The Official 2006 NCAA Tournament thread

[Butter]

Worst Final 4 ever. Not even a George Mason appearance could salvage that clinker.

[Groundhog]

The final 4 games were both terrible, sure, but I actually enjoyed watching the championship game. Outside of their games in the final 4 (which I barely managed to watch, and even then I wasn't paying much attention) I hadn't seen either of these teams play before, and I found it very interesting.

Florida flat-out shut down the lane, and it was interesting to see how much this affected UCLA. Without the option of going inside the Bruins offense stalled almost immediately, with only Farmar looking a threat to do anything.

Speaking of Farmar, he is a heck of a player IMO but he played a little recklessley at times - throwing up ill-advised 3s in the 1st half especially, when it was still close - but I guess you can forgive that because he was the only Bruin who didn't give-up after the first 5 minutes.

As for Florida, I doubt Noah will ever make a huge splash in the NBA unless he gains another 20lbs of muscle without losing his quickness, but boy is he a nice college basketballer... his timing for shot blocking is flawless and he made some exceptional passes too. I'm less enthusiastic about his scoring ability though. He makes some nice moves to the basket, but those little right handed hooks he likes to make seem to be his sole "move" from in close, and he'll need more than that to be a big time scorer.

I'm a little dissapointed because I was going to put some money on Florida before the game... I was rooting for UCLA, but I felt that Florida would just have too much firepower for UCLA - though I certainly didn't expect that Florida would win the game with their defense.

[Young Drachma]

Noah needs to leave, though I guess draft camps could lower his stock. He's unique in terms of the kids who leave early of late, because he clearly doesn't need the money...so..that won't be a factor.

At the same time, leaving early after a title didn't hurt Melo.. I think he should bolt.

[jbmagic]

I would of love to see a consulation game between LSU and George Mason

[MJ4H]

You wanna predict that one too?

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Noah needs to leave, though I guess draft camps could lower his stock. He's unique in terms of the kids who leave early of late, because he clearly doesn't need the money...so..that won't be a factor.

At the same time, leaving early after a title didn't hurt Melo.. I think he should bolt.

nbadraft.net has Noah as the #2 selection, with Tyrus Thomas at #1. If that sort of stock stays with both of these two guys I have no doubt they will declare - they'd be nuts not to.

That says a lot about this year's draft too. Neither of these two guys are going to be impact players, and looking down the board I don't see a lot of others who will be either. If I had #1 choice I'd be looking at Morrison and Aldridge as these two strike me as the only guys who have a chance at being major players.

The only other guys that really excite me are Carney, who might be a poor man's Richard Jefferson, Patrick O'Bryant and Shelden Williams, who would be a great pick in the early teens.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

I would of love to see a consulation game between LSU and George Mason

I think George Mason would take that game. GM's big guys have bulk and Davis would struggle inside against them, while GM's guards are more than capable of limiting the LSU backcourt. It would all depend on GM being able to make some baskets though, but I think if given another chance they'd come out on top.

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

nbadraft.net has Noah as the #2 selection, with Tyrus Thomas at #1. If that sort of stock stays with both of these two guys I have no doubt they will declare - they'd be nuts not to.

That says a lot about this year's draft too. Neither of these two guys are going to be impact players, and looking down the board I don't see a lot of others who will be either. If I had #1 choice I'd be looking at Morrison and Aldridge as these two strike me as the only guys who have a chance at being major players.

The only other guys that really excite me are Carney, who might be a poor man's Richard Jefferson, Patrick O'Bryant and Shelden Williams, who would be a great pick in the early teens.

It's a terrible draft. Kind of like the opposite of why the NHL had a super-loaded draft last year, because of the year without a draft, this NBA draft class would be nice if Oden and some others weren't barred.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

It's a terrible draft. Kind of like the opposite of why the NHL had a super-loaded draft last year, because of the year without a draft, this NBA draft class would be nice if Oden and some others weren't barred.

And likewise, we saw a bunch of players go straight to the pros because they were unsure of what the ruling on age may be.

Were Noah and Thomas even on the radar before the tourney?

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

It's a terrible draft. Kind of like the opposite of why the NHL had a super-loaded draft last year, because of the year without a draft, this NBA draft class would be nice if Oden and some others weren't barred.

Indeed. If Oden was around NY would really be kicking themselves for giving up their pick to Chicago.

It's a terrible draft to be in the lottery, but I think it's deep in terms of bench depth. I'd rather have a pick at #16-#20 than the lottery, because a lot of lottery GMs are going to look stupid this year, while the guys picking near the end of the 1st round are going to pick up some contributors.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Logan

Were Noah and Thomas even on the radar before the tourney?

Noah was sitting around #20 before the tourney last I noticed, and I don't think Thomas was really being mentioned until the tournament IIRC.

[Tigercat]

Many mock drafts had Tyrus Thomas as a top 6 pick before the tourny.

I am not sure people realize how raw he is. He was 5'11 through his junior year in HS. He signed with LSU as a 6'5-6'7 stick. But as soon as scouts saw him jump out of the gym at the begining of this season, they were ready to give him the keys to some poor team's future. That team better have some patience if they draft him this year.