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Old 03-11-2015, 08:20 AM   #1
MikeWaters
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Default vs. Gonzaga tourney final

Just finished watching the game. I don't have time to say much now.

But in reality the results depended on two things:
1) That lady luck would be with the Cougars, that Gonzaga would shoot worse than normal, and BYU would shoot better than normal, all other things being equal. That the ball would bounce BYU's way. You could argue that actually happened for BYU. Nielsen hitting a 3, Andrus hitting a 3, Collinsworth hitting a 3 and shooting better from the perimeter than any of us have ever seen. But Gonzaga didn't have an off night. The shots that should have fallen for them did indeed fall.

2) We were depending heavily, very heavily on the IQ of one player. Corbin Kaufusi. That he could play good defense and not get in foul trouble. Frankly he was awful in that regard. Hello? Bear hugging someone is a foul. Wrapping and grabbing is a foul. He could have been called for more fouls than he was. It looked like he regressed back to pick-up-ball Corbin. It was too much to expect that he could keep it together between the ears, given his lack of poise and experience. He's the only post defender we have. Without him, it's like Gonzaga's front line was lining up for Nathan's hot dog eating contest. Score til you puke.

Boy, I think we just saw the senior-version of KC tonight. His outside shooting. That's going to be fun. I had this moment where I thought the guy rolling on the floor and grabbing his knee was KC. I was "oh no"'ing, and relieved to see it was Halford. Hate for that to happen to anyone, but the person we could not have it happen to was KC.
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Old 03-11-2015, 07:10 PM   #2
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Nielsen had a sequence that really went poorly for BYU. BYU was in the zone, and Nielsen had the bottom right (from his vantage). The sight of him running to the wing to show on a Wiltjer three was comical. That's like asking Charles Barkley to do particle physics. Then they put Nielsen in the center bottom, and the rotations again were poor.

The dropoff from Kaufusi to Andrus to Nielsen to Worthington is just not something that can be overcome against teams with good front lines.

One also has to question the sequence where Karnowski was dominating in the 2nd half. Just getting any position he wanted. Kaufusi not even showing on him, waiting til Karnowksi was 4 feet away from the rim. Nielsen was hopelessly outmatched. And by a big guy who can't even jump. By the time we started double-teaming, it was too little too late.

We just don't have the horses for that kind of matchup.
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Old 03-11-2015, 07:40 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeWaters View Post
Nielsen had a sequence that really went poorly for BYU. BYU was in the zone, and Nielsen had the bottom right (from his vantage). The sight of him running to the wing to show on a Wiltjer three was comical. That's like asking Charles Barkley to do particle physics. Then they put Nielsen in the center bottom, and the rotations again were poor.

The dropoff from Kaufusi to Andrus to Nielsen to Worthington is just not something that can be overcome against teams with good front lines.

One also has to question the sequence where Karnowski was dominating in the 2nd half. Just getting any position he wanted. Kaufusi not even showing on him, waiting til Karnowksi was 4 feet away from the rim. Nielsen was hopelessly outmatched. And by a big guy who can't even jump. By the time we started double-teaming, it was too little too late.

We just don't have the horses for that kind of matchup.
There aren't many teams even the NCAA tournament that will match up well with Gonzaga. They have size with talent. They have shooters. They play defense. They have depth. The only thing that has slowed them down this year has been themselves having a lax attitude at times. They could have and should have beaten teams in the WCC by 40 every night.
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Old 03-11-2015, 09:25 PM   #4
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I would bet you big money they will not be final 4. Nor Final 8.

And I would not be surprised if they don't make it to the Sweet 16.

Their ticket to the Sweet 16 is their seeding and the geographical advantage they will have.

They are way overrated.
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Old 03-12-2015, 04:05 AM   #5
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FBIV--ok we get it, you can palm the ball. But it's not that impressive when the next step after that is a turnover or a blown layup. Just play fundamental basketball!
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Old 03-12-2015, 03:58 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by MikeWaters View Post
I would bet you big money they will not be final 4. Nor Final 8.

And I would not be surprised if they don't make it to the Sweet 16.

Their ticket to the Sweet 16 is their seeding and the geographical advantage they will have.

They are way overrated.
Other than Kentucky, I don't think you can really earmark anyone for the final four this year and be all that confident about it. After them there are probably a dozen or so teams that have a reasonable shot at getting that far. Also, almost any team with a 1 or 2 seeding has a favorable path laid out to at least the sweet 16. Gonzaga isn't going to be an exception. It's just how it works. There have been years, for example, that Duke and UNC haven't even had to leave the state of NC until the Final Four.
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