College Basketball

[oldmantutters]

Can we talk about UCLA acting like there was no time left and not picking up anyone defensively after their bucket?

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[ndsubison1]

Can we talk about UCLA acting like there was no time left and not picking up anyone defensively after their bucket?

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This......

[ndsubison1]

Alright, who else is still up on adrenaline (and maybe an assist from the Captain for this guy) tonight? That Gonzaga/UCLA game epitomizes why college basketball and March Madness is the pinnacle of sports! Honestly, the only college basketball games I would put above that game are UNC/Nova for the title in '16 and Kansas/Memphis in '08 for the title and I'm a Jawhawk fan (after the Bison of course) so I'm biased there.

The only thing that disappoints me is I know there's no way Monday night's game can possibly top this game (prove me wrong please!). This title games seems really similar to NDSU/JMU in the 2017 and 2019 FCS title games... the obvious top two teams throughout the year facing off for a winner take all title game.

EDIT: So apparently this game commentary was in the Amy Olson thread (don't ask me why???) but this is still an iconic moment in college hoops history so I'm glad Bisonville acknowledged even if it wasn't in the thread I thought it would be in.

EDIT2: And I completely understand if if you checked out of this game because (like me) that last shot reminded you of David Jenkins Jr at the SHAC about 2 years and 2 months ago... (no I haven't forgot and I never will... fuckin rabbits)... stakes were a little higher in this game though. Told my wife that if you replace UCLA with NDSU I would've thrown up on my coffee table right then and there.

UConn Syracuse 7 OT is one of the few I thought of

[ndsubison1]

I don’t think I would put this game quite that high on the list of greatest games I’ve seen. In addition to the 2 you mentioned, both of the Wisconsin/Kentucky Final Four games were excellent (especially the 2nd one), Duke-Butler in ‘10, Syracuse-Kansas in ’03, UConn-Duke in ’99, and UNC-Michigan in ’93 rank right up there with this one. Of course they would all be behind the Duke-Kentucky game in ’92, the hands down greatest game ever IMO. Throw in the Seton Hall-Michigan game in ’89 too. Maybe I’ll sit down later and try to rank ‘em, might think of a few others in the meantime.



I almost always root for a team making a serious run at going undefeated to finish the job, like St. Joe’s, Illinois, Wichita St. The only exception was Kentucky in ’15 because I think Calipari is a rat, weasel and snake rolled into 1. But last night I was a huge UCLA fan. I needed Baylor to beat UCLA to win my pool and $500, but truth be told I’m not all that disappointed as I think it will be cool to see Gonzaga finish the job. I don’t know if they will though as Baylor has looked like the better team throughout this tournament to me.



I agree that these were the obvious 2 top teams all season long. I’m about 75% convinced that if the Bears didn’t have a 3 week pause due to Covid we’d have 2 undefeated teams squaring off tomorrow night. The hype of this game is probably the most I remember seeing around a national championship game. If both teams are performing close to their best we should see a great game.



The Suggs/Mitchell matchup (if they guard each other) is going to be epic as both are terrific offensive players and even better defensive players. Mitchell was national defensive player of the year, and Suggs in OT last night essentially deleted Juzang from the UCLA offense.

Im guessing those 2 will match up. Baylor is one of the better defensive teams in recent years. They have 2 bigs they can rotate and throw at Timme. Timme has been having his way, tomorrow night he will not look nearly as good. Im guessing Mayer will play a lot to guard Kispert. Kispert is a weak defender and Baylor could go 4 guard lineup. think Baylor is the better overall team.

[1998braves64]

Wasn't laettners shot was closer but they had to
Throw it 3/4 of the court to get it to him and Duke was down one so was more do or die pressure there.

I didn't watch the game last night but it was tied so there wasn't pressure to absolutely have to make this shot. Game flow can make it more interesting too.

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[oldmantutters]

Wasn't laettners shot was closer but they had to
Throw it 3/4 of the court to get it to him and Duke was down one so was more do or die pressure there.

I didn't watch the game last night but it was tied so there wasn't pressure to absolutely have to make this shot. Game flow can make it more interesting too.

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Last night's game was tied and I would agree with you that knocks it down a peg. Still a big time shot and a great game. When UCLA got down by 5 with about 1:30 left, they could have easily panicked and started chucking but they ran their offense, got a stop and then we're able to tie it up.

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[gavin2126]

Yeah, it almost would've felt like we got cheated of if wasn't Baylor and Zags for the title so glad it worked out that way.

I'm sure recency bias plays into but I wouldn't put any of those other games you mentioned into the same class as the game we saw last night... it wasn't just that it was a close game but the play making was simply fantastic. Truly a game that neither team deserved to lose.

I don't really remember the Duke/Kentucky game in '92 when it happened but I think that shot by Suggs last night will be Laettner-esque in its staying power going forward so I can see that game being comparable or better to this one.

I was thinking of games off the top of my head and those are what came to mind. You're right that a few don't measure up to last nights game, but I would definitely put the '15 Wisconsin-Kentucky redux and the '99 UConn-Duke championship game alongside last night. I do tend to to err on the side of not falling into the recency bias trap, so maybe I'm not giving last nights game enough credit. Maybe time will change my mind.

Like a couple others already mentioned, Laettner's shot stands above Suggs' because it was win or lose all on his shot. If Suggs misses they go to another OT.

Can we talk about UCLA acting like there was no time left and not picking up anyone defensively after their bucket?

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Yeah, they all ran back instead of putting pressure on to make sure Suggs or anyone else catches the pass going back to the baseline, and make him turn a time or two coming up the court. Suggs was able to step into a really good look because of that.

Im guessing those 2 will match up. Baylor is one of the better defensive teams in recent years. They have 2 bigs they can rotate and throw at Timme. Timme has been having his way, tomorrow night he will not look nearly as good. Im guessing Mayer will play a lot to guard Kispert. Kispert is a weak defender and Baylor could go 4 guard lineup. think Baylor is the better overall team.

I think this is all pretty accurate, and Baylor wins. Gonzaga is a 4.5 point favorite, if I was in Vegas I'd probably put a couple bills down on Baylor.

[heffray]

The fact that it was an 11 seed almost ruining a perfect season is what elevates it, IMO...

[oldmantutters]

I was thinking of games off the top of my head and those are what came to mind. You're right that a few don't measure up to last nights game, but I would definitely put the '15 Wisconsin-Kentucky redux and the '99 UConn-Duke championship game alongside last night. I do tend to to err on the side of not falling into the recency bias trap, so maybe I'm not giving last nights game enough credit. Maybe time will change my mind.

Like a couple others already mentioned, Laettner's shot stands above Suggs' because it was win or lose all on his shot. If Suggs misses they go to another OT.



Yeah, they all ran back instead of putting pressure on to make sure Suggs or anyone else catches the pass going back to the baseline, and make him turn a time or two coming up the court. Suggs was able to step into a really good look because of that.



I think this is all pretty accurate, and Baylor wins. Gonzaga is a 4.5 point favorite, if I was in Vegas I'd probably put a couple bills down on Baylor.

The worst part about the "defense" to me was that the Bruins were all running in a group together. So once the ball was inbounded it was hard to get away from EVERYONE.

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[Sun Bison]

I don’t think I would put this game quite that high on the list of greatest games I’ve seen. In addition to the 2 you mentioned, both of the Wisconsin/Kentucky Final Four games were excellent (especially the 2nd one), Duke-Butler in ‘10, Syracuse-Kansas in ’03, UConn-Duke in ’99, and UNC-Michigan in ’93 rank right up there with this one. Of course they would all be behind the Duke-Kentucky game in ’92, the hands down greatest game ever IMO. Throw in the Seton Hall-Michigan game in ’89 too. Maybe I’ll sit down later and try to rank ‘em, might think of a few others in the meantime.



I almost always root for a team making a serious run at going undefeated to finish the job, like St. Joe’s, Illinois, Wichita St. The only exception was Kentucky in ’15 because I think Calipari is a rat, weasel and snake rolled into 1. But last night I was a huge UCLA fan. I needed Baylor to beat UCLA to win my pool and $500, but truth be told I’m not all that disappointed as I think it will be cool to see Gonzaga finish the job. I don’t know if they will though as Baylor has looked like the better team throughout this tournament to me.



I agree that these were the obvious 2 top teams all season long. I’m about 75% convinced that if the Bears didn’t have a 3 week pause due to Covid we’d have 2 undefeated teams squaring off tomorrow night. The hype of this game is probably the most I remember seeing around a national championship game. If both teams are performing close to their best we should see a great game.



The Suggs/Mitchell matchup (if they guard each other) is going to be epic as both are terrific offensive players and even better defensive players. Mitchell was national defensive player of the year, and Suggs in OT last night essentially deleted Juzang from the UCLA offense.

Great post, but, Gonzaga and Baylor were scheduled to play each other during that time so it would have been impossible for both to be undefeated.