# Across the Nation: Gameday Thread (1/21)



## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

All three undefeated's in action. All could go down

- Duke @ GTown
- Pitt @ St. Johns
- Florida @ Tennessee

And then some other great games

I'm replying to your vBookie thread about games for today and tomorrow

- Iowa @ Michigan State
- West Virginia @ UCLA
- Syracuse @ Villanova
- Gonzaga @ San Diego
- VT @ Maryland
- UConn @ Louisville
- BC @ Miami
- Alabama @ LSU
- Cal @ Arizona
- Michigan @ Minnesota

Comments / Predictions?


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## Brian34Cook (Mar 26, 2003)

Should be some solid games today.. I think the Georgetown/Duke game is the game like Illinois/Ohio State was last year.. where an upset is very possible.. may not happen, probably wont but I wouldnt be surprised..

Gonna be watching Iowa/Michigan State and Ohio State/Penn State. Should be some fun stuff!


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## gony4983 (Oct 31, 2003)

GW @ Charlotte is a pretty interest matchup. Charlotte's been playing better of late, GW needs to prove they can win on the road.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

I saw that GW game on the schedule. I was wondering if the 49ers had a shot. That a must win for GW?


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Charlotte always has a chance because of the volume of threes they shoot.I haven't seen many of their games,but I understand they've been doing a better job of shot selection lately.A team like that can get hot and beat just about anyone.I have seen some of the A10 fans questioning GW,but I thought that they were really good when I watched them during the out of conference schedeule.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Did they just say North Dakota State 38 Wisconsin 24?


How long until I turn the volume down on Billy Packer?God why can't they hire
Lenny Elmore?Are you disqualified to work for CBS if you know what the hell you're talking about


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## gony4983 (Oct 31, 2003)

GW and Charlotte play twice this year. I'd say Charlotte has a good shot - playing at home, and they're a better team than their record shows (I think).

I wouldn't say it's a must-win for GW. They're 13-1 and in 3-0 in the A-10. I think @ Xavier in a few weeks is more of a must-win.


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## Brian34Cook (Mar 26, 2003)

Georgetown exploded to a 18-8 lead but Duke has scored 4 pts in no time.. 18-12 Hoyas!


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## Geaux Tigers (Apr 26, 2004)

Im about to leave for the LSU - Alabama game.

Should be a good one. Two interior teams with long athletic players. I think LSU wins but its defenitly the kind of game that LSU can drop easily.

Im interested to see how Tyrus Thomas does against the tall frontcourt...


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## Brian34Cook (Mar 26, 2003)

36-24 Georgetown and I cant say I'm surprised.. Redick makes a 3.. 36-27 now!

Boom.. Cook hits a long 3.. 39-27.. Impressive since I saw em play against the Illini :clap:


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

St Johns 55 Pittsburgh 50

Georgetown is really playing well


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

I guess North Dakota State beat Wisconsin at home.That really surprises me since Wisconsin has beaten so many Big Ten teams at home in their winning streak.


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## Brian34Cook (Mar 26, 2003)

It didnt help that they shot 22%, 4-28 in 3PT's, and Alando Tucker was 2-15..


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

Tucker, Taylor, and Nixon combined to shoot 10/50. And I'm sure it didn't help that the idiot scheduler put this game at 11:15 on a saturday. Honestly, how many students are awake then? I definitely wasn't awake for this game.


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## Brian34Cook (Mar 26, 2003)

Hey Nim, what was up with Chris Rock today? Why'd he shoot 24 times? Actually I dont know if you saw it.. Was it even on tv? Did ya listen to it? Just wondering..


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## Brian34Cook (Mar 26, 2003)

Wow split the free throws.. Duke has a chance to tie it with a 3.. STOLEN.. BALLGAME

Final: Georgetown 87 - Duke 84

Pretty good game!

Props to the Hoyas (although they almost found a way to blow this!) :clap:


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Duke didn't deserve to win this game.I don't remember seeing Shelden Williams play a worse game and they just made way too many mistakes at big moments.Georgetown played great,but we helped them out way too much.Paulus made so many bad plays too


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

Brian34Cook said:


> Hey Nim, what was up with Chris Rock today? Why'd he shoot 24 times? Actually I dont know if you saw it.. Was it even on tv? Did ya listen to it? Just wondering..


It wasn't even on TV here locally, so I didn't see it, and I wasn't awake early enough to sit down and listen on the radio and go through all that. I have no idea why Taylor would shoot 24 times, but the Team FG% was an almost unrealistic 22%. What the hell!? Also it looks like Kamm fouled out. Just seems like a game when you're so much better than you friend at a video game, so he gets Duke and you have to take Texas Corpus Christi, and your friend just can't figure out when to release the button to shoot, so all of his shots clank off the rim as he goes "COME ON!!" and you're just thinking to yourself "you can't wait until you're almost back on the ground to release the shot!" and even though UTCC sucks, you win anyway. That's just kind of how this game seems by looking at the stat sheet.


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## DaFuture (Nov 5, 2002)

Jeff Green gave Duke that business. Way to represent PG County Jeff.


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## The Truth (Jul 22, 2002)

DaFuture said:


> Jeff Green gave Duke that business. Way to represent PG County Jeff.


:rofl: :rofl:

hahaha...Dafuture makes an appearance!

How sad.

Where have you been all season? I guess you had to wait 18 games into Duke's season to post.

And JJ's totally overrated, right?


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## Jonathan Watters (Jul 20, 2002)

At the moment I'm watching a bit of Texas/Baylor, and a bit of Charlotte/GW. Desperately trying to get over to UCLA/West Virginia for a minute. 

One comment. Texas is a good team. At the same time, Barnes' backcourt is embarrasing itself by not getting the ball to Aldridge. I've seen him get exactly two post touches in the 2nd half, as Baylor has exploded back into the game. This is the most talented post player in the country. He is being guarded by Mamdadou Diene, for Christ's sake! GET HIM THE BALL!!! What a disgrace...


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## apelman42 (Apr 8, 2005)

Nimreitz said:


> It wasn't even on TV here locally, so I didn't see it, and I wasn't awake early enough to sit down and listen on the radio and go through all that. I have no idea why Taylor would shoot 24 times, but the Team FG% was an almost unrealistic 22%. What the hell!? Also it looks like Kamm fouled out. Just seems like a game when you're so much better than you friend at a video game, so he gets Duke and you have to take Texas Corpus Christi, and your friend just can't figure out when to release the button to shoot, so all of his shots clank off the rim as he goes "COME ON!!" and you're just thinking to yourself "you can't wait until you're almost back on the ground to release the shot!" and even though UTCC sucks, you win anyway. That's just kind of how this game seems by looking at the stat sheet.


Lol, that's a hilarious way of looking at the game, but everything you say is true. With the exception of calling NDSU a sucky team because they came in with a game plan and they beat us straight up. The truth of the matter is that Wisconsin is a badly overrated team, who without 2 of their 9-man rotation, and Brian Butch at about 60 percent, we're as beatable at home as we are on the road...and that's extremely beatable.
I think after what's gone on for UW in the past week they went from a potential 2 seed to possibly being on the bubble the rest of the way.


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## DaBruins (Jul 30, 2003)

damn, we cut to lead the 3 but couldnt get over the hump and ended up losing by 4. It was pretty much expected though with our decimated team. WVU game out shooting great as usual and we couldnt match them in the 1st half. Farmar and Hollins played great, Afflalo was unusually bad and although we stopped Pittsnoggle we couldnt come close to containing Gansey.


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## apelman42 (Apr 8, 2005)

Now I understand why we don't get the national respect that I'm looking for. Year in and year out we drop games to teams that we're clearly better than, and we hardly ever go into an opponent's gym and win a big game. From now on I'll understand why the national media looks past us when they look at the Big Ten.


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

If West Virginia defends, they are as good as any team in the country, they're as good as everyone thinks Gonzaga is.

Wisconsin without Landry and Stiemsma is a bubble team for sure, but with that horrendous lack of depth they just aren't going to be good. I mean, it's a 7 man rotation that includes Ray Nixon and Jason Chapell being asked to give 30 minutes a night. I don't want that, no one wants that. I really don't want to read too much into this game since we probably haven't shot this bad since the 50's and other than shooting we completely outplayed these guys. Forcing over 20 turnovers and rebounding offensively so well is fantastic. Oh well, sometimes that just happens, but the lack of depth is frightning and I think I will be dropping them out of my top 25 for the rest of the way. Too bad, this was a promising season.


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## Brian34Cook (Mar 26, 2003)

Well Illinois wins an ugly game by 11 after going up by 26 @ Northwestern.. Doesnt matter.. Just glad they survived this crazy day!


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

Just my :twocents: on the Duke game...

*Defensively...*
Looking forward to getting Nelson back. Sean Dockery can only guard one quick perimeter player. Anytime they face a team like Villanova or Miami with more than one quick guard, they're going to be hurting... Coach K needs to swallow his pride and play some zone for more than 2minutes, especially if your Defensive Player of the Year is going to play defense like a junior higher.

*Offensively...*
Boy would I like to see that McRoberts kid that was in high school... Greg Paulus had some +'s, but his decision making needs to continue to improve... JJ can score 40+ a game for all I care, but one guy can't beat you by himself. Other guys have to score.

They lose, drop a couple spots in the polls, lose the pressure. No biggie. Now if they keep losing, that's a different story.


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## Brian34Cook (Mar 26, 2003)

What a day.. Gonzaga escapes San Diego as Knight makes a 3..


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## Jonathan Watters (Jul 20, 2002)

Villanova is as streaky as they come. Take away one bad stretch early in the 2nd half, and they are beating Syracuse by 30. They will be a tourney wild card - could lose in the first two rounds, could win it all. Normally you would think a guard-oriented team would be able to tire teams out in the 2nd half of games, but Nova is so reliant on their perimeter jumpshooters that it often works the opposite way for them. If the shooters can keep their legs, 'Nova will be tough in March.


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## Jonathan Watters (Jul 20, 2002)

TM said:


> Just my :twocents: on the Duke game...
> 
> Boy would I like to see that McRoberts kid that was in high school...


What happened to McBobs this one? He looked really good while he was out there, but only played 13 mins. One would assume that up and down 2nd half would have been the perfect setting to feature the freshman a bit more. Especially once Williams picked up #4...


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## DaFuture (Nov 5, 2002)

The Truth I havent posted on here in a long while, I really dont hate Duke. I could care less about them nowadays.


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## Brian34Cook (Mar 26, 2003)

Satan's team ends Florida's run, 80-76.. What a crazy day but fun!


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

Who's #1 in next week's polls?


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## Brian34Cook (Mar 26, 2003)

Eh good question.. :laugh:

I'll say Duke or UCONN (depending on tonight's game) though.. Maybe Memphis.. Cant be Illinois cuz they lost to Indiana by 2..


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

TM said:


> Who's #1 in next week's polls?


For me it's clearly Texas, but the pollsters will probably be impressed by UConn's "massive" road win over Louisville.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Duke's strength of scheule is #4,UCONN's was well over 200 last time I looked.Not that I really care.Just have to hope that's as much as they can suck in one game.It would be lovely to see Demarcus Nelson back on the floor too.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

Texas?!?!


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## One on One (Dec 12, 2004)

It's gotta be Duke. How can you even consider Memphis when Duke beat them already?


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

One on One said:


> It's gotta be Duke. How can you even consider Memphis when Duke beat them already?


the same way memphis is ranked above texas even though texas beat memphis at memphis?


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## One on One (Dec 12, 2004)

ok you're making me mad having to do research. Memphis has 2 losses so they shouldn't be #1. UConn makes a decent case, but Duke is 2 at the worst and should still be 1.


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

One on One said:


> ok you're making me mad having to do research. Memphis has 2 losses so they shouldn't be #1. UConn makes a decent case, but Duke is 2 at the worst and should still be 1.


i wasn't saying that memphis should be #1. to me that is clearly between duke and uconn. i could see it going either way and don't really care how it turns out because it doesn't really matter.

i was just saying that beating a team doesn't mean that you will be ranked above them(as texas and memphis have the same number of losses, yet memphis was ranked above texas even with the head to head result).


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

TM said:


> Texas?!?!


Texas is hammering everyone they play right now, are undefeated in conference, and haven't lost in over a month; plus that loss to Tennessee doesn't seem nearly as bad now as it did in December. Look at their recent wins over Memphis and Villanova. I think they're the best team in the country right now and they would be the absolute last team I would want to face right now. Hell, they have a legit shot at 0 losses from here on out.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Missouri is winning games in the Big XII too.


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## Brian34Cook (Mar 26, 2003)

Diable said:


> Missouri is winning games in the Big XII too.


So they should be #1? :laugh:


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

Diable said:


> Missouri is winning games in the Big XII too.


And when Mizzou knocks off Iowa, Memphis, Villanova, and West Virginia, we'll talk.


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## Jonathan Watters (Jul 20, 2002)

My Saturday Recap 

And to quote TM...."Texas?!?!"

Duke wiped the floor with the 'Horns. As far as I'm concerned, the Blue Devils could lose two more and still be ranked above Texas. Texas isn't going to make the Final Four if they don't start getting the ball to Aldridge.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Pretty extensive body of work there JW.I had intended to watch that Florida game myself,but instead I found that FSN South was showing a Hurricanes NHL game.It got me to thinking that LSU has probably been more impressive in losing five games than Florida had in remaining undefeated against a truly milquetoast schedeule(after their Savannah State game I believe that Sagarin rated their SOS at 337 or something similar).

With regard to Lamarcus Aldridge I have to say that I really haven't any idea how goood an offensive player he is.I have heard experts fawn over him and I can see that he's a really good rebounder and an above average interior defender.However in none of the Texas games I've seen has anyone made any effort to get him oppurtunities down low.In the Memphis game he was in foul trouble before ESPN got the game on the air during Bowl season and in the other games I saw the Texas guards seemed more interested in impressing scouts with their pro potential.


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## Brian34Cook (Mar 26, 2003)

Another good post JW.. What were your thoughts on the Illinois win though? :laugh:

I watched a lot of these games aswell. Pretty weird day!


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## Jonathan Watters (Jul 20, 2002)

Diable said:


> I saw the Texas guards seemed more interested in impressing scouts with their pro potential.


A lot of guards don't understand that their ability to do the little things, be a good teammate, and actually win ballgames is just as/more important than their scoring average. Daniel Gibson had a wonderful game yesterday as a scorer. He played as well as he could possibly play in that regard, and didn't help his NBA stock one bit. Pretty sad if you ask me...

And let me tell you, LA can score. He should be getting 20 touches a game.


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

Jonathan Watters said:


> My Saturday Recap
> 
> And to quote TM...."Texas?!?!"
> 
> Duke wiped the floor with the 'Horns. As far as I'm concerned, the Blue Devils could lose two more and still be ranked above Texas. Texas isn't going to make the Final Four if they don't start getting the ball to Aldridge.


and to quote Nimreitz "I think they're the best team in the country right now and they would be the absolute last team I would want to face right now."

is that really a stretch at all? duke just lost. florida just lost. texas just beat villanova and beat memphis at memphis. i could see someone definitely making a case that they are the best team right now. they won't be #1 because duke and uconn both only have one loss, but they could definitely be the best team in the country.


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## apelman42 (Apr 8, 2005)

rocketeer said:


> and to quote Nimreitz "I think they're the best team in the country right now and they would be the absolute last team I would want to face right now."
> 
> is that really a stretch at all? duke just lost. florida just lost. texas just beat villanova and beat memphis at memphis. i could see someone definitely making a case that they are the best team right now. they won't be #1 because duke and uconn both only have one loss, but they could definitely be the best team in the country.


There's no doubt that Texas is the hottest team in the country right now, but this is why all the games from November to March count. We've already witnessed Duke mop the floor with Texas, meaning that there shouldn't be any argument as to who should be ranked higher of those two teams.


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

apelman42 said:


> There's no doubt that Texas is the hottest team in the country right now, but this is why all the games from November to March count. We've already witnessed Duke mop the floor with Texas, meaning that there shouldn't be any argument as to who should be ranked higher of those two teams.


then why is memphis ranked ahead of texas?


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

Nimreitz said:


> Texas is hammering everyone they play right now, are undefeated in conference, and haven't lost in over a month; plus that loss to Tennessee doesn't seem nearly as bad now as it did in December. Look at their recent wins over Memphis and Villanova. I think they're the best team in the country right now and they would be the absolute last team I would want to face right now. Hell, they have a legit shot at 0 losses from here on out.


Nothing like Jonathan Watters expanding on this very idea as an article in his blog. I feel totally vindicated.


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## DaBruins (Jul 30, 2003)

"I will now predict that Ben Howland becomes a legend at UCLA before all is said and done."

hopefully


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