keggerz Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 A lady that I work with has a daughter that goes to VCU and she was one of 200 students that won in a lottery to go to the final four game (via a bus trip) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Barkley has been right about a lot of games in the past ten days or so (Kentucky against OSU), Arizona against Duke, etc.), but he's still a buffoon. I think he's going to go 0-2 today... Butler's experience gets them by VCU in a close game, and Kemba gets it done against the Wildcats. Butler-UConn in the final on Monday night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunning Runt Posted April 2, 2011 Author Share Posted April 2, 2011 Putting on my Butler ballcap and t-shirt now. Go Butler !!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Of course, as much as I follow college basketball, my prognosticating has been terrible in this tournament. So, it will probably be VCU-Kentucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 What Butler has done this year (considering what they did LAST year) has been ridiculous, yet it is somehow lost behind VCU's amazing run. I really wish these two teams were on opposite sides of the bracket... I would have very little trouble cheering for them both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Butler starts off as their typical fundamentally sound selves, then VCU knocks down a few three's, as they have been doing all tournament long. My gut feeling was simple... VCU's run has been all about knocking down the 3-pointer at a rate much higher than they did all year long. Butler's run simply proves that last year was no fluke. Their success is based on minimizing mistakes and playing stellar team defense. If I had to pick, I'd say those things are more likely to continue than VCU's hot shooting, but I could be wrong. If VCU stays hot, that changes things. Of course, they also could just prove to be the quicker, stronger, and/or more athletic team. I just don't think that will be the case, considering Butler has proven several teams (who thought the same thing) wrong, over the past five games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Two things that I heard today, that really stuck out in my mind: 1) The Colonial Athletic Conference (VCU, George Mason, Old Dominion) is 7-2 against the ACC and Big East, in the NCAA tournament, over the past five seasons. 2) 1400 people from Matt Howard's hometown (Connersville, IN) came to his final home game at Butler. That's over 10% of the entire population. Both of those things are amazing to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keggerz Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 not looking good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chargerz Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 not looking good Have faith. There's still a half to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunning Runt Posted April 2, 2011 Author Share Posted April 2, 2011 not looking good I'd say that's a matter of perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keggerz Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 time for VCU to show what they are made of Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keggerz Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Congrats to Butler and their fans...the ride was fun while it lasted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunning Runt Posted April 3, 2011 Author Share Posted April 3, 2011 Suh-weeeeeeet !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazinib1 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Sorry..kinda out of the loop here. But am I right thinking Butler is now in back to back championship games? That's pretty damned impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunning Runt Posted April 3, 2011 Author Share Posted April 3, 2011 Sorry..kinda out of the loop here. But am I right thinking Butler is now in back to back championship games? That's pretty damned impressive. You're right. They got beat by Duke last year and actually had a half-court buzzer beater bounce off the board then the rim (literally missed by maybe 1 inch) that would have won the game. Very impressive stuff for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montster Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Detlef must be happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackass Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 good games tonight. looking forward to the finals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Barkley has been right about a lot of games in the past ten days or so (Kentucky against OSU), Arizona against Duke, etc.), but he's still a buffoon. I think he's going to go 0-2 today... Butler's experience gets them by VCU in a close game, and Kemba gets it done against the Wildcats. Butler-UConn in the final on Monday night. First time all tournament that I got two games correct in a row. Should be a fun final, and I'm not so sure Butler is the underdog any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Outside of UConn's fans, I'm not sure how/why anyone wouldn't be pulling for Butler tonight. I hope they can find a way to get it done, one more time. To think that they were basically eliminated against Pitt, if not for one of the worst fouls ever (after a pretty bad foul right before that), is pretty crazy. Funny... When the brackets first came out, I penciled in what I thought would be the results. Had Ohio State, Kansas, UConn, and Old Dominion in the Final Four. Didn't really particularly like any of the other teams in the SE region (Pitt, Florida, BYU, etc.). Why does that matter? Well, it really doesn't. But, Old Dominion has a couple of close ties to this Final Four... They beat VCU in their conference final, and lost to Butler on a buzzer-beater in the first round. Does that mean ODU would be in the Final, had they beaten Butler? Of course not. But, it's just another example (among many) of how much luck is involved in picking a good or bad bracket. Sometimes, one game (or one play) can make a huge difference. In Butler's case, that's happened in a couple of their games. They seem to be a team of destiny. They could have been easily knocked out in rounds 1 and 2, yet here they are again... Playing for a NC for the second year in a row. The same can be said for UConn... What they've done is amazing. It's pretty rare that a relatively low seed wins the Big East tourney AND does well in the NCAA tournament. To do THIS well is something I've never seen before. In other words, usually, if a team cruises through the Big East AND makes the Final Four, they're one of the top teams in the country (in the rankings). To do that as the Big East 8-seed, with three freshmen starting, is pretty crazy. One other thing... I'm not sure anyone will do what VCU did this year (get to the Final Four after having to win the play-in game), any time soon, but I do think it's going to be more and more common for us to see "mid-majors" do well in the tournament. Barkley made another good point the other night... The advantage that the nation's top programs have, in terms of talent, is somewhat negated by the fact that they don't get to play together for as long as the smaller schools do. Typical example tonight... One team has the best player (arguably) in the country, but he's playing with three freshman. The other team has proven, time and time again, that they simply play better team basketball/defense than their opponents. And, more importantly, they're mostly upperclassmen that have played together for 2-4 years. Which will prevail? I think it will be close, but I've picked against Butler too many times to do so again tonight. Should be fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddahj Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 I'm on the Butler bandwagon for tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Dick Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 I'm on the Butler bandwagon for tonight. Me too. And everyone else in America not living in Connecticut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuke'em ttg Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 I'm on the Butler bandwagon for tonight. I want a freakin Butler blowout and hit the rack early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazinib1 Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 I just don't want to get 5 damned calls from the east coast tonight at 4am. Go Butler! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Dick Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 THAT'S how you sing the National Anthem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loaf Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Thad Motta has got to be sick to his stomach watching this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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