Final Four Games UH/Baylor & Gonzaga/UCLA

[Improviser]

The point is if Okafor and Gordon played now they are leaving after their freshman year or sophomore year at the latest. Take it further back and you have teams like Houston, UNC, and Georgetown led by upperclassmen Akeem & Drexler, Jordan & Perkins, and Ewing & Williams. Those teams would bodyslam Gonzaga. It's just a different deal now.

Much more interesting for the fans then. Really saw matured college players at their fullest potential.

Having said that, and not comparing the teams last night to teams and players in the past, I was impressed with the skill level of the Gonzaga and UCLA players.

Was it because they played their full or almost full complement of college eligibility? Who knows and who cares.

Juzang is a total stud and should declare for the draft in this present atmosphere. I cannot imagine Timm as a least, a decent NBA backup unless he is slow defensively by NBA standards.

Suggs looks terrific all around, too.

Why is Kispert as least not a decent role player or more?

I like Cambell's point guard skills. I guess they peaked at the right time, in spite of the 11 seed and the not that impressive ,regular season showing. Their chemistry was spot on, and you have to give some credit to Cronin for orchestrating this.

 

[navery12]

Just goes to show how well UCLA had to play to even get that game into OT

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Agree. I don’t think people appreciate how much worse the talent is overall now. 2004 was an era when almost all the kids who would now go to the draft after freshman year stayed until junior year. All those old teams would destroy these teams. Next we will hear how Gonzaga would handle 1983 Houston with Olajuwon and Drexler. Timme would be very lucky to break double figures.

For people who don’t get this, imagine Zion was still at Duke.

The overall talent is much better now. AAU and high school coaching is light years ahead of the coaching 30 years ago. Back then, most high school coaches were just teachers looking to make a few extra bucks and AAU didn’t really exist beyond the top players. Today, almost everyone on a high school team has played at least one year of AAU, and the athletes are playing more than just the winters.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

The overall talent is much better now. AAU and high school coaching is light years ahead of the coaching 30 years ago. Back then, most high school coaches were just teachers looking to make a few extra bucks and AAU didn’t really exist beyond the top players. Today, almost everyone on a high school team has played at least one year of AAU, and the athletes are playing more than just the winters.

The overall talent in the sport of basketball is definitely much better. But there's less of it in college. That doesn't really seem all that debatable.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The overall talent in the sport of basketball is definitely much better. But there's less of it in college. That doesn't really seem all that debatable.

Saying something “doesn’t really seem that debatable” without a shred of supporting evidence isn’t the strongest debating position.

With the increase of foreign players in the NBA, there are actually fewer spots for Americans than there were 20-30 years ago, meaning those Americans are more likely to stay in college than they were two or three decades ago.

The average American basketball player has likely had 2-3x as much practice and game time by the time he reaches college, with better coaching, than the same player had 20-30 years ago. That is definitely not debatable.

 

[gtcam]

We all call Cronin the Leprechaun or Munchkin and its all in fun
I will tell you one thing - I have a whole new appreciation for him as a game coach
EVERY time they needed a basket out of a time out or commercial break, etc. Cronin drew up a masterful play and they worked almost every time
UCLA went into the match-up with a great game plan and Cronin didn't let them deviate.
Had that last miracle shot not gone in - with another OT looming I have a feeling UCLA would have pulled it out
Mick Cronin is one of the best game coaches in the NCAA - he has shown it during this tournament

 

[EBonz30]

I think they suck as a 2 seed. They played one ranked team all season over 4 months ago and should've lost to Rutgers. They had the easiest run in the history of the tournament to the final 4 and got waxed by Baylor, congrats to them. Now tell me again how amazing the Big 10 is.

Is Houston still trash? Lol. Looks like everyone got steamrolled by the Bears & rightfully so.