UConn vs Illinois (Final Four)

[uh-no]

Not really, moved from 10th to 9th, just barely passing MSU (only after beating Duke).

jeez. we'll never make a final 4 with such poor numbers.

 

[RuffRuff]

Does that really do something for you?

Sure, why not? I like when UConn wins titles.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

We lost to MSU in 21 in Atlantis

Still a lot of championships ago…

 

[Inyatkin]

They lost in 2021-2022 to Michigan State in the Bahamas.

Also lost to Maryland in the tournament in 2020-2021.

Correction, Maryland is in the ACC. I refuse to believe otherwise

 

[RuffRuff]

Finkelstein nailed the F4.

 

[noelle]

^IL not fouling on defense just means they are soft on D. uconn actually has a lot of plays for scoring inside. it's not a good thing for them.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Sure, why not? I like when UConn wins titles.

Same here, but I really don't see how concerning myself with the outcome of the other semifinal game does anything.

Tell me, if we get to Monday, will we have a better chance of winning if you did pull for one team in the second Saturday game than if you did not?

 

[JungleLobo]

They lost in 2021-2022 to Michigan State in the Bahamas.

Also lost to Maryland in the tournament in 2020-2021.

right you are

 

[UCFan1513]

Not worried about the crowd advantage. I feel like we dodged death last night. We have a new lease on life. If our biggest concern in this game is the crowd factor, I'm really not worried.

Also, arguably, you have the least home court advantage in the final four. Stadium is at least 50% casuals or fans of teams not playing, and the fans are so far from the court. It’s always been so disorienting to me how quiet it is inside the final four and national championship

 

[RuffRuff]

Also, arguably, you have the least home court advantage in the final four. Stadium is at least 50% casuals or fans of teams not playing, and the fans are so far from the court. It’s always been so disorienting to me how quiet it is inside the final four and national championship

They're played in football stadiums, so unless you have primo seats, you are a mile away from the action. The regional final is usually a better game watching venue. The F4 is for the overall experience.

 

[UCFan1513]

They're played in football stadiums, so unless you have primo seats, you are a mile away from the action. The regional final is usually a better game watching venue. The F4 is for the overall experience.

Having been to three regional finals and two final fours, couldn’t agree more

 

[ecasadoSBU]

Same here, but I really don't see how concerning myself with the outcome of the other semifinal game does anything.

Tell me, if we get to Monday, will we have a better chance of winning if you did pull for one team in the second Saturday game than if you did not?

Oh c'mon. Now you are just sounding rigid...

As fans most of us do this all the time. We root for teams in the bracket we think will give our team an easier path. I dont see anything wrong with that. I think it makes it more fun and engaging.

It doesnt mean we are overlooking our team's matchup or assuming they will win either.

 

[Scrutineer]

The only thing I’ll say in his defense, is UConn had the possession arrow on a held ball, but you gotta take that risk and hold the ball there. As much as people are killing Boozer, this is obviously what Scheyer drew up and it was a horrible coaching decision.

And he took no responsibility in his post game interviews. It was all about how "we just needed to make a play' and "there's no words". Funny a man with a Duke degree has such a limited vocabulary.......

 

[dennismenace]

you'd hope this was the game that lifts the psychological burden off of the team. they've been shooting terribly for the past month, and still made it to the final 4 against the toughest bracket.

Even those steam roller champions (2023, 2024) we often had weird percentages during the regular season from 3 PT deficiencies in games and especially turnovers and yet won games sometimes by large margins. Think this started back in 2009 when they went 9-9 during the Big East regular season and then ran the table in the Big East and the NCAA tournament (Kemba year). We just seem to win during crunch time. Credit to the staff and coaches to get tough defense, shot blocking and usually good free throw shooting.

 

[dennismenace]

Were you in Zona with Purdue?

I think what made that win special last night is after the first half and seeing how dominant Boozer looked, it felt like there was zero answers for him. And I mean zero. Anytime they ran anything through him, he'd either get a bucket or find a very open man, as we were triple teaming him at times.

I don't know what happened in the second half, maybe he tired out or the black eye phased him a bit, but they totally moved away from how they looked to find him with intention. Tarris playing out of his mind was also hard to predict. You could expect good, but he was other worldly great.

I really think we (and St John's) are better conditioned teams than most if not all of the teams we have faced in the tournament. Perhaps because of the Big East physicality and these two coaches. Remember the announcers in the St John's game referring to Duke players and commenting ("they really look gassed") and they did. Tribute also to Tarris who is playing more minuets and still looks strong.