March Madness NCAA

[zonelistener]

I would like to see Gtech just for something new.

 

[popacrobat]

ha, you guys kidding me? this isnt even going to be close

uconns gonna win by at least 15

 

[Justified]

No my dear, you are wrong. GA TECH all the way!

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

ha, you guys kidding me? this isnt even going to be close

uconns gonna win by at least 15

November 26, 2003 - Madison Square Garden - Preseason NIT Semifinals
Unranked Georgia Tech 77, #1 UConn 61
and despite what some of the uconn people tend to claim... for some strange reason... Emeka Okafor played 34 minutes in the game... which was never close. Villanueva, a bench player, didn't play... Okafor did.


Does the fact that Georgia Tech already beat UConn by a large margin mean Tech will do it again? Of course not... but I'd sllloooow down before I'd start saying UConn was gonna blow 'em out...

 

[DiGi]

Tonight is going to be G Tech's night.

 

[Elvis Presley]

How many points do you get for correctly picking the champ? Cause if Tech wins, I run away with the pool....

 

[Elvis Presley]

Ok, with the following bracket at ESPN, where would you say I am ranked?

http://www.sighost.us/members/jlong03/bracket.jpg

 

[Hewson]

I think Ga Tech is a sleeper in ACC tourney, they're about to tip with UNC...we'll see.

So I was 1 tourney early with my prediction.

 

[Justified]

I am off to watch the game with the crazy engineers at Tech.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

the fact that people talk about emeka okafor as "the best big man in the country" is a sad and sorry fact for american basketball. the man has limited offensive ability, but is so strong and can jump so high... he's a 4 playing the 5... and so far in the early going, he hasn't been able to get shots over schenscher... until right now when tech stupidly went to a friggin zone damn it. i hate zone's... zone's are for pussies. bah

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

this game is horrific... two teams who can't friggin shoot. where's j.j. reddick when ya need him...

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

that shot at the half was the first jump shot either team has hit all game...


and they wonder why basketball's ratings go down and down every year...

 

[popacrobat]

anybody ready for some halftime crow?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

uconn could win by 40 i still think they suck... it's just proof of the watered down talent level in college basketball... okafor is a glorified eric dampier or kurt thomas... good, nothing special...

but the writing's on the wall... and i expect every call to go uconn's way the rest of the game, for okafor to get away with countless over the backs because he's a "star," and for uccon to win by 25 or so... which will just piss me off even more 'cause the better team choked on saturday.

uconn's women's team has more skill than this bunch of schmo's. what ever happened to the days of ray allen

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

watchin' both of these teams attempt to shoot jumpshots makes me want to take up hockey

uconn can't opperate in a half court game... unfortunatly for tech, neither can they. so in a horse race, the team with the bigger and faster horses win... thus uconn's big early lead. now that calhoun's trying to slow the pace down, thus having to play a half court game, tech's making a run and just pulled back to within 12.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

the uconn teams of ray allen would smack this uconn team by 20+... and that team didn't even make the final four. tells you alot about the downfall of american basketball in just a 10 year span. no wonder europeans are taking over.

 

[Hewson]

To steal a line from Kevin Spacey in American Beauty..."I Rule".

 

[zoney!]

the uconn teams of ray allen would smack this uconn team by 20+... and that team didn't even make the final four. tells you alot about the downfall of american basketball in just a 10 year span. no wonder europeans are taking over.

College basketball is in ruins because kids are dumb and go right to the NBA from High School, or leave after their sophomore or Freshman year of college.

AND, then they get to the NBA and they are lucky to ride the bench.

 

[Elvis Presley]

the uconn teams of ray allen would smack this uconn team by 20+... and that team didn't even make the final four. tells you alot about the downfall of american basketball in just a 10 year span. no wonder europeans are taking over.

I think thats crap, I mean, sure, the title game was dissapointing. But the other 2 final four games were brilliant! College basketball survives man! The talent level may be down but you cannot deny someone like Okafor. Ray Allen? Hes a great player, but he never won anything. Okafor and company have a national title now. And im not a UCONN fan either......

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I think thats crap, I mean, sure, the title game was dissapointing. But the other 2 final four games were brilliant! College basketball survives man! The talent level may be down but you cannot deny someone like Okafor. Ray Allen? Hes a great player, but he never won anything. Okafor and company have a national title now. And im not a UCONN fan either......

glorified eric dampier... a good friend of mine played for yale and guarded okafor earlier this year. his exact words... "has no real offensive moves but is just so big and can jump so high that it's tough to stop him."

if he becomes anything more than an average player in the nba, i'll eat my shoe.

as for the final 4 games... both had great finishes, but neither was really tremendous basketball. the duke-uconn game especially... where the refs were absolutely horrendous and there was no flow to the game at all. i'm sorry maybe i'm old fashioned... but i like my basketball players to be able to hit the occasional 15 foot jumper without smacking it off the backboard. but hey... that's just me. i could be wrong.

 

[Elvis Presley]

No, you make good points about the officiating. It was bad. As for Okafor, I could care less how good he is on the pro level, right now all that matters is he is a champion, and not many can say that. There are many guys who made not so great pros that starred in college. (Laettner, Manning, etc) College hoops is still king for me, even if it is a bit watered down.....

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

danny manning started out good in the nba, but flammed out reeeeeal quick...

as for the tournament... as a whole i think Bill "The Sports Guy" Simmons put it best in his running diary of the championship game (which can be found on ESPN.com)

7:55 -- Packer: "This has been a brilliant NCAA Tournament -- the final game will not be indicative in any way shape or form about how Georgia Tech played, or for that matter, how the Tournament has been played. Total dominance by Connecticut."

(Note: I'd agree with everything except for the word "brilliant." Exciting, yes. Brilliant, no. Let's see someone operate a successful 3-on-2 fastbreak at this level. Just once.)

i think that's kinda exactly what i'm trying to say... just in a more bitter fashion were there some very exciting finishes in this tournament? absolutely... was there really an overall level of great basketball being played? absolutely not... when you have the starting point guard on the national championship team banking in free throws... there's a problem (he's normaly a 50% free throw shooter... the starting 1... not a 4 or 5... the 1 guard. ponderous).

the reason why more and more europeans get drafted every year in the nba draft is because the europeans are highly skilled in the basic fundamentals of the game. all americans care about are "iverson" crossovers and dunking the ball (thank you sportscenter)... except for, say, lebron... which is why there's so much excitement around him. great court vision, great handle, tough, explosive, highly coachable and only 19. if he continues to improve his jumpshot, which he's already done, he'll be the complete package. there's too much "specialization" in basketball today. it seems the only players who have all around skills (passing, shooting, rebounding, etc.) are the 4's... garnett, duncan, nowitzki, etc.

 

[Justified]

At least GA Tech made it to the championship game for the first time, there is always next year.

 

[DiGi]

Its too bad Tech attempted those 3 three pointers with maybe 5-6 minutes to go. They should have taken some better looks.

The ACC will be sick next year.

 

[Got Philk?]

danny manning started out good in the nba, but flammed out reeeeeal quick...

Keep in mind Manning had repeated knee surgery. Before then, he did lead the lowly Clippers to the playoffs.


As far as your list of players, Garnett, Duncan, and Dirk, they do all have offensive talents, yes. But Garnett and Duncan are the MVP's. Watch Dirk on Defense. Anyone can rebound, but not everyone can block out. Dirk doesn't do this but can jump. He should thank his teammates for doing all the work. I'm not even going to go into his help side defense. Until he and Chris Webber learn how to play D, they will not win a championship. Spoken from a true Wisconsin rasied bballer. Thank you Mr. Bennett.

And finally, Okafor. I apologize to the man with a friend at Yale, but I think we all have done this before. I was friends with Kyle Korver and played against and with him in high school. I could tell you the same types of things, he has no moves, he's slow, I could guard him if I were taller than 6'3", but it wouldn't take away from the fact that he plays for the 76ers right now. The truth is Okafor stood out in the championship game(national t.v.) and will be good in the NBA because of it. Now lets talk about schenscher of GT...nevermind