NCAA Men's Final Four Open Thread
Purdue dominating so far. Refs letting them play.
Can’t stop watching Burns. I love that guy. Hoping NC State can come back and get the “W”.
I want to see UConn vs Purdue in the National Championship Game because I want to see 7'2" / 280 pound Donovan Clingan vs 7'4" / 300 pound Zach Edey.
One Kaiju versus Another Kaiju...
Does “letting them play” mean no Kyle, or just a dog whistle for “let them cheat”?
I have no dog and don’t care who wins but it sure seems NC State is getting a kind officiated game. They maul the big man and are handsy on the ball.
Edey gets away with so much it’s outrageous. Finally a game where the refs don’t gift him 20 FTA and Purdue shot the 3 terribly but NC state just isn’t good enough to capitalize.
You okay dude?
If anyone still doubts Painter’s coaching chops, he made the Final 4 with Braden Smith as his starting PG.
I mean it’s taken Zach Edey and 20 years? That’s like saying Mel Tucker’s success in 2021 had nothing to do with Kenneth Walker. I don’t have a problem with Painter but he also owns the worst tourney loss in history.
Go State! Nope, that ain't gonna work. Go "red" State. Uh, still not there.
Go Wolfpack! That will have to do.
Go Reds, smash State.
NC State is missing wide open shots that could keep the game close. It's starting to get away from them now. Nice story for this tournament, but no glass slipper on Monday.
I hate watching Purdue play. Blah. I hope UConn has the size to destroy and that they make it!
Gotta root for the Big Ten. Purdue isn't playing that well, but they're ahead. Edey is getting mauled and he isn't used to that without fouls being called.
Only reason to root for the B1G is so that Sparty doesn't have the claim of owning the last conference title. But honestly, F this conference.
I've been on a real "burn it down" kick wrt the B1G since the sign gate bullshit, but Purdue basketball is maybe the only exception. I can cheer for Matt Painter with a clean conscience.
Lol not anymore since big ten is about 1/3 of college teams. It's like rooting for the "central " division of a pro league.
How does a 6’9 275 lb guy have one rebound?
Because he was tasked with walling off the 7'4" 300lb guy. Best thing he could do was box out Edey (which few can do). Unfortunately, his teammates let others crash the boards.
Burns is so out of shape that he needed a break every 3 mins.
He had so stamina for Edey.
Purdue going to be the next Virginia where they lose to a 16 seed one year and win the national championship the next?
UConn has size and a better coach. But bama has a lot of shooters. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. I think both are more dynamic than Purdue. Bama has guards that'll frustrate Purdue. UConn has athletic bigs
Better talent, yes. Better coach? I don’t agree there. Painter gets a lot out of the level of talent he recruits.
Yeah Painter is one of the best in the business. I wouldn't say any team has a categorical coaching advantage over Purdue.
I mean, he teaches defense well. Otherwise you throw it to the biggest player in college basketball and then when they collapse, you throw it out so your guards can shoot wide open threes. It’s not rocket science.
If it was that easy Juwan would still have his job because Hunter was a weapon down low as well. He also had an outside game as well. You still have to put the pieces around him and put in a plan for what they might take away from him also. What if teams pack the lane with a 2-3 zone? Painter would have to scheme around that as well. You aren’t giving opposing coaches enough credit to come up with a game plan to limit the effectiveness of the other Purdue players, knowing Edey is going to get his.
Clingan can neutralize Edey somewhat and then UConn is better at all other positions. UConn by double digits.
Don’t underestimate the zebras. It’s hard to play if all of your players are on the bench with fouls.
Gotta make your layups, double Edey & hope Purdue misses their open 3's. Love seeing a classic big man dominate. Looking forward to the Klingon vs Big Easy.
i will root for purdue when they play monday.
change my mind....
Ryan Walters?
no idea who that is. fill me in, please.
A less successful Ryan Day.
ryan eclipse?
I find myself not rooting for them, despite liking Painter and Edey. I think it's just me being pissy that Purdue could be the team to end the B1G drought, after Michigan had two shots at it.
Mr Brightside being played while Bama is doing their shoot around. Getting in their heads. :D
means an overtime loss for them
Crazy that song is played so often and every crowd sings it word for word.
I guess I've been routing for Purdue and the Iowa women ..... both of them will have a tough opponent in the finals (I am assuming UCON will get the win in today's game)
Either of these teams will beat Purdue handily. Way more athletic.
Whoever wins the Bama vs UConn game will beat Purdue by 15
After seeing Bama play the first time in sweet 16, I thought they can win it all, and the only team that can beat UConn. I think they're gonna win out.
It's reflexive to root for Big Ten teams, but everything is changing so quickly. Adding Maryland and Rutgers was weird, but picking up four real west coast powers makes it more like rooting for an entire conference in the NFL. This really feels like the last year of everything college. 34-13 made it a great ending.
Tomorrow (Monday), we celebrate three months of 34-13, and its close friends, 27-20, 26-0, 30-24 and 24-15. As I view the scores (not the games) in this tournament, I think more that Purdue is an old friend that I haven't heard from in a long time. A whisper of nostalgia, perhaps? But I don't think I care about tomorrow's game at all.
Even stranger, it's not even on broadcast. I'm not sure when they stopped televising the Final Four, but I have zero temptation to pay $100 a month for a streaming package for it (and sit through the seemingly endless commercials). And that apparently doesn't even get you Peacock. I guess fragmentation makes sense as more and more people who don't care for sports have realized there's almost no reason to pay for cable or the streaming bundles that look and cost more and more like cable every day.
Now that I've had three months to bask in the championship, I feel a whole lot better about sports. I still have the Michigan blood in my veins, so I follow online. But it feels nicer, calmer. I'd kind of like to see the Frozen Four, but it's OK that I don't have access to it. I'll look in on the net and on the thread here.