NCAA Basketball 2004-2005 discussion (1 Viewer)

[Steve Simm]

I'll be watching....I was in the Dean Dome for the game in '93 when Carolina and Duke were ranked 1 and 2 in the country and the Heels pulled it out and went on to win the NCAA championship.

 

[Kyle McKnight]

When's the game?

 

[Anthony Wolfe]

Starts At 9PM Eastern Standard Time, It comes on at 7:00 for me in Arizona, and 6:00 in California, I think Texas is an hour ahead of Arizona so, should be 8:00...

On ESPN!

 

[Corbin Stirn]

YEAH,YEAH,YEAH! I am SO sick and tired of all the BS reasons that NC fans use....the most famous one being "if the refs call the game fair." Guess what? 24 turnovers says that Duke OUTPLAYED North Carolina. And the refs don't have jack to do with that stat. Not only that, UNC got lucky in the last minute with the fouls that SHOULD have been called and weren't.

1 final thought......one of the posters WAS right. There WAS a heralded freshman that made a difference in this game. Only problem for NC fans.....he was wearing navy blue(not powder blue), His name was Demarcus Nelson(NOT Marvin Williams), and oh yeah. His team won! Go, Go Cameron crazies!!!!

 

[Anthony Wolfe]

24 turnovers, Duke outplayed North Carolina? Huh? They won by a point, sure a mid-season win is a win, but I think that's speaking more against Duke than it is UNC. Anytime UNC loses, it's because they are playing against themselves, not getting outplayed (did you actually watch the game?).

Just like a Duke fan to wait till the game ends to post anything, can't get involved in the conversation before the game, instead waited until after the game to try and gloat, prolly never heard of DeMarcus Nelson before tonights post-game interview.

UNC, still the favorite to win the National Championship .

 

[Corbin Stirn]

Just like an UNC fan to think of any excuse in the world when they get beat. Where was that vaunted transition game? By the way, I've an 'oldster' on this site and have tons of posts....only reason I didn't pipe up ealier in the thread is because I got home just in time to watch the game(some people actually work) and after it ended, started scanning through HTF and noticed it. Once again, where was that vaunted transition game? Where was that 90+ points a game? Were YOU watching the game?OOPS...guess there WAS some mighty good defense by Duke after all(by the way, that many turnovers are caused by DEFENSE). NO Matter..it's all good...any day UNC goes down is a good day.

 

[Anthony Wolfe]

Sure the defense was great, on both ends of the floor, but UNC has played against great defenses before, as I said, and as I will repeat, the only ones stopping UNC are themselves, anytime you have 24 turnovers and STILL lose by only 1 point ...

So you couldn't check the boards during half-time? Since you post so much, it seems you'd have been on earlier and posted, I think you were afraid of Duke losing, at least I can always speak up regardless to whether UNC wins or loses, chances are, you wouldn't even be on this thread if Duke had lost.

Since you didn't get involved before the game, you really have no place to talk after the game, especially with your bantor and non-sense, you didn't advance anything here, since you're an 'Oldster' I would think you'd have had more respect and posted something notable, instead you attempted to start another useless argument. So there goes.

Anyway, I apologize to the forums for that. It's a little disheartening that UNC lost, more importantly it's disheartening that I get hit with immaturity in this thread that I was rather proud of. BTW, Some of us DO have jobs, and I'm one of them. .

One thing I saw after the game was a real intense look between Rashad McCants and Raymond Felton, almost like a no non-sense look. I'll tell you what, I don't see UNC losing again this regular season, and I will personally parade around in Duke Blue Devil gear if they do. I think they are sick of losing and know they have the talent to win each and every night, although I think losing builds character, the character has been built and this is it. I'm still proud of the fellas, great ACC and regular season record, and still the favorites to win the title. The talent to get it done.

Anyone thing that losing in the last seconds is a coaching screw up? UNC had 15 seconds to get a shot off to win the game but it didn't happen. I remember numerous times last year, UNC would be in a close game and choke with a turnover, they usually never got a shot up (much like tonight), to me that is purely a Roy Williams problem. Same thing with Kansas, Roy has gotta fix that.

 

[Corbin Stirn]

Once again, you did not answer my question. Where are the 90+ points a game? How do you get so many turnovers except by good defense? Only reason I spoke up:your breakdown of the game was fine........UNTIL the 'refs call the game fair' blast. Duke is 1 of my favorite teams.....but they're not the only one. UNC is one of my disliked teams......and their fans are one of the reasons. I also HATED the way UNC fans treated Guthridge...the way that man was abused by the NC 'fans' astounded me. Hell, his last year, when he went to the Final Four, was the ONLY time I've ever rooted for UNC. I never wanted someone to win games so much in my life......it still to this day does NOT make up for the way he was treated. Once again, don't go making blanket statements about "refs calling the game fair." Sure you aren't a Maryland fan in disguise? You analysis was good, if over the top for your Marvin, but the refs blast sounded disgustingly familiar. It was the FIRST thing I mentioned in my post. Guess what? UNC AND Duke have both lost to Wake Forest....so maybe we should be singing their praises. After all, they're pretty good too.

 

[Anthony Wolfe]

The 90+ points wasn't there tonight, why harp on that? UNC played bad, I'll be the first to state it, but before you generalize all 'fans' you need to check up, the least you can do my man, is understand that I'm not making excuses, I gave every player their due in my above thread, I never said 'Duke is gonna lose because Duke sucks, and their fans suck...nah nah nah'. If UNC loses fine, but when I get on the boards to a "YEAH YEAH YEAH" type post, bascially generalizing all fans as whining baffoons, well my friend, we have a problem. But we are discussing this on AIM, so no hard feelings.

 

[Jed M]

More likely to be knocked out in the first weekend. Roy plays a gimmick offense and if anybody can take them out of it and force them to play down and dirty defensive basketball they are screwed. Roy is a terrific regular season coach, perhaps the best ever, but he is the last coach I would want coaching me in a tournament game. Good Luck.

 

[Shane Martin]

Tell that to the Illini.

 

[Anthony Wolfe]

Well, I can tell it to St. Joe's and I can tell it to Stanford last year, remember how they did in the regular season? Who has the title from last year? UCONN, they lost 6 games during the season. Even better, I'm rememinded of the slended Arizona team in '97, weren't even a #1 seed (but beat three in a row). Even better I'm reminded of Cincinatti and UMASS teams in the '90s that had stellar records and did nothing in March (although Martin got hurt).

So yep, that's what I'd be telling the Illini...

Jed? How many Final Four's and Elite 8's did Roy get Kansas in again? Maybe you should re-write your statement and apply it to the final four as opposed to the actual tournament. Then again, any team can lose in the first or second round, so that's always a possibility, as much as it is for Kansas and Illinois this year.

 

[Carlo_M]

No horse in this race (a lowly UCLA fan, rebuild it Coach Howland, rebuild!).

I don't think there can be any question about who has "more talent". Even the ultimate Duke homer, Vitale, concedes that UNC is more talented.

Luckily, it takes more than talent on paper to cut down the nets. They have to put it together on the court and play as a team. Remember that scary UNLV team that Duke beat in the finals? Yeah, the one full of future NBA players that were hellbent on repeating as NCs? Talent gets you so far, but then you got to put up or shut up. Last night, UNC did not put up.

Sure, it changes nothing, they're still "more talented" than Duke. But it's the Ws that mean anything, and if they don't bring their A game every game [especially the important ones like vs. Duke], then there's no guarantee they'll do it in the tourney either.

Duke played great defense and imposed their tempo for the most part over UNC. Until UNC proves they can do that to Duke, there will be that doubt that they can do it "whenever they want". I can't wait until the Chapel Hill rematch!

 

[Anthony Wolfe]

Well, I made my point earlier about the regular season, if you're getting into the tourny at a high seed, that's all you really need. I don't expect UNC to run the table and win every game (I'd hope they wouldn't as that would mean an early exit), as a matter of fact, they've lost 2 ACC games and 3 overall, all away. UCONN lost 6 last year (as I said above), nothing wrong with their talent or teamwork eh? One thing I do admit, is that they can only stop themselves, and that's a big hurdle to get over, we've got another month to do it though . UNC, still the favorites.

Dukie V (Lute Olsen once called him that), I don't trust that guy, what a bandwagoner, all of a sudden he loves UNC so much. Punk ass!

UCLA, BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! !!!!

Arizona and UCLA have the baddest of blood.

 

[Jed M]

Consider he has coached in 15 tournaments, practically always as a 1 or 2 seed, and in 10 of those he was out in the first weekend or the first game of the second weekend, I stand by my remarks. For comparison sake, the only other Coach in the last 15 years that has had as many 1 or 2 seeds in the tournament is Coach K. He has make it to the Final Four 9 times and the Elite 8 10 times. Maybe it hasn't made it down to the Carolinas but Williams has had a national reputation for choking in big games (1-6 record vs Coach K, cough, Syracuse, cough) for some time now. I am not trying to rub it in, as I said he is an excellent regular season coach but I am honest when I say he is the last person I would want coaching my team in the tournament. When he does get into the final four, thats when he coaches his absolute worst. You don't have to believe me, I'm just basing this on my own personal experience of watching him the last 15 years. Enjoy!

 

[Jed M]

How about my Rebels beating the Mizzou Kittens last night?

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

A few thoughts, I'm kind of surprised that Georgia Tech is struggling so far this year, last I saw they weren't in the top 25.

I'm with Jed on Roy Williams, Kansas ruined many an NCAA tournament bracket for me back in the day.

I have no horse in this race tither, I don't have a favorite basketball team when it comes to college but there are conferences that I do enjoy watching. I always tend to expect the home team to win rivalry games even if the road team might on paper have more talent.

Oh, and saying that what happened with St. Joeseph and Stanford last year is a reason to pick against Illinois doesn't work with me, as that was last year and Illinois is neither one of those teams. Yeah, the undefeateds didn't win last year, but that doesn't mean that an undefeated shouldn't be considered a favorite to win this year. I think when it comes time for me to fill out my bracket my champion will come from the ACC though, because that conference and that conference tournament will be so tough that the winner will be battle tested and that is really what counts IMO come march.

 

[Jed M]

My dark horse national champion pick right now would be Syracuse. Read, Dark horse. I think the Big East is the best basketball conference top to bottom this year.

 

[Chuck Mullen]

I was about to come here and tout the virtues of the ACC (see my signature) when I see in this mornings Washington Post that the Big East is 6-1 head-to-head with the ACC this year.:frowning: However in the RPI ACC is number one, and Big East number three. Go figure. It is worth pointing out that perennial cellar dwellers from the Big East; Miami and Va. Tech, are middle of the road ACC teams this year.

Hurry up March!

 

[Haggai]

Gotta have a Kentucky fan chiming in here. The Wildcats are having a really nice season for a team as young as they are, lots of freshmen getting major playing time. They have a shot at running the table in the SEC, although that's going be tough with road games at Alabama and at Florida still left to play. Overall, the SEC is having a crappy year. It's doubtful that more than 4 teams (UK, Florida, 'Bama, Miss. St.) will make the NCAA tourney. My beloved Cats are almost certainly too green to contend seriously for the national title, although stranger things have happened, like Syracuse winning it all with two freshmen and a sophomore as their three best players (well, that doesn't matter so much when Carmelo Anthony is one of them).