Championship Game: March Madness Open Thread
by Nestor on Apr 5, 2010 6:00 PM PDT
in Basketball
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PrintDon't think we can add anything to the hype around the Championship game tonight between Duke and Butler. We leave all the cheesy David v. Goliath and Cinderella clichés to others. Except number of us don't consider Butler to be a "true" Cinderella ala George Mason from few years ago. Doesn't really matter though. For me it has been a pleasure to watch Butler and Michigan State (even though I said I'd try to stay away from the Dance) because they have reaffirmed the effectiveness of Coach Ben Howland's classic Ben Ball.
A little bonus video to get you ready for the game:
The tip off if scheduled for 6:21 pm EST. If you are not around your TV tonight, here is March Madness On-Demand (it's been a pretty cool tool to use all tourney long):
So here is to Butler sending the Hoosiers into frenzy and sending all the Duke band wagoners scurrying back to their holes. Fire away in our last college basketball open thread of 2009-10 season.
GO BRUINS.
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Shameless brag post
As some of you may have gathered from some of my pasts posts (not to mention my hometown and job) I’m a bit of a gambling man. Well, every year I pick one college b-ball team and put in a decent sized futures bet (bet on that squad to win the whole shebang). This year, my pick was….drumroll please….Butler at 80/1. $140 to win $9,920. Earlier today I went ahead and bet a substantial amount on Duke to lock up the win/win situation : )
Sorry for the gratuitous brag post but for the last two days all I’ve been hearing for the past two days is, “who would have guessed that Butler would be in the finals” and I kept thinking “I did, I did”
Also sorry for the redundancy at the tale end of that post
I’m a few beers into celebrating the win : )
so you're now indifferent on the result?
in which case, please send gambling and bracket karma for a Duke victory… I thought Duke was way underrated at 7/1 (though not nearly as much as Butler at 80/1)
relatively indifferent
I left a few bucks off the Duke hedge bet so I will in fact win a few hundred more if Butler comes through but I’m content either way, so by all means, shipping karma
I'm already mad. What a bleepin' over the top introduction for the devils, not to mention, how uneven.
I love the bulldog.
Go Bruins!
moving screen by Zoubek not called
leads to easy layup
Howard looks a bit like RN did when concussed...
Getting into ok positions and missing shots…
missed bunnies
If Butler were hitting its layups and other easy shots in the lane, they’d be up by 10.
Which is like saying UCLA would be playing tonight if Rags had hit his 3’s. Or if he had just not ever shot any 3’s.
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
Butler doing better on boards than expected
and winning turnover battle
I've always thought we would have been better off with him than KL
Love KL, but for total impact on a program, Singler would have really helped us.
sjh
It's not new
All Duke players have been getting every benefit of the doubt for years.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Apr 5, 2010 7:00 PM PDT up reply actions
That's why Huggins facetiously said
They don’t call fouls on them because they are All Americans.
Easy to be an All American if you can foul at will, and travel when you want.
sjh
Don't forget
their outstanding flopping drills.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Apr 5, 2010 7:08 PM PDT up reply actions
The 'last channel' button is going to be getting a lot of work in the next hour
The second half of the title game, plus opening night for the A’s on CSN.
formerly bruinhoo
DeSean Butler
makes me want to reconsider my opinion of Huggins
I put up a fan post in which I talk about that moment
with Huggins.
I think it was absolutely sincere. And, touching.
I, too, am reevaluating my feelings about Huggins.
sjh
right
and my comment on your fanpost re that moment was somewhat cynical… hearing DeSean Butler tell it makes a big difference to my opinion of it.
Every cloud...
I was speechless watching that. Incredible moment.
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
refs are letting both sides play physically going for the boards
and the Butler guys are pushing the taller but slighter Duke guys around (with exception of Zoubek)
I agree
but his backup Jukes was awesome in the first half, really kept them in it and exposed Zoubek inside and out
Also Howard
missed a number of shots inside. If they can keep winning the boards Howard is not as important.
Singler has been the difference for Duke all tournament long
probably the player of the tournament
sjh
he had one terrible game
went 0-10 from the floor
What is funny it what Zoubek got his foul calls on
He has thrown people to the ground, been over the back often but he got his fouls on reaches, a marginal block call, and a block shot attempt on an out of control player.
yup
similar with some of Howard’s.
Refs a bit inconsistent, letting a lot go.
He should be gone by now
truly gone.
He’s been throwing people around.
And, don’t forget he threw his leg into Desean Butler on the play in which Butler was hurt — and no foul called.
sjh
He should have been gone
During that second half against Baylor. He is classic loudmouth Dukie punk.
Meanwhile, the A's are trailing Seattle 0-3 in the 3rd inning
Because that’s what we all care about here, right??
formerly bruinhoo
gotta love keeping Strasburg in the minors
to delay his free agency.
Smart GM decisions – what every fan loves…
Our AAA affiliate's starting lineup (position players)
is probably better than tonight’s lineup in Oakland.
formerly bruinhoo
More talented, at least
as well as having players that could actually hit 20+HR’s this year.
formerly bruinhoo
hitting home runs is so 2002
Cooperating with Michael Lewis on Moneyball was all an elaborate scheme to get people to overrate guys who can walk and hit for power…
why bring Zoubek back in?
he’s slow at the best of times, double slow if he’s trying not to foul. Butler totally exploited him on that possession.
Offense
Butler has no one who can keep him off the boards and he can set a block screen for the shooters. He causes all kinds of problems for Butler without even shooting.
that last possession they picked on him repeatedly
didn’t just open up the middle, opened up the whole court
Offense
See what the thought of Zoubek did? The defender was looking out for the ZOubek block/screen and not playing D.
The Dookies' expressions
They look like they truly believe they ave never ever committed a foul.
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
Reminds me of Petey Carroll's expressions
Duke alums are basically Trogans with actual college degrees.
luckily is coach can coach smart
subbing offense for defense
One good thing about this past UCLA season
Is that it makes us appreciate Ben Ball defense (the way it’s supposed to be played). I don’t even want to hear those bandwagon fans talking about how boring our offense is. Losing is more boring.
as Nestor said
also good to see MSU and Butler reaffirm that that’s a style that can succeed.
Will Scheyer
go back for another sequel to Home Alone after college?
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
by tasser10 on Apr 5, 2010 8:22 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
but he's heavy enough and enthusiastic enough
to battle him, rather than just giving him a free pass
Howard did not emblish much
Clark sounding like BIlly ACC Packer on that one. Zoubek is going pro in UFC after the season.
Damn
Two shots almost won it all for Butler. Damn!
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
by tasser10 on Apr 5, 2010 8:37 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
66
What did you say about that one basket?
Wow for Butler. Much closer than I expected.
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
I say closet because most casual fans think he's a great guy
And he has the media eating out of his hand (Vitale more than anyone). K, Vitale, and Bob Knight are all a bunch of jerks…notice how they always suck each other off whenever they get a chance.
Before this year
that was true without question. 4 would have been on the low side.
Hope we get back to those days soon.
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
This just in
Dick Vitale blows his load a la south park. I will not be watching BSPN college basketball coverage for a long time.
This game leaves me optimistic
give CBH some “mid level players” who will board and play D — tight man D, and we will be back.
No more entitled players.
I don’t care how many stars they have. I want these hard working players.
sjh
I know this is controversial, but I think we do need a more clever or thought out offense.
I really enjoyed watching Butler’s offense, it moved, and switched sides, and was just…clever.
Go Bruins!
What impressed me most about Butler
because of their rebounding and tight D, they were often in transition. They really pushed the ball hard.
And, they were very unselfish.
They did not take many bad shots. No Drago’s on their team.
Mack and Heyward can actually shoot the 3 but they didn’t jack up shots.
sjh
I don't disagree
I’d like to see us do some different things on offense. But, I don’t know enough about basketball to make suggestions :)
Furd
Love the underdog, they’re Pac-10, and Wooden’s streak is in jeopardy (kinda sorta, but not really).
They have the core coming back
If they can find some depth either through their recruiting class or developing guys that didn’t play much this season then they’re a top ten team for sure.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Apr 5, 2010 8:52 PM PDT up reply actions
Doubtful
He’s a Indiana guy who I think really loves Butler. I think he’ll leave, but he’ll be one of those guys waiting for the right job, not just any job that is a step up. Just my opinion.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Apr 5, 2010 8:53 PM PDT up reply actions
But his stock is so high...
His dream job might be UNC, KU, or Indiana. Who knows? My dream job is to manage a mutual fund, but I realize that I have to take small steps to get there. Oregon is a solid job right now.
if his dream job is Indiana
then he just needs to keep Butler in place for a couple of years and could hop neatly into the Indiana job and recruit exactly the same places.
Well when the CBH rumors were running he was my pick for the real gold standard of college hoops.
Go Bruins!
Rooting against Coach K...
…so he’d remain 7 NC behind Coach Wooden. Go UCLA!!
Yahoo
has an article where it says that coach K. is the greatest coach in NCAA history. lol.
"Wooden has more, but he did it in a different era"
WHAT A CROCK OF SHIT!!!
Duke:1 All of Mankind:0
"I can't believe I ate the whole thing" Homer Simpson
Can't believe it either and posted an angry response. Maybe the guy is only 30 or something.
Coach was voted the greatest coach in history recently wasn’t he?
Go Bruins!
Well, Butler almost took down coach K's team
I certainly hope the " slackers " on our team this past season watched those valiant Bull Dogs this evening.
What a thriller it was. Butler won, in my mind. Their young coach has what it takes too. Nobody ever pushed coach K’s team to the brink the way he did. Had Butler’s last second desperation shot hit the net, the entire state of Indiana would have flipped.
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