March Madness 2023

[MrTPlush]

Tony Bennett really knows how to choke in the tournament, 3/4 of his last four appearances are first round loses to #13/#13/#16 seeds. How that man managed a championship in the other appearance is amazing.

[stoutdude04]

1 hour ago, MrTPlush said:

Tony Bennett really knows how to choke in the tournament, 3/4 of his last four appearances are first round loses to #13/#13/#16 seeds. How that man managed a championship in the other appearance is amazing.

I was just thinking to myself - how did I not take Furman to win.  They consistently underperform.

[Samurai Bucky]

1 hour ago, MrTPlush said:

Tony Bennett really knows how to choke in the tournament, 3/4 of his last four appearances are first round loses to #13/#13/#16 seeds. How that man managed a championship in the other appearance is amazing.

If and when Gard moves on, I don't know if I would like to have TB come and coach the Badgers if he is interested.  I still have mental anguish from the 2001 loss to Georgia State when his Dad coached the Badgers.

I know it's not the same... but is it?  😉

[MrTPlush]

7 minutes ago, stoutdude04 said:

I was just thinking to myself - how did I not take Furman to win.  They consistently underperform.

I was punching the air. I did my bracket right away and picked it. Then two days ago went back and that was one of the only ones I changed. I usually only pick 3 or 4 10+ seeds to win...but I usually get half of them right at least. 

Even worse, I picked the 12 seed in that region to win so I obviously had UVA to the S16. That could get messy in my bracket real quick.

[MrTPlush]

1 minute ago, Samurai Bucky said:

If and when Gard moves on, I don't know if I would like to have TB come and coach the Badgers if he is interested.  I still have mental anguish from the 2001 loss to Georgia State when his Dad coached the Badgers.

I know it's not the same... but is it?  😉

Bennett would probably be way better for the regular season. His style of ball is definitely not March Madness friendly though. 

[homer]

1 hour ago, MrTPlush said:

Bennett would probably be way better for the regular season. His style of ball is definitely not March Madness friendly though. 

What style of ball is March madness friendly?

[MrTPlush]

13 minutes ago, homer said:

What style of ball is March madness friendly?

Balanced seems to fair better for a deep playoff run (rating fairly high in both)...if I was backed into a corner, I would prefer offense over defense. Ironically Furman was #7 in offense, Virginia was 6th in defense. 

I have heard people say their style (not just purely low offense/high defense) isn't great for March....but I won't even pretend to know that much about Virginia basketball to know the accuracy of that. 

[HarryDoyle]

Jay Bilas, who wrote an article for ESPN on how to pick your bracket, had Arizona winning it all.

 

[Oxy]

If only Arizona played a more balanced style of ball so they wouldn't lose to the likes of Princeton while not even scoring 60 points...

[LouisEly]

On 3/10/2023 at 12:15 PM, MrTPlush said:

North Carolina went from making a championship game and returning 4 starters....to somehow not making the tourney at all. 

Not only returning four starters, but also having a player of the year candidate and also picking up a 6'10" player in the transfer portal who averaged 10 ppg and 6 rpg for them this season.

It's almost like... recruiting and getting bigs from the transfer portal isn't the key to success.

[LouisEly]

Illinois with another disappointing season.  With all of the talent they've had there they've done nothing with it.  This year 20-13 and out in the first round.  Last year a #4 and out in the 2nd round.  Year before a #1 and out in the 2nd round.

[Oxy]

55 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

Not only returning four starters, but also having a player of the year candidate and also picking up a 6'10" player in the transfer portal who averaged 10 ppg and 6 rpg for them this season.

It's almost like... recruiting and getting bigs from the transfer portal isn't the key to success.

This is why I love Gard.  It would be 10X more frustrating to be a UNC fan right now.

[MrTPlush]

1 hour ago, LouisEly said:

Not only returning four starters, but also having a player of the year candidate and also picking up a 6'10" player in the transfer portal who averaged 10 ppg and 6 rpg for them this season.

It's almost like... recruiting and getting bigs from the transfer portal isn't the key to success.

I mean, odd way to spin that and come to that conclusion.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Absent getting your pick of every year's crop of blue chippers and being an NBA conduit, I've always thought a key to building a program that can consistently go on NCAA tourney runs is having strong guards that can create open looks for their teammates and score on their own with the ball, and having the ability to mix and match defenses to make it tough for opponents to gameplan against.  I'm not a Marquette homer, but that's why I think they can go deep this season - it's also why I always loved the Lute Olsen Arizona teams.

Round of 32 and Elite 8 games tend to favor squads with good depth based on the quick turnarounds from round 1 and sweet 16 games.

In the end it tends to come down to having at least 3 reliable scoring options, keeping your key players out of foul trouble, and making 3s.

[HarryDoyle]

This is the year I put in the most thought filling out my bracket. This is also the year of my worst bracket ever.

[yourout]

Purdue's guards are not good enough for a deep run.

[MrTPlush]

35 minutes ago, yourout said:

Purdue's guards are not good enough for a deep run.

Edey is the only thing keeping Purdue from getting curb stomped by a 16 seed.

[yourout]

Just now, MrTPlush said:

Edey is the only thing keeping Purdue from getting curb stomped by a 16 seed.

And some help from the zebras

[HarryDoyle]

I'd be hard pressed to remember another first round that has been as competitive as this year's has been, especially the huge underdogs.

[yourout]

Two chops across the arm and Purdue gets the call.

 

[MrTPlush]

I should be shocked Purdue just lost to a 16 seed, but I’m really not. Carried by one guy and the rest of the team quickly dropped off from there. Just no dependable guy outside of Edey. 
 

I had Purdue choking in the Round of 32…but here they are, making history.

[yourout]

Fun game to watch.

[HarryDoyle]

Is this the first year a 1 and 2 has gone down in the first round? It has to since this is the only the second time a 1 has lost to a 16.

[yourout]

 

 

[Oxy]

Did I say it would be excruciating to be a UNC fan this year? It would be excruciating to be a Purdue fan...every single year forever.  Somehow, neither Keady nor Painter has ever even made a Final Four...