March Madness Thread

[Red and White]

That Iowa State - UNC game was a classic. Couldn't have asked for more.

[MACK11]

DeAndre Kane
24pts 9-18 10rebs 7asts

He's gonna be a second round gem even though he's gonna be 25 on draft night

[The Great One]

Let's go Creighton!!!!

[MACK11]

UNC and Duke losing will cause the state of NC to hemorrhage

[jacobdr4]

Let's go Creighton!!!!

Don't say that!!! Go bears!

[stretch]

Sic 'em Bears!

[jacobdr4]

What a start baylor!!

[The Great One]

Damn. Creighton can't make shots.

[Red and White]

McDermott with three points, no rebounds, and no assists at half time.

[BigCamB]

Damn, what incredible games. UK vs Wichita State and Iowa State vs UNC (good riddance )

Poor Wichita State, I've never watched them this year, and predicted they would crash out vs Kentucky simply due to being a doubter and the fact that they've probably never played a team as huge and talented as Kentucky this season, but they were really unlucky. I felt they played a really good game, and I've never seen Kentucky play anywhere near that level all season, and it more of a case of Kentucky just playing superbly than Wichita being overrated. Especially the Harrison twins, I'm generally really underwhelmed by them but they came to play in a big way.


DeAndre Kane is the man.

Sad to see McDermott go out on a crushing loss, but it's good for my bracket :P

My random try to look smart choice of Memphis beating Virginia was.....anything but smart.

[jacobdr4]

15 of 16 in the sweet sixteen! Not too shabby for my first year doing a bracket.

[golden]

Wiggins should've went to UNC instead of Kansas. He probably would've showcased his skills more there.

Bill Self's KU offense was a bad, bad fit for Wiggins. Just like UCONN's system sucked for Andre Drummond. Grantland does a great job of breaking down exactly why KU's offense is so bad for guards, but great for big men. I was observing the same thing all year - the perimeter players just toss it around the perimeter, with little or no motion, until there is an opening to feed the post. This seemed to result in an incredible amount of turnovers, as well. Self really didn't make any adjustment to take advantage of high end talent that he had.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/an...ourney-losses/

Stanford shocks Kansas

Self’s high-low system is predicated on the interaction between two big men inside the the 3-point line. The goal of the offense is to feed the ball into a posting big man as often as possible. It’s essential that the frontcourt personnel have the skills to operate from both the high (both elbows to the top of the key) and low (the block) post areas. They usually do; six Kansas big men have been selected in the first round of the NBA draft since Self took over. The problem is that, as much as this offense empowers post players, it diminishes the impact (and, it could be argued, overall development) of the guards and wings filling the roles on the perimeter.

This is where Andrew Wiggins’s “poor” performance on Sunday comes in.

With Joel Embiid out, Wiggins and Wayne Selden Jr. had to pick up the slack. The two responded by combining to go 2-of-11 from the field for just six points. Wiggins in particular was called out by more than one pundit for not being assertive enough in such a big tournament game. One of the ways used to point out the presumptive no. 1 draft pick’s shortcomings was to note how unheralded frontcourt duo Tarik Black and Perry Ellis combined for 27 points.

But before heaping the blame on Wiggins, let me throw another number at you: two. That was the number of scripted plays called for specifically for the star freshman over the course of the entire game on Sunday. And one of those plays — a pin-down set against a rare man-to-man look from Stanford — ended up with Naadir Tharpe misreading a cut by Wiggins and throwing the ball away.

While Wiggins has taken over plenty of games, despite Self’s offensive principles, it’s not a shock that a 19-year-old playing in the biggest game of his career, against an opponent using multiple defenses, failed to find his rhythm. Black and Ellis succeeded because of Self’s steadfast dedication to using his two post players to combat both the man-to-man and zone looks from Stanford. The 27 points came from countless opportunities. Had Self looked to call more quick hitters for Wiggins or perhaps let him, instead of Black or Ellis, operate near the foul line when Stanford went into its 2-3 zone, that might have allowed the young star to get into a better rhythm. But by sticking to his tried-and-true methodology, Self failed to get Wiggins into the game, and perhaps because of it, his Kansas team won’t be playing another one this season.

[Axel]

Bill Self's KU offense was a bad, bad fit for Wiggins. Just like UCONN's system sucked for Andre Drummond. Grantland does a great job of breaking down exactly why KU's offense is so bad for guards, but great for big men. I was observing the same thing all year - the perimeter players just toss it around the perimeter, with little or no motion, until there is an opening to feed the post. This seemed to result in an incredible amount of turnovers, as well. Self really didn't make any adjustment to take advantage of high end talent that he had.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/an...ourney-losses/

Good read and supports what some of us were saying in the draft thread regarding Wiggins not impressing due to playing within Self's system.

[isaacthompson]

Wow... what a weird half for Nick Johnson. Goes 0-7 FG, then hits a shot from half court at the buzzer but too late. Zona down 4.

[BigCamB]

Oh yeh Wisconsin way too robotic for Baylor . My bracket randomly doing okay so far, Arizona gotta step up though...