Tournament Thread tOfficial 2019 ncaa tournament thread

[The Derski]

And... Duke disabled comments on their social media.

 

[Ottermatic]

it wouldn't have been a shock to anyone to see Duke win it. Coach K has won the title with unconventional lineups before. That 2010 team, with Brian Zoubek our only presence inside, nobody had ever won the title the way those guys did either.

The way that Duke was playing prior to Zion going down with a knee injury, there's nobody in the country that could have beaten us. But when Zion came back, the chemistry that the team had with him midseason had disappeared. I remember commenting on that in the ACC tournament thread. And without it, we kept having coin flip games. The only game after Zion's return that I even saw a semblance of the Duke team I was watching midseason was in the Florida State game in the ACC championship.

It's not impossible to win a stretch of coin flip games time after time. UConn kept winning nailbiter after nailbiter several years ago en route to one of their titles. But it requires a lot of luck. And ours ran out today.

 

[7Samurai13]

it wouldn't have been a shock to anyone to see Duke win it. Coach K has won the title with unconventional lineups before. That 2010 team, with Brian Zoubek our only presence inside, nobody had ever won the title the way those guys did either.

The way that Duke was playing prior to Zion going down with a knee injury, there's nobody in the country that could have beaten us. But when Zion came back, the chemistry that the team had with him midseason had disappeared. I remember commenting on that in the ACC tournament thread. And without it, we kept having coin flip games. The only game after Zion's return that I even saw a semblance of the Duke team I was watching midseason was in the Florida State game in the ACC championship.

It's not impossible to win a stretch of coin flip games time after time. UConn kept winning nailbiter after nailbiter several years ago en route to one of their titles. But it requires a lot of luck. And ours ran out today.

Nail biters are a huge emotional drain and eventually that will catch up to you. MSU was far from perfect but barely did enough to do the job.

 

[7Samurai13]

When they were shooting free throws at the end I thought it was going to over time with how many we have seen lately. I don’t think I could have lasted for an extra frame.

 

[Ottermatic]

I do think that Duke should have had the option to send Michigan State to the line at the end for a 1 and 1.

Teams should not be punished at the end of the game for having played foul-free basketball throughout the second half.

 

[jontaejones]

I do think that Duke should have had the option to send Michigan State to the line at the end for a 1 and 1.

Teams should not be punished at the end of the game for having played foul-free basketball throughout the second half.

At that point, Coach K should have had his players commit fouls before the ball was inbounded.

Other teams have done it, and not been called for intentional fouls, and I'm not quite sure why he didn't.

Even if they were able to catch Winston, they still had three more fouls to give.

 

[jontaejones]

The one-and-done era has clearly gone in favor of 4-year-ish schools.

 

[Ottermatic]

At that point, Coach K should have had his players commit fouls before the ball was inbounded.

Other teams have done it, and not been called for intentional fouls, and I'm not quite sure why he didn't.

Even if they were able to catch Winston, they still had three more fouls to give.

yeah - that was a puzzling coaching call

 

[douggie]

I'm a Duke supporter but it was obvious they had too many flaws to win the title in addition to Reddish being a major disappointment.

They would have needed a lot to go right to win the title.

It really hurts to look at the boxscore and see that we shot better than them from two, shot better than them from three, shot better than them from the FT line, out rebounded them on offense, out rebounded them on defense, and still lost.

 

[douggie]

GG Duke and @douggie

I’m on the way to the hospital with a heart attack

Good game @7Samurai13 , Cassius Winston was amazing today, and Izzo deserved the win, Congrats!

 

[bksballer89]

It really hurts to look at the boxscore and see that we shot better than them from two, shot better than them from three, shot better than them from the FT line, out rebounded them on offense, out rebounded them on defense, and still lost.

Look at turnovers and points off turnovers.

That is the game in a nutshell IMO

 

[douggie]

Look at turnovers and points off turnovers.

That is the game in a nutshell IMO

Exactly, that's what I was eluding to, and Cassius Winston only had one turnover, that's being a Senior POY

 

[Wild Turkey]

The one-and-done era has clearly gone in favor of 4-year-ish schools.

It's a trend I hope continues. I like not having to learn all new players every single year.

 

[mrwallace2ku]

you can count on the Lady Ducks to bring home the trophy bacon to park in their empty case in eugenoland.

 

[7Samurai13]

Exactly, that's what I was eluding to, and Cassius Winston only had one turnover, that's being a Senior POY

Zion was obviously the best player in the country this year but I would argue that Winston was the most valuable.

We lost two of our top players early in the season for most of the year. Without Winston, no regular season title, no B1G tourney title and we might have been fighting to even make the Big Dance.

 

[tomcat1]

It really hurts to look at the boxscore and see that we shot better than them from two, shot better than them from three, shot better than them from the FT line, out rebounded them on offense, out rebounded them on defense, and still lost.

Hey man, I don't know what to say other than I feel your pain because I was right there with you cheering for Duke until the horn sounded. I'm just happy that we all got to see Zion's short stay at Duke as much as possible not only for his God given talent on the basketball court but also because of his class that he demonstrated off the court. All college basketball fans should wish him well!

 

[douggie]

Zion was obviously the best player in the country this year but I would argue that Winston was the most valuable.

We lost two of our top players early in the season for most of the year. Without Winston, no regular season title, no B1G tourney title and we might have been fighting to even make the Big Dance.

Injuries are such an issue in college basketball.

Winston is not a good player, he's a great player and a difference maker, he was incredible today, good luck the rest of the way!

 

[LambeauLegs]

UVA versus Sparty for the title.

Anything else can suck my ass hair.

This is who i Have listed in the finals on the Bracket here on the hoop with VA winning it all I like your thoughts

 

[7Samurai13]

Injuries are such an issue in college basketball.

Winston is not a good player, he's a great player and a difference maker, he was incredible today, good luck the rest of the way!

Really surprised most mock drafts don’t have Winston being drafted at all. ESPN has him as the 86th prospect.

 

[Edonidd]

Exactly, that's what I was eluding to, and Cassius Winston only had one turnover, that's being a Senior POY

He's actually a Junior. Your point stands, even with him not being projected to be drafted his stock can't go any higher than it is now.

I do remember his freshman year though, I believe it was that asshat Dan Dakich claimed he was going to leave MSU in 4 years as their all time leader in assists. I thought it was a crazy prediction at the time, this is Magic's school, but just in the past 20 years we've had 4 year POY types in Draymond Green, Denzel Valentine, and current assist king Mateen Cleeves. At this point it might actually be possible though.