Final Four: Open Game Day Thread

needs to slow down. The faster the tempo, the bigger the disadvantage.

Good timeout by Howland.

Collison and Westbrook taking over in halfcourt. Defense still needs to improve on CDR and on Rose.

One pt game.

DUH!
makes out loss pretty aggravating

Shipp has taken three quick shots already. He's made just one of three. Again, Howland is screaming at them in the timeout to slow down.

If ucla could keep the pace down, they'd be fine.  Those fast break points are killing them, and if they get tempted to play fast, they're screwed.

Has to be the #1 pick in the draft. Just... awesome.

Killing UCLA. Easily the best player on the floor.

28 pts in 12 minutes is not the pace at which UCLA needs to play.

Making UCLA look unathletic. That's wild.

UCLA hasn't played a team this quick and athletic at all.

Only the third gets called

Only Memphis opponent matching their athleticism early.

UCLA would be in big trouble if he hadn't hit two threes early.

That's two bad shots from him. UCLA's shown zero ability to stay in front of CDR or Rose. A 16 foot jumper from Taggert with 25 on the shot clock is terrible.

Not bad considering how many easy fast break points they allowed early.

Or Memphis scores and heads into half with momentum and confidence.

Big two for UCLA going into the half.  It feels like they should be down more, but a 3 point deficit is a good spot for UCLA, especially with the 2 fouls on Dorsey and Taggert.  They have to slow the game down, foul on fast break opportunities and hope that Memphis cools down from the FT line.  Those fast break dunks and layups are just demoralizing.

Ketchum at Orangebloods is reporting that he ran into an NBA scout who said that Augustin is learning heavily toward turning pro. No surprise.

Arizona guard Jerryd Bayless turns pro.http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008/news/story?id=3331393 Bayless will be drafted ahead of DJ if Augustin does turn pro.  

Start of the 2nd half includes 3 quick fouls by officials.  Make that 4....3 on dorsey and taggert.  Wow.

Three on Dorsey. Now three on Tagget.

More fast break points....wow, UCLA is struggling with that Memphis length, too.  Not totally surprising, but it's been the story of the game so far in those turnovers leading to easy Tiger points.

They were down 11, back to seven now, but still in a bit of trouble.

Packer is right, Love needs touches on the low blocks.

I've really enjoyed watching him this year at UCLA.  I wonder if he'll leave early?

the question is, will the refs be willing to call his 5th or look the other way?

that Texas was good enough to make the Final Four. This UCLA team is beatable for us. Unfortunately, we ran into the worst possible matchup: a team with an abundance of talent, size, and athleticism that can play hard-nosed, physical defense.

Weren't we considered the strongest 2 seed? It's too bad we were stuck with Memphis, who is obviously not the weakest 1 seed. But you knew the committee was going to put UCLA in Phoenix and UNC in Raleigh. We can't play KU because I don't think it's allowed to have 1/2 seeds in the same conference, so we're stuck with these beasts. Too bad.

by CDR. WOW.

Is that supposed to be a cowboy hat?

These guys are freaks.

Wow from Rose. Game over.

Memphis has really controlled this entire second half.  They've essentially neutralized Collison entirely.  If they hold on to win, they've earned a shot at the national title.  Peaking at the right time of year, to say the least.

They just can't handle the Memphis Speed.

Impressive.

for both DJ/James to come back. What Memphis type teams would we have to worry about next year? KU will be much worse, UCLA will probably lose Love and Westbrook, etc.

If they come back, we'd probably win the Big 12 and definitely get to a Final Four at least.

I thought DJ played his way out of the lottery against memphis, but after seeing what memphis just did to collison, i think memphis is just a freak show of a team.  

he's gone.

Memphis just making great teams look silly, game after game. I do like KU-UNC winner to be a better match up against the Tigers than anyone they've seen to date, though.

no big white guys for announcers to excessively fawn over.

if it ends up being a Kansas/Memphis final, who will billy packer fellate on air?  sasha kaun?

Look at that tie...

This is the worst pregame speech I've ever heard.

Hands in his pockets? Hoping for things to happen? Weird.

PB, do we need a drinking game for Hansbrough "tenacious" references?

Making Hansbrough play defense and working the high-low really well early.

Lawson struggling to get good looks as well.

Gotta force Hansbrough to make that one. At the line, he's deadly.

is the best in the country. Their guards can get to the paint or knock down the three. And their posts are excellent passers, finishers, and rebounders.

If UNC doesn't score fast break points, they are not going to beat KU.

UNC looking sloppy

I just mentioned the KU offense, but their D is phenomenal as well.

Make him knock down contested jumpers. Don't foul.

on fire
man i miss horns basketball already :-(

ripped by Robinson at full speed. Fantastic D continues.

Watching him shake his head is very enjoyable for the Duke part of my basketball fandom.

Kansas looks unbelievable. WOW!!

The Big XII may get their first bball national championship ever on Monday night.

Also, Cole Aldrich has come a long way this year. I was not impressed with him at all in Nov and Dec. Now, he looks like he'll be a key player next year and a definite issue for the Longhorns in years to come.

I feel sorry for Memphis.

Poor shot selection by KU in the last few minutes.

he stuck his arm out
i hate the love he gets for moving awkward
just because his every motion looks labored
does not mean he was pushed

Only a 14 pt lead with plenty of time left.

KU needs to get back to the high-low action on offense and the pressure perimeter D and post doubling that got them a 28 pt lead.

KU going cold in 2nd as Carolina playing at their speed.

Within seven, plenty of time left.

Again, KU needs to feed the post and get back on D.

UNC keeps chipping away as KU can't hold on to the ball right now.

If I'm Bill Self, and my team finds a way to choke this game, I'm getting the hell out of Lawrence and taking the OSU job.

Quite a game we got here.

looks like KU in 1st half: making threes, forcing turnovers, playing great half-court defense.

Under eight timeout and we've got a game. I have to admit, I'm surprised. I thought UNC would make some runs but never thought they'd get this close and actually have a chance to win.

eerily resembles BOTH KU/UT games last year when KD would single-handedly get us out to huge margins. But KU eventually came back and we used up all our energy just to get that lead.

Now it's happening to KU, and they're on the short end of the stick. All the energy they used to get that 40-12 lead is gone.

is drifting sideways on his three-point jumper. Needs to go straight up and down.

UNC made a run and got to within four or five but never got all the way back.

Hansbrough travels about ten times a game. Glad to see it finally getting called.

KU is another three pointer away from a knock out blow.

Now it looks like UNC finally has hit a wall.  Throwing up bad shots, some lapses on D.  All that energy to get back to within four, but looks like KU may be able to hold off the "choke" label.

Some thought Augustin cost himself some money with his poor performance against Rose. I am not one of those people.

However, along that same line of questioning, did Hansbrough cost himself money, should he choose to come out, by not being able to score effectively in the low post against long, physical defenders?

I've never thought Tyler would make a good pro, so I'll stay out of this.

Make the Big XII proud on Monday night.

KU will be able to match the athleticism and length of Memphis in the post. Jayhawks will have their hands full with Rose and CDR but if any group of guards can slow them down, it will be Robinson, Chalmers, Collins, and Rush.

I'll make the same point about KU/Memphis that I did about UNC/KU. In a half court game, KU has a big advantage.

I filled out a bracket using Pomeroy's picks exlusively. The top teams have advanced so much that his picks were awesome.

On ESPN, his bracket has 1280 picks, is in the 99.9%, and is ranked 2,406 of all ESPN brackets.

Pretty impressive formula by Mr. Pomeroy.

will change how coaches recruit. Just like more college football coaches want to go to the spread offense and recruit athletes, college basketball coaches will want to play like Kansas and Memphis and recruit their type of players.

Recruit to get as much size, athleticism, and speed at every single position. The era of the dominating low poster center is over with. The era of the slow it down, halfcourt style is over. You can't win small anymore. Ask UCLA and Texas. Both teams had sensational PGs and they were totally annihilated by teams with superior size and athleticism.