2016 NCAA Thurs - 3 BE Games - Butler, PC, Seton Hall...

[SecureDaBall]

The announcers are overstating the effect the Gonzaga bigs had on the game. They aren't the story. The story is Whitehead's historically bad shooting.

The awful shooting was important, but the Zags bigs were dominant. Rebounding and easy buckets for them won the game.

I thing dominant is a little strong. Hall got open shots and didn't bury them. If Whitehead had his A,B, or C game the game would have been a toss up.

Sometimes a team outplays the other team. sometimes a team beats itself..... IMO the Hall beat themselves.

[XUFan09]

Back to the Providence game, because it's better to think about. Here's a fun fact: Drew Edwards, Providence's inbounder and assist man on the game-winning basket, was not alive the last time Providence won a tournament game.

[DudeAnon]

Welp, congrats on a good seasons Seton Hall!

I think people are underselling how dominant Gonzaga's bigs were. They would start at the top of the key and just back their way all the way to the rim. But yea, Seton Hall played their worst game all year. Thats just how march is sometimes I guess.

[XUFan09]

Welp, congrats on a good seasons Seton Hall!

I think people are underselling how dominant Gonzaga's bigs were. They would start at the top of the key and just back their way all the way to the rim. But yea, Seton Hall played their worst game all year. Thats just how march is sometimes I guess.

I actually had to laugh at it. It's like something a big guy would do in a pickup game.

[MackNova]

The announcers are overstating the effect the Gonzaga bigs had on the game. They aren't the story. The story is Whitehead's historically bad shooting.

The awful shooting was important, but the Zags bigs were dominant. Rebounding and easy buckets for them won the game.

I thing dominant is a little strong. Hall got open shots and didn't bury them. If Whitehead had his A,B, or C game the game would have been a toss up.

Sometimes a team outplays the other team. sometimes a team beats itself..... IMO the Hall beat themselves.

100% agree. Hall beat themselves. I kept thinking they were about to go on a run. When they finally did, their coach got in the way with a horrible technical.

The shot selection in the first 24 minutes was some of the worst I've ever seen in my entire life watching basketball. It was embarrassing. If Seton Hall plays their game offensively, attacks, and gets to the rim consistently like they did many times this season, they win this game.

It was a perfect storm...
- 11 ET start time is a horrible break
- Playing at altitude is something new, and the way Seton Hall plays, it affects them more
- Whitehead and others played hero ball for 24 minutes, and the longer the drought lasted in the first half, the more poor shots they took.
- The one time Seton Hall finally started to get momentum, their coach stepped in and got a technical (even if it was a terrible non-call he was protesting)

Seton Hall could have won this game, but they beat themselves. Gonzaga played well, and Seton Hall actually played pretty good defense, but the offense was such a trainwreck that I think they would have lost to some 14 seeds tonight. Gonzaga isn't that good.

[SecureDaBall]

Welp, congrats on a good seasons Seton Hall!

I think people are underselling how dominant Gonzaga's bigs were. They would start at the top of the key and just back their way all the way to the rim. But yea, Seton Hall played their worst game all year. Thats just how march is sometimes I guess.

Sabonis had a great game. Maybe your idea of dominant and mine are different. He went 21 and 16. Those are nice numbers but for a big to be dominant he needs to control the flow of the game and I don't think that is what happened, especially in the 2nd half. And the other "dominant" big, Wiltjer, shot 5 for 14. Not dominant at all.

My point is this: if Whitehead played his A game, Seton Hall would have won regardless of what Sabonis did. So in my opinion, Whitehead's in efficiency was the main factor in Gonzaga beating Seton Hall.

[MackNova]

Wiltjer and Sabonis were not efficient at all. Gonzaga averaged under a point per possession. Seton Hall played great defense all night against Gonzaga. The problem was everything else.

[Xudash]

I know stuff happens in the Tourney, but having the BE Champion go out in the first round doesn't look too swift.

And of all things, losing to a team that has been mentioned prominently as an expansion candidate.

[JohnW22]

I know stuff happens in the Tourney, but having the BE Champion go out in the first round doesn't look too swift.

And of all things, losing to a team that has bee mentioned prominently as an expansion candidate.

Not to start expansion debate but man I wish Gonzaga was closer. They'd be the perfect expansion team

[cu blujs]

The game being in Denver is just killing the Hall. The team is gassed and winded. Every shot is short. Guys are walking up the court. Darn.

Elevation of Denver should not be a factor for conditioned athletes, other than mental. Spokane Washington is at around 1,500 feet, I think. The difference in oxygen pressure there and Orange City, New Jersey near sea level is really minimal. Being from Omaha area, with an elevation lower than Spokane, my kids played basketball and soccer in Denver on several occasions in high school. They were never substantially affected by the elevation difference. Utah and Fresno State (Fresno is at about 200 feet elevation) each scored 47 in the second half of their game. Iowa State and Iona scored 48 and 49 points second half of their game. Purdue and AKLR went double overtime. I didn't see any shots of any of them sucking on oxygen on the bench. And even if they did take oxygen, none of those teams seemed to have trouble with their level of play. All seven other teams in that location were not having touble getting up and down the floor.

SH may have lost that game because they were in Denver, but it was not the altitude. They were not mentally in that game from the get-go.

Unfortunate, because I really thought they had the best matchups of almost anyone in the BE with Gonzaga followed by Utah. I was looking forward to a Butler vs. SH in the regional final.