The Official 07-08 NCAA Basketball Thread

Non-Phish General
#81

^LOL! Did you see the Duke/Clemson game. A Clemson player tried to hit Paulus on the floor and his hand brushed the side of his head…then seconds later, Paulus lays back and starts grabbing his nose like it’s broken. Hilarious. He’s perfect for a future student-coaching-assistant position for Coach K like all the rest of his small, weaselly point guards. And yes, that Duke/UNC game will be nuts…should be some joy.

Spartans beat up Northwestern which was a joy. Even better was seeing that silly 1-3-1 zone…has any team ever won while running that? It leaves all players open for threes at all angles and if you can get the ball inside, it’s a guaranteed layup unless you have some monster center who’s fast as well. How weird. Even better, it’s what Michigan runs as well which is who the Spartans get to destroy this Sunday at 12noon (on CBS). SWEET REVENGE!!! Die, Michigan, Die.

Stevo

#82

WoJo was the first to come to mind, I see him on the bench.

Did Hurley ever spend time on the Duke sidelines?

#83

don’t think hurley ever coached w/ mr. k, but he has coached elsewhere i think…yeah wojo is there now, with chris collins and johnny dawkins. paulus could def. end up there too

yeah i saw his acting job vs. clemson. washington is even worse!

1-3-1 sounds retarded

#84

I’m a fan of the 2-3 zone, but you can’t use it if the other team has a REALLY deadly 3-point shooter. You’ll end up getting burned.

Is it just me, or are teams starting to full-court press more and more? I’ve noticed it this year, especially during the Purdue/Missouri game when Mizzou employed the “40 minutes of hell” tactic.

#85

Yeah like Purdue’s going to win that game. I honestly hope they do. Give some breathing room for the cream and the crimson. It’s crazy that IU and Purdue are only going to meet once this year in Assembly Hall. Remember the first time that happened and they played a nonconference game at the Hoosier (RCA) Dome. Classic!!

#86

Okay I officially have to eat crow. Props to Purdue for beating Wisconsin. Double whammy as the Hoosiers lost to Connecticut. The only silver lining being that it is a nonconference game, but nevertheless it still sucks. IU now travels to Wisconsin this Thursday on ESPN at 9 pm. IU needs this one bad. Sampson better be riding these boys because Madison is a tough place especially with Wisconsin coming off a loss. Go Hoosiers.

#87

#88

Yeah, thanks to Purdue for doing the Spartans a favor and handing Wisconsin its first Big Ten loss to put them even with the Spartans. Now all you have to do is tank it when we play you in West Lafayette and we’ll be all set. Seriously. I’m not surprised at all that Purdue won…it’s hard to beat any good team on their home floor in the Big Ten.

The worst thing? Indiana finally loses at home…and it’s to non-conference UConn. So they’re still undefeated in Big Ten. How annoying. Still, UConn put on the major blueprint against Indiana…GO BIG. They’ve got that DJ White but other than that, they’re a small team. Beat them up on the boards and inside and you’ve got a major shot. I feel much better for the Spartans playing them now since they’re loaded with big guys.

Stevo

#89

Robbie Hummel, JuJaun Johnson, Etwaun Moore and Scott Martin are the REAL DEAL.

Barring major injury or transfer, they’re 4 year players.

The MSU/PU game in West Lafayette, I think, is going to have MAJOR implications.

#90

Purdue will have alot to say in the Big Ten I agree, however I don’t think they have a chance against IU in Bloomington. Michigan State is definiely going to be right there. I think you made a decent point about pounding the ball inside against IU, but they played horribly against UCONN. Often times they play like an NBA team, meaning one on one. They can get away with this at times, but they have to play as a team if they want to go anywhere in the tournament. If Eric Gordon has a bad shooting night its almost like the team doesn’t know who to turn to. Also D.J. White struggles against bigger men. They push him out and he won’t hang out around the basket. I don’t understand this as he talented down low and can easily draw fouls. I don’t know the Wisconsin game is going to be tough. I also think the game at Illinois will be tough for IU because of the whole Gordon situation. Obviously the Michigan State games will be tough too. It’s going to be a fascinating Big Ten Season.

#91

How about KU going down. You knew it was going to happen sooner or later and losing to Kansas State isn’t too bad of a lost considering the intra-state rivalry. These games aren’t normally even close, but with Kansas State having Michael Beasley and Bill Walker they have gained instant credibility. I could go on a rant about how freshmen are the most important players(for the most part: don’t get me wrong you still need some upper classmen and role players) these days and how they only stay one year, but that is for another time.

#92

That was the first time since, I think, 1983 that Kansas State had beaten Kansas @ KSU. Snapped a 24-game streak.

That’s pretty impressive, considering the conference and the teams involved (although historically KSU isn’t really known as a “basketball” school).

#93

Yeah, I was SO glad that I watched that awesome K-State game as they beat Kansas…oh wait…that’s right, I COULDN’T watch it because for some stupid reason it was on ESPN360 but not on one of their other stations. How ridiculous. I remember they even advertised it on Tuesday and I was like “Wow, that Kansas game is AT K-State…could be good to watch” and of course it’s not even on. Nice work, ESPN. I’m glad I got to see the two-minute “look-ins” during the Texas A&M blowout. Thanks for nothing guys. Like you couldn’t pre-empt “Who’s Number 1” on ESPN Classic and show it. Please…

Still, a surprisingly close finish by Iowa at Purdue. I’d be lying if I wasn’t pulling for the underdog. Of course, it was sad seeing Iowa just let Grant blow by them for the foul…that was pretty poor. Iowa’s a sneaky little team…just ask the Spartans.

Speaking of whom, they basically played as well as they did against Iowa but somehow won at home against Illinois last night. Just an ugly game. It reminded me of basically every Illinois game that I’ve seen where they look good and look like they have a chance then randomly start having mental errors, stupid fouls and gaps in the defense. Bruce Weber looked as confused as I was. If that game is on the road, Illinois probably still wins. MSU definitely CAN beat a lot of teams, but then they also can play like total crap too. Still, they keep winning so I can’t complain.

Stevo

#94

Alright I’m preparing for the big Indiana Wisconsin game. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous. I hope the boys come out shooting on fire. It’s going to be a tough game, but I think the Hoosiers will come out on top.

#95

What in god’s name happened to NC State last night in the second half? They punched Duke in the mouth in the first half and Duke shot them in the face with a shotgun in the second half.

#96

Damn, that looked like a great game.

sorry who’sers

#97

^Actually…it kinda wasn’t. I didn’t know it was a late game so I was glad that I could watch the end after Lost was over…and it was a blowout. Wisconsin was up by 20. Late in the game Indiana went on a run and pulled within 8 and it got a little interesting but then Wisconsin grinded it out and got back up by 10-12 points and that was that. Thanks to Wisconsin for giving them a nice division loss. That gives a four-way tie for first in the division. What fun.

And yeah…I saw the NC State game and it looked interesting for a bit, then I flipped back and it got REAL ugly. I kind of assumed that would happen since NC State really isn’t that good, but not THAT bad. Holy crap.

Amazingly the pro games were better. Celtics/Mavericks went down the wire and the Pistons beat the Lakers with a three-pointer from Tayshawn to beat the Lakers by one. Fun Fun.

Stevo

#98

:slight_smile:

you mean it got BEAUTIFUL!!! i was worried duke would overlook nc state with the big game coming up next week…still worried about miami tomorrow too…but damn, that second half was so sweet :slight_smile:

#99

Paulus got that Costner guy riled up with a hard foul and I thought there was going to be a melee. Actually, I knew there wouldn’t be, but I was hoping for one.

#100

^i missed that, i only heard the commentators talking about it…sounded dirty though

forgot to mention that all the crazies were given “bleed blue, live green” green t-shirts before the game and the first half was played in a sea of green (unusual for cameron). so during half time they put a recycling bin in the middle of the floor and 90% of the shirts were thrown onto the court, returning the crowd to its usual blue & white. that seemed to set things straight (my girl and I said right away that it seemed to be throwing them off a little).