Arena The Madness Has Begun!: NCAA Basketball Discussion

I could not be more disgusted with Uconn right now.

 

I wish Pitt would make up their minds and figure out if they are going to suck or be decent this year. All this stuff is killing me.

 

Tre Woodall's been a huge part of their turnaround.

 

Duke-UNC's been a great game as usual so far.

So far, so good.

 

Duke's been hitting a lot of threes. Odds are it won't keep happening. Live by the three, die by the three.

 

Cuse with a close win. UNC/Duke always a good one to watch.

 

I caught the OT of the 'Cuse-Georgetown game. It was pretty good. I know that Carmelo Anthony left the 'Cuse a while ago, but I think it's funny when they talk about Melo for the Orange and it's not Caremlo.

 

What McClain said.

Also, Duke's interior defense has been bad of late, and it's nonexistent tonight. Horrendous.

 

Doesn't help that Carolina's got a great front court, either.

 

Also, it seems like Duke's still trying to get their first rebound of the night.

 

Carolina's been great, but gave up too many fouls early in the second half.

 

Way to close out the game.

 

I had the game on in the background for the 1st half, and turned it off at halftime to put on MSNBC. Put it back on when I noticed on ESPN.com that it was a 1 point (soon to be 2) lead for North Carolina with under 14 seconds left, just in time to see Austin Rivers hit that game winning 3-pointer. I don't have a horse in this race, so I was able to appreciate a buzzer beater ending. But of course it had to be Austin Rivers hitting that shot (Lakers play in Boston tomorrow). I did smile/was touched a bit by Doc & his wife going bonkers in that stands after the shot.


Los Angeles Lakers: Drama, guaranteed.

 

I always pull for the away team in the Duke vs UNC games. Because its nice to see the home team fans upset.

 

Wow. Just wow.

What a finish. What a night for Austin Rivers. 29 points, none bigger than the game winning 3... but he was feeling it all night.

And I'm supposed to get to sleep now so I can get up early and teach Calculus? Not sure how that's going to happen...

 

I'm still in shock. That strange sequence with the airball three that Zeller accidentaly tipped in for a bucket was just crazy. Carolina's got talent, but they need to mature, basketball-wise.

 

Late reply, and I know I've been gone from The Arena lately, but I had to post my thoughts on this one.

I remember the 2001 Final Four semifinal when Duke came back from double digits with only a minute left to eliminate Maryland. About a year later, I was at a basketball game at my undergrad of Anderson College where we were playing Coker College (I think). Anderson too had a 10-point lead on Coker with only a minute or two to go. My friend in the stands next to me seemed to think we had the game in hand, but I reminded him of what Duke had done in the Final Four the year before. His response was to point at Coker and say, "Yeah, but THAT'S not Duke." Sure enough, Anderson held on for a fairly easy win that night.

So last night, when UNC still had a 10-12 point lead with only a couple minutes left, while I was tempted to give up on the game, turn off the TV, and go to bed, I had this lingering thought, "If anyone can come back from this, it's the Blue Devils." Then they cut the lead to 7. Then 4. And I was instantly transfixed on the game again. And this was why when Austin Rivers hit that game-winning 3-pointer at the very last second, I went on to Facebook and Twitter to merely post, "And that is why we are DUKE!"

An absolutely legendary finish and why Duke is such a magical team. And Rivers showed that he is something truly special, not just at the end, but all game long. There was a short time when "Austin Rivers" was the #1 trending topic on Twitter worldwide last night, and I think it was well-deserved. That boy had ice in his veins. Granted, outside of Rivers's incredible offense, it was ugly. Our defense, rebounding, and free throw shooting were all horrendous, and something we have to improve on if we want to remain a top-10 team and ACC contender. Let's not delude ourselves: There was an element of luck for Duke last night.

It might be anathema for me as a Duke fan to say this, but I felt rather badly for Tyler Zeller last night--and I don't think it's fair for him to be receiving all the opprobrium that he's been getting. The Duke missed 3 that he tipped in was a complete fluke, an accident borne by too much effort toward the ball. You can't really fault him for that. He missed one free throw but then made the other. In a high-pressure situation, those things are going to happen. The only thing to legitimately fault him for would be not getting his hands up on Rivers at the end, but even then, he's not used to playing the perimeter, hence why he seemed a fish out of water. And as lights-out as Rivers was all night, I'm not even sure it would've mattered.

As a Duke fan, I would prefer to focus more on Rivers's successes than on Zeller's failures--and would encourage my fellow Blue Devils to do likewise.

 

As a Carolina fan, I have no issue with Zeller. He's been their most consistent player all season long. The charge that Barnes (I think it was him) with about 1:20 left is the point of my frustration. He had someone open, but instead, he dove into the defender. Turnover. Not having his basketball IQ sense on right then. That's what frustrated me.


It was an instant classic, even if the outcome stung.

 

I hate this ******* banner. So hard to read. So much pain to the eyes.

 

Quit complaining about Best. Banner. Ever.

Zeller's one heck of a player for sure, and he certainly showed that in the first half. Though Barnes is wildly talented, too.

 

Badgers get to 19 wins on the season and 8-4 in the Big Ten. Keep it up.

 

Uconn lost to 'Cuse, but it was closer than the final score indicated, as opposed to that farce of a game against Louisville. It took Syracuse hitting a late flurry of threes to put us away (they shot 62% on them). Lamb and Drummond both had pretty poor games. Lamb has been struggling with his shot recently, and Drummond took plenty of shots for a change, but most were rubbish.

 

Damn. Buckeyes got pasted. At home. Friggin Sparty.