2012 NCAA Tournament Thread

[Matthean]

Kendall Marshall breaks a bone in his right wrist and might be done.

[Buccaneer]

Lost my first Final Four team (FSU). Why did it had to be to Cincy (ugh)?

[Coffee Warlord]

Don't feel too bad. I had Puke in the title game losing to Kansas. They lost...a little earlier.

[Radii]

Kendall Marshall of North Carolina Tar Heels undergoes wrist surgery - ESPN

not impossible for him to play this week. If it doesn't risk further injury, I'd take a 50% Marshall over anything else UNC could offer.

[Radii]

Who doesn't love ol' roy (oh right, everyone who isn't a UNC fan):

Without Marshall, the Tar Heels -- who lost backup point guard/starting shooting guard Dexter Strickland to a knee injury in January -- will use freshman Stilman White (4.3 minutes per game) and senior Justin Watts (who has played only two stints at point guard this season) as ball handlers.

Asked if anyone else might be in the mix, Williams said: "We're at our third and fourth options. If we have to go to our fifth frickin' option, we may as well put Z [7-footer Tyler Zeller] out there and see if we can draw the other big guy out and see what happens."

[Ksyrup]

I'm not sure if therre's a college basketball offseason thread yet, but last night my twitter feed was full of FSU-related tweets that Leonard Hamilton is "pushing hard" for the Illinois job. Kinda like Pat Kennedy - have some success and bolt. Although I think in his case, he basically wanted the keys to the university and they told him to pound sand, so he left for Depaul.

[Lathum]

Some really interesting games tonight.

Cuse-Wisconsin should be an awesome matchup from a style perspective. The depth of Syracuse will be tested the next 2 games by facing Wisconsin the either OSU or Cinci.

I am really excited for the OSU-Cinci game. Should be really physical. I have no idea why these two don't play every year.

MArquette -Florida should be an up and down game with a lot of scoring.

ich St-Louisville should also be pretty physical with 2 amazing coaches trying to outsmart each other.

[korme]

OSU refuses to play Cincy. Mick Cronin has been pushing for it for years.

[Ksyrup]

If this isn't misdirection, then I don't see how he plays.

Gregg Doyel ‏ @greggdoyelcbs
Kendall Marshall "can't brush his teeth right now," Roy Williams just said.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

If this isn't misdirection, then I don't see how he plays.

Gregg Doyel ‏ @greggdoyelcbs
Kendall Marshall "can't brush his teeth right now," Roy Williams just said.

Join the club, I can't brush my teeth with my other hand either.

[cartman]

How did the regular season basketball thread start being used for tonight's games?

[Scoobz0202]

Blame SI

[cartman]

He's the one that started this thread!

[Matthean]

Partly depressing to be reminded Michigan could be playing UNC this weekend.

[Scoobz0202]

Hopefully Buford starts making shots. They'll need him down the stretch, methinks.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

Blame SI

Originally Posted by cartman

He's the one that started this thread!

D'oh!

SI

[Matthean]

Interesting, Pitino is 10-0 in Sweet 16 games.

EDIT: Izzo was 7-0 against the Big East.

[Matthean]

Michigan State scored 44 points vs Louisville, the fewest for a No. 1 seed in the shot clock era.

Lowest total for a State team as well.

[Scoobz0202]

Deshaun Thomas is a pretty good basketball player

[Balldog]

Buford seems like he must have put some money on Cincinnati.

[Logan]

These above the court cameras are annoying the hell out of me. As are the frequent movements over to the below the rim cam in anticipation of a dunk...except there ends up being a play on the ball and we have a terrible view of it. Guess that second one has always been an issue...

[sterlingice]

So, uh, who had a 16 point swing for Cinci in the second half?

SI

[mauchow]

Funny fact for the 'Cuse/Badger game: Badgers had a better Points Per Possession in this game.

Wisconsin scored 63 points on 52 possessions. That's1.211 pts/poss.
Syracuse scored 64 points on 53 possessions. That's 1.208 pts/poss.

Very rare for something like this to happen, but it did tonight. Incredible.

Not sure I'll be able to sleep tonight. I got so pumped up with 30 seconds to go, my adrenaline was running and I was playing out the final play of the game over in my head before it happened... "swish" turned into an airball; two of them.

[Scoobz0202]

If Ohio State stands any chance against that Syracuse zone they will have to make jump shots. Craft and Buford will need to show up offensively. If they don't, it's end of the road.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by korme

OSU refuses to play Cincy. Mick Cronin has been pushing for it for years.

OSU refuses to play a bunch of people. Cincy refuses to play a bunch of people. Let's not act like this is some ridiculous act, especially now that Cincy is in the "premier basketball conference" of the Big East... they shouldn't need to schedule strong OOC. They didn't this year, that's for sure.

[stevew]

These games are on way too late at night.

[Ksyrup]

No kidding. Although at least the late games last night sucked, so I stopped watching around 11:30 anyway.

[stevew]

I don't get home until about 10:30, but there was no way I was going to make a 2 hour commitment to a game at that point.

[sterlingice]

KU's game starts at 10:17 (est) tonight

And, on top of that, I'm going to be heading to the airport to pick up my wife who gets in at ~11. So not only will it be late, but I'll probably just be listening on the radio

SI

[Ksyrup]

UK is at 9:45, and we're hosting a softball tournament this weekend and it looks like we're going to get a ton of rain and storms today, which means the games tonight will get canceled/pushed back, and we'll need to be at the fields around 5am to get them playable (if possible). Ugh.

[whomario]

What was Bo Ryan thinking, not calling a timeout and getting Berggren back in ? He would at least have made for a great decoy, if nothing else. Good take on that game that pretty much is how i felt watching it : Bo Ryan, Wisconsin, Syracuse, and the Sweet 16 - Grantland

Thomas for Ohio State is playing phenomenal this tournament, very fun to watch.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by stevew

These games are on way too late at night.

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

No kidding. Although at least the late games last night sucked, so I stopped watching around 11:30 anyway.

Originally Posted by stevew

I don't get home until about 10:30, but there was no way I was going to make a 2 hour commitment to a game at that point.

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

UK is at 9:45, and we're hosting a softball tournament this weekend and it looks like we're going to get a ton of rain and storms today, which means the games tonight will get canceled/pushed back, and we'll need to be at the fields around 5am to get them playable (if possible). Ugh.

The problem is if you start the games earlier half the country misses them entirely.

Yesterday the early game started at 4:15 PST. By the time I got home from work it was about over. By the time I had dinner and put my kid to bed I was able to see the second half of the late games.

If you start them any earlier people on the west coast will miss just about all of them.

I used to live on the east coast so I get the mentality, the thing is there has to be a balance.

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, I know - it's the same argument in all sports. But for the Sweet 16, Baylor is the furthest west team still left. The PAC12's collective 2011-12 seasons should disqualify the west coast from getting a say.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Lathum

The problem is if you start the games earlier 1/4 of the country can watch the game and still go to bed at a reasonable hour.

Yesterday the early game started at 4:15 PST. By the time I got home from work it was about over. By the time I had dinner and put my kid to bed I was able to see the second half of the late games.

If you start them any earlier people on the west coast will miss just about all of them.

I used to live on the east coast so I get the mentality, the thing is there has to be a balance.

Fixed

East side motherfucker.

[gstelmack]

The fun part is both UNC and NC State are on TBS tonight. Surprised there was no room for WRAL to televise those two here and get the other two moved. Oh well.

[molson]

Enjoyed that Syracuse game last night....but man, that's the risk with that zone, you can get destroyed by the 3 - I still remember the sweet 16 game my senior year at Syracuse against Michigan St - Syracuse had a big lead at halftime, I was all excited, and Boeheim told the courtside interviewer, (paraphrasing here), "settle down, MSU is going to come back and make a shitload of threes at some point and we'll have to withstand it". Same deal last night, except they did manage to withstand it. They had to dominate inside the 3-point line to pull that off and did.

I think this team is a lot better offensively without 'Melo, the guy disrupts on defense but he has cinder blocks for hands, the other options are much more reliable on that end of the court.

[whomario]

another career high for Heslip, 2 layups in 1 game

[Radii]

2012 men's NCAA tournament -- North Carolina Tar Heels' Kendall Marshall out vs. Ohio Bobcats - ESPN


Its official. Some reason for optimism though:

Marshall said Thursday that doctors had told him his injury is healing fine, that the bone is strong and the blood flow has been good. If he were to play, doctors told him he would not risk further damage. As of Thursday, he had not practiced with the team since his injury.

There were two main factors, Marshall added, as to whether he would approach coach Roy Williams about playing: pain and range of motion.

This gives me some hope that Marshall could play a few minutes Sunday if UNC can win tonight.

[Scoobz0202]

I'd say this encompasses MSU last night:

[mckerney]

[sterlingice]

So? UNC-Ohio already over?

SI

[Karlifornia]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

So? UNC-Ohio already over?

SI

Not quite! Ohio with a little run and looking pretty good offensively

[Radii]

yeah way to jinx it!

[ColtCrazy]

My Facebook is now nothing but all the Kentucky and IU fans getting jacked up or smack talking. I think I'll be logged off for the remainder of the evening.

Not expecting my Hoosiers to win, but I expect them to hang tough. Sure, Kentucky isn't the same team it was in December, but IU isn't either. They are a confident team and don't get rattled. UK by 7.

In the end, IU loses, this season is still considered an amazing success. UK loses, this season is considered a complete failure. I have a feeling that has to count for something for Kentucky.

[Radii]

toooooooo many turnovers but pretty much what I would expect tonight. Offense is out of sync but there's too much much talent and size on the floor for Ohio to deal with.

[Scoobz0202]

Poor Ohio

[sterlingice]

If you're UNC, how do you not just throw a pass over the top to Barnes or Zeller down low every single time?

SI

[Radii]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

If you're UNC, how do you not just throw a pass over the top to Barnes or Zeller down low every single time?

I know right? Zeller should score 30+ this game.

[Scoobz0202]

The tallest Ohio defender is what? 6'8?

[sterlingice]

I haven't been watching it much, tho. I've been trying to shield my eyes from Baylor's uniform but enjoying it

SI