Mizzou people are ticked about getting the former Canes coach too. Apparently, the people of Columbia think they can get Brad Stevens or something.Quote:
Originally Posted by JBHuskers
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Mizzou people are ticked about getting the former Canes coach too. Apparently, the people of Columbia think they can get Brad Stevens or something.Quote:
Originally Posted by JBHuskers
Truthfully, I don't think they have to put the clamps on Kemba, just make him a one man game (like he LOVES to do). WVU "shut" him down by forcing him to be their primary scorer and held him to 35% from the field (he still made 4/7 from three though) and basically forcing him to create off the dribble without anywhere to pass the ball and coming in late to help (neutralizing his pass option or helping off of Oriakhi, Okwandu, and Napier only and forcing them to beat us, which, in the end, worked wonderfully).Quote:
Originally Posted by psuexv
Why teams have been helping off of Lamb so much just boggles my mind. You'd think they'd learn or something...
The people of Coloumbia think they're on a higher pedestal than they actually are. A couple of blowout wins in the Brad Smith days, and they think they've owned us for four decades, oh wait....we've owned them for four decades :DQuote:
Originally Posted by CLW
From Gregg Doyel @ CBS, Shaka Smart is staying at VCU.
Now that is SURPRISING.Quote:
Originally Posted by JBHuskers
Face it. VCU is a bad Div 1 coaching job. I would have thought Mizzou; NC State; etc... were/are all better jobs that he could build off of.
Brad Stevens has a great setup and I could only see him leaving for one of the Blue Blood positions: UCLA; Kansas; Duke; UNC; Kentucky; Indiana.
I'm actually not very surprised. Shaka seems like a guy who enjoys where he is with VCU and enjoys his players that he has now. Instead of becoming one of these coaches that jumps ship every 2-3 years for the next best job that comes calling to them, he's showing and proving his loyalty that he has to VCU and his team by staying with them even though he could jump ship to NC State or somewhere else. Some people may think he is an idiot for not taking the cash and "upgrade", but to him, VCU is home. It's where he wants to be and stay and I respect him even more for that decision.
I could see him being the successor to Coach K, then I would hate Duke less.Quote:
Originally Posted by CLW
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Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes
I'm all for loyalty and it absolutely is his choice to make. I just don't think there is anyway possible for Smart to turn VCU into a national power in basketball.
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Originally Posted by JBHuskers
There seem to be two "factions" of the Duke fanbase: (1) K's replacement "must"/will come from inside the Duke family; (2) Duke should hire the best Coach they can find.
Most seem to believe #1 is most likely. From what I have read/heard unless Dawkins really turns Stanford around the likely replacement for K will be Collins or Wojo (most likely Collins).
I happen to be in the #2 Camp. I'm also a HUGE fan of Brad Stevens. However, I'm not even sure Stevens would be interested in the Duke job. Stevens may have dreams of turning Butler into the next Duke/Kansas/UCLA/Kentucky/Indiana. Indiana is a basketball crazed state; they have great facilities at Butler and are located in a major metropolitan area. The pieces are there to turn Butler into a great basketball program. They simply need to keep winning and probably leave the Horizon league to get into a better/more competitive conference. I could easily see them slide into the Big 10 or the Big East (of the Missippi) Conference.
Moreover, if Stevens is going to make Duke "cool" perhaps I should reconsider. :nod:
What about Capel? :D :D :DQuote:
Originally Posted by CLW
:smh: by w/in the Duke "family" I guess I should have defined it as having been a player for K AND an Assistant for K. I like Jeff but I don't recall Capel being on the Duke staff.Quote:
Originally Posted by JBHuskers
I also don't think Quinn Snyder is on the "short list" either. :smh:
The names I typically see from the "family" argument are: (1) Collins; (2) Wojo; (3) Dawkins; (4) Amaker. Although Amaker has sort of fallen off a bit in terms of the Duke fanbase perception recently. My guess is that its probably Collins' job to lose. From what I read/hear he has a pretty big plate in terms of responsibility for an Assistant Coach. But who knows. I do believe K will likely hand pick his successor and want to leave that person in great shape for the next 3-4 years. My gut tells me K has another 6-8 years left in the tank.
Ironically, Shaka has Jeff's old gig at VCU.
What in the world is Quinn Snyder doing now a days?
I think he's an assistant coach in the NBA...At least that's what I heard someone say on the radio awhile back.Quote:
Originally Posted by JBHuskers
Go Butler!
I don't think VCU is a BAD coaching position. I think that VCU is a quality programme stuck in a BAD Div 1 conference.Quote:
Originally Posted by CLW
A conference with ODU, George Mason, and VCU sure looks decent to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by jaymo76
Right ... which only matters if that's what he wants to do. I don't think anybody would harbor the thought that VCU could turn into a national power, nor is that the primary goal of every coach.Quote:
Originally Posted by CLW
I'm not surprised that Smart decided to stay. He doesn't seem the type to cut and run. However, the length of the deal was slightly surprising. An eight-year commitment is a long time.
TCU's not east of the Mississippi ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by CLW
And no way in hell Re: Big Ten. No football.
This. The Big Ten will never turn into the Big East and such with adding schools for only basketball.Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffHCross
You don't have to be a "national power" to have a chance to be great in college basketball. That's what's truly beautiful about the NCAA Tournament. Be great enough to make it in there, and then be great enough to do something with that birth. VCU did that, and, that, along with how incredibly passionate for the game Shaka Smart looks, will do leaps and bounds for their recruiting. This will definitely not be the last time we see VCU deep in the tournament.
And down goes Butler in the championship game for a second straight year, one of the worst games I have ever sat through in my life.
THIS.Quote:
Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes
I'm not going to lie, I barely watched any of it. Butler's games are never pretty, just like WVU's games are never pretty. I didn't have a horse in the race (aka WVU wasn't there) so I decided not to watch. I knew it was going to be a low scoring affair where whoever could get a lead would end up winning it all and, low-and-behold, Connecticut pulled out in front with about 10-12 minutes left and Butler couldn't do anything about it.
Will be interesting to see if Brad Stevens stays at Butler or moves on to another school in one of the "big boy" leagues.
In other news, fuck every conference that isn't the Big East (who is still the best conference)! :D
Are there even any good power jobs open at this point? (NC State is a 'no.' I don't think many coaches want to go there now with Duke and UNC currently on pretty big upswings.) I can see Stevens taking the Indiana job if Crean gets canned in the next year or two. Otherwise, I think he'll be at Butler for the foreseeable future.
Missouri has very good facilities ('amazing' is the adjective that keeps getting thrown around), but despite some great players, teams, and seasons have never made a Final Four. Haith may have some success at a school that wants to win in basketball and doesn't have to compete with a bunch of other in-state schools like the Canes did. On the surface, it doesn't look to be a very impressive hire, however.
Martin to Miami does make some sense. I can see that one happening.
Did they tighten up those rims tonight or what? I can't stand when they have the rims/hoops mic'd up and every miss comes across as a loud 'CLANG!' That makes a bad shooting night even more unbearable to viewers IMO.
I'm glad I had this game on the other TV while I was watching WWE :DQuote:
Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes
I coulda swore that they were going to take the rims down and install peach baskets after the half.
That game was absolutely awful in every way shape and form. After a great tourney, to end like that is really dissapointing.
Yeah, it was really horrible. If I had been one of those idiots spending $5,000-10,000 for a seat, after sitting through something like that, I would have been demanding my money back at gunpoint.Quote:
Originally Posted by jaymo76
That game was just AWFUL. Both teams defenses were good (Note not great). The shooting by both teams was HORRENDOUS. Butler had a ton of open looks. NONE of them fell. UConn wasn't any better shooting the basketball but got away with it due to its superior size/athleticism.
Many have said (and I believe correctly) that this was/is the worst field of teams in the history of the tourny. Perhaps, it was fitting that this perhaps was the worst championship game in history. I certainly cannot recall seeing both the winning and losing teams playing so poorly.
FUGLY! yes 3, 3 freaking 2 point baskets made the whole game.
You know, it REALLY pisses me off when you say this is the worst field of teams in history. I mean, WTF? Just because all the #1 and #2 seeds got blasted by teams playing better team basketball, it's the worst ever? Yes, the championship game wasn't exciting. I KNEW it wasn't going to be before it even got started. Why? Connecticut had more size (thus able to switch off on Butler's screens and cause their gameplan to be tough to execute) and Butler plays NASTY defense. It knew it was going to be a low scoring affair (of course, I didn't think they'd shoot as poorly as they did). But you can't tell me that it wasn't exciting to see VCU made the Final Four. That it wasn't intriguing to see Butler win somehow no matter how poorly they played against some pretty good teams.Quote:
Originally Posted by CLW
I'm pretty sure that this year's tournament broke the record for most individual viewers ever for the tournament so I'd hardly say that it was a failure and the worst field in history.
Jesus, and you guys think I over-exaggerate things. :/
Well Mors I'm going to disagree with you.... Sort of. The field itself was the worst field in history.... from a historical statistical perspective. This field had the most 10 loss teams ever. Now, is that because they were bad teams or because of the parity that is taking place in college basketball today. I would like to say the latter. I think college hoops is in a great position with how all teams are starting to come closer to level playing fields. Yes you will still have your traditional powers that will always be, but it truly has become a anyone can beat anyone on any given night.
So yes, historically worst field ever.... overall, one of the most exciting tournaments ever.
Yeah it's definitely one of the worst fields ever....the one and done rule is taking the superstars out of the college game. If your team is full of seniors, that's not really a good thing anymore.
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Originally Posted by morsdraconis
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Originally Posted by psuexv
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Originally Posted by JBHuskers
Mors appears to not see the distinction between "worst field of teams ever" and "exciting". The two are NOT one in the same.
Crappy teams can provide "excitement" with a ton of upsets; close games; buzzer beaters; etc... Just b/c a tourny has a ton of that does NOT mean the field of teams are "good"/"great" college basketball teams from a historical perspective.
I could go on all day listing past Champions (and other teams that didn't win a title but made the Final 4) that would absolutely DESTROY this year's field.
Examples) 1968 UCLA; 1976 Indiana; 1982 UNC; 1992 Duke; 1996 Kentucky.
Jay Bilas gave tons of FACTS re: this argument. More 14+ loss AT-LARGE teams in this year's field that the past 25 COMBINED. Most or tied for most losses combined in this year's final 4. Etc...
Today's best teams are no where near as good as they were in the past. Moreover, today's 2nd tier clubs are no where near as good as 2nd tier clubs where in the past. This has allowed for the VCU; Butler and George Mason's of the college basketball world the opportunity to go on "magical" runs if they get "hot" and play "out of their minds".
Does that = "more excitement". Perhaps. One could argue that this year's tourny was one of the most "exciting" tournys ever.
However, my point was/is that the teams today are (1) less talented and (2) play worse basketball than the teams of the past. I really don't think that is up to much debate.
EDIT: BTW assuming everything goes pretty much as expected with early NBA draft decisions. Next years field could be every bit as bad if not worse than this year's field.
Another point is VCU was one of the if not THE last team to be selected for the tourney.
And didn't deserve to be the last (one of the last) at-large team selected. However, that is another argument previously had in this thread.Quote:
Originally Posted by JBHuskers
"George Mason AD Tom O'Connor tells Wash Post that Jim Larranaga called him this morning to say he's taking Miami job."
Very surprising. When he didn't leave shortly after their Final Four run, I thought he'd stay there for life.