2011 NCAA Basketball Tournament Thread

[Young Drachma]

Wowza. I didn't expect to turn the game on when I got home and see this...

[stevew]

I think this has to go on the Mount Rushmore of "nobody believes in us".

[jbergey22]

Interesting, VCU up 14 despite shooting 40 percent. Of course Kansas is shooting 32 percent.

2nd half over 77 points I will be playing.

[Comey]

I think the general consensus, from what I'm seeing, is that Kansas will still win this game. If VCU comes out hot again, I wonder if Kansas will roll over.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Comey

I think the general consensus, from what I'm seeing, is that Kansas will still win this game. If VCU comes out hot again, I wonder if Kansas will roll over.

They certainly have the advantage in the paint. They just need to be more patient and quit turning the ball over.

[Comey]

dola--

This has to be deja vu for the Morris twins. When I lived in PA, I was an assistant coach at one of the small school state powers, located near Harrisburg. The Morris twins played for a charter school in Philadelphia, mainly set up for basketball, it would seem. Their smallest starter, I think, was about 6'3. They had 6-7 D1 recruits on that team.

They played a team from York, a small Catholic school whose core had played together since the fourth grade (through the CYO system). The tallest player on their roster was 6'1. Their lineup went 5'7-5'9-5'10-5'11-6'1, and their star was the 5'7 kid (who scored over 2000 points in his career, and is now at the University of Albany). They lived on backdoor cuts and the three.

York Catholic beat Prep Charter, en route to the state championship game (beating my school in the Eastern finals), which I feel they still should have won.

The next year, they almost beat them again. Went to the final second.

So, the twins have seen this before. I'm surprised they are reacting the way they have. How they come out in the second half will dictate how Kansas plays on offense.

[EagleFan]

Holy ****

Go VCU!!

[Young Drachma]

Here we go...

[Comey]

In my opinion, it's over. VCU appears spent, Kansas' defense has shown up. The only way VCU stays in it is if they get into the bonus soon (which is possible).

(but I'm still rooting for VCU...)

[EagleFan]

The wheels on the bus fall off like this, off like this, off like this...

[MrBug708]

That was a bad call on the goaltending

[EagleFan]

The whole second half so far it looks like the refs were told "we CAN'T lose another #1"

[jbergey22]

Both teams will be in the bonus the rest of the half. Lots of free throws coming.

[LloydLungs]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

The whole second half so far it looks like the refs were told "we CAN'T lose another #1"

While I definitely don't think that's what happened, I do think it's safe to say CBS is absolutely crapping themselves at the idea of a VCU/Butler national semifinal.

[Young Drachma]

Joey Rodriguez is my favorite player of this tournament. That kid isn't scared of a damn thing.

[EagleFan]

Maybe the righted the ship... this upset needs to happen, how great would that be. Butler and VCU in the Final Four.

[Comey]

I hope so...time to start quoting Tug McGraw.

[Comey]

After seeing the VCU cheerleaders, I might be rooting for Kansas now.

[kingfc22]

Come on VCU. Hold on!

[whomario]

what a pass by Rodriguez !! He seriously needs to lay off this 30 foot bombs though.

[Young Drachma]

What a year, what a season.

[Young Drachma]

Shaka Smart's asking price keeps rising as this game goes on.

[EagleFan]

Nice heads up play.

[Young Drachma]

Heads up play by Skeen.

[Radii]

If I were a Kansas fan I would be so mad about my team's free throw shooting right now. Everything else you can credit VCU, you can have off days from behind the arc but there is just no excuse at all for missing 13 free throws.

[Comey]

This is absolutely amazing. I'm glad my existential reverse psychology, used earlier in this thread, worked. ; )

Most fun tournament ever.

[Young Drachma]

This is so much more impressive than George Mason, mostly because of how they've won and the fact that they had to win a first round game to do it. Not that it matters. Awesome job, VCU.

[Commo_Soldier]

Love the shot of the VCU bench there, what a memory for them.

[MrBug708]

I'm rooting for VCU the rest of the way.

[tarcone]

Wow.

[Commo_Soldier]

So awesome, I was worried when it was 6-0 that it would be another blow-out. I think it shows why more mid-majors should be selected.

[lungs]

Interesting. I didn't know Shaka Smart went to Oregon High School in Wisconsin. I guess I saw him play as a high schooler as my high school was in the same conference.

[Young Drachma]

Seems fitting.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Watching KU players and fans cry after another NCAA tournament debacle never gets old.

[LloydLungs]

Originally Posted by Comey

This is absolutely amazing. I'm glad my existential reverse psychology, used earlier in this thread, worked. ; )

Most fun tournament ever.

Hey, I thought you were going to be right. I really can't believe VCU survived that punch they took the first eight minutes or so of the 2nd half. I'd say 50% to 60% of tournament upsets aren't really upsets at all. THIS, though, was a freakin UPSET. Wow.

Hilarious Joe Sheehan tweet:

@joe_sheehan: Huh, this is interesting. CBS just announced that the first game of the Final Four will be on truTV.

[Thomkal]

Jay Bilas, shut your mouth! Congrats to VCU-too bad though they get Butler next-would have been a great championship game-Butler vs VCU, and 8 vs 11 seed.

[Comey]

Originally Posted by LloydLungs

Hey, I thought you were going to be right. I really can't believe VCU survived that punch they took the first eight minutes or so of the 2nd half. I'd say 50% to 60% of tournament upsets aren't really upsets at all. THIS, though, was a freakin UPSET. Wow.

Hilarious Joe Sheehan tweet:

@joe_sheehan: Huh, this is interesting. CBS just announced that the first game of the Final Four will be on truTV.

I know I wasn't the only one who thought Kansas was going to roll them in the second half. VCU hitting that three, when Kansas got it down to four or five, was *huge*. It seemed to deflate Kansas more than it should have.

I can't wait to listen to Kornheiser tomorrow; his show is based in DC, and he's had a lot of VCU talk over the last week.

[Commo_Soldier]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Jay Bilas, shut your mouth! Congrats to VCU-too bad though they get Butler next-would have been a great championship game-Butler vs VCU, and 8 vs 11 seed.

This could be the start of the Bilas blessing. Every team bubble team in the future should be hoping Bilas says their team sucks and shouldn't have even been considered.

[LloydLungs]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

too bad though they get Butler next-would have been a great championship game-Butler vs VCU, and 8 vs 11 seed.

The pregame show, "Every CBS Executive Shoots Themselves in the Temple One-by-One on Live Television" would have been history-making as well.

Hey, screw it, still an interesting semifinal. I'm going to be watching. Good matchup, good teams, great stories, somewhat contrasting styles. Will be a ratings catastrophe and a very good underappreciated ballgame.

[Commo_Soldier]

Originally Posted by LloydLungs

The pregame show, "Every CBS Executive Shoots Themselves in the Temple One-by-One on Live Television" would have been history-making as well.

Hey, screw it, still an interesting semifinal. I'm going to be watching. Good matchup, good teams, great stories, somewhat contrasting styles. Will be a ratings catastrophe and a very good underappreciated ballgame.

I'm not so sure it will be under-appreciated. I think with all that has happened, it can actually be somewhat good rating wise. I'd rather see those two than Kansas v. Butler.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Commo_Soldier

I'm not so sure it will be under-appreciated. I think with all that has happened, it can actually be somewhat good rating wise. I'd rather see those two than Kansas v. Butler.

Im guessing it will be a disaster. Joe Blow that doesnt pay much attention to college hoops isnt going to tune into a VCU/Butler matchup while he may have if he had heard Kansas/Florida was in it.

The real fans will watch no matter what. Its the casual ones they want to get.

[bronconick]

One "cinderella" team is one thing. It gives people someone to latch on to against that basketball factory that irritates the hell out of people. (See: 2010 Duke v. Butler)

Two of them facing each other will probably be the shittiest ratings in 10 years.

Then, the winner facing UNC/Kentucky/UConn, that'll have high ratings because 90% of America thinks those teams suck.

[LloydLungs]

Originally Posted by Commo_Soldier

I'm not so sure it will be under-appreciated. I think with all that has happened, it can actually be somewhat good rating wise. I'd rather see those two than Kansas v. Butler.

I think it'll be a good game, but insert comment about how this is America, Two and a Half Men is the most popular show, yadda yadda.

A question, though. So is VCU this year's Butler or this year's George Mason? If VCU is this year's Butler, then is Butler George Mason? Or maybe Butler is VCU? Maybe George Mason was actually Future VCU.

Gonzaga just read all that, and a single tear went down their cheek.

[jbergey22]

Not to mention that since most peoples brackets are completely screwed it gives casual fans even less motivation to watch.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by LloydLungs

I think it'll be a good game, but insert comment about how this is America, Two and a Half Men is the most popular show, yadda yadda.

A question, though. So is VCU this year's Butler or this year's George Mason? If VCU is this year's Butler, then is Butler George Mason? Or maybe Butler is VCU? Maybe George Mason was actually Future VCU.

Gonzaga just read all that, and a single tear went down their cheek.

VCU is this year's George Mason, because they were both 11 seeds, weren't slam dunk at-large teams and come from the same conference.

Butler is the national finalist from a year ago. They're no longer Cinderella. Kenny Smith's comment about them being the Prince waiting for her is right. Funny contrast now that VCU is here.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

Not to mention that since most peoples brackets are completely screwed it gives casual fans even less motivation to watch.

From @ESPN_Fantasy: Just 5,791 brackets out of 5.9 million in Tournament Challenge had VCU in Final Four. 192 brackets had Butler and VCU in the Final Four.

[Commo_Soldier]

I'm not sure it will be a success ratings wise, but I believe that there can be a fair amount of hype to the game, which can bring in people. Doubt it will be the most successful, but think it has a decent chance to do average at least.

[Young Drachma]

I think the real question is, has VCU passed the "eye test" yet?

Read @jaybilas on twitter. It's pretty awesome.

[kingfc22]

Thanks to the Kansas loss all I need now is for UCONN to make it to the finals and I win my work pool...

[JonInMiddleGA]

One kind of random thing I've noticed with the ratings, at least the very detailed Atlanta ones that I get to see (and those have been in line with the national numbers, so I don't imagine they're hugely out of synch) is that the ratings for the lesser names tend to be worst with the younger demos than with the older demos.

It seems as though the most likely people to watch are older fans in the habit of watching the tournament no matter what while the younger fans are more fickle. Not the trend I expected really, I would have figured the younger demos (say 18-35) would be more flexible in who they'd watch.