whitesoxfan101

QUOTE(WilliamTell @ Mar 19, 2006 -> 02:05 AM) When I read this thread I knew Gonzaga would be mentioned in it. But Gonzaga was getting fouled more than Indiana was. Gonzaga drew a lot more fouls than Indiana. That's what happens when Gonzaga plays the post compared to Indiana's shooting the 3 point shot. Honestly, tell me what you have against Gonzaga. They made the Sweet 16, farther than you thought they'd go, let's give them a little credit. It's not a 1 man team as most seem to think. Gonzaga will be in for a shock agianst UCLA's defense, unless the refs give them 35 more free throws again. They only beat Xavier due to the blind luck of Morrison just making everything he tossed up the last 5 minutes, and then the refs made sure they'd advance yesterday. If they beat UCLA, I'll give them their due and be gone for a week though.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 19, 2006 -> 12:38 AM) If the fix was in, then the refs would have never let Illinois get a double digit lead. I'm sorry, but saying the game was "fixed" is a pathetic statement. A person can complain all they want about the refs, but when ridiculous statements are made like that, people need to just step back and thing about what they're really saying. The refs can't do much when Illinois gets as hot as they did late in the 1st/early in the 2nd half. As soon as Illinois cooled down though, it turned into free throws every possesion for Washington. And also, Illinois sucks against zones but there were several times where Illinois pushed the ball up the floor and got no love as the player driving to the basket (mainly Dee Brown at least 3 times just in the last 5 minutes) was hammered and missed. I really had not a ton of issues with Washington shooting 39 free throws, as I'd say probably 27 or so were legit. But combine Washington shooting about a dozen too many free throws with Illinois shooting almost as many too few, and there's your difference in the game. And the Indiana live by the 3, die by the 3 stuff is laughable bull s*** and your being a blind NCAA defender if you use it. 41 to 6 can't be explained by 2 different styles of play, end of story.

QUOTE(Felix @ Mar 18, 2006 -> 06:48 PM) He's married. That means little, he is a pro athlete after all. babes stolen=4 bases stolen=2

The IHSA really needs a shot clock.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Mar 18, 2006 -> 11:00 PM) You're gonna get flamed by people calling you an Illini homer but it makes a lot of sense. Of course it does, but people refuse to believe their beloved sports, ESPECIALLY college, are fixed. And let me point out again that the whole reason I started this thread was the Indiana/Gonzaga game, which to me was even more obvious than the Illini game today or in 2001.

The refs in the Indiana/Gonzaga game did some major damage to my bracket, as I lost my first elite 8 team.

The NCAA is not a fraud, because that would be disrespectful of all frauds out there to say that. I would put nothing above them, including fixing games, especially when the NCAA Tournament and it's popularity is driven entirely by the gamblers and gambling opportunities. This goes far beyond Illinois, but the Illini and Indiana games just brought the issues to light. Those 2 games looked almost as if they were obviously fixed, but you just don't want to believe it.

We wouldn't have beat UConn anyways, but losing to the refs isn't a very good feeling in the dance, and it's happened now twice in 5 years (see my thread).

Sorry Indiana fans, Illini fans know how you feel. Hard to win a 5 on 8 game.

Now I'm not one to complain about the refs normally, but the Illini have now lost twice in 5 years in the tourney due to the refs. As bad as 2001 was when we had 5 guys foul out and Arizona shot over 50 free throws, today might have been worse. At least in 2001 the Illini had 30 plus free throws, whereas today it was 39 to 11. The Illini were fouling, but so was Washington, and no way did Illinois commit 28 free throws more worth of fouls. Now now, before you call me an Illini homer, let me point out I might have seen a game that topped them all in Gonzaga vs. Indiana. Final free throws in that game were I believe 41 to 6, and Gonzaga won by 10. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I am beginning to think due to gambling, fan base, and ESPECIALLY storyline reasons, that the refs are fixing these games. UConn vs. Washington will be a 1999 rematch, and Lord knows Gonzaga is "America's team". And in 2001, who do you want in the final 4? Mighty Lute Olson and Arizona, or Illinois who was less than a decade removed from a bull s*** probation period. Go ahead and flame me, but to be honest if I researched this I'm sure there are way more examples of the refs deciding games that have nothing to do with the Big 10.

Officially....22/32 in the first round, all elite 8 and final 4 teams left, 3 sweet 16 teams gone, all on the left side of the bracket (Iowa, Kansas, Marquette). Oh, and I went 13 for 16 on the right and 9 for 16 on the left of the bracket.

UConn only plays 10 minutes of a 40 minute game and wins by 13. I don't care who your playing, that's damn good. Hopefully they lose focus for too long and lose to somebody, yikes. Oh, and well done MSU....had no heart all year and showed it tonight.

Haha, way to go Bail. You have single handedly started the rise of 2 mid major programs by losing in 4 vs. 13 and 3 vs. 14 games. Well done, and I'm glad your enjoying Kansas. This was even sweeter since Bradley is an Illinois team, and Peoria no less, and from the Valley. Awesome stuff, congrats to the Braves and hopefully you beat Pittsburgh and get a shot at Memphis.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 08:38 PM) Ok, another idea. Post your crazy ass upsets here, and please nobody post their #9 beating #8 ideas. Here are mine..... 1st Round: #12 Texas A&M over #5 Syracuse #11 SIU over #6 West Virginia #12 Kent State over #5 Pittsburgh #15 Winthrop over #2 Tennessee (which leads Wichita St. to the S16) #11 UWM over #6 Oklahoma 2 for 5, with a narrow miss on 3 for 5 ain't bad. Ugh, I almost took NW State instead of Winthrop and Bradley instead of SIU. Maybe I shouldn't have stuck with my 1st instinct...

13 of 16 sweet 16's, all elite 8's, but my 1st round picks didn't go so well tonight.

Richwoods pulled off the mild upset 70-59 over West Aurora and Thornwood won a 40-33 snoozer over Schaumburg in a battle of the 2 weakest teams in Peoria in the 1st set of quarters today. Richwoods will take on Thornwood for the right to play for the state title tomorrow, in a game I'd consider Richwoods the favorite in. West got 21 and 10 from Johnny Walker in a losing effort, and Richwoods received 31 points, including 6 of 9 from 3 (Jamar Smith style! Just like the Richwoods star did last night) from Justin Dehm. Future Illini Bill Cole had a solid game, with 14 points and 11 rebounds as well as played solid interior defense. Tonight the fun starts, as in game 1 Glenbrook North takes on Simeon at 6:30. Simeon (30-4) features a top 10 player in the 2007 class in Derrick Rose, and 29-2 Glenbrook North and Duke bound Jon Scheyer of course look to defend their title. Then the nightcap, as 30-0 Edwardsville, led by Saint Louis bound Dustin Maguire, UIC bound Spencer Stewart, and 2 sport star E.J. Jones (who is heading to Minnesota on a football scholly) take on 30-2 Marshall, led by unsigned star senior guard Patrick Beverly, and NIU bound Darius Gaters. If you get bored with or tired of the NCAA games, check out channel 50 for a while tonight, 2 great games on tap.

2 x's for sweet 16 picks Marquette and Iowa, I had Arkansas and SIU (although had both losing in round 2) and yesterday, I narrowly missed on my Winthrop pick and Montana got me too. Other than that, my bracket is clean, so not too bad.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Mar 17, 2006 -> 04:58 PM) What the heck happened. I didn't get to see it, but I was watching the score... They scored 8 points in the first 17:30 of the second half! McDermottball, it killed them against SIU in St. Louis and Carbondale, and it did it again today.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Mar 17, 2006 -> 05:10 PM) ^^^ This corner of the bracket is going to f*** me up. My bracket isn't too bad. The right side is clean except the narrow miss on Winthrop, and then Nevada of course. The right side has Marquette with 2 x's since I had them in the S16, I had Arkansas, 2 x's for Iowa, and I had SIU. I bet I'm better off than more people than I think I am though. Also, I'd like to send out a warning: West Virginia vs. Northwestern State WILL be a game. WVU isn't all that athletic, and NWSU's athletes are going to give them hell on defense, plus WVU isn't nearly as good defensively as Iowa is.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 17, 2006 -> 04:40 PM) Not surprised. I think I can say, without being too big a homer, that Iowa State has historically been pretty clean as Division I programs go. They were at one time the only B12 team that didn't take Prop 47 players. They showed Frat-Party boy the door in a hurry. I hope this turns out to be no biggie. Iowa State is in danger of having the NCAA come down hard on them, since they aren't some legendary basketball program.

Haha got beaten to the punch. Ah well.

Yeah, and a still work in progress Texas team turned it over 24 times because Gibson was at the point. WVU won the TO battle 24-11 and still lost, says a lot. Texas also out rebounded them 40-19 in a trend I would expect to not be much different if they played again, and held WVU to 9 of 23 from beyond the arc.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Mar 17, 2006 -> 04:00 PM) They're too soft for my tastes. They spread can spread the floor and kill you with the 3 as well as anybody. But they don't defend and rebound well at all. I'd be SHOCKED if they beat Texas. Texas has the athletes to guard them on the perimeter, and will kill them inside. WVU would have to hit minimum 50 percent from 3 (probably more) to win that game.

Villanova up 9 with 5 left.......this is getting interesting. Monmouth ball.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Mar 17, 2006 -> 03:52 PM) What would the score have been for that game? I'm thinking 31-30. I was thinking similar to the G-Town/UNI game today. I figured first team to 50 wins in that game, and it turned out that way.