March Madness 2025

[yourout]

1 minute ago, HarryDoyle said:

The technical on the Badger bench wasn't very smart either.

They made so many mistakes in this game and really didn't deserve to win but it would have been a fun miracle had they.

[HarryDoyle]

2 minutes ago, yourout said:

They made so many mistakes in this game and really didn't deserve to win but it would have been a fun miracle had they.

For you anyway.

[young guns]

20 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

It’s not just on Crowl for the end of first half possession. Why isn’t Gard saying something? Why aren’t any teammates yelling “last shot?”

Tonje had the ball and was the one who initiated the early attack.  I wonder if crowl lost where the clock was and assumed since tonje was going there was less time then there actually was.  

[RedStickBrew]

14 minutes ago, HarryDoyle said:

For you anyway.

[adambr2]

14 minutes ago, young guns said:

Tonje had the ball and was the one who initiated the early attack.  I wonder if crowl lost where the clock was and assumed since tonje was going there was less time then there actually was.  

Did they have a timeout? That whole sequence was mostly on Gard, to me.

[Jim French Stepstool]

2 hours ago, adambr2 said:

Did they have a timeout? That whole sequence was mostly on Gard, to me.

Pretty sure they used a TO earlier in the half. They weren't going to use a 2nd one for a final possession of the half.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

8 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Pretty sure they used a TO earlier in the half. They weren't going to use a 2nd one for a final possession of the half.

They had already used one at 25-11 or something? 26-12? So, they didn't have the use it or lose it, and you did end up needing the last TO for Gilmore to secure the possession at the end. I think Tonje could have been better there. The feed to Crowl is something you should ignore. Wasn't like he had a massive mismatch.

Now that Marquette and UW are both gone (yeah, it's good to see both teams win, especially in March), as are most of the underdog stories, I'm finding myself drawn to Houston because their long-haul build. I also really like Texas Tech because Grant McCasland has a great defensive mind, and I liked him a lot at North Texas. Turns my stomach to root for Hurley today, but at least Danny's just a garden-variety jerk. Golden I find much more troubling, for reasons that have been widely reported.

Outside the Big 12 teams, who I find pretty universally fun to watch because of the way they defend without really trying to ugly it up too much, I also like Tennessee. Maryland is a team I'm really high on, but of course I'll be all Ram and Gael this afternoon, hoping for a true, outside-the-power-structure team in the S16. Same goes for New Mexico, who I think has the best chance of the bunch, though I've seen the Mountain West crap the bed often enough that I can also see Izzo just giving the coup de grace to the Pitno family. Excited for one more day of wall-to-wall hoop, even if I find Oregon-Arizona the blah of all blah to close the night.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Hadn't thought about McCasland in awhile. I'm a fan of his, too.

St Mary's--Bama is somewhat intriguing, provided the Gaels 'stay within themselves' which is not much more than coach-speak for "don't crap the bed in the first 5 minutes" (I don't think they will).

I could see UNM hang around with MSU, but if push comes to shove I think Izzo can handle the brilliance of Little Ricky.

The more I see of Medved the more I like him. But MD is just on too much of a roll right now.

[Jimbo]

No one talking about the high school tournament this weekend, so let me indulge.

Marshfield is Wisconsin's 45th largest city and definitely not a blueblood, had a D1 championship slip away by throwing the ball away four times in the last 80 seconds.  They didn't get a shot off the last three minutes of the game.

Four of the five championship games were one possession under 30 seconds remaining.

[HarryDoyle]

I didn't think that shot by Clayton had any shot of going in. Looks like Florida might escape this one. What an effort by UConn though. That would've busted a lot of brackets, including mine.

[yourout]

2 hours ago, Jimbo said:

No one talking about the high school tournament this weekend, so let me indulge.

Marshfield is Wisconsin's 45th largest city and definitely not a blueblood, had a D1 championship slip away by throwing the ball away four times in the last 80 seconds.  They didn't get a shot off the last three minutes of the game.

Four of the five championship games were one possession under 30 seconds remaining.

I was watching that as well. 

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

4 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Hadn't thought about McCasland in awhile. I'm a fan of his, too.

St Mary's--Bama is somewhat intriguing, provided the Gaels 'stay within themselves' which is not much more than coach-speak for "don't crap the bed in the first 5 minutes" (I don't think they will).

I could see UNM hang around with MSU, but if push comes to shove I think Izzo can handle the brilliance of Little Ricky.

The more I see of Medved the more I like him. But MD is just on too much of a roll right now.

Bama seems vulnerable, and that game is a true class of styles. I just don't trust SMC against that kind of athleticism. Vandy was a great matchup for them. 

I think Randy Bennett deserves a second S16. That program does. I will be rooting for it like crazy, but I don't have a lot of belief.

Florida just made clutch shots and UCONN didn't. Failure to rebound missed free throws killed them, along with the ball turnover into the under 4, where they had the ball up 3. Duke took some gearing up, but they are now making this a blowout. Good team there. I weirdly like their guys a lot. If not for the name on the jersey, I'd almost be cheering for them.

 

[RedStickBrew]

Great finish to the Maryland/Colorado State game

[RedStickBrew]

HOTTY TODDY really took it to Iowa State in that first half which surprised me

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

16 minutes ago, RedStickBrew said:

Great finish to the Maryland/Colorado State game

Tournament needed that. Great game. Was hoping for the Rams there, but not at all disappointed to see a fun, really good Maryland team pull it out. They have a much better shot against Florida.

[RedStickBrew]

2 minutes ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

Tournament needed that. Great game. Was hoping for the Rams there, but not at all disappointed to see a fun, really good Maryland team pull it out. They have a much better shot against Florida.

Colorado State seemed to control much of that game too- right up to the end 

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

28 minutes ago, RedStickBrew said:

Colorado State seemed to control much of that game too- right up to the end 

Yeah, they gave up the 9-0 run up 64-59. That was killer. Nearly overcame it, but Queen just made the better play at the end.

[RedStickBrew]

4 minutes ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

Yeah, they gave up the 9-0 run up 64-59. That was killer. Nearly overcame it, but Queen just made the better play at the end.

Yeah. I thought that last play was drawn up well getting Queen the ball, going to his left and down hill to the basket. That is tough to stop

[RedStickBrew]

HOTTY TODDY is doing some damage tonight. Total domination of ISU

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, RedStickBrew said:

Yeah. I thought that last play was drawn up well getting Queen the ball, going to his left and down hill to the basket. That is tough to stop

Made me think of the final play drawn up for Tonje last night. Not the same side of the floor, but the same concept-----put it in the hands of a playmaker & let him go to work. I think both Gard & Willard pushed the right button. It just came down to solid defense being a lot more effective vs 6'4" than vs 6'11".

[Jim French Stepstool]

12 hours ago, Jimbo said:

No one talking about the high school tournament this weekend, so let me indulge.

Marshfield is Wisconsin's 45th largest city and definitely not a blueblood, had a D1 championship slip away by throwing the ball away four times in the last 80 seconds.  They didn't get a shot off the last three minutes of the game.

Four of the five championship games were one possession under 30 seconds remaining.

I used to have a major obsession with HS hoops but it's waned. Not enough hours in the week to see much of the tourney this year. I AM disappointed I didn't get a chance to see Donovan Davis of Freedom.

[HarryDoyle]

Great play except for the travel.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Late in the 1st half, BYU is trailing Alabama by 8, and BYU is shooting 10% from 3pt range. That's just so precious.😒

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

27 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Late in the 1st half, BYU is trailing Alabama by 8, and BYU is shooting 10% from 3pt range. That's just so precious.😒

It's crazy for BYU to only be down 11 after Bama outscored them by 30+ from three. Whoa.

Maryland missed a chance to have a little mini-run but goes into half down 2 and taking every Florida punch. Everyone talks about Queen, but this game will come down to Gillespie, I think.

[Jim French Stepstool]

11 minutes ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

It's crazy for BYU to only be down 11 after Bama outscored them by 30+ from three. Whoa.

Maryland missed a chance to have a little mini-run but goes into half down 2 and taking every Florida punch. Everyone talks about Queen, but this game will come down to Gillespie, I think.

MD-FLA is shaping up to be one heck of a contest. Agree re Gillespie. He's been a key for them for a long time.