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College Basketball Tourney 2013: 60 down, 4 to go


Rhom

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Okay... So technically, it's 36 down; but that just doesn't sound right.

Kansas survives.

Georgetown doesn't.

Howland is back on the hot seat.

Discuss.

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I think so. This was his last chance year, and while he made the tourney; I think UCLA folks expected more.

Still pretty stunning for a guy who went to three straight Final Fours.

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I am fucked. Fucked is me.

Fuck Georgetown, seriously. Since making the Final Four in 2007, here are the teams that have knocked them out: Davidson, Ohio, VCU, NC State and now they're getting embarrassed by Florida Gulf Coast every way possible.

They were not only the higher seed in all those games, in every year but one they were a #2 or #3 seed and all of their opponents were double digit seeds. For those scoring at home that's #14, #15, #11, #11 and #15 seeds they've lost to. Once is an occurrence, twice is a trend, five times is a fucking travesty.

And what do you with this weird conundrum of John Thompson III who has made Georgetown into a consistent power in the Big East but gets demonstrably outcoached every single year in the tournament? Guys are sloppy, undisciplined and completely outclassed by the energy and mental toughness of FGCU. if VCU embodies the personality of its coach, this sadly appears to be what one gets with JTIII.

Yeah, it's enormously frustrating. If it was anyone other than JTIII, this would've gotten him fired, but I don't know if he's fireable- both from an icon perspective and from a will-have-you-whacked-if-you-cross-him perspective. I didn't even see the game, and I couldn't figure out what station to listen to on the radio (I'm driving from KY to FL right now, currently stopped in TN for the night)... so when I stopped to grab food and looked the game up on my phone I just about had a heart attack.

Guess I'm rooting for a Louisville-Butler or Louisville-VCU final now.

I think I'm the only one that picked UCLA in the entire nation - because EVERYBODY was picking Minnesota.

I picked UCLA, simply because I couldn't bear to select them to go out in the first game. This is not surprising. What is surprising is that I'm currently watching the game with someone who picked UCLA to win the whole thing.

Howland has to get fired now, right?

One would think. I picked UCLA to win two games, on the strength of the idea that the most-hyped player coming into the season might want to boost his draft stock in a nationally televised tournament. I actually think MN is a really good team, but I figured Shabazz would just ball out in the tourney. On the flip side, somoene (TItus?) on Grantland mentioned today that Howland had no idea how to properly manage Shabazz and get him in rhythm.

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Nice win today. First half defense was a little shaky, but holding the nation's top-scoring team to 15 in the second half made me feel much better. Minnesota will be tough as I think they have the physical presence inside that we tend to struggle with. But I like the team's mindset right now (after watching the presser and post-game interviews), so hopefully they'll come out all business. They really seem to be motivated right now by the last 2 Elite 8 exits. At the least, they're talking the talk. Time for walking the walk.

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VCU can be so frustrating to watch as a fan. They are either hot or cold, nothing in the middle. Missing last 8 shots against a good shooting team like Michigan is a death sentence. And most of them were open or easy.

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VCU is always one of the chic teams promoted by the Worldwide Leader. Heck, earlier this year, I was advocating Michigan fire Bielein and go after Chaka Smart. This is such a beatdown I am quite surprised. Happily surprised. :D

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VCU can be so frustrating to watch as a fan. They are either hot or cold, nothing in the middle. Missing last 8 shots against a good shooting team like Michigan is a death sentence. And most of them were open or easy.

Sorry they lost Mexal. I lived in Virginia for 8 years and I love me that state. :)

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Well that was pretty good. It's nice that our freshman have been stepping it up: Mitch McGary had probably his best game of the season, although all of the starters did pretty well. KU (I'm assuming they'll win for REG's sake) will be a big challenge though. More importantly, time for Harvard to crush Arizona!

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VCU is always one of the chic teams promoted by the Worldwide Leader. Heck, earlier this year, I was advocating Michigan fire Bielein and go after Chaka Smart. This is such a beatdown I am quite surprised. Happily surprised. :D

Can't win many games when you can't shoot. If VCU made a few shots, things might have been different but if you're shooting 25% at the half, chances are you aren't going to win, especially if your entire defense is predicated on pressure after scoring. It was a terrible game, similar to the way we played against StL, the only difference was Michigan played very very well as well. Unfortunately, this is the schizophrenic VCU team that has showed up this year in big games.

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Memphis freely allowing MSU to dictate the tempo of the game, as always seems to be the case when Pastner faces a defensive minded coach.

It's early yet but it looks like they're well on their way to being thrashed.

They've come back to make a game of it.

I really can't get a bead on Pastner yet. He is obviously a great recruiter, but his ability on the sideline is still up for debate for me.

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They've come back to make a game of it.

I really can't get a bead on Pastner yet. He is obviously a great recruiter, but his ability on the sideline is still up for debate for me.

They started playing with effort and being more aggressive on both ends of the court. With their astounding athleticism, they're a tough match for any team when that's happening.

Pastner seems like a legit good guy and as you say, is an ace recruiter. As for his coaching acumen, his record in "big" games speaks for itself. It took him 4 years to win a tournament game and beat a ranked team (both of which he accomplished Thursday against St. Mary's). A win over Izzo in the tournament would be a great way for him to alter that perception.

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