Bracketology thread

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

11th seed play in game vs NC State.  Winner would get Northern Iowa

Not a bad draw. Still hoping for much more. A lot of season left, play in game would be a disappointment

We're gonna have to be careful to avoid one of those 5 - 12 upsets

Not a bad draw. Still hoping for much more. A lot of season left, play in game would be a disappointment

We can't be picky. No seed would be a disappointment  after our long dry spells

We are the last team in btw

Long way to go before it is even worth having these conversations.  Let's get back to .500 in the Big East first, lol.

Bracketology should not be done until mid Feb IMO. This is so pointless

Bracketology should not be done until mid Feb IMO. This is so pointless

I disagree. Being the last team in shows that there is a lot of work do. Win the games you are supposed to win and  a few you aren't to leave no doubt

We are 1-3, when most on this board thought we'd be 2-2 at the absolute worst.  We have a TON of work to do.  I don't think anyone would dispute that Baldi.

As some have noted, every game counts and is a play in game until we actually see it on the board.  No team should ever relax, not even a top 10 ranked team.

In my opinion, this team is capable of a top 20 ranking and no worse than a 5 seed. I would be unhappy just squeezing in although beggars cant be choosers

On another bright not the BE leads the way with 7 teams in...I know its early but I'm happy the league is doing so much better at this point compares toast season. Long road ahead but nice to see an improvement...Only time I will generally root for a league as a whole.

We are 1-3, when most on this board thought we'd be 2-2 at the absolute worst.  We have a TON of work to do.  I don't think anyone would dispute that Baldi.

+1
We're not in an insurmountable hole, we just need to keep working.
This isn't going to be easy, but this team is capable of playing in the NCAAs.

But beware!  We've seen this before!
Last night was the type of win that masks our deficiencies, and isn't necessarily a repeatable strategy.
We're a terrible shooting team, I say this as a matter of fact since we are last in the conference in 3pt%.   And yet last night we shot +50% from beyond the arc.  Not repeatable on a regular basis.
We got out rebounded, as is our norm lately.
And we lucked into our opponent shooting terribly from the foul line.

These are not the marks of a team that is clicking or that will start winning consistently.   I'm not trying to be a Debbie downer, but that's reality. 

If we won because Jordan proved to be a viable second scorer and was getting into the lane... then OK.  Or if we started to utilize Obekpa in a pick and roll situation, with lobs to the rim. Ok.
But we didnt.  We won because Phil and Dangelo hit an unusual percentage of 3s.
To some extent we took what they gave us, and that's fine.  If they're going to play zone we need to shoot well to win.   But this team is no different than the one we saw in November and the beginning of January.  Don't expect different results.

Quote from: prjohnnies on January 15, 2015, 12:47:09 PM

We are 1-3, when most on this board thought we'd be 2-2 at the absolute worst.  We have a TON of work to do.  I don't think anyone would dispute that Baldi.

But this team is no different than the one we saw in November and the beginning of January.  Don't expect different results.

Heck, sign me up for the same results. I'll take a 22-8 record!

Quote from: TONYD3 on January 15, 2015, 11:36:14 AM

Not a bad draw. Still hoping for much more. A lot of season left, play in game would be a disappointment

We can't be picky. No seed would be a disappointment  after our long dry spells

That's true, and further to that point, the better seed doesn't always come with the better match up. Duke could have played Uconn in the first round and they probably would have beaten them. Instead, they got a Mercer team that shot the lights out.

I don't think we hit an unusual amount of 3's. Phil was wide open on most of his looks. If they play the same defense next time I think we have the same outcome. I didn't check the stats but just like November and December I did not notice us getting killed on the boards. This game was not like Nova.
We beat a good team in a difficult building by double digits . Depaull, Marquette, Creightin next in conference . I think they are clearly the poorest teams in the Big East. Out team has holes, but so do most.

I don't think we hit an unusual amount of 3's. Phil was wide open on most of his looks. If they play the same defense next time I think we have the same outcome. I didn't check the stats but just like November and December I did not notice us getting killed on the boards. This game was not like Nova.
We beat a good team in a difficult building by double digits . Depaull, Marquette, Creightin next in conference . I think they are clearly the poorest teams in the Big East. Out team has holes, but so do most.

We shot almost 60% from 3, and were out-rebounded 29-44.
In an empty gym we won't shoot 60% most days.
An ugly win is better than a pretty loss any day of the week, I'm just trying to point out that weve been doing these same things all season.   And in many of our inconference games this is going to lead to a loss.   

Which isn't to mention the fact that Harrison Obekpa and Dom can't stay out of foul trouble.   
If you discount the cupcakes, when they got significant rest, you'll notice that against Gonzaga and in all of our conference games those 3 are always in foul trouble, if not fouling out.   I agree that weve been the recipient of some bad calls, and we do rely on them to play a ton of minutes ... but I can pretty much guarantee you that if we have a close game in late february, or in the BE tournament, those 3 will either be hamstrung or have fouled out with 2 mins to go.
again, recipe for a loss.

And fwiw, our opponents in close games always have their best players available.
Harrison dom and obekpa all average 3.3 or more fouls per game.
gibbs, henton, smith-rivera, Dunham, hilliard, etc are all 1.4, 1.9, 2 fouls per game at most.

Again, I don't fault the players entirely but look at our patterns:
We get out rebounded
our best players are always in foul trouble
we have limited depth
And on most nights we dont shoot well from outside

How does this equal an NCAA team? 
Sure, we're gritty and play good D, and we score just enough to beat some teams.
But against top 25-caliber teams, we're going to lose.   And that's disappointing.   We should be able to beat good teams by this point.   We have talent and experience.
But the lack of coaching and the roster makeup are going to continue to hold us back.   We're ecstatic today because we got meaningful minutes from Amar.  And I agree, he showed promise, but top 25 teams, sweet16-type teams, have benches that contribute!  And we're rejoicing because our 7th man didn't dribble the ball of his foot.   Our fanbase is so starved for success that they have 1) lowered their expectations to applaud mediocrity and 2) can't tell the difference between a mirage and what a good basketball team looks like anymore.

And fwiw, our opponents in close games always have their best players available.
Harrison dom and obekpa all average 3.3 or more fouls per game.
gibbs, henton, smith-rivera, Dunham, hilliard, etc are all 1.4, 1.9, 2 fouls per game at most.

Again, I don't fault the players entirely but look at our patterns:
We get out rebounded
our best players are always in foul trouble
we have limited depth
And on most nights we dont shoot well from outside

How does this equal an NCAA team? 
Sure, we're gritty and play good D, and we score just enough to beat some teams.
But against top 25-caliber teams, we're going to lose.   And that's disappointing.   We should be able to beat good teams by this point.   We have talent and experience.
But the lack of coaching and the roster makeup are going to continue to hold us back.   We're ecstatic today because we got meaningful minutes from Amar.  And I agree, he showed promise, but top 25 teams, sweet16-type teams, have benches that contribute!  And we're rejoicing because our 7th man didn't dribble the ball of his foot.   Our fanbase is so starved for success that they have 1) lowered their expectations to applaud mediocrity and 2) can't tell the difference between a mirage and what a good basketball team looks like anymore.

Guess I won't watch any more games this year. Season is over.

And fwiw, our opponents in close games always have their best players available.
Harrison dom and obekpa all average 3.3 or more fouls per game.
gibbs, henton, smith-rivera, Dunham, hilliard, etc are all 1.4, 1.9, 2 fouls per game at most.

Again, I don't fault the players entirely but look at our patterns:
We get out rebounded
our best players are always in foul trouble
we have limited depth
And on most nights we dont shoot well from outside

How does this equal an NCAA team? 
Sure, we're gritty and play good D, and we score just enough to beat some teams.
But against top 25-caliber teams, we're going to lose.   And that's disappointing.   We should be able to beat good teams by this point.   We have talent and experience.
But the lack of coaching and the roster makeup are going to continue to hold us back.   We're ecstatic today because we got meaningful minutes from Amar.  And I agree, he showed promise, but top 25 teams, sweet16-type teams, have benches that contribute!  And we're rejoicing because our 7th man didn't dribble the ball of his foot.   Our fanbase is so starved for success that they have 1) lowered their expectations to applaud mediocrity and 2) can't tell the difference between a mirage and what a good basketball team looks like anymore.

Not every NCAA team is in the top 25. Right now we have beaten some potential top 25 teams to include Providence. The win gets the team in the right track and avoids the pitfalls of last year up until Sunday, where if we lose we are right back where we started from.

The Nova game  became a 5 on 3 when CO was hurt and had foul trouble, SirDom fouled out and Jordan forgot that there was a game going on.
The start 5 especially CO and Dom are going to have to be careful with their fouls for the rest of the year...They were able to get away with it during non conference but hopefully they are learning to adjust during he early part of the season.

Hopefully Amir was not a fluke in this game and he can actually contribute a body, defense, and a few buckets. This will help CO and Dom stay out of trouble.
There is a lot of hope in this but the potential is there and you know Harrison is willing this team to the tournament. What needs to stop is the college soap opera and everyone having the same mindset...Whicj should not be an issue anymore.