(03-28-2021 12:50 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(03-28-2021 11:54 AM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  

(03-28-2021 08:07 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  I did not see the Houston-Syracuse game last night.

But I saw all of both recent games Houston beat Memphis. Houston is a legit title contender. The Cougars out-muscled and out-athlete-ed a very aggressive and athletic Memphis team that is playing in the NIT but looks more like like a Sweet 16 team in the NCAA. Memphis is very good and Houston is two notches better.

If Houston forces Oregon State into an ugly game (as Sampson is masterful at doing), Houston will win.

But don't count out Oregon State. That team seems destined (to some degree). The Beavers have a massive collective chip on their shoulders.

I've been saying Memphis was the best team left out of the tournament. Making the finals of the NIT, just about proves it.

I agree. Memphis belonged in the NCAA. They played Houston closer than any of their NCAA opponents have so far. And they did it twice in a week. Very unlucky to lose both games. If they had won one of them, I think they get in.

still can't believe that finish of the game @ Houston.

Whatever the spread, bet against Oregon St tomorrow. Their run isn’t sustainable and is based on their opponents missing loads of open shots.

(03-28-2021 11:54 AM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  

(03-28-2021 08:07 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  I did not see the Houston-Syracuse game last night.

But I saw all of both recent games Houston beat Memphis. Houston is a legit title contender. The Cougars out-muscled and out-athlete-ed a very aggressive and athletic Memphis team that is playing in the NIT but looks more like like a Sweet 16 team in the NCAA. Memphis is very good and Houston is two notches better.

If Houston forces Oregon State into an ugly game (as Sampson is masterful at doing), Houston will win.

But don't count out Oregon State. That team seems destined (to some degree). The Beavers have a massive collective chip on their shoulders.

I've been saying Memphis was the best team left out of the tournament. Making the finals of the NIT, just about proves it.

Case made for 72 teams in the tournament.

(03-28-2021 01:09 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Whatever the spread, bet against Oregon St tomorrow. Their run isn’t sustainable and is based on their opponents missing loads of open shots.

There are guys like this for every sport now, it seems. Sites like that exist to convince supporters of teams that lost that their team "deserved" to win. I know a soccer team where, if they lose a game 0-1, fans pop up on Twitter to say that the "expected goals" were actually 0.78-0.31 and thus it's "unjust" that their team lost.

The flaw in those statistics is that for any one game -- especially in college basketball where most teams play half court and bleed the shot clock, drastically reducing the number of possessions -- the sample size is too small and the variance too high, thus the predictive value is low.

For example, this guy complained about Oregon State shooting 38.5% on 3-pt attempts on Saturday, but they only shot 13 as a team in the game. The difference between 38.5% and the stat guy's "expected" shooting percentage is that they made only one more 3-pointer than they would have made, if one goes by their entire season percentage from 30 games instead of this one game.

(03-27-2021 08:47 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  Did somebody in this thread deem Jay Wright the "best coach" in the country? I actually might agree. But that claim on the board ... seems a bit bold.

What’s tough about that game and that claim is that Wright helped keep it competitive. So, controlling the game there for as long as they held the lead? Good on Wright.

Watching your team turn the ball over and over and letting the clock hit the tv timeout rather than attempting to “ice” a Baylor momentum swing at all costs? That’s also on Wright.

This team obviously can’t close the door on teams like the 2018 squad (the halftime lead would have held up for that squad I bet), but, couldn’t help but think Baylor needed to be held up a bit more during that 3-4 minute span when they crawled back and overtook Nova for good. As much as I don’t like Duke, I get the impression Coach K would have dragged out this kind of game to keep it within reach. That didn’t happen here. And when those g-d crap 3’s started getting flung...done. Awesome effort, though, even if Baylor STILL covered the spread.