NCAA Sunday - Xavier vs Wisconsin...

[billyjack]

I think the frustration from this season is that back on Feb 1, it looked like the conference could have easily had 3 top 3-4 seeds, with Providence doing really well as well as Nova and X. Providence would only go 5-6 the rest of the way though and fell from being a top 4 seed easily to being a 9 seed. This year- I think even more than last year- felt like it could have been huge.

I think this is a good point.

For PC, looking back on the season, i see several key events:

1. at DePaul, tie game, 10 minutes left in 1st half, Stimage rolls over Bentil's ankle like a klutz (and Lindsey sick that game). This was by far the key event in the season, losing at DePaul... i blame Stimage cuz he's gottacget off my lawn... huge injury and screwed up our rhythm.

Down list a bit:
2. Dunn getting the flu in early February.
3. Fazekas getting mono in December, which took our reliable 3-pt shooter out of action and really out of rhythm for the rest of the year.
4. Dunn getting sick vs BC a few minutes after a BC guy undercut Bentil.

bonus event: JP Macura's 3 pointer at the Dunk. That was a killer looking back.

At the same time, PC was fortunate to beat Illinois, URI, at Creighton, 2 close ones vs Butler, OT at Villanova. Were fortunate to have best ranking since 1977. Though our good luck evened out with 2 crushing losses to Marquette.

It really was a crazy year for PC. By the end, we just needed to get a W in the NCAA's, though in late January we were thinking Elite 8 or beyond.

[micgoG'town]

Doesn't help that some of our games are basically road games.

[stever20]

Gonzaga wasn't underseeded. They underachieved thru the entire season. They had 2 top 50 wins all year long. If they lose in the WCC tourney, they are out of the tourney. Also Seton Hall lost by 16, not by 10. They caught a bad break I think in how late the game started due to the OT game earlier in the day....

Also about the Xavier game itself. I was looking at I think it was Jerry Palm's twitter feed. He had the play with the incredible Reynolds play that led to a dunk with 6:59 to go in the game. Xavier would score 6 more points the rest of the game in the last 7 minutes. Wisconsin ended on a 17-5 run

[stever20]

Doesn't help that some of our games are basically road games.

when you are a 7-10 seed really- that's what you expect. The only one that has been a screw job was last year with PC. Outside of that-nothing out of the ordinary at all..... You get a 7-10 seed, you are at the whim of the 1 or 2 seed and where they are.

[jfan]

Creighton has never done very well (yet) in the tournament, so we'd be the last one pointing fingers. The simple fact remains that one of our teams needs to get to the final four in the next few years. Otherwise, the drumbeat will continue. This year, I thought we had three teams with the talent to get there. You need a certain amount of luck to go with the talent. SH just played a bad game and X had some bad luck. Nova is the best team and has the best chance. Even if Nova doesn't make the final four, the fact that Nova and X were both rated in the top five helps with the perception of the league. Nova was ranked #1 this year!! Things are progressing in the right direction. Next year should be even better with the talent coming back. Everyone in our league wants Nova to win, but even if they don't, they have had a better year than the rest of us and we should be proud of what they have accomplished!

[billyjack]

Gonzaga wasn't underseeded. They underachieved thru the entire season. They had 2 top 50 wins all year long. If they lose in the WCC tourney, they are out of the tourney. Also Seton Hall lost by 16, not by 10. They caught a bad break I think in how late the game started due to the OT game earlier in the day....

Also about the Xavier game itself. I was looking at I think it was Jerry Palm's twitter feed. He had the play with the incredible Reynolds play that led to a dunk with 6:59 to go in the game. Xavier would score 6 more points the rest of the game in the last 7 minutes. Wisconsin ended on a 17-5 run

Ok, it's posts like yours above about Gonzaga that drive people fvckin nuts.

Of everything i wrote and tried to get across in my post on the bottom of the previous page, your comment is that Gonzaga won by 16 points, not 10. Do you realize what a fvckin ball busting troll you have to be to respond like that? And Gonzaga blew out Utah so they're obviously better than an 11-seed, regardless of their RPI and where the committee placed them.

Ok, I'm heading into work, so i'm not going to be able to approve any of your posts for the rest of the day. You should probably post at csnbbs.

[stever20]

Gonzaga wasn't underseeded. They underachieved thru the entire season. They had 2 top 50 wins all year long. If they lose in the WCC tourney, they are out of the tourney. Also Seton Hall lost by 16, not by 10. They caught a bad break I think in how late the game started due to the OT game earlier in the day....

Also about the Xavier game itself. I was looking at I think it was Jerry Palm's twitter feed. He had the play with the incredible Reynolds play that led to a dunk with 6:59 to go in the game. Xavier would score 6 more points the rest of the game in the last 7 minutes. Wisconsin ended on a 17-5 run

Ok, it's posts like yours above about Gonzaga that drive people fvckin nuts.

Of everything i wrote and tried to get across in my post on the bottom of the previous page, your comment is that Gonzaga won by 16 points, not 10. Do you realize what a fvckin ball busting troll you have to be to respond like that? And Gonzaga blew out Utah so they're obviously better than an 11-seed, regardless of their RPI and where the committee placed them.

Ok, I'm heading into work, so i'm not going to be able to approve any of your posts for the rest of the day. You should probably post at csnbbs.

Teams regularly can be better than where they are seeded. I mean, there is no way in hell that Providence should have been a 9 seed. But, the results of the games led to them being a 9 seed. The difference between Gonzaga and Providence is Gonzaga's seed was lower so they didn't get stuck playing a 1 seed in round 2. It goes to the question, how should teams be seeded? By potential or by what they have done. Because for like Gonzaga, by what they had actually done, they were a 11 seed.

[cu blujs]

davis got switched on koenig after bell shut him down all game and koenig promptly hits a game tying 3.

on sumner charge, they didn't even spread the floor to give sumner more room to operate. in fact, i think they had 3 guys on the same side.

xavier's execution on both sides was poor down the stretch.

This. How does Mack not tell Summer and Miles not to switch on the screen? Everyone in the entire gym knew who as taking that shot and that it would be a three. If Miles hedges and Sumner fights through the screen, the one guy on the team that is the hottest three point shooter (rest of the team went 2-16) does not get a wide open look. Even if they switched, why the hell does Miles play five feet off of him? Get in his shorts and make him move instead of letting him bounce into an uncontested three. Oh sure, Miles put a hand up, but when you are several inches shorter and 3-4 feet off the guy, putting a hand up is not contesting the shot. Hell, even if they foul Koenig pressuring him before he can shoot the three, at worst its two shots. Go hit your free throws at the other end and the game is over. But, my bigger question is why didn't they pound the ball inside to Reynolds the entire last three minutes? He was 6-7 and didn't touch the ball when X most needed a bucket.

[ChelseaFriar]

I will say this it is becoming apparent that it is becoming critical for at large teams to stay off of the 8-9 line. If butler and Providence were 7s or 10s or 6s or 11s they would have such a better chance of getting to the next weekend. Sucks we had two teams get out there this season

Yup, PC really blew it this year. They should have been able to grab a 7 seed at the very least.

[ChelseaFriar]

Let me just reiterate, I have never blasted any team for stumbling in March. I am a PC fan and I have zero right to do that.

My post was meant to be positive but clearly was not interpreted that way. I meant I am really, really pulling for Nova (as I was for Xavier last night).