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Timmypg
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VIG - watched alot of ACC this year partner - skilled, skilled league but kind of on the soft-side.........................

 

Soft is a subjective term. You are saying soft but as compared to what? A guy who has slept on the ground for a year would say my old crappy mattress was soft, but as compared to the nice new one I have, well?

 

Is the ACC soft as compared to the Big East, sure. As compared to the rest of college hoop, not so much. The Big Ten bangs a lot also, but that's just because they lack the offensive skill.

 

No need to argue ther merits of conference vs conference. It's been done to death here.

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Soft is a subjective term. You are saying soft but as compared to what? A guy who has slept on the ground for a year would say my old crappy mattress was soft, but as compared to the nice new one I have, well?

 

Is the ACC soft as compared to the Big East, sure. As compared to the rest of college hoop, not so much. The Big Ten bangs a lot also, but that's just because they lack the offensive skill.

 

No need to argue ther merits of conference vs conference. It's been done to death here.

 

all good- just firing back on your Pac 10 dig..... which is funny bc UCLA, USC and WSU have been 3 of the best defensive teams in the country the past few years........

 

there is the Big East - and the rest of the country when it comes to rugged play - that Pitt UConn game was a war

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VT falls to Virginia, IMO they're out. Miami falls to FSU. Miami is really pushing it right now. I think they can still get in, as they have a number of "good losses" by few points. They've almost got to win out though, and win a game or two in the tourney to get in.

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How about 38-33 Penn State over Illinois.....was that a good game to watch? :wacko:

 

 

Sounds like a football game. If I understand correctly, it looked like one too. :D

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Sounds like a football game. If I understand correctly, it looked like one too. :wacko:

However, that wouldn't explain the fact that Illinois shot exactly zero FTs and Penn St shot 11.

 

None the less, you're closer than you think to being right. When they played in football this season, I think the score was 38-24. Not that far off.

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I know the Big Ten is traditionally known for playing solid defense, but that's pretty bad. How do you have a 7'1" center and shoot no free throws in the game? Illinois is not really impressing me at this point. I think Purdue is starting to separate themselves from the rest of the pack in joining MSU as the Big Ten's elite teams. That said, I don't think either one of them are Final Four caliber squads. I could see the Big Ten easily getting three teams into the Sweet Sixteen, but I would be surprised if anybody gets much further than that... maybe one to the Elite 8, and that's about it.

 

Big Ten Standings (my picks to make the NCAA's in bold)

 

Michigan St. 10-3 20-5 In as a 2 or 3 seed.

 

Purdue 9-4 20-6 In... if they were to win out and win the Big Ten tourney, I could see them surpassing MSU for a 2, otherwise 3-5 range.

 

Illinois 9-5 21-6 In... Will they right the ship and secure a 4-5, or will they slip into the 6-7 range?

 

Penn St. 8-6 19-8 Probably need to win 2 or 3 of their last four... @OSU, IND, ILL, @IOWA. 21-10 and 10-8 in conf. would be hard to argue, but their RIP is very poor.

 

Minnesota 7-6 19-6 Need to win 3 of their last 5... @MICH, NW, @ILL, WISC, MICH. If they take care of things at home....

 

Ohio State 7-6 17-7 ILL, PSU, @PUR, @IOWA, NW... one of the tougher schedules remaining. Probably the one team that can still make it with a 9-9 conference record, due to their decent RPI/rankings. Still need to win at least 2 games.

 

Wisconsin 7-6 16-9 If they take care of IND (twice) and beat MICH at home, they're probably in at 19-11 and 10-8 in conference. A win or two in the conference tournament wouldn't hurt their cause, though.

 

Michigan 6-7 16-10 Like OSU, not an easy schedule remaining... MIN, @IOWA, PUR, @WISC, @MIN. The difference is that the Wolverines probably need to win 3, maybe 4, of their remaining 5 games. That means probably sweeping the Gophers and winning at WISC or IOWA. It's hard to argue with wins over Duke and UCLA (and playing UCONN tough), but I don't think they make it unless they get to 20 wins, whether that means finishing 4-1 or winning at least one conference tournament game. If they get in, I think it very well may be at the expense of my Gophers. I guess we'll know more after tonight....

 

Northwestern 5-8 14-10 With 4 of their remaining 5 games on the road, and needing to win out and then some, they're basically out.

 

Iowa 3-10 13-13 Out

 

Indiana 1-11 6-18 Out

 

So, basically, I've changed my tune slightly on the Big Ten. Early on, I thought they might get as few as 4 bids into the NCAA's. But, Wisconsin is coming on strong, and with PSU winning at Illinois last night, those two teams are both right in the mix. Michigan hasn't done enough, in my opinion, within the conference so far, to get strong consideration. They'll need to finish with a surge to make the dance. Like I said, though, if they do, it will be at the expense of one of the others... PSU, MIN, OSU, or WISC. I think three of those five make it, depending on how they finish. It could come down to who wins in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. I don't think the Big Ten will get more than six bids, simply because the five in question still play each other, not to mention other conference tournaments will have upset winners that will knock some of the top teams into at-large status.

 

If things finished today, OSU would play IND, WISC-IOWA, and MICH-NW in the first round. Assuming the top three advanced, it would set up matchups between MSU-MICH, PUR-WISC, ILL-OSU, and PSU-MIN. Hypothetically, the loser of the PSU-MIN game (assuming they both finish around 20-21 wins and 9-9 or 10-8 in conference) could be out of the dance, due to both teams having a rather weak non-conference schedule (with MIN's win on a neutral court versus Louisville the one exception). Still, I would not at all be surprised to see a 21-10 Penn State or Minnesota team getting ousted in the first round of the Big Ten tournament and headed for the NIT, allowing the other to gain a bid to the dance.

Edited by Gopher
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Gopher -love the optimism but the Big 11 will get 6 MAX, and more likely 5........

 

IN - MSU, Purdue, Ill

 

Work To Do - OSU, Minny, Wisky

 

OUT - Penn State - cmon man they are not getting in

My bad on "bolding" Penn State... didn't mean to. I think they may very well end up on that short list of 20-win teams from major conferences that don't make it. Other than that, if you read my comments in italics, I think you and I actually agree on the Big Ten overall. I have MSU, PUR, and ILL as in for sure. I stated that OSU, MIN, and WISC all have work left... It's not like they're in as of today. I just bolded them because, looking at their schedules, they're likely to make it if they win the games they should win. I agree that six is probably the max for the conference, given that there will be some surprises all over the country come conference tournament time.

 

My point with Penn State is simply this... If they and say, Minnesota, end up with nearly identical records (conference and non), and play each other as the 4 and 5 seeds in the Big Ten tournament, the winner of that game could very well get the last spot. Penn State's in-conference resume is actually BETTER than Minnesota's, and I think the selection committee would be very hard-pressed to put more emphasis on a MIN win versus Louisville in December than a straight up victory by PSU over Minnesota two days before selection Sunday. Just throwing out scenarios... that's all. :wacko:

 

Michigan is basically done, but I think they COULD still make it. I've seen stranger things happen, and given that they play MIN twice, you never know. Sweep the Gophers, win 4/5 down the stretch, add a win in round 1 of the conference tournament, and suddently they're a 21-win team with wins over two teams in the top 10-15 nationally. Not saying that will happen, and if it did, them getting in would more than likely eliminate PSU, MIN, and Wisconsin (given that one of those four wins would have to be at Wisconsin). I'm still not absolutely certain that the Big Ten gets six bids, but it is definitely looking more and more likely that they do, whereas a month ago it was looking like no more than five. Just like Arizona was looking like a definite NIT team 4-6 weeks ago, and now they're pretty much a lock. Interesting to see how things change throughout the course of a season. It will also be interesting, as it is every year, to see how much weight is placed on early-season victories/losses... MIN over Louisville, Michigan over Duke/UCLA, Michigan State losing badly to Maryland, etc. Regardless, I'm counting down the days to March madness.... :D:D

Edited by Gopher
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One other thing regarding the stretch run in the Big Ten... Iowa could definitely play spoiler here, and be the factor that decides whether the conference gets 5 or 6 bids. They host Michigan on Sunday, and then Ohio State and Penn State in their final two games of the year, and then will more than likely play one of the "bubble" teams in the conference tournament as well. They're not as bad of a team as they look on paper (their best big man has been slowed with injuries), and winning in Carver Hawkeye Arena is never easy. They could very well play a part in eliminating one or more of these teams from the dance.

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Wash / UCLA......wish I could have seen it. Recap?

 

 

UCLA played with a purpose and needed this game to get back in the mix for regular season conference champs. There D looked great and their O clicked all game long. It was one of those games where I was frankly surprised UW kept into single digits for pretty much the entire game. When UW would tighten the score up; UCLA would immediately go on a run.

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Wash / UCLA......wish I could have seen it. Recap?

Here you go... :wacko:Recap

 

Here's my take (watched it)... UCLA led almost the entire way, although it was fairly close throughout. UW tied it a couple of times, and I believe took the lead at one point in the second half, while Collison was on the bench. UCLA's other guards couldn't handle the 3/4-court pressure that UW applied while he was out, and Romar did a good job of identifying that weakness in the Bruins. Late in the second half, Collison basically took over and came up with some clutch baskets... drives to the hoop, runners in the lane, and a clutch three-pointer. If you look at the numbers, the two squads were basically dead-even in Reb's, Ast's, TO's, etc. The two areas where UCLA bettered the Huskies were at the free-throw line and behind the arc. UCLA shot 83% from the line, while Washington went 4-10. Both Thomas and Brockman struggled badly at the line. UCLA also dominated the outside shooting game, hitting on 8-17 threes, while Washington only made four. Having not seen a lot of these teams this year (especially UW), here is my thoughts on both teams:

 

Washington Huskies - I was very impressed with their guards... I think you would be hard-pressed to find many more talented back-court trios in the country than Thomas, Dentmon, and Overton. VERY quick, athletic guards that can take the ball to the hole. Brockman is a double-double machine, leading the country in career double-doubles, and it isn't even close. I see this team being a definite threat come tournament time, but have a few concerns with them. First, Brockman needs some help inside, and at least last night, it didn't seem like their other "bigs" were much of a factor. Quincy Pondexter is a nice player, but he's more of the slasher-type, who's not going to dominate inside. If Brockman were to get in foul trouble in a tournament game, I think they could be in trouble. Second, their guards are all small... All three of their main guards are well under 6 feet tall. I could see this being an issue if they run into a team with bigger guards... Memphis would be a good example. Also, other than Dentmon, they didn't appear to have anyone who can shoot the three... He made all four of their shots from behind the arc.

 

UCLA - Obviously, Collison is the key to this team, as he has been for a few years now. However, last night, the key to the Bruins' success was the balance that they got from their starting five. Aboya is a solid player who is strong enough to bang inside, and quick enough to play outside if necessary. If he continues to shoot like he did last night from the 15-18 foot range, he's going to be a very nice player. Shipp is key simply because he's their primary outside shooter. If he's on, it makes Collison that much harder to stop from driving to the basket because you can't cheat away from Shipp. The other guy that I was impressed with was the Serbian, Dragovic. He's a solid rebounder who can also shoot the three. UCLA"s main weaknesses appear to be two things. The first is obviously depth... they only go about 7-deep, as far as getting considerable minutes. When Collison's out, they not only have trouble scoring consistently, they have trouble just getting the ball across midcourt at times. If Collison, Aboya, or Shipp were to miss time or have foul issues, this team is in trouble. The other problem UCLA has apparently had this year is that they struggle to score at times. Even when Collison is in the game, the team goes through scoring droughts. They've got Collison and a couple of outside shooters in Shipp and Dragovic, but haven't really found that go-to scorer that a championship-caliber team needs. If Aboya continues to score consistently, that will certainly help, but this team is still without a player who can just take over games, other than Collison, and there's only so much he can do offensively, because he expends so much of his energy at the defensive end of the court.

 

These are both very dangerous teams that could make a run in March, certainly... Depth for both would be my main concern.

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Here you go... :DRecap

 

Here's my take (watched it)... UCLA led almost the entire way, although it was fairly close throughout. UW tied it a couple of times, and I believe took the lead at one point in the second half, while Collison was on the bench. UCLA's other guards couldn't handle the 3/4-court pressure that UW applied while he was out, and Romar did a good job of identifying that weakness in the Bruins. Late in the second half, Collison basically took over and came up with some clutch baskets... drives to the hoop, runners in the lane, and a clutch three-pointer. If you look at the numbers, the two squads were basically dead-even in Reb's, Ast's, TO's, etc. The two areas where UCLA bettered the Huskies were at the free-throw line and behind the arc. UCLA shot 83% from the line, while Washington went 4-10. Both Thomas and Brockman struggled badly at the line. UCLA also dominated the outside shooting game, hitting on 8-17 threes, while Washington only made four. Having not seen a lot of these teams this year (especially UW), here is my thoughts on both teams:

 

Washington Huskies - I was very impressed with their guards... I think you would be hard-pressed to find many more talented back-court trios in the country than Thomas, Dentmon, and Overton. VERY quick, athletic guards that can take the ball to the hole. Brockman is a double-double machine, leading the country in career double-doubles, and it isn't even close. I see this team being a definite threat come tournament time, but have a few concerns with them. First, Brockman needs some help inside, and at least last night, it didn't seem like their other "bigs" were much of a factor. Quincy Pondexter is a nice player, but he's more of the slasher-type, who's not going to dominate inside. If Brockman were to get in foul trouble in a tournament game, I think they could be in trouble. Second, their guards are all small... All three of their main guards are well under 6 feet tall. I could see this being an issue if they run into a team with bigger guards... Memphis would be a good example. Also, other than Dentmon, they didn't appear to have anyone who can shoot the three... He made all four of their shots from behind the arc.

 

UCLA - Obviously, Collison is the key to this team, as he has been for a few years now. However, last night, the key to the Bruins' success was the balance that they got from their starting five. Aboya is a solid player who is strong enough to bang inside, and quick enough to play outside if necessary. If he continues to shoot like he did last night from the 15-18 foot range, he's going to be a very nice player. Shipp is key simply because he's their primary outside shooter. If he's on, it makes Collison that much harder to stop from driving to the basket because you can't cheat away from Shipp. The other guy that I was impressed with was the Serbian, Dragovic. He's a solid rebounder who can also shoot the three. UCLA"s main weaknesses appear to be two things. The first is obviously depth... they only go about 7-deep, as far as getting considerable minutes. When Collison's out, they not only have trouble scoring consistently, they have trouble just getting the ball across midcourt at times. If Collison, Aboya, or Shipp were to miss time or have foul issues, this team is in trouble. The other problem UCLA has apparently had this year is that they struggle to score at times. Even when Collison is in the game, the team goes through scoring droughts. They've got Collison and a couple of outside shooters in Shipp and Dragovic, but haven't really found that go-to scorer that a championship-caliber team needs. If Aboya continues to score consistently, that will certainly help, but this team is still without a player who can just take over games, other than Collison, and there's only so much he can do offensively, because he expends so much of his energy at the defensive end of the court.

 

These are both very dangerous teams that could make a run in March, certainly... Depth for both would be my main concern.

 

I should just go ahead and delete my re-cap. :wacko:

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I should just go ahead and delete my re-cap. :wacko:

 

 

:D

 

caught the 2nd half - Shipp was huge , and Dragovic hit some big shots late just when UW was getting back into it

 

ETA: I have played with both Overton and Dentmon before I left Sea - both are totally cool, nice humble kids........ Dentmon has been overachieving HUGH IMO - and playing out of his mind Overton is more talented but for some reason is a bit slow to pick things up offensively bc the kid can shoot and get to the rack better than he has shown

Edited by wildcat2334
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Michigan dominated Minnesota last night... won by 12, but it could easily have been 20-25, the way things were going early in the second half. They're now 17-10 and 7-7 in conference (tied with MIN and a game behind PSU). Given the much more difficult non-conference schedule, Michigan will get in before either of those two teams if they end the season with relatively equal records. Assuming the Wolverines win at Iowa, they would need to beat Purdue at home, win at Wisconsin, or at Minnesota to finish at 19-12 and 9-9. Win two out of those three, and they have a good shot at getting in. One of three puts them definitely on the bubble... 19-12 teams don't usually make it, but they did beat Duke and UCLA. It could come down to that last regular season game in Minnesota, which is traditionally a tough place to play. But, Michigan was CLEARLY the better team last night... we'll see. One thing is for sure... having a 20-win season means a lot less when there are conference tournaments involved, and the selection committee should not place a lot of "weight" on whether a team won 20 games or not. Finish in the top five in the Big Ten, and you get a bye. If Michigan finishes 6th-8th, they would play a first round game against the 9th-11th place teams, possibly giving them an easy win that could be their 20th of the season.

 

Personally, I think they need to win 3 of their last 4 OR win two of those four AND get a "good" win in the conference tournament, meaning somebody other than the bottom three. I still believe the Big Ten will get no more than six... Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson were talking about possibly as many as 7 or 8 last night during the MIN-MICH game... that's crazy talk. If Michigan somehow makes it, they will be the sixth and final team, IMO.

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Lots of good games this weekend... In particular, I'll be watching Marquette @ Georgetown, Washington @ USC, and OK @ TX on Saturday. Then on Sunday, it gets even better... Nova @ Syracuse, Illinois @ OSU, Wisconsin @ MSU all during the day, then NW @ MIN, Wake @ Duke, and AZ @ ASU that night. Add in a round of golf Saturday, and UFC on Spike Saturday night, and it should be a fun weekend! One thing I'm surprised at, though, is that Butler/Davidson is not televised nationally on Saturday... would like to see that game. :wacko:

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Here you go... :wacko:Recap

 

Here's my take (watched it)... UCLA led almost the entire way, although it was fairly close throughout. UW tied it a couple of times, and I believe took the lead at one point in the second half, while Collison was on the bench. UCLA's other guards couldn't handle the 3/4-court pressure that UW applied while he was out, and Romar did a good job of identifying that weakness in the Bruins. Late in the second half, Collison basically took over and came up with some clutch baskets... drives to the hoop, runners in the lane, and a clutch three-pointer. If you look at the numbers, the two squads were basically dead-even in Reb's, Ast's, TO's, etc. The two areas where UCLA bettered the Huskies were at the free-throw line and behind the arc. UCLA shot 83% from the line, while Washington went 4-10. Both Thomas and Brockman struggled badly at the line. UCLA also dominated the outside shooting game, hitting on 8-17 threes, while Washington only made four. Having not seen a lot of these teams this year (especially UW), here is my thoughts on both teams:

 

Washington Huskies - I was very impressed with their guards... I think you would be hard-pressed to find many more talented back-court trios in the country than Thomas, Dentmon, and Overton. VERY quick, athletic guards that can take the ball to the hole. Brockman is a double-double machine, leading the country in career double-doubles, and it isn't even close. I see this team being a definite threat come tournament time, but have a few concerns with them. First, Brockman needs some help inside, and at least last night, it didn't seem like their other "bigs" were much of a factor. Quincy Pondexter is a nice player, but he's more of the slasher-type, who's not going to dominate inside. If Brockman were to get in foul trouble in a tournament game, I think they could be in trouble. Second, their guards are all small... All three of their main guards are well under 6 feet tall. I could see this being an issue if they run into a team with bigger guards... Memphis would be a good example. Also, other than Dentmon, they didn't appear to have anyone who can shoot the three... He made all four of their shots from behind the arc.

 

UCLA - Obviously, Collison is the key to this team, as he has been for a few years now. However, last night, the key to the Bruins' success was the balance that they got from their starting five. Aboya is a solid player who is strong enough to bang inside, and quick enough to play outside if necessary. If he continues to shoot like he did last night from the 15-18 foot range, he's going to be a very nice player. Shipp is key simply because he's their primary outside shooter. If he's on, it makes Collison that much harder to stop from driving to the basket because you can't cheat away from Shipp. The other guy that I was impressed with was the Serbian, Dragovic. He's a solid rebounder who can also shoot the three. UCLA"s main weaknesses appear to be two things. The first is obviously depth... they only go about 7-deep, as far as getting considerable minutes. When Collison's out, they not only have trouble scoring consistently, they have trouble just getting the ball across midcourt at times. If Collison, Aboya, or Shipp were to miss time or have foul issues, this team is in trouble. The other problem UCLA has apparently had this year is that they struggle to score at times. Even when Collison is in the game, the team goes through scoring droughts. They've got Collison and a couple of outside shooters in Shipp and Dragovic, but haven't really found that go-to scorer that a championship-caliber team needs. If Aboya continues to score consistently, that will certainly help, but this team is still without a player who can just take over games, other than Collison, and there's only so much he can do offensively, because he expends so much of his energy at the defensive end of the court.

 

These are both very dangerous teams that could make a run in March, certainly... Depth for both would be my main concern.

 

Great anaylsis and pretty much right on for UW. I think that the key to UW's success in the tourney is getting consistent play from Bryan-Amaning and Pondexter. Brockman owns the paint but they do need to give him some help and they need scoring from someone other than Dentmon and Thomas to make a serious run. I was a little dissapointed in the refereeing in the 2nd half but I liked the way the referee's kept the whistle in their pockets during the early part of the game. I think we were about 4:30 into the game before a whistle was blown,

 

I'm really interested in seeing how the Dawgs do tomorrow at USC. IMO, the Trojans have Top 15 talent and they will be jacked up for UW. This is a must win game for USC if they want to get into the Madness. The Trojan guards and the athletic Derozan are the toughest matchups Husky guards face in the Pac-10 with their size and athleticism. Going to catch the 2nd half over at the Snoqualmie Casino as I have a huge "Surprise" Party planned for my wife up there. GO DAWGS!

 

UW = 82 USC = 79

Edited by theprofessor
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Lots of good games this weekend... In particular, I'll be watching Marquette @ Georgetown, Washington @ USC, and OK @ TX on Saturday. Then on Sunday, it gets even better... Nova @ Syracuse, Illinois @ OSU, Wisconsin @ MSU all during the day, then NW @ MIN, Wake @ Duke, and AZ @ ASU that night. Add in a round of golf Saturday, and UFC on Spike Saturday night, and it should be a fun weekend! One thing I'm surprised at, though, is that Butler/Davidson is not televised nationally on Saturday... would like to see that game. :wacko:

I guess it's on ESPN right now... so much for CBSSportsline's "TV Listings," which are normally pretty reliable. At least I can watch the 2nd half.

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