March Madness picks thread

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by ddthetide

i won't disagree but their skills are poor and the play is poor overall. the old unc, duke, umd, unlv, ucla teams would crush these teams.

Of course they would. They all had NBA bound juniors and seniors leading them for the most part. It used to be coaches would have an established team and every year add a top recruit or two and work them in as the others left. Now coaches recruit the very best players knowing that they are one and done and wont give a damn about anything outside of getting their numbers and increasing their draft stock.

Look at the all decade team for the 2000's as chosen by SI
SF- Shane Battier
PF- Tyler Hansbrough
C- Emaka Okafor
SG - JJ Redick
PG- Jay Williams

Obviously they didnt pick one and done guys but guys who had close to complete careers. These guys were all good college players but none of them of them are better than average NBA starters and Hansbrough and Redick arent even that. (Williams never got a chance so who knows)

But...lets look at some of the best basketball players who were of college age in the 2000's.

SF- LeBron James (0)
PF- Chris Bosh (1)
C- Dwight howard (0)
SF- Carmello Anthony (1 year)
SG - Kevin Durant (1 year)
PG - Chris Paul (2 years)
SG- Dwayne Wade (2 years)*sat out Fr year when not eligible
PG- Deron Williams (3 years)
SG- Joe Johnson (2 years)
PF - Amar'e Stoudamire (0)
C- Andrew Bynum (0)

Compared to the 80's and even the 90's when Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant were the only top players not to attend college, it has stripped the college game of the very best players. Sure we got a year of Durant and Anthony but can you imagine what kind of careers they would have had as 3 or 4 year players? Think they would be on the All Decade team? Imagine LeBron at UCLA? Think of building a college team at kentucky around Howard? Kobe said he would have gone to Duke if he went to college.

You cant compare NCAA basketball now to the teams that you remember as being great. The original dream team in 1992 versus last years is the best example

Jordan (2 years)
Barkley (3 years)
Magic (2 years)
Bird (4 years)*sat out 2 years
Mullin (4 years)
Ewing (4 years)
Malone (3 years)
Stockton (4 years)
Robinson (4 years)
Pippen (4 years)
Drexler (3 years)
Laettner (4 years)

2008 Dream team
LeBron (0)
Kobe (0)
Bosh (1)
Howard(0)
Anthony (1)
Kidd (2)
Paul (2)
Williams (3)
Wade (2)
Boozer (3)
Prince (4)
Redd (3)

[ateamstupid]

Kent State -5
110/100

Florida -5 1/2
110/100

[ateamstupid]

By the way, as far as shooting goes, the league-wide average in the NBA (35.2%) is only marginally better than the nationwide average in Division I (34.2%) this year.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

By the way, as far as shooting goes, the league-wide average in the NBA (35.2%) is only marginally better than the nationwide average in Division I (34.2%) this year.

If NBA teams played 30 game schedules and 2 games a week with 40 minute games and a 35 second shot clock using the college 3 point line that number would be quite a bit higher. While there are some awful NBA teams the top tier teams play at a very high level.

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

If NBA teams played 30 game schedules and 2 games a week with 40 minute games and a 35 second shot clock using the college 3 point line that number would be quite a bit higher. While there are some awful NBA teams the top tier teams play at a very high level.

Obviously, I just tire of this "these young whippersnappers have no fundamentals!" attitude pretty quickly.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

Obviously, I just tire of this "these young whippersnappers have no fundamentals!" attitude pretty quickly.

You only know what you've seen. I get that. But Joey the quality of the college game has eroded because teams are constantly turning over, almost completely. It is the only level of basketball where this is so. The tourney is still a great event. The better teams are still interesting to watch. But the world is different and the college game has been hurt by decisions that the NBA made. The fact is that the NBA hurts its own popularity with the one and done guys. When guys regularly played 3 or 4 years in college the general public knew and could identify with them when they went pro. But how many one and done guys get regular minutes with teams that are any good? Hardly any. They wind up taking a few years to develop and people move on. Dwight Howard is a guy that the whole country would have known if he had a 3 year college career like Ewing or Hakeem. It has taken years for him to become established as a star and a lot of that is due to the dunk contest. Admittedly I dont follow college as close as I used to especially during the regular season. And what i have seen this week validates to me why I dont.

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Admittedly I dont follow college as close as I used to especially during the regular season. And what i have seen this week validates to me why I dont.

I feel the same way about the NBA. I remember the Bulls and the Knicks and the Rockets and Magic and Pacers from the mid '90s. You're telling me those guys weren't better shooters and stronger fundamentally than today's NBA players?

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

Kent State -5
110/100

Florida -5 1/2
110/100

-135
4-4

Baylor PK
55/50

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

-135
4-4

Baylor PK
55/50

-85
5-4

4-1 in 50 games, 1-3 in 100 games