Week of 3/11/24 Games (Conference Tournaments)

[storrsroars]

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict a Pitt upset over UNC. This is not the same Pitt team that got whupped by UNC back in early January. They were playing way too much ISO at the time (only 2 assists!), Hinson wasn't getting his looks, Lowe wasn't in starting lineup yet, and Leggett was making bad decisions. Over past 6 weeks, Pitt has been a top 20 team and is very comfortable playing away from home.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict a Pitt upset over UNC. This is not the same Pitt team that got whupped by UNC back in early January. They were playing way too much ISO at the time (only 2 assists!), Hinson wasn't getting his looks, Lowe wasn't in starting lineup yet, and Leggett was making bad decisions. Over past 6 weeks, Pitt has been a top 20 team and is very comfortable playing away from home.

Syracuse was able to beat UNC. On that pieve of evidence alone I believe any school in the country (even DePaul) could pull off an upset against UNC.

 

[aceboon]

Braden Smith just hobbled off the court holding his knee

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Braden Smith just went down with a BAD looking knee injury.

 

[phillionaire]

Braden Smith just hobbled off the court holding his knee

Looked bad, hopefully not serious

 

[REB1094]

Braden Smith knee injury….looks bad. Reaaaaaaally hoping it’s better than it looked

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Well that did not look good.

 

[2014DualCs]

That did NOT look good...

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Looked bad, hopefully not serious

Non-contact knee injuries rarely end well. Hoping he didn’t tear anything.

 

[aceboon]

that close-up of the knee buckle didn't look good

 

[ctchamps]

I also hope they find someone who can be for them what Hurley is for us.

They are a bit different than some schools in attitude however; they had a solid football program many decades ago (Howie Long was their last great player) but shut down the program for a few years (came back at 1AA) when there were rumors of questionable activities, then they threatened to do the same with the basketball program when the Gary McLain story broke.

One thing I find both fascinating and disturbing is what happened to Philly college basketball. When I was a kid, the Big Five was a huge deal and there were always two or three Philly schools capable of making a big run in the tournament. Temple can't find a coach, St Joe's can't find a coach, LaSalle basically got relegated to third division and Penn is nothing more than an OK Ivy program. If Nova falls by the wayside it would be a sin.

The best sports experience I had was being behind the basket when Taliek made that three point shot in the win over Pittsburgh at MSG. I wrote an IOU to a Nova fan to get those tickets for my son and myself. Robbed that morning, I begged a group of fans and this guy decided to take a chance. Gave me his address and I sent him a check the moment I got home. Best father and son event ever.

Silly to support a program based on an isolated event but add me to those who don't want to see them fail.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

This game today is why TN doesn’t scare me that much. They are SO Knecht-dependent on offense and if he’s not a hot hand, they look very beatable. Not impossible but having to be hot every game of the tournament is a big ask.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Braden Smith back on the bench. If Painter puts him back in, he is a moron. This game is effectively meaningless. Don’t risk it.

 

[aceboon]

Smith back in the game

 

[superjohn]

Braden back in the game, boom!

 

[aceboon]

This game today is why TN doesn’t scare me that much. They are SO Knecht-dependent on offense and if he’s not a hot hand, they look very beatable. Not impossible but having to be hot every game of the tournament is a big ask.

agreed, I'd take my chances having to defend one dude, especially when we have Castle to guard him

 

[FlockOfLambs]

Our looming game vs St Johns is preventing me from really commenting on the current performances of Purdue and Tennessee. Don't need that karma out in the universe...

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Even if Tennessee comes back to win, making them a 1 seed is kind of silly.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Even if Tennessee comes back to win, making them a 1 seed is kind of silly.

UNC definitely has the inside track to #1 in the West, and in that case it's unclear where Tennessee goes as a #2.

The Committee will be tempted to do the inane, unthinking thing and stick Marquette in the Midwest with Purdue, because Marquette is also from the Midwest.

But Iowa State can't go with Houston. And Marquette can't go with us.

So maybe it ends up:

South: Houston/Marquette
East: UConn/ISU
Midwest: Purdue/Tennessee
West: UNC/Arizona

 

[aceboon]

the conundrum of rooting for MSU here, want to see Purdue go down but if MSU wins then we gotta deal with the media fawning over Izzo again after he had yet another team underachieve all season

 

[auror]

If Tenn and UNC lose today and Arizona wins P12 tourny, will get kinda interesting.

 

[gsmooth]

Our looming game vs St Johns is preventing me from really commenting on the current performances of Purdue and Tennessee. Don't need that karma out in the universe...

couldn't agree more. Never upset the Basketball Gods.

 

[Inyatkin]

the conundrum of rooting for MSU here, want to see Purdue go down but if MSU wins then we gotta deal with the media fawning over Izzo again after he had yet another team underachieve all season

Purdue can lose later. Let MSU lose and then watch the justification for giving a 14-loss team a 8-9 seed.

 

[BigTenFan]

Braden back in the game, boom!

Tough kid

 

[ecasadoSBU]

MSU has no business in the NCAA tournament. 19-14? Yuck