NCAA Basketball 2023-24

[The Big Stink]

Alabama is by far the best team left. They have elite shooting and athleticism. The defense has gone from poor to stifling in a remarkable amount of time. Mark Sears is one the best five players in the country. There is no way Alabama scores under 75 points. Really, head and shoulders above the rest.

NC State is playing really well. The DJs are carrying this team and Diarra is an unsung hero. They keep finding ways to win. They have peaked at the right time and are playing above their individual abilities. Seem like great guys.

Purdue is insanely overrated. Edey is a physical presence but fouls ten times on every possession. Without the refs giving them games they are a sub .500 team. Lance Jones is decent.

UCONN catches teams when they are slumping. Clingan, Karaban, and Spencer are HUGE defensive liabilities. They cannot win when teams are playing competently.

Alabama will run UCONN out of the gym (100-74). NC State will win a close one over the referees (71-66).

Alabama will handle NC State in the National Championship game (85-74).

[Rhom]

I dunno man... I watched UK throttle Alabama by almost 40 and it wasn't even that close not all that long ago.  And I just watched UConn run off 30 straight on a really good Illinois team.

Bama was better last year than they were this year and they got run by a so so San Diego State team that had rim protection and decent perimeter play.

I've always been skeptical of the "modern" basketball in the college game and Bama is at the heart of that skepticism.  Every shot from the perimeter or in the lane looks great as long as you're hitting... and in the NBA, the odds of being cold from outside 4 games out of 7 may be slim for the best teams; but in a one game tourney situation, it makes you very susceptible to a cold night.  Stick that game being played in a cavernous football arena with weird sight lines and it just makes me think UConn wins this game going away.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

So who is ready for an old fashion sports race war tonight, despite the players themselves don't actually hate one another? Social media is going to be ugly. 

[Arakasi]

Pretty sure we’ll see UConn and Purdue in the title game.

[Rhom]

3 minutes ago, Arakasi said:

Pretty sure we’ll see UConn and Purdue in the title game.

That’s what I expect…. But NCState is on one of those inexplicable magic runs, so I would not be shocked to see them get past Purdue

[Maithanet]

12 minutes ago, Arakasi said:

Pretty sure we’ll see UConn and Purdue in the title game.

I have watched very little of the tournament thus far, but that does seem pretty likely.  On paper it would be a good game...

[Maithanet]

All four of the women's elite eight were 1v3 seeds.  That's weird.  We'll get at least one more with NCstate vs SC, and we could have the streak go all the way to the National Championship for 7 straight 1v3s. 

[Arakasi]

Btw how does one say Clingan is a huge defensive liability? Illinois players want 0-19 against him. He had 5 blocks, 3 steals, 10 rebounds and only one foul in 22 minutes. It was an insane defensive performance. Hmm it is April 1st so maybe that.

Edited April 1 by Arakasi

[Ramsay B.]

3 hours ago, Arakasi said:

Btw how does one say Clingan is a huge defensive liability? Illinois players want 0-19 against him. He had 5 blocks, 3 steals, 10 rebounds and only one foul in 22 minutes. It was an insane defensive performance. Hmm it is April 1st so maybe that.

Uconn was +29 with Clingan on the court, and they held Illinois (Kenpom #2 offense at the time) to 0.44 points per possession while Cling was out there. For comparison sake Pacific had the worst offensive game of the year in a 77-28 loss to St. Mary’s and avg’d 0.46 points per possession. 

So what I’m trying to say is Uconn luckily caught yet another team when they were slumping.

Edited April 1 by Ramsay B.

[Rhom]

3 minutes ago, Ramsay B. said:

Uconn was +29 with Clingan on the court, and they held Illinois (Kenpom #2 offense at the time) to 0.44 points per possession while Cling was out there. For comparison sake Pacific had the worst offensive game of the year in a 77-28 loss to St. Mary’s and avg’d 0.46 points per possession. 

So what I’m trying to say is Uconn luckily caught yet another team when they were slumping.

It is pretty amazing though that UConn is shooting just 28% from three for the tourney in a world where all the talking heads insist that you have to be shooting a high volume/high percent from deep.

[Ramsay B.]

1 hour ago, Rhom said:

It is pretty amazing though that UConn is shooting just 28% from three for the tourney in a world where all the talking heads insist that you have to be shooting a high volume/high percent from deep.

Yeah, I feel like not settling for 3 and taking it in is what spurned the 30-0 run. Karaban especially. In both games where they struggled from 3(NW, Illinois) they shot a combined 72% from 2. 

The offense is such a unit, it’s so fun to watch. Constant motion from everyone. But shooting at least their season average from 3 would be nice in the final four. 

[kairparavel]

This Iowa LSU game has been phenomenal. Too bad the match up is so early. 

[Ramsay B.]

Clark too much. She’s so locked in.

[Rhom]

NCState has both men and women in.

UConn is one half of basketball away from doing the same.

I wonder if there’s ever been a year with more than two schools with that double?  

[Teng Ai Hui]

23 minutes ago, Rhom said:

NCState has both men and women in.

UConn is one half of basketball away from doing the same.

I wonder if there’s ever been a year with more than two schools with that double?  

Commentators on the UConn - USC game just said that it's never happened before.

Edited April 2 by Teng Ai Hui

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Clark is unreal. I can't believe I'm rooting for those disgusting Hawkeyes to win it all, but I root for greatness and she's something else. 

My fellow West Minneapolis kiddo is cooking. UConn is the only other team I want to see win.

[BigFatCoward]

4 hours ago, Mr. Chatywin et al. said:

Clark is unreal. I can't believe I'm rooting for those disgusting Hawkeyes to win it all, but I root for greatness and she's something else. 

My fellow West Minneapolis kiddo is cooking. UConn is the only other team I want to see win.

the fact that women's college basketball had a full article on the guardian website shows how much she is capturing peoples imagination. 

Edited April 2 by BigFatCoward

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

4 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

the fact that women's college basketball had a full article on the guardian website shows how much she is capturing peoples imagination. 

Clark is unique, but in general I think media is finally realizing how much of a market there is for women's sports.

[BigFatCoward]

2 hours ago, Mr. Chatywin et al. said:

Clark is unique, but in general I think media is finally realizing how much of a market there is for women's sports.

Not in the UK, nobody cares about womens college basketball unless something outstanding is happening. 

Reading some of the comments online has been horrendous, the amount of bile just because they didn't stand for the national anthem (from what i can tell its not that unusual for any team, this wasn't a conscious decision). 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

3 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

Not in the UK, nobody cares about womens college basketball unless something outstanding is happening. 

Reading some of the comments online has been horrendous, the amount of bile just because they didn't stand for the national anthem (from what i can tell its not that unusual for any team, this wasn't a conscious decision). 

Ignore the internet in general when it's men trying to bitch about women.

I don't ever expect college ball here to catch on in the UK. It's basically like asking people in the US to care about like tier 3-4 soccer in England. However IIRC women's soccer in Europe is getting way more buzz these days. Investing in player development and creating the proper environment can go a long way. I doubt the US and Japan will enjoy the same success they've had over the last few decades as European teams get even better. But again, it comes back to the main point, funding and visibility. If you do that, fans will come. It just takes time.