College Basketball 2014-2015

No more SEC bias (other than the UK slobber-fest), now time for ACC bias! ...And by ACC bias, I mean Duke/UNC bias slobber-fest! Also time to watch Duke yet again lose in the first or second round with their top-talent Okafor!

Louisville will have a "hard time in such a dominate conference." Oh wait, they were in THE most dominant basketball conference (Big East) for how many years? And have recent championship and deep tournament wins? Fucking ESPN and USA Today...

Top recruits does NOT equal wins...

Lost Virtue_sl said:

No more SEC bias (other than the UK slobber-fest), now time for ACC bias! ...And by ACC bias, I mean Duke/UNC bias slobber-fest! Also time to watch Duke yet again lose in the first or second round with their top-talent Okafor!

Louisville will have a "hard time in such a dominate conference." Oh wait, they were in THE most dominant basketball conference (Big East) for how many years? And have recent championship and deep tournament wins? Fucking ESPN and USA Today...

Top recruits does NOT equal wins...

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Joe Lunardi's Preseason Bracketology - ESPN Video - ESPN

Start at 1:30. You'll LOVE his answer....

Kaines_sl said:

Joe Lunardi's Preseason Bracketology - ESPN Video - ESPN

Start at 1:30. You'll LOVE his answer....

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Made me smile a little, but I disagree honestly about how dominant the ACC is. The only teams that have been relevant that are in the ACC have been UNC (barely), Louisville, and Syracuse. Duke is a shadow of its former self and is completely and utterly overrated. They get the talent, but cannot produce anything worthwhile over the last few years (aside from their championship in 2010, nothing since really).

I like Louisville and Syracuse for 1 main reason. They are not getting top-tier talent (multiple 5 stars, McDonald's All-Americans, etc) but are incredibly dominant and remain relevant year-after-year. That goes to show the amazing coaching and buying into their coach's systems. Louisville's NCAA Championship had 1 McDonald's All-American and multiple 2-3 star recruits. Compare that to other recent Championship teams that had multiple 4-5 year recruits, multiple McDonald's All-Americans... I personally would love to get rid of Duke or UNC and bring in UConn hands-down.

Louisville is finally getting top-tier talent in 2015 and 2016. I cannot imagine the insanity that will occur with multiple 4-5 star players (even though as I said, recruits do not equal wins). Petino is one hell of a player developer and only goes after recruits that he sees he can develop and fit his system of playing

Back-to-back posts but I have to say, Minnesota looks solid. I think they will do great this year and probably be one of the tops in the Big 10 and see a tournament bid. It is entertaining watching a father vs. son game

Montrezl Harrell (Cpt Dunk) for POY please!

The problem with SEC/ACC bias is that before ball is snapped or a shot attempted, both conferences are declared the best "by far" by the "experts." So when they start playing each other, every loss is "to a tough SEC/ACC opponent." Because the experts can't be wrong. When the other conferences start beating each other, questions arise as to whether the conference is any good. It's self-fulfilling prophecy bullshit that ESPN has been engaged in for years.

Montrezl Harrell shooting 3's is a thing of beauty. I still cannot believe he has developed his shooting that far.

I also love Petino's conditioning he does to his players. You have several players that literally play every minute of every game without being exhausted for the next game 2-3 days later. I like basketball for that reason, I hate waiting a week to watch another game.

Lost Virtue_sl said:

I like Louisville and Syracuse for 1 main reason. They are not getting top-tier talent (multiple 5 stars, McDonald's All-Americans, etc) but are incredibly dominant and remain relevant year-after-year. That goes to show the amazing coaching and buying into their coach's systems.

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WTF?

You talk about those two teams like they are cindarella stories. They are constantly getting top 20, if not top 10 recruiting classes more often than not.

Class rankings starting with 2013 going back to 2003:
Louisville - 7, nr, 9, nr,16, 6, nr, 5, 7, nr
Syracuse - 11,18 ,16,7, nr, nr, 3, nr, nr, 7

These aren't the little sisters of the poor and there's only maybe a handful of programs at most that consistently get better recruits.

joeboo_sl said:

WTF?

You talk about those two teams like they are cindarella stories. They are constantly getting top 20, if not top 10 recruiting classes more often than not.

Class rankings starting with 2013 going back to 2006:
Louisville - 7, nr, 9, nr,16, 6, nr
Syracuse - 11,18 ,16,7, nr, nr, 3

These aren't the little sisters of the poor and there's only maybe a handful of programs at most that consistently get better recruits.

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This is in comparison to other teams like UK, Duke, UNC, Kansas, etc.

I should have clarified what I meant by "top-tier recruits." There is a HUGE disparity between what the other 1-5 rank recruiting teams gets compared to what teams like Louisville, Syracuse, UConn are getting.

Lost Virtue_sl said:

I personally would love to get rid of Duke or UNC and bring in UConn hands-down.

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So your team moves to the ACC and you'd like to get rid of the programs that are the foundation of what's left of the conference's identity for yet another school that geographically has no business being in the ACC.

I'd like to get rid of all of the new additions and forcibly yank Maryland back from the Big 10. I guess Florida State could still hang around. Hell it's been over 20 years since they joined and I'm almost used to them now.

I agree with you though about the ACC, Duke, and Carolina being consistently over ranked in early season polls, but so many teams are that those polls are largely irrelevant so I've gotten to the point that I don't even pay attention to them anymore.

Signs point to MSU getting blown out tonight. A pair of complete whiffs on recruiting classes the last couple years is going to make this season a pretty big struggle.

Slaythe_sl said:

Iowa State looks pretty sharp through two games. George State not a bad squad either.

I really think this is the best team Freddie has assembled yet. We don't quite have the star power of a Royce White but Niang impacts the game just as much. And sure enough Hoiberg brings in another stud transfer in Dajean-Jones who will slide right into the role DeAndre Kane left.

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I don't follow the NBA at all, but did Royce ever do much at the next level? I loved watching him play in college, he was a beast, but I know he had all sorts of personality issues and was afraid of flying on planes, which made his NBA future questionable.

Royce reminded me a lot of Charles Barkley. Undersized PF with the ball skills of a guard, but can be physical and pound down low/rebound when needed. He could have been really good if he would have had his head on straight.

I watch a ton of college basketball and I literally don't know anyone this year. Even the freshmen aren't very hyped other than Okafor. Gonna take a lot to get into it this season.

Playing against Duke is seriously unfair. The amount of calls they get is so fucking silly. Trice makes a fucking sandwich waiting for a charge and Dick Vitale's retarded ass says, 'his feet weren't there'.

10-1 free throws.

Back to back ?????????????????????????? foul calls will have a huge impact on the rest of this half. Fucking horseshit.

Sniper in the house

Gilgamel_sl said:

I watch a ton of college basketball and I literally don't know anyone this year. Even the freshmen aren't very hyped other than Okafor. Gonna take a lot to get into it this season.

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I've been feeling that way more and more for each of the last few years. The amount of 1-and-dones and transfers are killing my enthusiasm for regular-season college basketball. Its so hard to root for somebody that you know nothing about. I used to really get attached to my basketball teams, seeing guys come in as freshmen, sit the bench, get better, grow as players until they became productive juniors and seniors. That just doesn't happen anymore. If someone makes it to their senior year, chances are they've already transferred once or twice. Mizzou has had a few great seniors in recent years but I didn't know shit-all about them because they were transfers that were only here for 1 season.

Sucks, I used to be as excited about college basketball season as I was college football season, but basketball has taken a back seat in recent years. It feels like it takes the entire regular season to even get to know the players on your team before tournament time rolls around.