BGleas

The problem with our defense is much more than "want to". Take the play where WSU scored out of the timeout to go back up 4. JBJ's man was in the corner on the baseline and the ball was at the top of the key. JBJ was inexplicably face-guarding his man. Completely positioned incorrectly. He couldn't see anything happening on the court behind him. Yogi even called out the back screen, but due to his poor positioning, he was completely unprepared to get around it in time and he got burned for the layup. Didn't matter how much or how little he "wanted to", his positioning was awful. That's BBall IQ and coaching. I watched JBJ specifically and many of our guys this year, and we were constantly out of position, constantly turning our heads completely from the ball and just lacked any type of defensive Fundementals. "Want to" would help, but we seemed poorly coached on that end as well IMO.

Would be really embarrassing for them if they lose to Hampton next round!

I usually only do one, but this year could be the exception just for that reason. OT a bit, but in general I'm having a much more difficult time than usual completing my bracket. Can't decide who wins Zona/Wisc, and having a tough time picking who will come out of the East and South.

What I can't decide is on my bracket should I pick UK and go with the reverse jinx, or should I not pick them to win it all because it crushes my soul?

He has none. You better believe he'll support any coach regardless of how they run their program.

I'm confused. Assembly Hall is regularly regarded as one of the "mecca's" of college basketball. It's one of the most historic arena's in college basketball. There's a reason Gus Johnson call it the Carnegie Hall of College Basketball.

It was a love-tap at best.

I think Crean will be back next year, but on Marshall the guy has finished 1st or 2nd in his conference in 14 of his 17 years. He might not be the sexy hire with Stevens being out there, but the guy flat out wins basketball games.

I always liked Laettner and Duke. IU of course is my team and the only team I root for, but when IU isn't in it I usually root for Duke. I like Coach K, like that he's a Knight guy (even though they've had their issues) and like the way Duke plays the game. I really liked those 91-92 Duke teams, except when they beat IU in the Final Four. I also think part of me liking them was not wanting UNLV to go undefeated and not liking the Fab Five. I was actually at the Duke-UNLV game in the Final Four in Indy when Duke beat them. Was an awesome experience! Also, for those ragging on Laettner for the kick, which was completely wrong and childish, when is the guy that threw Laettner into the hoop stantion going to apologize? That was a pretty cheap shot as well.

I'm trying to decide if I should leave work to watch it live, watch it on my computer at work, or DVR it and watch it Friday night. DVR'ing let's me concentrate most on the game, but then I also miss the fun of watching all the other games Friday. Tough decision.

Agree, would love to know what this "run in" is all about, and if there was anything to the Calbert leaving thing.

Love A.J. Guyton, but he'd be wise to take a break from Twitter for a while.

I'm going to guess that this might be his final radio show of the season, not sure if he'd do one next week if we're still alive? Might have been a "thank you for the support this year" to the radio crowd in attendance? Or he's leaving. Who knows!?!?

He should take it out for a steak dinner!

Why not RoJo on VanVleet? Put Yogi on Baker, ala when he shut down Stauskas last year.

Agree. This UK team is a great team, but IMO they're not that close to the best team I've ever seen. First, this is a "down" year for college basketball in general IMO. Second, the SEC is terrible. I think UK probably would have won any conference in the country this year, but they would have had a couple losses in a good conference, at least one. Finally, in terms of the greatest teams historically, we need to remember that the teams of the past were stacked with juniors and seniors, and not the juniors and seniors of today that are only still there because they aren't good enough to go to the NBA yet, juniors/seniors that went on to be NBA All-Stars and HOF'ers. I would take the Carolina teams with Jordan, Perkins, Worthy over this team. I'd take the Christian Laettner Duke teams, and the '90 UNLV team too. I'd like to see Karl Anthony-Townes defend an upperclassmen Patrick Ewing on the good Georgetown teams, etc. The list could go on. I'd maybe take the '96 UK team over this one. I could name more. Great team? Yes. Greatest of all time or even recent memory? No way, IMO.

First, I don't see UK losing at all. But if Purdue can get through their first round game, you'd have to think A.J Hammonds will be pretty focused for playing UK. Kid would have a lot of dollars to be gained by playing well against UK. Put up 20 and 10 in a close game against UK, and Hammonds could get himself into the first round of the draft. Lot's of motivation for him to play well, and when he plays well they can be pretty good. Not UK good, but it is an "Any Given Sunday" kind of situation.

Agree! To add to my post, several of the "5 points or less" games they won were against the likes of PSU and NW and many were at home. If the ball bounces a different way or so,e calls go the other way, their season looks a lot different. Those close wins do show toughness though, which this Maryland team has a lot of, but can Turgeon sustain that without Dez Wells and Trimble? Maybe he can, maybe he can't, we'll find out.

2012 is the one that killed us. If Hollowell and Perea were even close to what they were projected to be, last year wouldn't have been nearly as bad, and Crean's seat would be a lot cooler.

I think it's probably a toss-up. I live in Maryland and can tell you that up until this year Turgeon's seat was just as hot, if not hotter than Crean's. So, while it's been a great year for them, it's really his first good year at UMD. Similar to Crean, he needs to develop some consistency. They lose Wells, which will be huge, but they also have a really good transfer that's had to sit out this year, and they're a finalist for Diamond Stone. One thing I'm interested to see from them next year, I believe they're 8-0 this year in games decided by 5 points or less. Is that a sign of really good coaching, or is that a team that's caught a little lightening in a bottle? They've had a couple buzzer beater type wins in those 8 games too. Make that 8-0 something like 4-4 and they're right back in the pack with MSU, Purdue, OSU, etc.

Hoping they so,ehow get an NIT bid.

If I recall correctly, Howland lobbied pretty hard for the Marquette job last offseason. I think there were even reports that he had the job right up until the Wojo news came out.

Pressing NW makes too much sense, so we won't do it. We'll sit back and let NW slow the game down with their zone, while they slice and dice our switching zone/man with ease. The sad part is, I'll tune into this game thinking we can win, but not expecting it.

If Crean comes back, this summer and next year are going to miserable. Every single loss will be met with the reaction we've had after the last 2-3 games. Every single move, even more than normal, will be scrutinized and analyzed. I just don't see how brining him back is good for anyone, unless he pulls a rabbit out of his you know what an goes on some crazy run, which I think we all know is slim to none.

It frustrated me seeing a guy like Travis Trice play good D today. If anything, he smaller and less athletic than guys like JBJ and RoJo and certainly less athletic and of slighter frame than Yogi. It was all about effort and knowing what to do. Effort can be blamed on the players for an isolated game here and there, but a seasons worth of bad effort is on the coach.