<p>actually the height of popularity in the nba was during jordan’s championship runs, scoring was way higher in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. If anything it’s the rules like handchecking that is causing less defensive freedom, I don’t really see the defense you guys are raving about. Seems like lack of offense to me, ie. zone defenses are rarely used in the nba because nba players can shoot, or that ball handlers actually do something with a screen besides getting a switch on D for the pf/c. </p>
<p>Better execution and better flow to a game is more entertaining to me. 35 second shotclock just means alot more dribbling… Yes of course player are going to treat a one game elimination tourney with importance… but it really doesn’t weed out the weaker teams. If golden state had beat the mavericks once to move onto the 2nd round, no one would believe they are the better team. It’s also interesting how no one that i know cares about college ball till march madness comes around (except the ucla/usc fanatics) vs. the tons of laker fans at my school who annoy me with their "kobe is better than jordan: ******** and the classic “Kobe didn’t need shaq”</p>
<p>we’ve already been over the NBA vs NCAAB in this thread.</p>
<p>Anyways, i was real happy with todays games; put me in a great spot with 3/4 final 4 teams left and 2 finals teams. Tomorrow i got;</p>
<p>MSU > UMaryland (although idk about this one. will be an amazing game)
GT > OHio State- better front court for GT, but in retrospect probably a bad choice
Cuse > Zags- will be rooting for zags though
Xavier > PIT and experience > inexperience.
Wisconsin > Temple (temple was my 1 wrong pick from that day, so cornell)
WVU > Mizzou- however, mizzou can force turnovers if you’re not careful so watch out for this game as a potential Cinderella story.
Duke > Cal- not as easy as people think
Purdue > A&M- will be a great game.</p>
<p>I think GT or Mizzou will win the 10/2 game tomorrow.</p>
<p>I agree that college basketball is definitely the harder game to watch if you’re just into pure basketball fundamentals. (Too many turnovers, bad shots, etc.) </p>
<p>However, march madness is absolutely the best two weeks in sports. The combination of upsets, devotion, and tradition cannot be beat.</p>
<p>Terps got ripped off by this early start time. They had the last game on Friday. And now they get one of the first games on Sunday. What kinda crap is that? I’m glad Gary Williams was ****ed.</p>
<p>MSU > UMD - Will be a great game. Spartans simply have more depth, while all the Terps have is Vasquez, who is a great player, but an inconsistent one as well Ohio State > GT- Evan Turner. 'Nuff said Cuse > Zags - Will be a good game since Onuaku will be out, but I still see the Orange winning Pitt > Xavier - I like Pitt in this game, but I won’t be surprised if Xavier wins it
**Cornell **> Wisconsin - The Big Red are Red Hot. I don’t see why they can’t knock off the badgers WVU > Mizzou- West Virginia’s just a better team. Mizzou will need to force turnovers and make shots if they’re going to have a chance Duke > Cal- Scheyer, Singler, Smith can’t all be shut down
**A&M **> Purdue -Purdue might have been able to slip by Siena, but their lack of depth without Hummel will show in this game.</p>
<p>This thread is getting me so pumped. I can’t wait for the Terps to prove every single one of you wrong!!! Maryland is much more than just Vasquez. You don’t become ACC Regular Season Champs with just one player. People always forget about how great their defense is.</p>
<p>We’ll see…Michigan State has better defense than Maryland IMO. They’re also a bigger team and will create a lot of mismatches in the game. Also, MSU is a great rebounding team and will have a lot of opportunities to score</p>
<p>Maryland has one of the top ranked field goal percentage defenses in the country. No offense, but I think it’s quite clear that MD has the better defense.</p>
<p>*Note: I don’t mean to attack anyone. I just gotta defend my Terps. I respect everyone’s opinions and enjoy debating and talking college bball.</p>
<p>Edit: Whoa, I just looked up MSU’s rebounding margin. They are 2nd in the nation. That’s scary. But the Terps beat them in almost every other statistical category.</p>
<p>MSU>UMD- Vasquez is to inconsistent, but if he plays well they win. the game will come down to how well he plays and if kalin lucas or someone else has a big game
OSU>GT-easy pick, evan turner will dominate, GT doesnt match them well enough
Syracuse>Zags- zags havent been playing well, neither has syracuse but their still better
Pitt>Xavier-these are the 2 teams i know the least about, but pitt is pretty good
Cornell>Wisconsin-tough call, but cornell is very good, great shooters, a big guy, and the badgers havent been playing great
Duke>Cal- no upset is gonna happen here
Purdue>A&M-tough to call</p>
<p>college basketball is great because of the tradition and the fact that they arent playing for a contract but just for the love of the game. every game matters, and at this point a lot of players are playing so it isnt their last game. so what does everyone think of northern iowa winning? great game to watch. someone commented the kansas’ #23 was crying and i thought it was wierd too. i looked it up and he’s a senior that was redshirted i think, so thought it might be because he felt he could have helped them win.</p>
<p>^Actually, my women’s bracket isn’t doing so bad.</p>
<p>But those Huskies are something else. Their average win margin is somewhere around 30 points. That’s incredible. At the moment, I think they’re the greatest team in college sports.</p>
<p>today, i think there will be a 10 seed upsetting a 2 seed; here’s why.</p>
<p>GT has a much better front court than Ohio State and i think they can take advantage, draw the double and draw fouls and also be able to create some open 3s when they draw the double. However, i don’t think they can hit 25/26 FT’s again. That was really something else, but don’t be shocked if the #1/2/3 seeds get knocked out in that region. </p>
<p>Mizzou plays hardcore defense. WVU typically doesn’t close teams out early; butler had to hit 6 game winning shots this year. If mizzou can stay close to wvu all game, you never know what will happen, esp. with their tenacious defenders.</p>
<p>^ WVU can make the buzzer beaters and Ebanks is a fiend… That being said this is the (maybe with the exception of 2006) the most ridiculous but amazing tourney that I can remember so you never know…</p>