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Final Four and NCAA Title Game Thread

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Flying Headbutt, Apr 4, 2009.

  1. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    Matchups again are why I always thought Pitt would have been the best opponent for NC in the Final Four. Their big guys would have pushed the Carolina bigs four or five feet away from their shooting comfort zones. Not that they would have won, but I think they had the best chance.
     
  2. cwilson3

    cwilson3 Member

    Heart is a copout. Plus they won so it doesn't matter.
     
  3. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    Carolina looked to me as if it was playing with more than enough emotional intensity. At least in the first half, which is all I watched.
     
  4. cwilson3

    cwilson3 Member

    Michael, they left their hearts in the locker room, they played that half with their livers.
     
  5. Joel_Goodsen

    Joel_Goodsen Member

    Actually Louisville played a lot more zone in that game against Michigan State than they had done all year. And the adjustments Pitino made at the half were to take Sutan out of the equation and those adjustments worked if you consider he scored 17 of his 19 before the half.

    Defense wasn't the problem for Louisville that night, offense was.

    The Cardinals gave up 64 points -- the same they did two nights earlier against Arizona and eight less than they gave up against Siena. They only gave up 62 points a game on average for the season.

    The fact that you are harping on a bad defensive game plan as well as the fact that Louisville wanted to press, which was the Cardinals bread and butter is strange to be honest, especially in a game in which the team gave up only 64 points.

    The problem was offense, they scored 22 points less than their average that night and mostly because they shot horribly from the outside -- again, their bread and butter -- and there is no way to make adjustments when your guys can't hit shots.

    It happened to Michigan State last night and it happened to Villanova on Saturday and while North Carolina's defense deserves some credit for that, both teams missed a lot of open looks they hadn't missed in previous games.
     
  6. zagoshe

    zagoshe Well-Known Member


    Yes, because it is so awful when the best teams win.....
     
  7. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    Zag, nobody's quarreling with the outcome, only the long, straight, dull stretch of sports interstate we took to get there. Aside from Pitt-Villanova, there were no games I will remember past Memorial Day. I'll admit I didn't see Ohio State-Siena.
     
  8. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    The one game I saw was pretty damn good. Disappointing but good.
     
  9. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    Another one I missed, Moddy. Blame CBS.
     
  10. zagoshe

    zagoshe Well-Known Member

    What about Western Kentucky-Gonzaga -- that has all the makings of a game to remember considering it was won at the buzzer and featured two so-called cinderella teams and that automatically makes it a classic!!!

    After years and years of mediocrity -- translation, lots of close games and upsets -- we finally have had a stretch of the best teams actually being the best teams -- that is not a bad thing.
     
  11. Oz

    Oz Well-Known Member

    But your theory that top seeds advancing/Cinderellas falling by the wayside early would make for better games later in the tournament fell flat for a second straight season. Last year, only KU-Memphis and KU-Davidson provided drama from the Elite Eight on. This year, only Pitt-Villanova provided drama from the Elite Eight on.

    Have a stretch of the best teams actually being the best teams -- that's not necessarily a bad thing. However, it's made for some really boring games the final two weekends of the past two tournaments. This year's tournament was far worse than last year's, when at least Davidson nearly upset Kansas.
     
  12. dargan

    dargan Active Member

    This is why, as others have touched on, Pitt and UConn would have been a far tougher road from a matchup standpoint for Carolina in the semis and title game.
     
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