whitesoxfan101

Bulls FINALLY won a road game tonight. On a side note, I saw this on facebook tonight with the caption reading "Vinny Del Negro's playbook" and found it quite funny:

I made the short drive to Hoffman Estates last night to see Jereme Richmond and Waukegan play. He is still sick (or so I was told, and so it appeared) and he probably didn't have his best game, but he still had about 18 points, several blocks, and 15 rebounds and Waukegan blew out high school basketball's answer to the Duke Blue Devils, Glenbrook North. Compared to the competition Waukegan had to beat to get to last night (Zion-Benton and Warren), the Spartans seemed an easier opponent, although I believe they had played twice this season, both close games, with GBN winning one. Not sure how that happened after watching that game. The point is though, in regards to this thread, even on a night where Richmond didn't play his best game, you could just see the talent. He had a few dunks, some incredible blocks, a ton of rebounds, and put up big numbers in a big game despite the fact he was getting mugged all night and didn't shoot great.

I am not the biggest soccer fan (although I do enjoy international matches, especially the UEFA Championship such as they had last summer, and the World Cup), but this article is ridiculous. I think soccer is a great game for kids to play, and really the fool here is somebody who would waste that much time writing such a pointless article.

Louisville Missouri (I know, I can't believe I did that either) Pittsburgh North Carolina Louisville over North Carolina in the title game. I wouldn't be surprised if every single one of those picks is wrong, either.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 16, 2009 -> 12:10 AM) True. I'm just saying it seems a lot of people can't fathom how they got in. All you have to do is look at their non-conference schedule and who they beat. Teams better start recognizing that it's not just about conference play anymore and schedule better. Very true. Another thing to keep in mind is the definition of "the 34 best teams" when keeping in mind how the at large process works. To some people, especially when you get to the last couple/few at large teams, they just want to take the best team available. And to me, Arizona is better than Creighton, St. Mary's, San Diego State (who they beat by 13), and Penn State (who isn't in because of their awful OOC schedule)

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Mar 16, 2009 -> 12:12 AM) Can someone please explain why Michigan deserves to be in the tournament besides the customary "they beat Duke and UCLA"? 1. The at large field sucked this year. 2. They have 2 really good players 3. I think they were the 5th best team in the Big 10 this year, and would have taken them over Minnesota (who I would have had in), and Wisconsin and Penn State (I'd have had neither in.)

I saw this a few times this weekend. I was completely confused the first time I saw it, but ever since then, i've died laughing. It's just so random and senseless, which makes it great.

QUOTE (MurcieOne @ Mar 10, 2009 -> 07:49 PM) When will the Mike North national nightmare finally end? He's easy to avoid now. An online radio station and a morning weekday talkshow on cable television is pretty easy to not find if you so choose.

The 2 bigs UNI has (Koch and Eglseder I believe are their names) could give Purdue problems because they are soft as tissue paper on the interior, but I can't see UNI winning that game.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Mar 15, 2009 -> 05:38 PM) Only 4 non BCS at larges. They keep shrinking that number every year. It's getting bad. Arizona? You have to be kidding me. The most the non BCS schools could have claimed to deserve this year is 6, and that would have even been a mild stretch (I think they deserved one more, San Diego State should have been in over Wisconsin). The non BCS leagues simply aren't as good right now as they were 4 or 5 years ago, they need to step their game up.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 15, 2009 -> 09:12 PM) Are you sure you arent just trying to see the sunshine on a cloudy day? Gonzaga is a pretty terrible draw for Ill. Gonzaga's recent hot play has been against an awful conference. The one time they stepped out of the league, Memphis (who I still question), kicked their ass. Having to play out west isn't a great deal, but I was expecting Illinois to be a 6 or 7 and have to play Duke in Greensboro or Villanova in Philly in the 2nd round or something of that nature if they even got past whoever their first round opponent would have been in that scenario. So in relationship to my expectations, yes this is a great draw.

I'm surprised ISU and Northwestern didn't get home games. That's my only thought here.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 15, 2009 -> 07:14 PM) Sorry, statistics support that mid tier BCS teams are better than non's. Yeah, and it was a bad, bad year for non BCS teams, but I think you could argue that a San Diego State and perhaps another team such as St. Mary's could have deserved a spot over an Arizona and/or Wisconsin. Although, I think Arizona will beat Utah and can give Wake Forest a game since the Deamon Deacons are so up and down. Michigan State's lack of consistency and Kansas' recent struggles make me tend to think Louisville has a nice road paved for them, but Wake Forest is a wild card here. They may not even make it to the sweet 16 to face Louisville due to their youth and lack of consistency/experience, but they could present Louisville problems if they do.

QUOTE (WilliamTell @ Mar 15, 2009 -> 05:20 PM) A 12 seed for Wisconsin and a 10 seed for Minnesota? Minnesota swept Wisconsin, so sure. I don't even think Wisconsin deserved to be in the field to be honest, and they will be gone quickly with the matchup they got anyways. The Oklahoma State/Tennessee first round game here might be the most entertaining among the field, and I think Florida State could give Pitt problems in the 2nd round. Villanova should take out Duke (if Duke even gets past Texas, whose size will cause them problems) on the bottom half of the bracket, and Nova/Pitt in a Big East slugfest would be a fun regional title game here. It might finally be Pitt's years to make a deep run, but they have to keep Blair out of foul trouble because when that happens, they aren't very good.

I think Illinois got a good draw here. Going out west to start sucks, but they got a 5 seed when I thought they would get a 6 or even a 7 due to Frazier being hurt, and no matter how it plays out, they will have to beat two mid majors to get to the sweet 16. Gonzaga is a traditional choker this time of year, but I still think this is the most talented them they've had since their elite 8 team a decade ago. If there was ever a draw that Illinois could manufacture into a sweet 16 berth, this is it (although Carolina would blow them out.) I think Carolina will win this region though, I think they got a great draw here, although I would love to see Butler get past LSU because they always give really good teams major problems. And I think Wisconsin was the Big 10 team that didn't deserve to be in and got in anyways (other than Penn State, who is correctly in the NIT), Michigan deserved to be in the field.

The draws for Missouri are just incredible. They had their names engraved on the Big 12 Tournament Championship trophy for them by all of the upsets there, and now they have a draw that could get them to the Final Four. They get a Cornell team they will run out of the gym, a battered Marquette team who has done nothing without their point guard James (or a Utah State team, who like Cornell, doesn't have the athletes to run with the Tigers), a Memphis team who has no true point guard and can't shoot the ball, and then the weakest #1 seed in UConn who has one of their best players injured. I know this looks stupid and hypocritical of me since I've made fun of Missouri for a while now because they can't win outside of Columbia, but I think the Tigers will win this region.

It's sad Mississippi State won that game because the SEC is now going to get 3 bids, and that abomination of a basketball league deserves no more than 2 bids. The refs and the clock operator match the level of play too, terrible.

So does the CBI gets first dibs on non NIT teams, then the CIT takes whoever the CBI doesn't want?

I would think Northwestern will have a first round home game in this, perhaps Illinois State as well. Will Bradley make it too? Perhaps they'll go to the 3rd tournament again, and actually I believe there is a 4th tournament this year as well.

Well we have our ULTIMATE proof that the WBC does not matter at all, since Vazquez pitched well last night.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Mar 14, 2009 -> 04:59 PM) I don't know why Lundardi has Creighton in. How is it that their 24 point loss in the semi's could get them in. I'm still bitter about the ISU snub last year. The pool of at large teams last year was better than this year, and by a pretty wide margin. If Illinois State had put up the identical resume this season that they did last season, they'd have probably made the tournament. It's just bad timing and bad luck.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Mar 14, 2009 -> 10:15 PM) I like Louisville a lot. What a 2nd half they played tonight. I am strongly considering them for a national champion pick. The Big East Tournament as a whole was incredible though, such a great league.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 14, 2009 -> 09:11 PM) He and Mullens are gone. Both should stay because their games arent ready for the NBA, but both will leave for the money. Im just hoping Buford stays at this point. If by some miracle all three stayed I would be very happy. I agree that Mullens and Buford aren't ready, but Turner looks like a guy that would be wise to leave, he seems pretty ready. Like you said though, two or all three leaving wouldn't be a surprise considering this draft class, plus as you've mentioned, Mullens needs the money (I'm not sure of Buford or Turner and their families financial situations.) Ohio State is the one Big 10 team that I think could surprise in the NCAA Tournament though because they have so much talent. They shoot the ball very well, and I think they might have a scoring outburst in the tournament due to the liberation of not having to play at a Big 10 pace or with Big 10 refs in the dance. I guess Purdue could also make a run now that they are healthy, but I still think they are too small and weak on the interior to do so. As for Illinois, I'd be surprised if they aren't a 6 seed. I guess in theory they could be a 5 because the field is so bad, or a 7 because Frazier is hurt, but to me, they are a definite 6 seed. I thought it was pretty obvious they missed Chester yesterday, but the real reason that game got ugly was the incredible amount of missed open shots they had. I've seen Illinois have plenty of shooting droughts this year, but never when so many of the shots were open.

QUOTE (Jimbo's Drinker @ Mar 14, 2009 -> 03:11 AM) this whole Syracuse run is cute, but I hope they have not burned themselves out of the real tournament next week. Haha you liar, you HATE Syracuse.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Mar 14, 2009 -> 12:17 PM) The real problem it is impossible to know how good Memphis is right now. Teams getter better as the season goes on so the team that played in November and December may not be the Memphis team now, but because they haven't played anyone good since that time it is hard to really evaluate how much they have improved. Agreed. One thing I am very sure of is they are incredibly tall and long (2nd tallest team in America) and they play absolutely fantastic defense. They are also talented, obviously. But they are one of the worst shooting 3 point teams in America, and Tyreke Evans, as good as he is, still is a guy I don't think can handle playing point guard against very good teams. Memphis is a sweet 16 type of team in my opinion, maybe elite 8 if they get a good draw, maybe lose in the 2nd round if they get a bad draw.