**NCAA Basketball Thread**

[UNC41]

Ty Lawson!!!!!!!!

[Rodey]

Originally Posted by seekupig

who cares? no offense, but having All-Americans on your team doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot in the grand scheme of things.

No offense?

Duke has an offense, it just didn't look very good tonight because they couldn't make anything, whether it was mid-range jumpers, bunnies or threes.

EDIT: I'm retarded. Disregard what I said.

[AlanA4]

my heart can start beating again thanks to ty lawson

[unccrombie]

Originally Posted by Rodey

No offense?

Duke has an offense, it just didn't look very good tonight because they couldn't make anything, whether it was mid-range jumpers, bunnies or threes.

EDIT: I'm retarded. Disregard what I said.

lulz @ homophones

[UNC41]

As disappointing as the performance tonight, and as much as Roy needs to keep the Heels hungry, that ending was so great after Ryan Reid's BS play that injured his ankle last year.

[DMBfreak41]

is in love with ty lawson!!!!!! heels won!!! gamecocks won!!! and duke lost!!!!! im in heaven!!

is proud to be a TAR HEEL LAWSON ♥.

TY LAWSON. 0.01.

^^facebook statuses right after the game lulz.

[bubba40]

Really, Georgetown? I mean, honestly?

[JessinPA]

Originally Posted by javofuc

This team is unlike any Duke team I've seen. They're not just getting long rebounds or tipped balls anymore. Their offense is so effective that it's not a matter of getting good looks, but more whether or not they fall. Schey, Smith and GP can hit big shots. Hendersons unlike anyone since Hill. Singler is what McRob and Shav were supposed to be but even better. I like this team better than '04 and even '02. And '06

Yeah, we Wake fans really liked that effective offense tonight It was a great game to watch, but personally I didn't think it looked like a matchup to two top 5 teams - that was some damn sloppy playing amidst some talented moments. They both need to tighten up - next game in Durham should be good.

As an aside, I really want to punch Vitale in the throat, that man is so damn annoying it's almost enough to get me to mute the game. Actually, scratch that. I'd like to meet him in person and ask him how JJ turned out after all the time he spent giving him verbal head game after game - great pick there Dick, he's really been a mover in the NBA. [/bitter]

[clayj41]

Originally Posted by bubba40

Really, Georgetown? I mean, honestly?

Man, they are terrible right now.

[javofuc]

Originally Posted by JessinPA

Yeah, we Wake fans really liked that effective offense tonight It was a great game to watch, but personally I didn't think it looked like a matchup to two top 5 teams - that was some damn sloppy playing amidst some talented moments. They both need to tighten up - next game in Durham should be good.

As an aside, I really want to punch Vitale in the throat, that man is so damn annoying it's almost enough to get me to mute the game. Actually, scratch that. I'd like to meet him in person and ask him how JJ turned out after all the time he spent giving him verbal head game after game - great pick there Dick, he's really been a mover in the NBA. [/bitter]

By effective I mean able to produce good shots. They don't always make them, which is largely why they lost tonite. You should hear Dickie V the last four years he and all of ESPN is on hans' dick. That's what you have to put up with when there's a player who's out of his mind. JJ was sick, and Duke had an unprecedented reign over CBB for about 6-7 years there, which included absolute ACC dominance. If you're job is to talk about basketball and someone is owning shit you talk about that team. There are plenty of anti-Duke guys, plus Duke has fallen off the radar because they have not been the best. Have you noticed how all the focus has been on UNC the last 2-3 years?

Why does it matter what JJ did in the pros. Nobody in college ever made more 3's. I can see how from a Wake fan pov, it would be switched. You guys have more to root for when your guys are in the pros, because WFU ball has not done anything relevant since that ACC title in '95. And then billy packer led them to a final four in like 52. Wake just relies on upsetting Duke or UNC and that's usually the most they can accomplish. Wake won't be in this position but once every four or five years. I would say the best part about being a Wake fan is that you can also be a mavs, spurs, and hornets fan.

[UNLTrpt]

Seriously, could we put 40 minutes together...just once?!?! We'd be undefeated in the league if we could play 40 solid minutes of basketball instead of this 5 minutes of DARK we get every single game.

Kansas- Up by 13 in the 1st half and leading by 2 with 7 mins to go. 1 FG in the 1st 10 minutes of the 2nd half.
OU- 4 minute scoring drought.
Iowa St.- 2 minute scoring drought (end of the game)
Oklahoma St.- Led by 7 with 5:20 left in the game

Ugh. Its the most frustrating thing to be a Nebraska basketball fan. Because we've always been so close. We are always just one player away or one play away. Basketball could be great here at NU, people would get really excited and behind the team in ways that we haven't seen in 20 some years. We just can't get over that hump.

[JRod1229]

Felton out at UGA.. not that this is surprising news to anyone... I think they'll go after some big names (and should be able to land someone). My two favorites are Sam Mitchell (07 NBA coach of the year who has expressed interest) and Anthony Grant (young guy out of VCU, former Florida assistant who was reportedly the heir to Donovan when he went all Benedict Arnold a year or so ago). Either way, good move by UGA to go ahead and cut the string and be prepared for to get someone quick.

[Darksideofoz]

Wake Forest

Rushing the court, really?

[milo420dmb]

^^ it's the ACC, what do you expect... all those kids/schools love rushing the court

[Darksideofoz]

Originally Posted by milo420dmb

^^ it's the ACC

Exactly. This wasn't an unranked UNC-Asheville type beating the number one team in the nation.

[HolyCow]

Originally Posted by UNLTrpt

Seriously, could we put 40 minutes together...just once?!?! We'd be undefeated in the league if we could play 40 solid minutes of basketball instead of this 5 minutes of DARK we get every single game.

Kansas- Up by 13 in the 1st half and leading by 2 with 7 mins to go. 1 FG in the 1st 10 minutes of the 2nd half.
OU- 4 minute scoring drought.
Iowa St.- 2 minute scoring drought (end of the game)
Oklahoma St.- Led by 7 with 5:20 left in the game

Ugh. Its the most frustrating thing to be a Nebraska basketball fan. Because we've always been so close. We are always just one player away or one play away. Basketball could be great here at NU, people would get really excited and behind the team in ways that we haven't seen in 20 some years. We just can't get over that hump.

I've honestly wondered why OU always has a strong basketball program but NU doesn't. We're both in the same predicament, but for some reason OU doesn't seem to have the same problems. Thoughts Dan?

[haasem99]

IMO- UNC got lucky last night. Thank goodness for Ty!!! A win is a win and glad UNC got it. With Duke losing, UNC could not afford another loss in conference.

[UNLTrpt]

Originally Posted by HolyCow

I've honestly wondered why OU always has a strong basketball program but NU doesn't. We're both in the same predicament, but for some reason OU doesn't seem to have the same problems. Thoughts Dan?

I think that its been a multiple of reasons:

Football success and then failure
AD's with different priorities
NU actually had success in the 90's

Football was awesome in the 90's but so was the basketball team. Actually before the football team won their 1st championship. We went to the dance in 91, 92, 93 & 94. Won the conference championship crown in 94. At that time there really wasn't any reason to worry. It looked like NU would eventually be an upper level team in the Big 8. It really didn't matter what they were doing cause then when football switched on to win titles in 94, 95 and 97, nobody really cared/paid attention. Meanwhile in the background NU basketball had gone to three straight NIT's (95, 96 won the whole darn thing, 97) and then back to the NCAA's in 98, and then back to the NIT in 99.

Well all this time football was getting much of the priority in terms of facility upgrades. (Skyboxes, new turf, etc) The basketball arena was left alone. Also the AD at the time (Bill Byrne) was trying to build up the other sports as well. Admittedly he probably got in a spending and facility race with Texas in the late 90's and early 00's. But basketball was left hardly untouched until we got a new coach in 01. And we settled for 2nd best on that hire. We had Bill Self on campus and let him get away. When Collier was hired they weren't ready to fork over the cash to get a top of the line coach.

So then after Collier was hired the AD (Byrne) left for A&M and that's when we got Pederson. And then soon after that he let go of Solich. And about that time the football team went in the tank and it had become increasingly clear that our football facilities (locker room, weight room, training room, etc) had become out dated. So Pederson pours all this money into the football program to get it up to date. There were a couple facility projects with other programs (baseball I know for sure) that were put aside because all the focus had to be on football.

Well then Collier was a flop, there was no excitement over the program and thus, there was no reason to spend any money on it. It still made money and that's all that mattered to the two AD's (Byrne & Pederson) Its been in the black for a fair amount of years and even though the football team is able to support the entire sports roster at Nebraska and then still have enough left over to spend some good money, basketball being in the black takes some of the pressure off of that by being in the black.

But basketball has never been a priority for the administration. I don't know why, but they've never wanted it to be in par with the football team. No wait, I shouldn't say that. I should say they never wanted to spend the money that it took for the basketball team to be on par with the football team. They wanted them to get there on a grass roots budget. And as long as the football team was doing well (94-01) the basketball team was doing everything that the fans/administration wanted. The facilities should have been upgraded when Collier came in but when Byrne left and the football team started to tank, it was the perfect storm to keep the basketball team on the back burner.

So until we build a practice facility (we're the only Big 12 team without either one in place, building one, or in the plans to build one) we're going to be a 2nd rate team. I think the arena will rock if we put a quality product on the floor. There have been talks of a different arena in conjunction with the city and I think that its a good idea, but a practice facility needs to be priority one for the basketball program.

[scrock25]

Originally Posted by UNLTrpt

I think that its been a multiple of reasons:

Football success and then failure
AD's with different priorities
NU actually had success in the 90's

Football was awesome in the 90's but so was the basketball team. Actually before the football team won their 1st championship. We went to the dance in 91, 92, 93 & 94. Won the conference championship crown in 94. At that time there really wasn't any reason to worry. It looked like NU would eventually be an upper level team in the Big 8. It really didn't matter what they were doing cause then when football switched on to win titles in 94, 95 and 97, nobody really cared/paid attention. Meanwhile in the background NU basketball had gone to three straight NIT's (95, 96 won the whole darn thing, 97) and then back to the NCAA's in 98, and then back to the NIT in 99.

Well all this time football was getting much of the priority in terms of facility upgrades. (Skyboxes, new turf, etc) The basketball arena was left alone. Also the AD at the time (Bill Byrne) was trying to build up the other sports as well. Admittedly he probably got in a spending and facility race with Texas in the late 90's and early 00's. But basketball was left hardly untouched until we got a new coach in 01. And we settled for 2nd best on that hire. We had Bill Self on campus and let him get away. When Collier was hired they weren't ready to fork over the cash to get a top of the line coach.

So then after Collier was hired the AD (Byrne) left for A&M and that's when we got Pederson. And then soon after that he let go of Solich. And about that time the football team went in the tank and it had become increasingly clear that our football facilities (locker room, weight room, training room, etc) had become out dated. So Pederson pours all this money into the football program to get it up to date. There were a couple facility projects with other programs (baseball I know for sure) that were put aside because all the focus had to be on football.

Well then Collier was a flop, there was no excitement over the program and thus, there was no reason to spend any money on it. It still made money and that's all that mattered to the two AD's (Byrne & Pederson) Its been in the black for a fair amount of years and even though the football team is able to support the entire sports roster at Nebraska and then still have enough left over to spend some good money, basketball being in the black takes some of the pressure off of that by being in the black.

But basketball has never been a priority for the administration. I don't know why, but they've never wanted it to be in par with the football team. No wait, I shouldn't say that. I should say they never wanted to spend the money that it took for the basketball team to be on par with the football team. They wanted them to get there on a grass roots budget. And as long as the football team was doing well (94-01) the basketball team was doing everything that the fans/administration wanted. The facilities should have been upgraded when Collier came in but when Byrne left and the football team started to tank, it was the perfect storm to keep the basketball team on the back burner.

So until we build a practice facility (we're the only Big 12 team without either one in place, building one, or in the plans to build one) we're going to be a 2nd rate team. I think the arena will rock if we put a quality product on the floor. There have been talks of a different arena in conjunction with the city and I think that its a good idea, but a practice facility needs to be priority one for the basketball program.

Great post!

[HolyCow]

Ed Mann (Corinth, VT): Is there ANY chance of you staying one more year at OU?

Blake Griffin: There's definitely a chance. As it stands right now, I plan on coming back. I'm not going to make my decision until after the season on whether I'll leave or not. But again, I'm not planning on leaving as of right now.

Obviously, I think he's just saying the right things, but if he came back... wow.

[UNC41]

If Taylor weren't a senior, I'd consider buying it, but right now I don't at all.

[iMAC386]

Originally Posted by HolyCow

Ed Mann (Corinth, VT): Is there ANY chance of you staying one more year at OU?

Blake Griffin: There's definitely a chance. As it stands right now, I plan on coming back. I'm not going to make my decision until after the season on whether I'll leave or not. But again, I'm not planning on leaving as of right now.

Obviously, I think he's just saying the right things, but if he came back... wow.

Wow. When is that from? I had not even considered that he might still be thinking about coming back. I figured it was a foregone conclusion.

But yeah, his brother graduating will probably hit home really fast. Plus Austin Johnson and the other seniors. Although OU does have a lot of talent coming in from recruiting, so...

...Yeah, I don't know. It'd be stupid just like Bradford's decision.

[Bafugama]

Originally Posted by HolyCow

Ed Mann (Corinth, VT): Is there ANY chance of you staying one more year at OU?

Blake Griffin: There's definitely a chance. As it stands right now, I plan on coming back. I'm not going to make my decision until after the season on whether I'll leave or not. But again, I'm not planning on leaving as of right now.

Obviously, I think he's just saying the right things, but if he came back... wow.

Sounds a lot like what Carmelo Anthony said during his freshman year at Syracuse. At some point it becomes stupid for a guy to stay in school, and I think after this season is said and done Griffin will be at that point.

[HolyCow]

Originally Posted by iMAC386

Wow. When is that from? I had not even considered that he might still be thinking about coming back. I figured it was a foregone conclusion.

But yeah, his brother graduating will probably hit home really fast. Plus Austin Johnson and the other seniors. Although OU does have a lot of talent coming in from recruiting, so...

...Yeah, I don't know. It'd be stupid just like Bradford's decision.

Soonersports.com's "mailbag with Blake."

[iMAC386]

Originally Posted by HolyCow

Soonersports.com's "mailbag with Blake."

I hope he's as stupid as Sam Bradford.

[seekupig]

Originally Posted by seekupig

who cares? no offense, but having All-Americans on your team doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot in the grand scheme of things.

Originally Posted by UNC41

The '06 Blue Devils agree.

and so do the '08 Jayhawks

[HolyCow]

The announcers for the OU/ISU are THE MOST boring I have ever heard in my life. It's unreal how monotone this guy is. He is the total anti-Gus Johnson.

[HolyCow]

Willie Warren may have just locked up SportsCenter top 10's number one slot. Ridiculous throw down.

[RJ2kWJ]

And Wake goes down. What the hell?

[javofuc]

Originally Posted by RJ2kWJ

And Wake goes down. What the hell?

At least it was a respectable opponent ...This must be one of those 'let-downs' following a big win.

What a year.