NCAA Open Thread Monday? Sure
Mates,
Iowa and Oregon facing off right now. You will be shocked to hear that an Oregon kid just waltzed in from outside the arc all the way to the basket with no one in his area code to defend.
I found a link by going to NCAA.com - I think they let you watch it live for 2 hours? Anyway, for those inclined to watch, here his a link: https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live/game/304?cid=MML2021_editorial_T1&ko_click_id=ko_uocu1iouspson81cf
Have a great day and beat those cheaten' tigers, Go Blue!
XM
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:20 PM ^
Go Hawks!!! Took the day off when I saw the new schedule alignments being discussed. Nice not working on this...fine, Monday.
I'll sit here chatting with myself if I have to (and if XM is sticking around!)...
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:30 PM ^
Go figure...defense has been optional thus far. Oregon looking sharper than I'd have expected.
I've been harping on the "this tournament doesn't truly show how good a conference and teams were all season long" but it might be safe to say the Pac-12/Conference of Champions isn't as trash as many make it out to be.
Oregon skipped their first game and have fresh legs.
They're also a very athletic team that is inconsistent. If you let them get rolling they're dangerous. We'll see what happens in the second half.
As a UCLA fan I watch a lot of PAC-12 basketball, I was very willing to assure everyone that the conference was indeed as hot garbage as everyone thought it was, but their teams are all playing well in the tourney so far, so what the hell do I know?
Yeah, I caught a couple of last-night Pac 12 games this year and they were gawd awful, so the fact that the Pac-12 may well have a quarter of the teams in the Sweet 16 by the end of the day highlights how random single-game elimination tournaments are at accurately identifying the best teams in the country.
I'm inclined to say that this is the first quality Pac 12 win though, over an Iowa team who had an up and down year. Oregon does look really good though. UCLA beat Sparty...who only made the tourney because of a 3 win stretch...a win vs Drake...win vs COVID(VCU) and a win vs Ok State who has 1 great player surrounded by guys. Colorado beat Georgetown who only made the tourney because of a conference tourney run, otherwise they would've been home too. A win is a win, but if you're comparing conferences based on success, then you have to take the opponents across the board into account.
And if the media loved B10 basketball the way they loved SEC football the narrative would be "they beat each other up so much in the regular season...blah blah blah."
I'm with you, Rabbit. Living on west coast, I watched a lot of Pac 12 ball - and it was terrible. What happened? Suddenly these teams look amazing.
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:34 PM ^
IDGAF how 'overrated' the Big Ten is/was..... as long as one team from the Big Ten keeps winning.
GO BLUE
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:35 PM ^
rooting for iowa. down 30-29
oregon has the words 'fighting ducks' on their jerseys. since when?
Not sure, but it's...weird.
The Oregon dighters are dyslexic.
Misspelling. Should have been 'fighting fucks'.
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:36 PM ^
This pace is awesome. I feel like the whole B1G played like this the first part of the conference season.
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:36 PM ^
Final score here could be 100-98.
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:37 PM ^
back and forth game, very distracting from work.
33-32 oregon.
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:37 PM ^
I have no allegiance to any other B1G team. I’m rooting for Oregon because their shoes match. And their jerseys say “Fighting Ducks”.
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:41 PM ^
its either 'mighty ducks' or 'fighting irish'. ducks don't fight, they swim.
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:41 PM ^
Now this guys really knows his stuff, lulz. With 6:25 left in the first half, this bet is crushed to smithereens.
Going against the late move, but I like Iowa/Oregon UNDER 71.5 in the 1st Half. Still the first game for the Ducks with an early start time. pic.twitter.com/o4G7JQP8QI
— Ben Heisler (@bennyheis) March 22, 2021
A fool and his money...
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:41 PM ^
When did PAC 12 get so good at hoops!?! All these teams look legit when you watch them. Iowa isn’t playing poorly, Ducks ballin.
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:44 PM ^
The answer is Bill Walton. Not sure how but that has to be it.
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:56 PM ^
It's gotta be the contact high anyone gets from being within 20 feet of Walton.
Pac-12 has 1 TOTAL Sweet 16 team in last two tourneys combined, so it's super odd.
More than any other conference, the Pac-12 has a HUGE number of transfers from other programs. Some of those were decent elsewhere, but others have thrived out west.
The B1G hype was a mirage. All of our teams looked good against each other and the ACC, but both conferences look way overrated.
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:45 PM ^
OMG this is where Dickinson got a fucking flagrant foul. That's as basketball play as you can get
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:52 PM ^
Iowa-Oregon game is going to get to at least 50 points each team at half! Damn!
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:55 PM ^
I think you mean "amn" -- No "D"
i confess, that one took me a second. iowa ain't got no 'd'.
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:54 PM ^
man garza is virtually useless on D
You can see why he stayed 4 years. Not hard to see how much more upside Dickinson has.
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:55 PM ^
Fran McCaffery has never advanced to the Sweet 16 in his coaching career.
Those who fail to learn from history...
Prove me wrong, Fran. Prove me wrong.
I think I saw somewhere that they just signed him to a 7 year extension too. With one of the best if not the best Iowa player ever leaving and they still didn't make the Sweet 16. Fran's gonna be fired in 3-5 years
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:55 PM ^
oregon shooting 50% from 3, almost 59% in the half. that has got to cool off in the 2nd half. and that is my fear about tonight's game and LSU. like in a few others, our opponents have out-of-body shooting experiences they had against no other team.
Iowa doesn't have athleticism. Oregon is extremely comfortable.
Isn't it easier to have those nights when you play teams that don't play defense?
sure, but we play D and it's happened a few times to us.
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:55 PM ^
Not watching, but I did hear that Bo Boroski is doing this game. Obviously means he won't be doing Michigan's game later
March 22nd, 2021 at 12:58 PM ^
I think we're undefeated this year when he calls our games. Not sure why he's so hated.
Nothing from our games this year, but he's had a few instances of becoming a ref show and having some notable bad calls.
The dude has the guts to stand up to Izzo. I respect him.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. tRCMB hhaaaaaaaates this guy's guts, probably for the very reason you outlined. They had some (totally not at all deranged) dude make a whole spreadsheet of all the games he had reffed for them and how they did against the spread.
Spoiler: They think the fix is in.
Double spoiler: Their statistical analysis was flawed.
Iowa doing their usual March swan song.
Iowa in big trouble. Garza going to have to foul them out.
i note that 4 of the 5 oregon starters have 2 fouls each, so that could become a consideration.
Problem is, Oregon might have 113 on the board before fouls become an issue.
Once again, Iowa showing how they play Offense and efense.
man. iowa is the worst defensive team i've ever seen. fran loves his tantrums, it would be great if he expended one of them on one of his players when they matador-defensed their way to another easy basket.
And they're a higher ranked D than LSU!
Yeah, Iowa is somehow significantly better defensively than LSU by most defensive metrics. It's actually pretty insane.
Rankings look at all season. I think since Feb 1st, LSU is much better. Might be wrong, but confident I saw that somewhere.
Since 2/22 (so basically the last month), Iowa is 33rd in adjusted defense and LSU is 106th. They've gotten a tiny bit better defensively but there really is no reasonably-acceptable sample size showing they are even average at defense.
That doesn't mean you can't have a game or two where things break your way but it would absolutely be an outlier.