NCAA Basketball 2017-2018: Madness both in and on the court

[sperry]

On 12/24/2017 at 3:33 PM, Rhom said:

He has no one half as talented as Nerlens Noel, but this team is structured better than 2013, so I’m not prepared to make that statement yet.

 

That team also had Kyle Wiltjer and Willie Cauley-Stein. This year's team is inexperienced and not crazy talented.

 

That being said, it has the foundations of a real team in a year or two if Cal can contain himself and not push all the kids who aren't lottery picks out the door. Seems like he's going to have to adjust his strategy now that he can't count on signing 4 lottery picks every year.

[Ded As Ned]

On 12/23/2017 at 7:21 PM, Rhom said:

Okay @Ded As Ned remember me saying that the difference between this season and the 2013 season is Quade Green vs Ryan Harrow?

Quade was -22 today while on the floor.   

Other than the outlier of the VT game, I've still not seen anything that convinces me this team at least isn't tied with the 2013 team at bottom of the totem pole.   We'll be lucky to finish in the top 3 in the SEC

[Rhom]

Its gameday!!!!

 

[Rhom]

 

[Rhom]

So far, so good!

 

[Rhom]

Quadruple post incoming!

Helluva game!  Probably the most lopsided game I’ve seen us play since Arizona State last year. (After I said that for the first time a few minutes ago, it blew my mind to realize that Arizona State is now the number three team in the country…)

There’s absolutely zero reason that this team can’t play like this every day. That game was all about hustle and wanting to win. Yes, there was also some better defense and Louisville certainly did themselves no favors; but that team in white wanted that game today.

Well done boys, well done.

 

[RedEyedGhost]

Bamba's wingspan is reeeeeeeediculous.  Just stupid.  Why has he not played every minute of this game?  I do like it when he's on the bench though. If Texas had some decent 3pt shooters they would be a Final Four favorite.

[Rhom]

10 hours ago, RedEyedGhost said:

Bamba's wingspan is reeeeeeeediculous.  Just stupid.  Why has he not played every minute of this game?  I do like it when he's on the bench though. If Texas had some decent 3pt shooters they would be a Final Four favorite.

I've only watched a couple of Texas' games this year, but Mo Bamba is the truth there's no doubt about that.  Shaka Smart continues to disappoint me in Austin.  He's got plenty of talent to do better than he has.

[Rhom]

I see that every UK fan's favorite ref was up to his usual tricks in your game as well:

 

[Rhom]

Tuned into Nova v Butler to see the Dogs up 23.  Now Nova has cut it to single digits, but I think the clock is going to run out on them.

[Rhom]

Know how I know Bill Rafftery has passed his prime as an announcer?

He just said that Nova was switching “Like a Denny Crum team.”  

That reference is at least 17 years past it’s relevance.

[RedEyedGhost]

11 hours ago, Rhom said:

I see that every UK fan's favorite ref was up to his usual tricks in your game as well:

 

I would really love to know what Shaka said as Higgins' eye bulge nearly out of their sockets.  It looked like their conversation was over, then as Shaka was turning away we get that reaction.  Bilas ranted about how in the wrong Higgins was for following Smart like that, but I would love to Paul Harvey that shit (how dated is that reference?).

 

20 minutes ago, Triskele said:

Random question:  Is there a leader in the clubhouse for getting the Duke job once Coach K is done?  Has Hurley put himself on the radar for that now or is it Wojo or Amaker ahead of him?

Capel?  I thought that was his whole reason for going back there.  Didn't Wojo come out and said that he wouldn't be interested in the job as he wants to try and form his own legacy... nope, that was Chris Collins.  It's hard to keep all those former Duke guards that have had middling coaching careers straight.  

[Ded As Ned]

1 hour ago, Triskele said:

lol, plus it's not like Denny Crum had such a clear cut identity like a Bobby Knight or Dean Smith team.  

Random question:  Is there a leader in the clubhouse for getting the Duke job once Coach K is done?  Has Hurley put himself on the radar for that now or is it Wojo or Amaker ahead of him?  

Surely it has to be Hurley.  If not I'd take him as Cal's replacement here upon retirement.  

[Rhom]

I thought the same of Capel, but unless he can get another Blake Griffin; has he ever had success otherwise?

And doesn’t every top fan base think their school is hiring Brad Stevens next?!!?

[RedEyedGhost]

56 minutes ago, Rhom said:

I thought the same of Capel, but unless he can get another Blake Griffin; has he ever had success otherwise?

Look at when he was hired at Duke, now look at their recruiting before and after that time. The Team USA affiliation for K has been a boon, but so has hiring Capel.

[Rhom]

51 minutes ago, RedEyedGhost said:

Look at when he was hired at Duke, now look at their recruiting before and after that time. The Team USA affiliation for K has been a boon, but so has hiring Capel.

Agreed.  From what I’ve read, he’s the bad cop to Coach K’s good cop.  Capel is the guy who goes in and derides the other coaches/schools recruiting a kid and let’s K keep his hands clean.

[S John]

Man, watching WVU get blown out by A&M in the first game I never would have guessed that we'd reel off 13 straight that included a win over UVA and 2 Big 12 road wins.  Huggins is the fuckin' man.  There's some weaknesses of course, I think this is probably our weakest iteration of the press and our big men lack experience.  Konate is too emotional and foul prone and Bender is such a tentative player, though I think the light is coming on a bit. 

The good news is that this team can score and we've won a few games where we did not drastically win the turnover battle (another item in the minus column is that we're pretty turnover prone ourselves).  Teddy Allen has been a pleasant surprise and Bolden is a reliable 3-point shooter,  Foul shooting has also greatly improved which was a maddening aspect of the teams of the last few years.  That bodes well as WVU's physical style generally also causes the other team to commit fouls and sinking free-throws has allowed us to close out a few games rather than being a huge liability.  And we should be getting some extra help soon when Esa Ahmad comes back. 

My outlook for the season has greatly improved since November, though the schedule is really just ridiculous from here on out so I don't expect the win streak to continue much longer.  Remaining January games:

OU, Baylor, @TTU, Kansas, Texas, @ TCU, Kentucky, @ ISU.

That's a brutal stretch of basketball.  I mean what is the easiest game on there?  Baylor?  Texas and Mo Bamba?  Those are both top 50 squads and easily loseable games.  ISU probably the worst of that lot this year, but it's notoriously tough to beat them on the road.  

Really looking forward to the OU game though.  Trae Young has been amazing and I'm excited to see the match-up between him and Carter / Miles who will no doubt be in his face in a way he hasn't quite experienced yet.  We tend to struggle with OU though, even when they were bad last year they beat us in Morgantown when they weren't very good.  

On 12/30/2017 at 9:36 PM, RedEyedGhost said:

I would really love to know what Shaka said as Higgins' eye bulge nearly out of their sockets.  It looked like their conversation was over, then as Shaka was turning away we get that reaction.  Bilas ranted about how in the wrong Higgins was for following Smart like that, but I would love to Paul Harvey that shit (how dated is that reference?).

I was at this game as I try to go to see the Longhorns play the 5 or 6 best opponents that come into Austin each year.  Normally I sit down on the lower deck to either side of the band, but this time I was way up in the rafters and even from that great distance observing the interaction I just knew... Higgins.  

Looking forward to watching y'alls game against TTU tonight.  Haven't had a chance to see the Raiders play yet.  

[S John]

Welp, looks like Texas Tech is pretty good too.

[RedEyedGhost]

24 minutes ago, S John said:

Welp, looks like Texas Tech is pretty good too.

I don't know about that.  But I don't think we're that good this year.  If we get Preston and when we get De Sousa eligible that might change, but right now we're way too small.  Maybe we can incorporate two new players, but already being into conference season, I don't think we'll be getting #14.  Especially with two of our main seven players having nagging injuries.  

[Ded As Ned]

In roughly 3 weeks, Kentucky travels to WVU Coliseum for an epic road test.  I'm thinking there is time yet to devise some sort of friendly wager including @Rhom, @Michael Seswatha Jordan, @S John, and myself.