2023-24 College Basketball Thread

[MR25]

I need Bama to win out for free lunch in our office hat pool.

Go Bama *barf*

[King Colby]

I thought that was a blatant foul last night. Took balls to call it but still

[RonnieFranchise]

I agree and not just because I hate UConn

[Ad@m]

UConn had a chance to win, if they would’ve gotten the rebound when Clark missed her second free throw.

[shafnutz05]

I thought that was a blatant foul last night. Took balls to call it but still

The overhead angle was damning. She was electric sliding into her and stuck her elbow and leg way out. It was more Bueckers fault for cutting so far outside the screen. Not nearly as borderline as the one angle they kept showing over and over again.

The reaction from Taurasi, Bird, and the other UConn lackeys was ridiculous.

[blackjack68]

LeBron also has disapproved the foul call.

[Ad@m]

[MWB]

It looked like a pretty clear foul to me, but I didn’t get to see the whole game. Like OP said, the way they’d called the game up to that point would be relevant.

[JC2]

I need Bama to win out for free lunch in our office hat pool.

Go Bama Roll tide (in the thickest, most annoying, southern accent possible) *barf*

[MR25]

I refuse to unironically say Roll Tide

[Orlando Penguin]

1st half analysis:

NC State doing a good job of ball pressure out front and active hands are causing turnovers. Problem for them defensively is that Edey is getting the ball too easy in the post and if he moves quickly, there's no stopping him. Plus, every time that NC State doubles, they double from the near shooter spot and that's an easy kick out for a 3 look. Smith has been non-existent but Loyer and Jones has hooked up Purdue with a couple of deep looks. On the offensive end for the Wolfpack, Horne is doing all the work and NC State's O looks a lot smoother when Burns has been out of the game. He'll likely start the 2nd half and I'd look for Purdue to lock down better defensively and start the first 5 minutes with a bit of a run.

[Orlando Penguin]

Pretty good defensive gameplan for NC State but their flaw was doubling off the wrong guy -- positionally, not by name. Purdue gets a number of big shots from Jones & Gillis, two guys who don't usually fill up the scoresheet, and they lock down NC State at the defensive end. Wolfpack had a number of midrange looks and just couldn't knock them down. That and being pretty awful from the 3-point line doomed NC State. However, Purdue is gonna need to play a lot better if they want to see black & gold confetti on Monday night.

[Orlando Penguin]

1st half analysis:

I'm not sure what UCONN's defensive gameplan was but it's been pretty poor. All Bama does is shoot 3's and drive to the basket. With the exception of Estrada, they won't pull up. Bama's had some pretty open looks and when your game is primarily shooting 3's, you're gonna make your share and they have. Offensively, UCONN thinks they can match Bama 3 for 3 and that hasn't been working. They've gotta work more inside out and get points in the paint against an undersized defense. As much as I've bashed Bama's D during this tournament, they've been doing a pretty decent job. I keep sitting here wondering when the UCONN run is going to happen and they turn this tight game into a double-digit lead. I'd expect adjustments to be made and UCONN will get more out of their offense to put this game away.

[willeyeam]

Ulfs analysis: just end in UConn 8 and Bama 1 plz

[MWB]

When UConn runs their offense they’re getting decent looks, but have had some poor passes.

[shafnutz05]

Assuming UConn holds on, if Purdue wins Monday I win a 266 bracket pool. I'm not too confident

[Orlando Penguin]

The one problem with being primarily a 3-point shooting offense is that when the well runs dry, you've gotta have something else to fall back on. Bama didn't have that once we got to the last 6 minutes and really, a little bit before. UCONN's interior defense got better and kept the Tide away from the rim and they did better about getting defensive rebounds. This is another L for analytics as yeah, the 3 is more than the 2 but if you go cold, you can make up for that with little pops from 10-15 feet. Bama doesn't do that and they overpenetrate when a pull-up would be much better. UCONN has a ton of offensive sets and they slowly ground down the Bama defense, which to their credit, was so much better in the last 3-4 games than it had been all season.

So while it might be a cop-out and a cliche to bet on the two favorites to get all the way to the end but I'll happily cash a winning ticket after the game on Monday night. That'll be a fun one to break down.

[MWB]

Clark is pretty good, lol. Still think SC is gonna be too much for them, especially Cardoso, but if Clark doesn’t tire out this could be a fun game.

[Orlando Penguin]

Iowa's supporting cast is really gonna have to step up because Staley's gonna rotate players on Clark with the hope of wearing her down.

[MWB]

Yeah, that’s their biggest advantage, depth.

[MR25]

I've probably said this before, but really odd that WBB operates under a quarters timing system but MBB is halves.

[shafnutz05]

Iowa's supporting cast is really gonna have to step up because Staley's gonna rotate players on Clark with the hope of wearing her down.

Stoelke and Martin are the key imo. Stoelke kept them in it against UConn when Clark was struggling

[MWB]

How many times is Stoelke going to beat SC up the court?

[Orlando Penguin]

And the freshmen shall lead them. Cocks got a lot of contributions from those youngsters and had too much in the interior for Iowa. Plus, they were able to handle the early Clark barrage. It shows the savvy of Dawn Staley and just how good a coach she is.

[genoscoif]

Yeah, I love me some Dawn Staley. Iowa needed CC to go superhuman for the entire game to have a shot, and she went cold for a few stretches that just killed them. SC never seemed all that threatened once they took over in the second half.

Great team. Even better coach.