Magnanimous

I have a question about the ending of the game. Villanova's players rushed the court before the clock expired. Before the buzzer sounded, nine players (and an assistant) were illegally on the court. If a technical were to have been called there, would it be two free throws for each player on the court or just two total for the team having too many players? I realize it would have never been called, but if it is two per player, would Michigan have (within the rules) been awarded 18 free throws? Or would it have just been two? Just something for the sake of discussion.

Tony Carr is going pro.

Tony Carr from Penn State is going pro and hiring an agent. If he had come back, I actually think Penn State would have contended for the conference next year. Now they lose their star PG and have no bench. Probably missing the tournament next season as well, although Stevens and Watkins will be two of the better players in the conference.

They shouldn't take another three for the rest of the game.

Notre Dame ladies took out UConn tonight.

I realize that the statement was a facade leading up to Crean's firing (and that it was regarding the men's program), but seeing these girl's roll at home in the NIT...I just have to smirk a bit thinking about Glass last year saying that hosting an NIT game in a half-empty Hall is beneath IU. Hopefully it's well over 10k on Saturday. They deserve it!

If they pair up, I could see the tandem being very similar to Gordon and DJ White.

One-and-dones are more often than not a waste of a scholarship. Yes, they help fill gaps, and if you have enough of them you'll most likely get to at least the SW16, but consistency lies with getting 4 stars to stay until their junior/senior year and landing lower-ranked, fringe 5* players who will stay two years. Romeo, like Cody, is a special case because it helps with recruiting momentum, particularly in-state. But our potential inability going forward to consistently land multiple 5* every year isn't necessarily indicative of our ability to compete with top teams. Ideally, four stars and the occasional five star to fill a gap will be best for consistency. Having said all that, I think this will be a moot point within the next few years because it sounds like one-and-done is coming to an end.

Well given what little information has been provided, if this is true it would lead one to surmise it's either a character issue (doubtful given his family) or he's been potentially "compromised" as a 5*. Just throwing out scenarios for the sake of discussion.

I realize that the numbers update as the tournament progresses, but if the Kenpom 20/20 rule holds, the winner will either be Villanova or Michigan. Go Nova.

I asked this earlier and it was brushed aside, but I think it is something to think about for one reason. The Watfords made it a point to attend as many of Christian's games as possible, and they drove to just about each one they attended. It's about seven hours each way. While Athens isn't right next door to Birmingham, it is about half the distance as Bloomington. Tuscaloosa is also right next door. Not that proximity has been thrown around as a concern in his recruiting, but it is something to consider if his family is insistent on making as many of his games as possible.

Walton's plane would more likely say "Jerry Garcia lives on"

Have to wonder how this potentially affects Watford's recruitment.

Very good. I guess he tried to forget Max Hoetzel too.

So we've got Stan Robinson at Rhode Island and Devon Davis at Houston. Emmitt Holt is out for the season at Providence. Anyone else I'm missing? Kind of reminds me of 2010 watching Armon Bassett at Ohio, Jordan Crawford and Tu Holloway at Xavier, and Devin Ebanks at WVU in the NCAAT.

Again, only Romeo and his parents know anything concrete. Unless one of your "sources" bugged their living room, your information is as credible as the National Enquirer.

Not that we're really in any position to talk right now, but the objective college basketball fan in me says if he goes to KU he has a chance to win a Big 12 title and flame out in the second round. Since their championship in 2008, they have been a 1 seed five times, a 2 seed three times, and a 3 seed once. They have only one final four in that stretch. They're the most overseeded team by a long shot on an annual basis. Bill Self hasn't won much with 5* freshmen either.

Yep, but if he was in Crean's protected circle he would have stayed, like Troy, Yogi, and Thomas Bryant. When it came to the bench, Crean would find any reason to clear them out.

The only reason this year went back and forth was that our schedule went in waves of facing good teams to facing the bottom of the conference.

Last year wasn't Jeckyll and Hyde? Beating two one-seeds and being ranked as high as #3 in the country to missing the NCAAT.

He scored 35 of the team's 50 points.

Not at the expense of risking an NCAAT run. I didn't want IU burning out/risking injury in 2013, and was happy we got a win to stay warm and then got out of the tournament in game 2 unscathed. Not that he was a game-changer, but we did lose Verdell Jones for the season in the 2012 tournament, and I didn't want to see that happen to Vic, or Cody, or Christian, or Yogi in a meaningless exhibition tournament a week before we were a one-seed. Bottom line, if we're a top team the tournament is a waste, and if we need the BTT then the season was underwhelming to begin with. Yes, a team in a situation like Michigan is in this year can bump their seeding up a notch with an impressive showing, but for the most part the costs of these tournaments outweigh the benefits. They don't even prove anything anyway. The regular season champion is considered the conference champion, and that title will only be strengthened when the conference schedule goes to 20 games.

It would be nice, but I'm in the boat that these conference tournaments are a waste. If we're a title contending team that year, there's nothing to gain except injuries to star players. If we need the wins to get into the tournament, the whole season was probably pretty crappy heading up to that point anyway. Also, playing 3+ games in as many days is a huge waste of strength the week before the important tournament actually starts. This year isn't as bad because it's a week early and the title teams will get an extra week to rest up, but this year's format isn't happening again. If I had a top seed all but locked up, I'd start my bench for a BTT game to get them some experience and let my assistants coach. They're complete money grabs that do nothing but allow underserving teams a chance to sneak into the NCAA tournament. ....but having said all that, the winners tend to fare pretty well in the NCAAs.

I like what I saw out of the system, just not the pieces that were running it. We had no (consistent) shooters, no depth, no PG, and after Davis got hurt no size. These things will be remedied in the near future. It wasn't a great year by any means, but we did finish 6th in the conference. That's about our only positive. We didn't really have any good wins (though we hung in with a lot of good teams), and we had a few very bad losses, but for the most part we beat the teams we should have and lost to the ones we should have. I think next year will be interesting depending on if Morgan comes back, Green's and Smith's development, and Davis' health. This will ease the freshmen's transition. Until/unless Romeo commits I'm not factoring him into any projections/expectations. We're going to have a lot of length regardless though. I'm not expecting a year like Crean's second season, even though we'll again be fairly young. Our coach doesn't believe in moral victories and is going to push this team roster in the offseason. The expectations for me next year are 20+ wins, a few of which are upsets over top 15 teams, top 6 in the conference again (though I think the Big 10 will be even worse next year), and making the NCAA tournament. After that, I'm expecting some deep runs in the following seasons.

No coach is perfect, but I can tell you Dayton fans weren't complaining about Archie.