Morning Pre-Day 3 (Round of 32) NCAA Tournament Thread
Here are the matchups! Obviously the first one is the most important. Let's get the win and all enjoy a great day of basketball!!
| TIME (ET) | MATCHUP | TV |
| 12:15 PM | (5) Virginia Commonwealth vs (4) Michigan* | CBS |
| 2:45 PM | (6) Memphis vs (3) Michigan State* | CBS |
| 5:15 PM | (8) Colorado State vs (1) Louisville* | CBS |
| 6:10 PM | (14) Harvard vs (6) Arizona* | TNT |
| 7:10 PM | (12) Oregon vs (4) Saint Louis* | TBS |
| 7:45 PM | (6) Butler vs (3) Marquette* | CBS |
| 8:40 PM | (9) Wichita State vs (1) Gonzaga* | TNT |
| 9:40 PM | (12) California vs (4) Syracuse* | TBS |
Get lost bitch.
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:32 AM ^
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:33 AM ^
rotten to the core.
I'm picking the Shockers to shock Gonzaga. That's my upset pick of the day.
Take care of the basketball and take advantage of THJ's and GRIII's athletic ability once the ball is past half-court. Hit Nik for some spot-up 3's in transition and it will be our first Sweet 16 since 1994. Go Blue!!!
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:02 AM ^
All joking aside, if we are breaking their press and then jacking up quick shots bad shots that will play into VCU as much as the turnovers. The key is the make them pay for pressing, we need to see a bunch of dunks and corner 3's (made of course). I know that those last two sentences could seem contradictory, but it is all about having sound decision making when making them pay for pressing.
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:34 AM ^
8-10 dunks by Mcgary/Morgan/Horford in transition.
Is anyone else more let down by each round of the tournament? It seems like every year I get excited about the Thursday when I can watch 16 games over 12 hours, then Saturday comes and there are half as many games, and then next weekend it's half as many again...I can't really explain it, but if Michigan's not playing and my bracket is busted, I rarely care about the rounds between here and the Final Four.
Unless there is a real Cinderella (George Mason 2006, or VCU 2011) I tend to agree with you. I still watch it. However, I am not nearly as excited as I am for Thursday and Friday when they play 32 games and my bracket picks are still relevant.
FGCU, Harvard, Wichita St. and Minnesota.
I would not be shocked (no pun intended) if any one of those 4 made it to the Final 4. Teams aren't that good this year and those 4 are better than a lot of people realize.
Do I have the stones to pick any of them? Hell no. But I do have Minnesota playing Michigan in the Elite 8.
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:50 AM ^
Even though they were a lower seed, I'm pretty sure Vegas had them as the favorites, so I can't really consider them an underdog. I really like FGCU since they beat Florida earlier this year to beat them again if they can win again this weekend and then lose to Michigan. It would make our road a little easier.
Here is my rationale...
Look at the Bubble this year, NO one cared about the bubble teams this year. They all were TERRIBLE. No one was crying about UK, UVA, Maryland, Iowa, etc. getting left out. Hell, I'm shocked I even remember who got left out.
That's because the bottom teams were not worthy of being in this tournament.
HOWEVER...
I said last week, the round of 32, today and tomorrow is going to be AMAZING! You're going to get rid of 90% of the trash in this bracket and the parody is really going to show.
I expect buzzer beaters, close games, thrilling endings on both days.
I may be wrong, but we're not to a point where 25 teams may have a chance to reach the Final Four. We're now to a point where all of that parody in the regular season has to play each other. Just look at Michigan/VCU and Kansas/UNC. These aren't mismatches.
So I say let's get this win and sit back and relax and watch 2 days of GREAT basketball, because I truly believe this is going to be a great weekend. In my mind the Tournament starts now.
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:10 AM ^
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:48 AM ^
Apologies.
March 23rd, 2013 at 11:08 AM ^
I do love me a good parody .... almost as much as parity.
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:02 AM ^
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:13 AM ^
I hate that they've pushed most of the games to prime time, and that you no longer get multiple games until the end of the game.
Honestly, every aspect to this match-up heavily favors Michigan (Low TO, amazing transition offense to destroy the press, taller and stronger, we have shooters, they only have 1 guy that can shoot threes)
But then I take into account how young our team is and we only had 1 day to prepare. I'm definetely very nervous, but it's gonna be lots of fun!
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:23 AM ^
I am cautiously optimistic for the same reasons. Michigan doesn't look to run anybody out of the gym but they love to run and are most effective when in transition. The key is finding the way to use VCU's strength against them. Use the pass to break the press, don't leave it to Burke or anybody else to dribble their way out and look for runouts.
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:02 AM ^
1. McGary's energy - he's going to have to match VCU's energy, at the same time he's got to be under control and he can't turn the ball over
2. GRIII's ability to find the crease - we've seen Robinson all year find that hole, gap or seem behind the defense, get the ball and get lay-ups/dunks/and-1's
3. Spike - If we have trouble vs. that press, we've got to get Spike in the game immediately. We can't bow up like we did vs. Victor Oladipo and let them get us out of rhythm. Just put Spike in the game and move Burke to SG, get the ball over halfcourt an run your offense
4. Zone Defense - Another way we need to control this game is by throwing a zone at them from time-to-time...and STAY IN IT IF IT IS WORKING! Make them prove they can shoot, if they can...fine, man up and let's play. But if they're throwing up bricks all game, don't stop them if they want to give you a 15+ point win. Take it.
5. Run - I think what could really get us going is that VCU likes to run. We're SO much better when we run. I have no problem winning this game 80-70.
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:11 AM ^
Here are some of the key comparison stats for Michigan-VCU:
|
|
VCU | MICHIGAN |
| Points/Game | 77.6 | 74.3 |
| Avg Score Margin | +13.5 | +11.5 |
| Assists/Game | 14.7 | 14.1 |
| Total Rebounds/Gm | 35.0 | 35.1 |
| Effective FG % | 51.5% | 54.6% |
| Off Rebound % | 37.0% | 29.9% |
| FTA/FGA | 0.303 | 0.283 |
| Turnover % | 14.1% | 12.4% |
| Opp Points/Game | 64.1 | 62.7 |
| Opp Effective FG % | 49.6% | 47.9% |
| Off Rebounds/Gm | 12.6 | 8.9 |
| Def Rebounds/Gm | 19.9 | 22.9 |
| Blocks/Game | 3.1 | 2.8 |
| Steals/Game | 11.8 | 6.0 |
| Personal Fouls/Gm | 19.8 | 12.9 |
Massey gives us an estimated 60% probability, and the spread on several sites makes VCU a 3.5 point underdog.
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:31 AM ^
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:37 AM ^
moved from 140.5 to 144 overnight.
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:31 AM ^
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:49 AM ^
I can't actually find game highlights of tournament games. Doesn't seem like ESPN or CBS Sports has any and NCAA.com just had single play clips up of yesterdays games
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:53 AM ^
As expected, OSU's path to final four looks so easy. Their biggest test is either (6) Arizona or (1) Gonzaga, otherwise, the next highest seed remaining is (9) Wichita St
March 23rd, 2013 at 11:03 AM ^
...this morning is DRAGGING!!!
March 23rd, 2013 at 11:08 AM ^
Thanks for the tv rundown. I can never seem to find a radio stream any suggestions. GO BLUE!
March 23rd, 2013 at 11:23 AM ^
While passing time before the tipoff of our game, I was just idly thumbing through some charts, and here are the remaining number of teams by seed, if anyone is interested in this:
All 4 teams remain - #1 seed
Three teams remain - #2, #3, #4, #6, #7, #12 seeds
Two teams remain - #8, #9 seeds
One team remains - #5, #10, #11, #13, #14, #15 seeds
No teams remaining - #16 seed