks to Twitter I'm already sick of his fanboys.

The guy is a physical/athletic wonder, no doubt about it but goodness gracious.

[miami_fan]

With the arrival of Wembanyama, I have consumed more Spurs games in the last two weeks than I have in the last two or three years combined. Given the discussion in the other thread about Jaden McDaniels, is Devin Vassell worthy of 5 yr(s) / $135,000,000? I don't know much about him at this point.

[Thomkal]

24 hours into Wembymania and thanks to Twitter I'm already sick of his fanboys.

The guy is a physical/athletic wonder, no doubt about it but goodness gracious.


Yeah I get he's kinda of a freak of nature, so I get why they are talking about him all over, but so far I think the only place I've seen talking about what the Pacers did was on their own team Twitter. Guess they need to score more than 140 points every game before people start talking about them

[miami_fan]

24 hours into Wembymania and thanks to Twitter I'm already sick of his fanboys.

The guy is a physical/athletic wonder, no doubt about it but goodness gracious.

I don't know if I have done a good job filtering the noise at this point but I have been pleasantly happy with most of the Wembanyama takes so far this morning. Pretty reasonable takes for a pretty reasonable debut.

[Thomkal]

I was a huge Pacers fan back in the day. Somewhere I still have a Chuck Persons jersey.


Yeah I followed Smits from Marist College near where I grew up to the NBA and the Pacers, so yeah Chuck Persons, Reggie Miller and the like

[stevew]

I feel like Zach Collins is on the all NBA first team punchability list. He’s been injured quite a bit, and I had forgotten how much distaste I had for him

[miami_fan]

The NBA should force the Sixers to play Harden tonight. Let him come off the bench but he definitely needs to play 25-30 minutes.:lol:

NBA investigating if 76ers, James Harden violated participation policy - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38751350/nba-investigating-76ers-james-harden-participation-policy)

I support the spirit behind the load management rules but I hate the idea of the central office deciding when a team's players should or should not play. Everyone knows why James Harden is still in Philadelphia and not with the team. It has nothing to do with load management. Hopefully I am jumping the gun and this is more the league telling both the Sixers and Harden to cut the bullshit and resolve this dispute. At the very least I hope this is the league figuring out if the Sixers are preventing Harden from playing for "disciplinary" reasons and the NBAPA should file a grievance or if Harden is refusing to play for which he should be disciplined in accordance with existing rules that govern those things.

[Ksyrup]

I think Philly is trying to manage the load coming out of his mouth, so I think it fits within the spirit of the rule.

[rjolley]

And do you really want to see James Harden the way he would look after the offseason with 10 more days off after having played only 1 preseason game?

[flere-imsaho]

Took the family to the Bucks/Sixers game last night and had a great time. Ironically this was the same matchup my older son & I saw last winter/spring when the Sixers came back to win.

Much the same this time, with the Bucks taking a lead through the 3rd quarter. Then Embiid did his thing where he does a step-back jumper from the foul line which appears impossible to stop. Maxey was also having his way with the defense, increasingly.

But the difference for the Bucks was absolutely Dame. Last year when they fell behind they just started giving it to Giannis and he'd dribble into 4 people and see if his athleticism could get him a bucket or a foul. Last night about mid-way through the 4th quarter it looked like it was going to be the same, and then the coach took Giannis off for about 90 game seconds (longer due to timeouts). When he came back on they went back to running actual plays, and it looked like the difficulty of having to deal with both Dame & Giannis at the same time was too much for the Sixers.

Hilarious to hear the Bucks fans around us. They're clearly not used to someone who can consistently pull up from 3 and sink it. In the last 2 minutes every time Dame crossed midcourt they were yelling "Shoot it!"

[JonInMiddleGA]

No NIT automatic bids for regular-season conference champs - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/38757643/no-nit-automatic-bids-regular-season-conference-champs)


Instead, the NIT will guarantee two teams -- based on the NET rankings -- from each of major six conferences, the Atlantic Coast, the Big East, the Big Ten, the Big 12, the Pac-12 and the Southeastern.

The top two teams in the NET rankings not qualifying for the NCAA tournament from each conference, regardless of win-loss record, will be selected. Additionally, the 12 teams automatically selected will be guaranteed the opportunity to host a game in the first round of the NIT.

[RainMaker]

Kind of weird. Thought the old system provided some interesting matches on campuses that normally don't get the attention. Just don't have a ton of interest in watching the 10th best Big 10 team play the 9th best ACC team.

[miami_fan]

Context Alert!

Here are the teams that received the automatic bids last year.

Big Sky: Eastern Washington
Big West: UC Irvine
CAA: Hofstra
Horizon League: Youngstown State
Ivy: Yale
MAC: Toledo
Missouri Valley: Bradley
Ohio Valley: Morehead State
Sun Belt: Southern Miss
SWAC: Alcorn State
WAC: Utah Valley

And the teams that would have received automatic bids using the 2024 criteria.

ACC: Clemson, Virginia Tech (North Carolina declined an invitation)
Big 12: Oklahoma State, Texas Tech
Big East: Villanova, Seton Hall
Big Ten: Rutgers, Ohio State
Pac-12: Oregon, Colorado
SEC: Florida, Vanderbilt


I am not sure how significant this will be tbh. This policy only became a rule in 2017 from what I can tell so this is not breaking with longstanding tradition. All of the schools that would have gotten automatic bids in 2024 made the tournament in 2023 with the exception of Texas Tech which was 16-16 (5-13 Big 12) and Ohio State which was 16-19 (5-15 Big Ten). I get why it sucks for the mid major schools but maybe Texas Tech or Ohio State would be too embarrassed to take the invitation in the same way UNC did last year.

I mean the semis and finals are not even going to be in MSG this year. It will be held in Hinkle Fieldhouse on the Butler campus in Indianapolis. WTH?

[RainMaker]

Last year had 3 mid majors make the semis so I'm guessing they want to avoid that. Problem is that the big schools don't seem to really care as much about the NIT.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Last year had 3 mid majors make the semis so I'm guessing they want to avoid that. Problem is that the big schools don't seem to really care as much about the NIT.

They can lose money in some cases just by hosting, I'm not sure this is going to up their enthusiasm much.

[miami_fan]

Last year had 3 mid majors make the semis so I'm guessing they want to avoid that. Problem is that the big schools don't seem to really care as much about the NIT.

It's still the NIT. They are already doing everything they can to get the Power Five schools into the field of 68. There is only so much they can do to get undeserving P5 teams into the NIT. As much as it bothered people last year, I sort of respected North Carolina's decision to decline the NIT invitation. Not because I think North Carolina is too good for the NIT but because given all the advantages that are provided to a basketball program like UNC, they did not earn a NIT bid with the season they had.

Trust me, the NCAA knows they were already scrapping the bottom of the P5 barrel and it showed. I think this will cost a team like Washington State its spot before one of the mid major schools.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'll note that the NIT television deal with ESPN is due to expire, best I can tell, at the end of the 2023-24 season.

And it was ESPN who had pushed for name programs to try to keep the tournament viable for television back before the NCAA bought it. (Led the way in removing the must-be-.500-or-more eligibility requirement)

I suspect this latest change is being made to try to find a way to get some sort of TV deal renewal.

[Atocep]

I don't know what the hell the NBA is doing, but their in season tournament courts and city jerseys are god awful.

[Ksyrup]

In case you were wondering if Louisville basketball could be worse this year than last year... they just lost an exhibition game to Kentucky Wesleyan, 71-68. Wesleyan is a DII school picked to finish 8th in its conference.

This is one of those times when Twitter is entertaining.

[JonInMiddleGA]

In case you were wondering if Louisville basketball could be worse this year than last year... they just lost an exhibition game to Kentucky Wesleyan, 71-68. Wesleyan is a DII school picked to finish 8th in its conference.

This is one of those times when Twitter is entertaining.

They just had to one-up St. John's I guess.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Kenny Payne in his presser said that he needed more than 2 rebounds out of guys like Emmanuel Okafor.

He did not play Okafor for a single minute tonight.

Louisville basketball ladies & gentlemen.

[stevew]

Trying to make sense of this Harden trade. Basically just picks and a lot of salary fodder?

[miami_fan]

Trying to make sense of this Harden trade. Basically just picks and a lot of salary fodder?

Unlike Ben Simmons, James Harden was definitely going to blow that entire situation up if he was not traded. As long as Harden was away from the team, Morey could wait for the best deal. Once Harden is willing to sit on the bench and remind everyone of how dysfunctional the team is, Morey has to get him out of there ASAP. Morey now has to turn the salary fodder into an actual team built around Embiid and that Maxey maintains his early season form for the entire season.

[Atocep]

Trying to make sense of this Harden trade. Basically just picks and a lot of salary fodder?

That 2028 unprotected first may have a lot of value. kmart Jr is a decent rotational piece. The expiring contracts either open the door for them having some cap space or gives them ammo for a trade.

Considering that the Clippers were really the only team that interest in Harden I think Philly did well here. It was clear Maxey hated playing with him and getting him away from the team had value in itself.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Trying to make sense of this Harden trade. Basically just picks and a lot of salary fodder?

Isn't the plan to flip those picks into a quality player to join Embiid and Maxey, and sooner rather than later?

That's what I read earlier anyhow.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Oh Chris Broussard, we hardly knew ye.

I'll let y'all find it on Twitter, just {shakes head} damn

edit to add: (No, he ain't dead or nothing ... just probably his career is lol)

[Ksyrup]

That is a name I haven't heard in years. I forgot he existed. And now he probably won't.

[stevew]

Ok, Philly moved off of a guaranteed year of Tucker. Also by doing it now, those guys can be reallocated together or with other players before the trade deadline. It’s a 60 day waiting period. I guess if they waited too much longer, they couldn’t spin them off(deadline was something like 12/8-12/10)

[SirFozzie]

RIP Bob Knight at age 83. Sounds like he had been battling Alzheimer's. No matter what you think of his personality, he's probably one of the top basketball coaches of all time.

[miami_fan]

Oh Chris Broussard, we hardly knew ye.

I'll let y'all find it on Twitter, just {shakes head} damn

edit to add: (No, he ain't dead or nothing ... just probably his career is lol)

I haven't even looked yet but there have been so many opportunities for him to lose his job because of his Twitter rantings. Let's see what he has done now.

[miami_fan]

Dola,

Nah, I think he is gonna be all right with that one. He may not spend a lot more time on Nick Wright's show but he can hang strong on some of the other shows on FS1.

[miami_fan]

Speaking of commentary that would definitely cost people their careers, I heard something today that I can not un-hear so I will burden you with it as well. Given his tweets and commentary followed all the educational meetings he was involved in over the last 12-18 months...

has anyone asked Kyrie Irving his thoughts on current world events?

[SirFozzie]

75 in the first half. EIGHTY in the second half. That's nuts.

[Galaril]

75 in the first half. EIGHTY in the second half. That's nuts.

They look good 4 games in and the Bucks do not.

[Ksyrup]

My daughter was in disbelief when she read this. She was like, in high school girls basketball, we would have worked on multiple defenses and offenses prior to the weekend before the season starts. WTF?

Also - Calipari noted afterwards that he forgot Friday was an off day, so they'll be working on zone defense/offense on Saturday, but then they have to get into game prep on Sunday so Saturday will be it.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">John Calipari says on pregame radio that he asked Kentucky State to not play zone tonight.<br><br>Said he hasn't had time to focus on that aspect yet with this 2023-24 team.<br><br>Sounds like UK's Friday practice will have a big focus on zone offense and zone defense.</p>&mdash; Cameron Drummond (@cdrummond97) <a href="https://twitter.com/cdrummond97/status/1720209483765301646?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[rjolley]

Totally agree that it's surprising they don't have a basic zone offense in. I can see not having the wrinkles added, but a simple 3 out 2 in or 4 out 1 in where they find the gaps in the defense should be in.

Maybe it's due to all of the new players, a lack of veteran leadership, and a severe skill deficiency that's causing them to work on drills a lot more than expected, but still, they should have a basic shell offense in.

[stevew]

Wait…Memphis had a 27 year old senior who they were trying to gain an additional year of eligibility for? Looks like he was a 23 old freshman when he played. Theres gotta be some crazy story here.

[miami_fan]

My daughter was in disbelief when she read this. She was like, in high school girls basketball, we would have worked on multiple defenses and offenses prior to the weekend before the season starts. WTF?

Also - Calipari noted afterwards that he forgot Friday was an off day, so they'll be working on zone defense/offense on Saturday, but then they have to get into game prep on Sunday so Saturday will be it.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">John Calipari says on pregame radio that he asked Kentucky State to not play zone tonight.<br><br>Said he hasn't had time to focus on that aspect yet with this 2023-24 team.<br><br>Sounds like UK's Friday practice will have a big focus on zone offense and zone defense.</p>&mdash; Cameron Drummond (@cdrummond97) <a href="https://twitter.com/cdrummond97/status/1720209483765301646?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

First, it's Cal so all the grains of salt with anything he says. That being said, my guess is this may be more of a controlled scrimmage than a game. Yes, there will be refs and everything will look like a normal preseason game. But the coaching staffs may have discussed certain sets they are trying to run or they want to see how their team defends a certain set of plays. It could also be something like Kentucky will be playing Kansas in next week and Cal would prefer not to show them anything zone related.

I honestly just think it is just Cal lowering expectations/getting his excuses in early.

[Ksyrup]

I'd buy that except Cal's been lowering expectations in Lexington for a number of years in a row and it's getting stale. So either he's sticking with the same media playbook or he doesn't know how to read the room (or doesn't care, I guess).

[miami_fan]

Wait…Memphis had a 27 year old senior who they were trying to gain an additional year of eligibility for? Looks like he was a 23 old freshman when he played. Theres gotta be some crazy story here.

Cliff Notes.

- As an 18 year old (Oct. birthday, reclassified), he transferred to a basketball version of Bishop Sycamore for his senior year in HS, played basketball but none of the classes he took counted towards graduation. Then had to skip a year of basketball to take the right classes to graduate from HS.

- Played at one of those post HS academies for one year.

- Went to Evansville at 22. Was a partial qualifier so was not allowed to play his first year in school. Then played one.

- Transferred to Memphis for his final two years of eligibility.

[miami_fan]

I'd buy that except Cal's been lowering expectations in Lexington for a number of years in a row and it's getting stale. So either he's sticking with the same media playbook or he doesn't know how to read the room (or doesn't care, I guess).

Now that everyone has caught on with one and done's, the transfer portal, NIL etc., everything comes down to Cal as an X and O coach and well that has never been Cal's strong suit. He is not like Rick Pitino who could go to a school like Iona and be successful.

Kentucky has the #1 recruiting class according to ESPN last year. The question is whether or not Cal can make the class specifically and the team in general better by the end of the season then they are right now.

[GrantDawg]

Wait…Memphis had a 27 year old senior who they were trying to gain an additional year of eligibility for? Looks like he was a 23 old freshman when he played. Theres gotta be some crazy story here.
He didn't graduate high-school till he was 22. Nothing explains why, but his first year of college in 2019 he would have been 23.


Edit: I'll take that back. He was 20, then played for a prep academy till he was 22.

[SirFozzie]

Only 70 in the first half for the celtics. Slowing down ;)

[Ksyrup]

They'd have 150 against USC's D.

[Atocep]

WVU went 4-32 from the floor in the first half of their opener. I don't think I've ever seen so many easy shots missed.

[Swaggs]

WVU went 4-32 from the floor in the first half of their opener. I don't think I've ever seen so many easy shots missed.

First time I’ve gotten season tickets in 10 years. Feeling some regret…

[Atocep]

First time I’ve gotten season tickets in 10 years. Feeling some regret…

2nd half was a little better

I like this group. Playing without Krisa, Battle, and Akok for a while will help in the long run. We're definitely getting Krisa back in a few games. Hopefully we get both Battle and Akok back at some point, but at least 1 of the 2 would be huge.

[Sweed]

Heat 108, Lakers 107 with 3 minutes remaining. Final score? 108-107.

Lakers cut IIRC a 12 pt deficit to 1 with 3 minutes to go in the game. Last three minutes they never attempted a shot inside the 3 pt line. Closest was one time LeBron was called for a charge on a drive. They got the ball with 8 seconds left and the opportunity for the last shot, also a drive and kick out 3. WTF?

FWIW Miami didn't score in those last 3 minutes either. Again WTF?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Heat 108, Lakers 107 with 3 minutes remaining. Final score? 108-107.

Lakers cut IIRC a 12 pt deficit to 1 with 3 minutes to go in the game. Last three minutes they never attempted a shot inside the 3 pt line. Closest was one time LeBron was called for a charge on a drive. They got the ball with 8 seconds left and the opportunity for the last shot, also a drive and kick out 3. WTF?

FWIW Miami didn't score in those last 3 minutes either. Again WTF?

Well you know that was gonna make ME curious lol

LBJ completes an and-one with a FT at 2:39, cuts it to one.
Herro turnovers, LBJ misses a 3
Butler misses a driving layup at 2:01
LBJ called for a charge
Butler misses a 3, offensive rebound, Lowry jumper blocked by LBJ at 1:27
Reaves misses a 3
Herro misses a 3 at 0:51
Reaves misses a 3 at 0:30
Adebayo travels at 0:08
Reddish misses from 21 feet at 0:04
Butler defensive rebound at 0:02 and that's the end

So after the free throw cuts it to one point
Miami has 2 turnovers, 4 misses( 1 blocked)
LAL has 3 missed threes, an offensive foul turnover, and a missed two

[Toddzilla]

Brandon Rechsteiner got some quality PT for Virginia Tech last night, looked great.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Brandon Rechsteiner got some quality PT for Virginia Tech last night, looked great.

Normally he'd have a 33 1/3 percent chance of being good ...

[miami_fan]

Celtics fans, guess what happened?

Sources - Blazers' Robert Williams III to have season-ending surgery - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38863846/sources-blazers-robert-williams-season-ending-surgery)

I don't mean that Celtics fans are happy that Timelord got hurt. It is more about the Celtics fans I know being fully aware that it was a matter of when not if his knees would end his season if not his career.

[miami_fan]

I admit that I only saw a highlight clip but I find it hilarious that the league office brought in rules against load management especially when it comes to the player's team's only regular season game in that city only for the refs to toss the most recent Finals MVP and former regular season MVP out of his team's only game in Detroit.

[Thomkal]

Finally! Cliff Ellis retires as head basketball coach at Coastal Carolina. I liked the hire when it was announced, but man he just didn't have it in him anymore. So grats on a mostly good career and enjoy your retirement:


Coastal Carolina men's basketball coach Cliff Ellis retires | Myrtle Beach Sports | postandcourier.com (https://www.postandcourier.com/myrtle-beach/sports/coastal-carolina-mens-basketball-coach-cliff-ellis-retires-benny-moss-to-serve-as-interim/article_b29a7868-9470-11ee-b70b-9bf714c10844.html)

[Honolulu_Blue]

Man, the Pistons are absolutely terrible. Adam Silver needs to step in and force Tom Gores to sell this team. It’s beyond atrocious.

[bob]

Still have 11 games to lose before they break the record. Or 9 more if we are only going for single season record.

[miked]

In case you missed it, Rutgers bagged the #2 recruit in the country somehow. They now have the #2 and #3 recruits in the country, and Harper chose RU over Duke and Kansas.

Rutgers lands PG Dylan Harper, No. 2 recruit in Class of 2024 - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/39057098/rutgers-lands-pg-dylan-harper-no-2-recruit-class-2024)

[dubb93]

My kids are so pumped for this NBA cup. I’m so happy for the pacers so far giving them something to root for.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Twitter blowing up with rumors of Juwan Howard's impending dismissal.

Same rumors suggest that he got in a physical altercation of some sort with a staff member.

It's Twitter, so take that all fwiw I guess

[SirFozzie]

The Celtics will be tired of the Cavaliers, with two games in three nights. I know, I'm already tired of them.

And little known fact: The Celtics and Cavaliers game from January 16th, 1987 is the subject of one of the best books about basketball of all time. Forty Eight Minutes (By Bob Ryan).. even though the title isn't strictly true.. ;)

(believe it or not, you can look up the stats for that game on Google. Today's stars sprained several body parts looking at the minutes played by DJ, McHale, and Larry Legend during a semi-meaningless January game.)

January 16, 1987 NBA - Google Search (https://www.google.com/search?q=January+16%2C+1987+NBA#sie=m;/g/11fm9_900_;3;/m/05jvx;tb2;fp;1;;;)

[miami_fan]

I admit that I only saw a highlight clip but I find it hilarious that the league office brought in rules against load management especially when it comes to the player's team's only regular season game in that city only for the refs to toss the most recent Finals MVP and former regular season MVP out of his team's only game in Detroit.

Jokic has been ejected from his only game in Chicago with 1:08 remaining in the 2nd quarter. 16 minutes played is all you get Chicago.

[Atocep]

Jokic has been ejected from his only game in Chicago with 1:08 remaining in the 2nd quarter. 16 minutes played is all you get Chicago.

Meanwhile we have Draymond straight up committing assault on the court.

[JPhillips]

Seems like it's only a matter of time until Juwan Howard blows up in a way that can't be forgiven.

[tarcone]

Iowa Men and Women play a double header in Des Moines today. Men play at 3:30, Women at 6. I love how the Womens program has eclipsed the Mens.

[miami_fan]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wins since Halloween:<br><br>2 — Texas Rangers<br>0 — Detroit Pistons<br><br>Rangers won the World Series 45 days ago. <a href="https://t.co/ZzAzHtSl54">pic.twitter.com/ZzAzHtSl54</a></p>&mdash; StatMuse (@statmuse) <a href="https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1736195802920337597?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Pistons need three to tie the record, four to break it. Next five games on the schedule are at the Hawks, Jazz at home, road/home back to back against the Nets and at the Celtics.

[Young Drachma]

Merrimack & Sacred Heart are leaving the Northeast Conference after this year for the Metro Atlantic. Chicago State, independent for the past two years (but it's felt like a decade) are finally getting back into a league, replacing them in the NEC next year. NEC was going to be short of the minimum of 6 non-reclassifying programs so they needed somebody to fill that spot, so a no-brainer to take the only independent left in college basketball.


Merrimack just moved to D1 and aren't even fully eligible yet, NEC bent over backwards even letting them play (and win) the conference tournament last year, so I'm sure they're displeased but these minor conference moves are always fascinating as it's not about TV money.

[tarcone]

Iowa plays at 5 today on BTN. If you want to see the best college BB player, mens or womens, watch thhis. Clark has scored 35 plus the last 4 games.

[miami_fan]

Why exactly would the Bulls put Jerry Krause’s widow through that ceremony?

[flere-imsaho]

Yeah, what did they think was going to happen? I feel bad for her, and the people booing were pretty classless if they knew she was there, but he's not exactly a beloved figure in Chicago.

[Atocep]

Danilo and Muscala going from the 2nd worst team in the NBA to possibly the worst team in NBA history is kinda funny.

It only took the Pistons until Mid-January to realize they need bigs that can shoot instead of a collection of under the basket bigs that can't play together.

[Kodos]

Iowa plays at 5 today on BTN. If you want to see the best college BB player, mens or womens, watch thhis. Clark has scored 35 plus the last 4 games.

Dang. Clark and crew made IU look bad. Good game, tarc. That team should go far.

[miami_fan]

So Josh Giddey is innocent? Hmm.

All right then.

[sovereignstar v2]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">OH MY, ANT 🤯<br><br>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/NBATV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBATV</a>)<a href="https://t.co/cteerMFCNh">pic.twitter.com/cteerMFCNh</a></p>&mdash; Sports Illustrated (@SInow) <a href="https://twitter.com/SInow/status/1748205535260745741?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Ksyrup]

So Josh Giddey is innocent? Hmm.

All right then.

I don't think that's necesarily a completely accurate statement.

[flere-imsaho]

So, youtube seems to think I need to see more clips of Caitlin Clark, and I guess youtube in its infinite wisdom is correct because holy moley that's a hell of a player. I know enough about sports to know that when someone makes it look that easy they are just that much better than anyone else.

[Kodos]

She is a beast, from what I saw when Iowa played IU this year.

[SirFozzie]

Here's a thought exercise for folks:

Each team is solely built out of the draft class for one season. (so, the Draft Class of say, 2020, becomes a team going forward, then a team made of the Draft Class of 2021, no trades, no free agents from other draft classes).

How soon before a team SOLELY made up of one draft class could become title contenders, and how late in their careers would you write them off as no longer title contenders?

[Lathum]

Fun thought-

First thing I noticed was oof! Some major bad choices. Fultz over Tatum! and Fox.

I think the 2015 or 2018 would have the best shot.

2015 has- KAT, Russell, Porzingis, Myles turner, Trey Lyles, Booker, Payne, Oubre, Rozier (picked late first in a row), Portis, Looney, Nance Jr.- They have size and really good outside shooting with depth and solid role players.

2018- Ayton, Bagley, Luka, Jackson Jr, Trey, Carter Jr, Sexton, Bridges, Shae Gilgeous, Porter Jr, Huerter, Grayson Allen, Simons, Vanderbilt.- They would struggle with size but the guard play, oof. Good luck with Luka Trey, and SGA on the floor at the same time. Jackson Jr would be a nice defensive anchor.

[Atocep]

I wonder who in the Bulls organization made a deal with the devil for the 90s run. Because it seems like since then the bill has come due.

Eddie Curry/Tyson Chandler, Jay Williams, LaMarcus Aldridge, Derek Rose, Lonzo Ball all were various instances of bad luck and just bad front office work. Now Zach LaVine is out for the year before he could be moved and likely tanks any chance of trading him for another year or more.

[miami_fan]

I wonder who in the Bulls organization made a deal with the devil for the 90s run. Because it seems like since then the bill has come due.

Eddie Curry/Tyson Chandler, Jay Williams, LaMarcus Aldridge, Derek Rose, Lonzo Ball all were various instances of bad luck and just bad front office work. Now Zach LaVine is out for the year before he could be moved and likely tanks any chance of trading him for another year or more.

It is a moot point now but I just did not see a team signing up for three more years of LaVine.

On a related note, are shooting guards the most overpaid position in the league? I know, position-less basketball etc. but I think everyone knows what I am saying. Here are the top ten shooting guards in the league according to the cap hit.

1. Bradley Beal, $46,741,590
2. Paul George, $45,640,084
3. Klay Thompson, $43,219,440
4. Zach LaVine, $40,064,220
5. Devin Booker, $36,016,200
6. C.J. McCollum, $35,802,469
7. James Harden, $35,680,595
8. Donovan Mitchell, $33,162,030
9. Jordan Poole, $27,455,357
10. Tyler Herro, $27,000,000

Only George, Booker and Mitchell made an All Star team this year.

[stevew]

Curious as to how the Pistons field a roster tonight. I think they’re +7 players added as of this moment and 4-5 out the door. Guessing they only have about 8 guys

[Lathum]

Curious as to how the Pistons field a roster tonight. I think they’re +7 players added as of this moment and 4-5 out the door. Guessing they only have about 8 guys

will probably cost them a win

[bob]

From Bill Simmons:

“Not sure Detroit should be allowed to make trades, sign free agents or hire coaches.”

Also seen online:

"Should the Detroit Pistons kill 5 of their players to trigger a disaster draft to improve their roster?"

[Ghost Econ]

The Lions had more wins than the Pistons in 2023, 11 to 10.
Currently, the Pistons have more wins in 2024, 4 to 3.

[stevew]

Break up the Pistons!

[miami_fan]

I have an embarrassing admission to make. Apologies to Coaches John Thompson, Dean Smith, even you Coach K

It is almost Valentine's Day and I have not watched one complete HALF of men's college basketball on TV. I have been to a couple of USF games in person but that has been about it on the men's side. I missed not playing the men's bracket last year so I will play one this year. Hopefully I have the same luck as the proverbial office secretary who knew nothing about college basketball every year but won the pool because she loved the shade of Carolina blue.

[Atocep]

It looks like WVU will be hiring Mark Byington from JMU as their next coach.

[Ksyrup]

Did a double-take when I scrolled through my Score app college basketball scores just now.

At the half, Pepperdine 56, Pacific 9.

It was 26-0 before Pacific scored.

And while Pacific sucks (6-25), it's not like Pepperdine is good (12-19).

Yikes.

[cartman]

Luka Doncic is having quite the run of games. 5 straight 30 point triple doubles (2nd player to ever do that), with the last 4 being 35 point triple doubles (first player to ever do that).

[cartman]

make that 6 straight 30 point triple doubles and 5 straight 35 point triple doubles

[stevew]

Lemme guess, the Mavs are 2-4 and giving up an average of 118 points in those games?

[stevew]

Ok just checked and it was 3-3 and 117.2ppg allowed. < thisclose >

[SirFozzie]

Saw something about how some folks are thinking the NCAA tournament should go to 80 teams with the lowest 32 teams playing a first round game, and 48 teams advancing directly to the round of 64.

Mainly, this is at the behest of the big conferences, who want an ever bigger share of March Madness money to teams that are only like .500, but they do have a point in that less then a fifth of the teams qualify for the tournament.

However. Half the fun of March Madness is the teams we know very little about (nationally speaking) pulling off the upsets and breaking everyone's brackets.. So, I've come up with a compromise that hopefully gives the majors and mid majors what they want, while making sure the smaller teams get a fair shake (and also gives the NCAA more money to send out).

All conference champions (big or small) get put in the round of 64 automatically, along with the top at-large teams to make up the 48 teams.

That means 32 at-large teams get placed in the NCAA Tournament first round, but the losers in this round automatically get a seed in the NIT.

So, the NCAA has an additional 12 games to sell in their premier product (reminder, we're at the field of 68 now), the NIT gets a small boost because teams will want to end their season on a high after losing in the tournament, and the big and mid-major conferences will get a few more bids.

(Just to break this down:

Auto advancing to Round of 64: 32 Conference Champions (current amount), 16 At-Large Teams

Playing in NCAA Tournament First Round: 32 At-Large Teams)

One hidden benefit is that it makes mid-major and major conference tournaments a bit more impactful when one or both teams are already in the projected field. Win the tournament, automatically get placed in the round of 64 instead of having to play in the first round.

[JPhillips]

Let's go Morehead State Eagles. First into the tourny!

[JonInMiddleGA]

the NIT gets a small boost because teams will want to end their season on a high after losing in the tournament

After seeing the Ole Miss men play basketball in the past six weeks I question how many teams really care about making the tournament, much less winning a meaningless game.

I've heard two coaches in the past week - one men and one women - basically question whether their players care about anything other than NIL money now (and one of those has a team going dancin)

[flere-imsaho]

That seems a bit extreme. There are plenty (probably most) of kids on these teams for whom this will be their last game. I expect the majority care.

[JonInMiddleGA]

That seems a bit extreme. There are plenty (probably most) of kids on these teams for whom this will be their last game. I expect the majority care.

You obviously haven't seen that Ole Miss team lately lol (might as well laugh, crying would do no good)

After an absolutely embarrassing performance yesterday Chris Beard spent a chunk of his postgame talking about hoping to work out ways to give refunds to everyone who attended.

[Ksyrup]

the NIT gets a small boost because teams will want to end their season on a high after losing in the tournament

Eastern Kentucky turned down an invitation to the NIT.

[miami_fan]

Lemme guess, the Mavs are 2-4 and giving up an average of 118 points in those games?

I don't think Luca is the reason the Mavs were 3-3 during that stretch nor do I think he is the reason for their horrible defense. But I get the Luca hate when people bring up his triple doubles. Sorry, we made the call back in 2017 that triple doubles are not a thing.

[Atocep]

I don't think Luca is the reason the Mavs were 3-3 during that stretch nor do I think he is the reason for their horrible defense. But I get the Luca hate when people bring up his triple doubles. Sorry, we made the call back in 2017 that triple doubles are not a thing.

Any team playing Hardaway, Josh Green, Derrick Jones, and PJ Washington heavy minutes has no hope defensively.

[Atocep]

So Porter Moser's agent tried to use the DePaul opening to leverage an extension with OU. The problem was OU wasn't sure they wanted Porter Moser and called his bluff. Moser may be out of a job entirely because he didn't really want the DePaul job. He just wanted more money and security.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Death, taxes, and Rick Barnes teams shitting the bed in March.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Juwan Howard officially fired at Michigan

[JonInMiddleGA]

I saw something today that referenced how "the top two 'major conference" NET-rated teams that didn't make the NCAA tournament now get auto-bids to the NIT"

When did that become a thing?

Last I knew was something like "regular season champion that loses conference tournament gets auto-bid"

[bronconick]

Last October, I think. Having UAB, North Texas and Utah Valley make the Semis last year caused an instant reaction, I assume.

[Vegas Vic]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Armando Bacot has a REMINDER FOR THE ACC‼️😳 <a href="https://t.co/YGmlGcl3ak">pic.twitter.com/YGmlGcl3ak</a></p>&mdash; The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheFieldOf68/status/1754213552712265815?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Lathum]

What a gut punch for Brown...

[Ksyrup]

Nothing could be worse than what happened to Kent State yesterday. Tip in with about 6 seconds left to take a 1 point lead, but one of their guys thinks they're still down and fouls the guy taking the inbounds pass who is just trying to race down court to get off a shot (he must have thought he was trying to escape the foul or something, total brain malfunction). He hits the 2 FTs, and Kent State loses.

[Lathum]

"Did anyone say an old pacer?"

that was funny.

[Atocep]

The coaching carousel in college basketball is going to be crazy this year. Michigan, Ohio State (just made their hire), Louisville, WVU, Stanford, Oklahoma State, Vandy, and Washington are all open. Iowa might open. OU might open up. And Andy Enfield reportedly wants to get back east and would be open to leaving USC.

There's a lot overlap with candidates these schools are interested in as well. Dusty May at FAU, Darian DeVries at Drake, Josh Shertz at Indiana State, Mark Byington at JMU, Kyle Smith at Wazzu, Dustin Kerns at College of Charleston, Will Wade at McNeese, and others make for a pretty deep group of potential coaches.

Ohio State named their interim as the full time guy. Vandy looks like they've locked in on Chris Mack. Louisville wants to take a swing a Scott Drew before they move down their list.

Byington still seems to be the likely hire at WVU but a deal isn't done. They want to see if May or someone else higher on their list ends up in play.

[Thomkal]

The coaching carousel in college basketball is going to be crazy this year. Michigan, Ohio State (just made their hire), Louisville, WVU, Stanford, Oklahoma State, Vandy, and Washington are all open. Iowa might open. OU might open up. And Andy Enfield reportedly wants to get back east and would be open to leaving USC.

There's a lot overlap with candidates these schools are interested in as well. Dusty May at FAU, Darian DeVries at Drake, Josh Shertz at Indiana State, Mark Byington at JMU, Kyle Smith at Wazzu, Dustin Kerns at College of Charleston, Will Wade at McNeese, and others make for a pretty deep group of potential coaches.

Ohio State named their interim as the full time guy. Vandy looks like they've locked in on Chris Mack. Louisville wants to take a swing a Scott Drew before they move down their list.


Byington still seems to be the likely hire at WVU but a deal isn't done. They want to see if May or someone else higher on their list ends up in play.


Coastal carolina finally moved on from the Cliff Ellis era by going with an unknown head coach (to me at least) Justin Grey from Western carolina. hope it works out

[Atocep]

Coastal carolina finally moved on from the Cliff Ellis era by going with an unknown head coach (to me at least) Justin Grey from Western carolina. hop e it works out

Cliff Ellis gets to retire back to his sarcophagus.

[Thomkal]

Cliff Ellis gets to retire back to his sarcophagus.


Yeah he was looking pretty old there at the end

[Swaggs]

The coaching carousel in college basketball is going to be crazy this year. Michigan, Ohio State (just made their hire), Louisville, WVU, Stanford, Oklahoma State, Vandy, and Washington are all open. Iowa might open. OU might open up. And Andy Enfield reportedly wants to get back east and would be open to leaving USC.

There's a lot overlap with candidates these schools are interested in as well. Dusty May at FAU, Darian DeVries at Drake, Josh Shertz at Indiana State, Mark Byington at JMU, Kyle Smith at Wazzu, Dustin Kerns at College of Charleston, Will Wade at McNeese, and others make for a pretty deep group of potential coaches.

Ohio State named their interim as the full time guy. Vandy looks like they've locked in on Chris Mack. Louisville wants to take a swing a Scott Drew before they move down their list.

Byington still seems to be the likely hire at WVU but a deal isn't done. They want to see if May or someone else higher on their list ends up in play.

I really like the sound of DeVries for WVU. Byington makes sense for us with him having good DC connections. I am intrigued at the possibility of Shaheen Holloway and the NYC connections, too.

[RainMaker]

Wisconsin got screwed in their draw.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Bracket committee couldn't resist setting up Texas vs Rick Barnes.

Of course for that to happen is that two teams known for bad March outcomes have to avoid crapping the bed beforehand.

That feels like a stretch.

[Ksyrup]

UK gets a 3 seed against a team that scored 100+ points twice and shoots the 3.

Of course, as some have pointed out, every team can shoot the 3 aganst UK once they step on the court with UK.

[RainMaker]

Also the committee didn't think much of the Big East.

[cartman]

Bracket committee couldn't resist setting up Texas vs Rick Barnes.


That's about the only reason I could think of that got Texas a 7 seed.

[JonInMiddleGA]

That's about the only reason I could think of that got Texas a 7 seed.

That's basically where NET had them, give or take.

They're 30 and one team ahead of them (Indiana State) didn't make the tournament. So when you get into separating conference teams & stuff, a +/- 1 seed from your NET isn't really much of a reach.

A realization that came for me when looking at those NET ratings. Georgia is #100, Miami is #101, Georgia Tech was #127, Michigan (all 8-24 of 'em) was #133.

There's only 362 teams, meaning that 2 of those are in the top 1/3rd of available teams ... and both of them pretty much sucked. There's an awful lot of REALLY shitty teams in the comically oversized "D1"

[Ksyrup]

Hell, FSU was 96. They gave up over 100 and lost to LOUISVILLE...

[RainMaker]

Is this the first year that the play-in game is for a 10 seed? I know some surprise conference champs through a wrench onto things but that seems to he the highest I can ever remember.

[RainMaker]

Don't see many snubs outside of Virginia having no business in the tournament. Not sure how they pulled that off.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Don't see many snubs outside of Virginia having no business in the tournament. Not sure how they pulled that off.

I agree ... and yet if they win the play-in I'll likely put them through to the S16.

[Atocep]

Some really bad decisions by the committee this year. The Virginia selection makes no sense. OU, Seton Hall, Indiana State, or St Johns would have all been better picks. Then New Mexico as an 11 seed? Kansas as a 4? Auburn as a 4? Below Kentucky? They should have been in play for a 1.

The bubble shank with a couple late bid steals, but they choose one of the worst options for that last spot. Then the seeding this year is a mess.

[RainMaker]

Some really bad decisions by the committee this year. The Virginia selection makes no sense. OU, Seton Hall, Indiana State, or St Johns would have all been better picks. Then New Mexico as an 11 seed? Kansas as a 4? Auburn as a 4? Below Kentucky? They should have been in play for a 1.

The bubble shank with a couple late bid steals, but they choose one of the worst options for that last spot. Then the seeding this year is a mess.

I don't get their hate toward the Big East. By almost all the computer rankings, it was the 2nd or 3rd strongest conference.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Auburn as a 4? Below Kentucky? They should have been in play for a 1.

Only if NET ranking is all you go by.

The 3-7 vs Quad 1 teams killed Auburn, and them any higher than a 3 would have been a joke.

[Atocep]

Only if NET ranking is all you go by.

Kenpom had them 4th and Kentucky 19th. T-Rank has them 5th and Kentucky 25th. BPI has them 4th and Kentucky 21st. Massey has them 5th and Kentucky 17th.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Kenpom had them 4th and Kentucky 19th. T-Rank has them 5th and Kentucky 25th. BPI has them 4th and Kentucky 21st. Massey has them 5th and Kentucky 17th.

Allow me to rephrase: only if you consider computer ratings and nothing else.

3-7 vs Quad 1 (or equivalent) don't lie.

I'm not sure how many SEC teams get out of the first weekend tbh, I think the conference is soft as Charmin.

[RainMaker]

Speaking of the SEC, has there been any word about that Florida player? Just saw the aftermath and that looked like a bad one.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Speaking of the SEC, has there been any word about that Florida player? Just saw the aftermath and that looked like a bad one.

from one of the si dot com UF fan sites

Gators center Micah Handlogten is expected to undergo surgery later Sunday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., according to Florida head coach Todd Golden, after suffering a lower left leg fracture against Auburn in the 2023-24 SEC Championship.

Handlogten posted an update to X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter, after the game, thanking fans for their good wishes after he left the matchup, seemingly remaining in high spirits.

[RainMaker]

Well that's positive news I guess considering the leg break was obvious. Saw the blood and think that might have been a compound fracture which is the one injury that makes my blood curl.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Well that's positive news I guess considering the leg break was obvious. Saw the blood and think that might have been a compound fracture which is the one injury that makes my blood curl.

NGL, I didn't see it live and I actively avoided anything that might lead to me seeing it.

I'm not ... overly squeamish IMO, I simply don't feel any need to see that sort of injury (I had assumed compound fracture due to the blood references as well) when I don't have to

[stevew]

Has anyone gone to the NCAA tournament and was it fun? I can probably do the early session in Pitts on Thurs. although it’s Akron at Creighton and Oregon at South Carolina. Definitely don’t know any players participating.

[miami_fan]

I saw something today that referenced how "the top two 'major conference" NET-rated teams that didn't make the NCAA tournament now get auto-bids to the NIT"

When did that become a thing?

Last I knew was something like "regular season champion that loses conference tournament gets auto-bid"

Somebody posted this info earlier in this thread.

No NIT automatic bids for regular-season conference champs - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/38757643/no-nit-automatic-bids-regular-season-conference-champs)


Instead, the NIT will guarantee two teams -- based on the NET rankings -- from each of major six conferences, the Atlantic Coast, the Big East, the Big Ten, the Big 12, the Pac-12 and the Southeastern.

The top two teams in the NET rankings not qualifying for the NCAA tournament from each conference, regardless of win-loss record, will be selected. Additionally, the 12 teams automatically selected will be guaranteed the opportunity to host a game in the first round of the NIT.

;)

[molson]

Has anyone gone to the NCAA tournament and was it fun? I can probably do the early session in Pitts on Thurs. although it’s Akron at Creighton and Oregon at South Carolina. Definitely don’t know any players participating.

I went in Vegas last year, and in Syracuse years ago. I thought it really fun. I couldn't name a college basketball player. College basketball games are a lot shorter and fast-paced than other sports, the crowds of people representing each school is fun to see, you may possibly see a future-famous moment play out, you can look back in 20 years and realize, "hey, I saw modern NBA superstar X at the NCAA tournament back when the NCAA was a thing".

[Atocep]

Has anyone gone to the NCAA tournament and was it fun? I can probably do the early session in Pitts on Thurs. although it’s Akron at Creighton and Oregon at South Carolina. Definitely don’t know any players participating.

I went to the Phil Knight classic last year with my son. Obviously not the NCAAs, but a very similar setup. We had a blast. We watched Purdue, UNC, WVU, Iowa State and others play. I'd do it again without hesitation.

[miami_fan]

It really took three quarters of the NBA season for this to happen?! I would have thought that people would have gone through all the names on different roster to make sure the appropriate jersey swaps took place.

The Magic posted (and deleted) a suggestive Gradey Dick jersey photo (https://ftw.usatoday.com/2024/03/orlando-magic-gradey-dick-anthony-black-jersey-swap)

I definitely want to know how the social media person was told to take that tweet down and who said it. :lol:

[sovereignstar v2]

Scary to think what Anthony Edwards will be in another few years

[stevew]

Scary to think what Anthony Edwards will be in another few years

Member of the Lakers?

[sovereignstar v2]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ANTHONY EDWARDS OMG ���� <a href="https://t.co/AJP27GCkxG">pic.twitter.com/AJP27GCkxG</a></p>&mdash; Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1769915314639085733?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">THIS ANGLE IS CRAZY. ��<br><br>(h/t <a href="https://twitter.com/overtime?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@overtime</a>) <br><br> <a href="https://t.co/naOLWxGTLo">pic.twitter.com/naOLWxGTLo</a> <a href="https://t.co/ui9ZRgdzRg">https://t.co/ui9ZRgdzRg</a></p>&mdash; Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheHoopCentral/status/1769919287165362652?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Ksyrup]

I guess Kansas sure learned a lesson from FSU getting fucked in the CFP. Sunday, Kansas reported a fully healthy team and got a 4 seed. Today, one of their best players is out for the rest of the season. Curious timing...

[JonInMiddleGA]

I guess Kansas sure learned a lesson from FSU getting fucked in the CFP. Sunday, Kansas reported a fully healthy team and got a 4 seed. Today, one of their best players is out for the rest of the season. Curious timing...

Wellllll ... he'd just missed the conference tournament and had missed half the games down the stretch prior, so it's not like anyone didn't know there could be problems.

Hell, I knew enough about the KU injury situation that it was one of two reasons I was holding up on finishing my bracket until things were more clear. And I've barely paid attention

[Ksyrup]

Well, I saw something where both Self and one of their players said they'd be getting both guys back full strength on Monday (referring also to Dickinson). He seemed much more confident before Selection Sunday than after the seeding was done. Funny.

[Atocep]

The selection committee should be forced to watch this game on repeat.

[JonInMiddleGA]

The selection committee should be forced to watch this game on repeat.

But there are idiots who want to expand the tournament.

My God, there's barely 20-30 teams that are particularly good as it is. And the number & quality are just going to keep getting worse and worse.

[Ghost Econ]

UVa baseball scored 15 runs last night.
UVa basketball made 14 FG last night.

[Ksyrup]

But there are idiots who want to expand the tournament.

My God, there's barely 20-30 teams that are particularly good as it is. And the number & quality are just going to keep getting worse and worse.

I even saw something along the lines of what the P5/4/2 (?) want to do with CFB which is restrict the tournament to just teams from the big conferences. So basically, you'd have a bunch of NIT-like games mixed in with games between the better teams, a lot of whom would have already played the teams in the tournament (either in conference, or as part of some challenge, or just because they happened to be on the schedule that year).

AND they'd be eliminating the entire "Cinderella" storyline from the tournament. Like, are we supposed to buy a 14-18 GT as a "Cinderella" just because they sucked all year but made a run in the tournament? Pure stupidity.

[Swaggs]

I even saw something along the lines of what the P5/4/2 (?) want to do with CFB which is restrict the tournament to just teams from the big conferences. So basically, you'd have a bunch of NIT-like games mixed in with games between the better teams, a lot of whom would have already played the teams in the tournament (either in conference, or as part of some challenge, or just because they happened to be on the schedule that year).

AND they'd be eliminating the entire "Cinderella" storyline from the tournament. Like, are we supposed to buy a 14-18 GT as a "Cinderella" just because they sucked all year but made a run in the tournament? Pure stupidity.

The Cinderella element is so huge. I'm 1000x more likely to tune in and watch a one-bid league champ try to knock off Kansas or Kentucky than I am if they are playing a low seeded P5 like Boston College or Oregon State.

[Ksyrup]

Exactly. And it's even more important for casual fans who would seem to be more likely to tune into that kind of game (say, a 2/11 match-up in Round 2) than the typical 4/5 match-up.

[jcard]

Exactly. And it's even more important for casual fans who would seem to be more likely to tune into that kind of game (say, a 2/11 match-up in Round 2) than the typical 4/5 match-up.

Presume you mean a 2/10 (or maybe 3/11) matchup? 2/11 would be a REAL surprise!

[Ksyrup]

I knew I should have checked my math!

I know I'm in the extreme minority, but I hate filling out brackets. The older I get, the less I care who wins. I just like to watch. Which is why I generally don't enjoy watching games involving teams I have a rooting interest in.

[stevew]

I picked up a guy at the airport who was in town to see his friend play for Oakland. Check out this statistical oddity guy.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/stats/_/id/5177205/jack-gohlke

Check out that guys stats, he only shoots 3s. Anyways, I’m going to put a few bucks on Oakland tonight. Was going to parlay that with made 3s but apparently we can’t do player props on college here.

[jcard]

I knew I should have checked my math!

I know I'm in the extreme minority, but I hate filling out brackets. The older I get, the less I care who wins. I just like to watch. Which is why I generally don't enjoy watching games involving teams I have a rooting interest in.

I thought that maybe you knew something the rest of us did not about round-by-round re-seeding! I was worried that printing out a bracket was going to require an investment in a 3-D printer!

Also—I appreciate you taking my first message in the completely amicable spirit in which it was intended.

[Ksyrup]

I picked up a guy at the airport who was in town to see his friend play for Oakland. Check out this statistical oddity guy.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/stats/_/id/5177205/jack-gohlke

Check out that guys stats, he only shoots 3s. Anyways, I’m going to put a few bucks on Oakland tonight. Was going to parlay that with made 3s but apparently we can’t do player props on college here.

I didn't have the guts to pick a UK upset, but Oakland put up some big numbers in a couple games and shoot 3s well. It very well could happen. UK gives up like 90 points a game in losses. Their D sucks.

[sovereignstar v2]

I haven't filled out a bracket in 20 years. Kind of ruins the experience for me as I'd rather just cheer on who I want, usually the underdogs

[NobodyHere]

I play a game where you get assigned random teams and you win money when they win. It lets me root for teams I might not root for otherwise. And I know nothing about college basketball so I feel at a disadvantage when filling out brackets.

[Ghost Econ]

Why is it so hard to have a multi view in the Max app? Why do I have to download a separate NCAA app?

[Lathum]

Looks like I will be out of the Buffett bracket after the first game.

[sovereignstar v2]

It's really hard to believe there are people that think automatic bids should be looked at, but sure enough dinosaurs like Rick Pitino and Tom Izzo are on board. Please retire and go away

[JonInMiddleGA]

It's really hard to believe there are people that think automatic bids should be looked at, but sure enough dinosaurs like Rick Pitino and Tom Izzo are on board. Please retire and go away

Pare off about 100-150 teams from the comically bloated "D1" and maybe that wouldn't be needed.

But with the silliness that has come with adding anything & everything to the top tier, it's a valid idea that's probably overdue.

[Kodos]

I haven't filled out a bracket in 20 years. Kind of ruins the experience for me as I'd rather just cheer on who I want, usually the underdogs

Agreed. Also a factor in me quitting fantasy football. Didn't like having to root for guys I don't like, or being disappointed that the wrong player scored for my team.

[JonInMiddleGA]

At this point I do a bracket purely out of ... call it a combination of habit/nostalgia.

I simply don't find myself caring much anymore. College sports is pretty much ruined to me in terms of being able to have a real rooting interest anymore aside from painfully rare circumstances. It's just like most of the other pro sports, I end up hoping the winners are whichever team I dislike the least.

Hardly any are really likable at this point.

[Lathum]

Hell of a comeback by Dayton, but man, up 3 with 6 fouls they have to foul at the end and not give 2 looks from behind the line.

[sovereignstar v2]

Oakland looking good in postseason

[Ksyrup]

I'm hardly ever right, but I saw this game coming for UK a mile away. That might win, but this is exactly what I expected looking at this matchup.

[Kodos]

Go Oakland!

[stevew]

I picked up a guy at the airport who was in town to see his friend play for Oakland. Check out this statistical oddity guy.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/stats/_/id/5177205/jack-gohlke

Check out that guys stats, he only shoots 3s. Anyways, I’m going to put a few bucks on Oakland tonight. Was going to parlay that with made 3s but apparently we can’t do player props on college here.

10-19 from 3

[stevew]

Oakland went down to +575 when I was going to get them so I ended up passing.

[sovereignstar v2]

These damn auto qualifiers. Give me St. Johns!

[miami_fan]

Kentucky has to depend on an OOB play drawn up by John Calipari?

[bronconick]

If you want to go to the NCAA tourney for cheap, a whole lot of folks wearing blue are currently dumping their tickets for Saturday in Pittsburgh

[molson]

I learned 5 minutes ago that this Oakland is in Michigan, but that was still cool.

[Ksyrup]

Cal owned the one-and-done recruiting style, now he owns one-and-done tournament style.

[Ksyrup]

I learned 5 minutes ago that this Oakland is in Michigan, but that was still cool.

Yeah, I have semi-good memories of Oakland. Caitlin won her last college SB game pitching there, I have family all around the area that got to watch her that weekend. Then they overused her the next day in a DH knowing she needed surgery at the end of the year, and after that weekend, she was never the same and limped (literally) to a shitty end to her career over the following 5-6 weeks.

And oddly enough, that DH was 3 years ago yesterday.

[Atocep]

My bracket is already awful, but Oakland over Kentucky was an easy call.

A guy like Gohlke can get on a heater. I don't trust freshmen backcourts in March and, overall, I didn't think this Kentucky team was that good. Tre Mitchell is soft was warm butter.

[RainMaker]

Shame how the Kansas - Samford game ended. That was an incredible block and the best play of the tournament.

[bob]

I had flashbacks from high school watching that play. I wasn't huge, but big enough for south georgia basketball (6'5"). I'd probably get 2 - 3 foul called on me a game that were nothing but the refs anticipating a foul but no contact occurred.

[Ksyrup]

Funny reading all of the Calipari buyout stuff. $33M is a huge number for an SEC school that's not a FB powerhouse. Add in a buyout for whoever they hire plus the next huge contract and they're probably looking at upwards of $50M+ for the next coach.

[Lathum]

Totally agree with Few on this one. Everyone has a smartphone, if you are that interested watch it there.

Few unhappy with Oakland-UK on big screens during Zags' game - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/39782441/few-unhappy-oakland-uk-big-screens-zags-game)

[Ghost Econ]

Watching these 8/9 games id be fine with shrinking the tourney, not expanding.

[sovereignstar v2]

Boring 8/9 game going to OT

[Lathum]

That Auburn kid absolutely deserved to be ejected. Bush league.

[sovereignstar v2]

Go Yale

[Lathum]

Go Yale

Love it. Bruce Pearl is so slimy and after that kid threw the elbow glad they lost.

[albionmoonlight]

My family has a lot of connections to Charleston, so I put enough of a bet on the College of Charleston money line that if it hit we'd all get to go to a family steak dinner.

The good news is that I am teaching them early that gambling does not pay.

[RainMaker]

I guess it's an upset but that Grand Canyon team is much bigger and athletic than any mod-major I can remember other than Gonzaga. Not sure how they're a 12 seed.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I guess it's an upset but that Grand Canyon team is much bigger and athletic than any mod-major I can remember other than Gonzaga. Not sure how they're a 12 seed.

Take a look at their schedule and it'll be a lot clearer.

[stevew]

How did Audi Crooks drop 40 on Maryland? I’m sure she’s good but does Maryland not have a girl taller than 5’8”? Looked like a high school senior wrecking 6th graders from the highlights I watched.

[RainMaker]

Take a look at their schedule and it'll be a lot clearer.

Yikes, the WAC sure has seen betrer days. Still, that Grand Canyon team has some size and athleticism. You just don't normally see that from smaller schools.

Some good games tomorrow. Texas-Tennessee and Gonzaga-Kansas should be fun.

[RainMaker]

How did Audi Crooks drop 40 on Maryland? I’m sure she’s good but does Maryland not have a girl taller than 5’8”? Looked like a high school senior wrecking 6th graders from the highlights I watched.

18-20 shooting. What a game.

[Ksyrup]

I did 3 entries in 2 work-related pools. One of mine is in top .3% of all entries on ESPN. I did them in 10 minutes Thursday morning. Pretty much only looking at seeds and guessing at upsets. The little I read in the days before suggested GC was one of the top 2 or 3 likely upsets. Being a 5/12 matchup, that was an easy pick.

[Thomkal]

I may be on pace to do even worse than I did last year, yeah me

[albionmoonlight]

I did two in the work pool. One with Kentucky winning it all. But the other one still has my final four teams all still alive, so there's something to root for

[Ksyrup]

One person on our work pool had Auburn winning it all. Woops.

[cartman]

One person in the ESPN pick'em out of 22+ million got all of the 32 games in the round of 64 correct

[cartman]

guess they had something wrong, now it is showing 0 perfect brackets remaining

[RainMaker]

Kind of cool that Iowa put a market on the court where Clark broke the record. Creative use of the court. Don't think I've seen that before.

[JonInMiddleGA]

So the first half of the UTC-NC State game was officiated by someone who got a degree ... from UTC.

Someone figured it out & they subbed another ref in her place for the 2nd half.

My question is ... considering that the refs online presence mentions her degree from UTC ... how inept is even the most basic checking for conflicts if it took a half to catch this?

NCAA removes official from NC State-Chattanooga due to 'background conflict' - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/39795737/ncaa-removes-official-nc-state-chattanooga-due-background-conflict)

[Atocep]

Looks like Dusty May to Louisville.

WVU is trying to finalize things with Darian DeVries but has Byington as a backup if things fall apart there. Kyle Smith also under consideration but unlikely.

[Ksyrup]

I haven't seen it confirmed but my boss who's a donor at UL told me last night it was likely happening.

[Atocep]

I'm not sure I can take watching that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren commercial for AT&T again. It's cringey, awful, and seems to play during every break.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Georgia high school caliber officiating in the NCSU-Oakland game.

Scott Foster meets Angel Hernandez caliber.

[Ksyrup]

Yep. Just coming here to say we've got a clown show going on here.

[Atocep]

Holy shit, May to Michigan announced. That came out of nowhere.

[Swaggs]

Looks like Dusty May to Louisville.

WVU is trying to finalize things with Darian DeVries but has Byington as a backup if things fall apart there. Kyle Smith also under consideration but unlikely.

Hoping it ends up being DeVries.

[Atocep]

Apparently Louisville had scheduled to press conference to announce May.

[Atocep]

Hoping it ends up being DeVries.

I think both are very good coaches, but would lean toward DeVries.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Vols putting on a shooting clinic ain't they?

[RainMaker]

How are they winning?

[JonInMiddleGA]

It's a March Miracle lol

[RainMaker]

I don't get why Oregon didn't sub out Dante when Creighton was fouling. That cost them the game.

[albionmoonlight]

Kim Mulkey is a hell of a good coach.

But there is pretty much nothing that could be in that upcoming Washington Post article about her that would be so horrible that I wouldn’t believe it.

[Lathum]

Purdue is up 30. Maybe time to take Eddy out of the game?

[Lathum]

Kim Mulkey is a hell of a good coach.

But there is pretty much nothing that could be in that upcoming Washington Post article about her that would be so horrible that I wouldn’t believe it.

She seems rather rattled by what that article may contain.

[Ksyrup]

I assume it'll be broader than just one incident, but there were some odd things going on within that team at the beginning of the year that were never quite explained. The star player (don't recall her name; the one who went at Caitlin Clark last year) sat out a few games, then one of their other really good players left the team.

I won't be surprised if whatever that incident was is part of this report.

[Ksyrup]

If Clemson can hold on for another half against Baylor - a big if - the ACC will be 8-0 in the actual 64 team tournament. But I'm still not sure that collective result undoes the damage of the Virginia game...

[RainMaker]

#7 on Grand Canyon does not pass or defend.

[HerRealName]

The officiating in this Houston - A&M game has been an adventure.

[Ksyrup]

Unbelievable.

I'm not sure even that ending was worth a 30 minute last 75 seconds, but wow. OT but A&M acting like they won and Houston like they lost.

[JonInMiddleGA]

My A&M upset pick ain't gonna hit but by golly it sure came pretty close

[RainMaker]

That Buzz Williams timeout made no sense.

[cartman]

I assume it'll be broader than just one incident, but there were some odd things going on within that team at the beginning of the year that were never quite explained. The star player (don't recall her name; the one who went at Caitlin Clark last year) sat out a few games, then one of their other really good players left the team.

I won't be surprised if whatever that incident was is part of this report.

there is also plenty of stuff from her time at Baylor

[Atocep]

I think women's basketball has to be the worst officiated sport on TV.

[Swaggs]

I think women's basketball has to be the worst officiated sport on TV.

This one is pretty egregious. No way WVU is going to be able to win with the refs like this.

[RainMaker]

Iowa sure got a friendly whistle tonight.

[stevew]

I think women's basketball has to be the worst officiated sport on TV.

I dunno, pro wrestling is pretty bad as well.

[Ksyrup]

I think women's basketball has to be the worst officiated sport on TV.

I've railed against this multiple times here and to anyone I talked to about it when Mack was playing. Girls basketball is horribly officiated. It's basically rugby on wood. It's why she didn't play in college because she received so many injuries and concussions from playing middle and high school that she didn't think she'd make it in college.

They treat girls as if they are physically unable to play in the same manner the guys game is officiated. So they just let them beat the shit out of each other. In high school, no joke, each game is basically 2 refs letting 90% of fouls go until there's a pile of girls on the floor fighting over the ball and then they call jump ball. This happens at least 2 dozen or more times a game, on average.

If they would just officiate the game the right way, the girls will adjust. Will it be as asethetically pleasing as the guys game? No, it won't. They also play at the same 10 foot rim as the guys despite the physical differences, so that doesn't help in comparisons. But it will be a way better product than the shit on the court now.

[JonInMiddleGA]

In high school, no joke, each game is basically 2 refs letting 90% of fouls go until there's a pile of girls on the floor fighting over the ball and then they call jump ball. This happens at least 2 dozen or more times a game, on average.

Vast majority of the games in Georgia HS for the past 30 years or so.
Funny thing, it wasn't that pronounced in the 80s.

What you left out of the picture though is the 1 game out of every 8-10 that's the complete opposite, the ones where if you cast your gaze upon your opponent the whistle blows.

It's an unwatchable shitshow about 90% of the time in Georgia now, only the best matchups are tolerable viewing. Introduction of the shot clock turned HS girls basketball into a brutal experience, nothing says "fun" like watching teams shoot around 22% on the regular.

[Ksyrup]

In my experience, the quick whistle was reserved for the best players, as if they had "earned" the right to get men's calls. We had one Mack played against, a great PG who went to Tennessee then transferred to UK. She never amounted to much in college but in HS she was great. She'd get every touch foul in the paint once she got near the basket.

I see the argument for the shot clock and it was a raging argument here, too - Mack's team sucked so we were constantly behind and there were a couple coaches who went "4 Corners" for the entire 4th quarter of games - but yeah, on average, most teams can't run a consistent offense let alone one that would get them decent shots within the clock time. Of course, for Mack's team, the shot clock probably would have been irrelevant because they'd turn it over before the shot clock got anywhere near zero.