OH Bracket

[O's84]

If N. Carolina had lost I'd have wrapped up a tie for 2nd place.  Now if N. Carolina wins I drop probably 5 or 6 spots.

[Spy Fox]

Feels a bit less relevant now that baseball season has started for real, but UNC Gonzaga is going down to the wire. 

[25 Nuggets]

UNC wins, congrats to them.

Sometime in the future we'll get to see if they keep the title.

[Spy Fox]

5 minutes ago, 25 Nuggets said:

UNC wins, congrats to them.

Sometime in the future we'll get to see if they keep the title.

They'll keep this one. Their '05 and '09 wins are the ones that could be in jeopardy if the investigation lands on the harsher side.

[OFFNY]

o

 

I had the most correct picks (44), but had to settle for 3rd overall in points.

Also, I picked the winner (North Carolina.)

Nationally, I finished better than 92% of the overall pool.

 

Woo hoo.

 

o

[sportsfan8703]

Refs really made that game look like a regular season Rutgers vs St. Johns game. Idk what it is about UNC's bigs that just have an uncanny ability to foul out every 4 and 5 on Gonzaga and Kentucky. Hmm....

Almost like when Eric Montross did the same thing to Chris Webber and Juwan Howard. 

[Spy Fox]

33 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Refs really made that game look like a regular season Rutgers vs St. Johns game. Idk what it is about UNC's bigs that just have an uncanny ability to foul out every 4 and 5 on Gonzaga and Kentucky. Hmm....

Almost like when Eric Montross did the same thing to Chris Webber and Juwan Howard. 

I thought the refs were too whistle happy on both teams tonight. In the second half both teams were already in the bonus with 14 minutes left! There will always be fouls but it's a better product when you keep the flow going and keep the players in the game. 

[OFFNY]

2 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

 

Refs really made that game look like a regular season Rutgers vs St. Johns game. Idk what it is about UNC's bigs that just have an uncanny ability to foul out every 4 and 5 on Gonzaga and Kentucky. Hmm ....

Almost like when Eric Montross did the same thing to Chris Webber and Juwan Howard. 

 

o

 

Chris Webber was called for 2 fouls and Juwan Howard was called for 3 in that national title game from 1993.

Neither of them came close to fouling out of that game.

What did Montross do to them?

 

o

[O's84]

10 hours ago, OFFNY said:

o

 

I had the most correct picks (44), but had to settle for 3rd overall in points.

Also, I picked the winner (North Carolina.)

Nationally, I finished better than 92% of the overall pool.

 

Woo hoo.

 

o

You bastard. 

[sportsfan8703]

8 hours ago, OFFNY said:

o

 

Chris Webber was called for 2 fouls and Juwan Howard was called for 3 in that national title game from 1993.

Neither of them came close to fouling out of that game.

What did Montross do to them?

 

o

Want some good comedy?  Watch Duke vs. UNLV and UNC vs. Michigan from 20 years ago.  Classic examples of the tobacco road 8 on 5.  

[Spy Fox]

1 hour ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Want some good comedy?  Watch Duke vs. UNLV and UNC vs. Michigan from 20 years ago.  Classic examples of the tobacco road 8 on 5.  

Semi-long post coming because I've been thinking about officiating a lot in this tournament. 

I think it can often be overstated, but as a Heels fan I can't deny that the UNCs and Dukes and UKs of the world do get a bit of an officiating advantage sometimes. Part of it is the bias that preferences favorites in all sports. I also know that with UNC in particular they just play with a style that is very effective in drawing fouls. They're designed to be aggressive and active inside, less jump shooting and more physical play. That naturally forces the opponent to foul a lot, but can also get UNC in foul trouble themselves.

The officiating issue is part of what prevents me from loving basketball as much as baseball, although I am a fan. It's not that I think the refs do such a bad job. It's that the way the sport is designed gives referees a high involvement in every game. It's a high-speed contact sport with subtle foul rules and only three referees watching 10 players at a time plus the ball. There are bound to be a lot of mistakes and 50-50 calls, and the result is that almost any game that's not a blowout can leave you questioning whether this call or that call made a difference. And the ref-blaming that happens on all sides (UNC fans think Duke gets all the calls, Duke fans think UNC gets all the calls, UMD fans think everyone gets the calls except them ) can, for me, cheapen the feelings that come along with the outcomes.  

[Moondoggie]

Well, at least I didn't finish last. Only next to last. 

Funny thing, I did a couple of brackets on ESPN. I did a "bracket of integrity" that finished on the 37th percentile after not getting a single Final Four team (and only two to the Elite Eight). But I did a bracket called "This Bracket Sucks" in which I made all sorts of crazy predictions, but put North Carolina and Gonzaga in the title game (with NC winning). I made the 97th percentile on that one. Go figure. 

[OFFNY]

17 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

 

Refs really made that game look like a regular season Rutgers vs St. Johns game. Idk what it is about UNC's bigs that just have an uncanny ability to foul out every 4 and 5 on Gonzaga and Kentucky. Hmm....

Almost like when Eric Montross did the same thing to Chris Webber and Juwan Howard. 

 

 

14 hours ago, OFFNY said:

o

 

Chris Webber was called for 2 fouls and Juwan Howard was called for 3 in that national title game from 1993.

Neither of them came close to fouling out of that game.

What did Montross do to them?

 

o

 

5 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

 

Want some good comedy?  Watch Duke vs. UNLV and UNC vs. Michigan from 20 years ago.  Classic examples of the tobacco road 8 on 5.  

 

o

 

Oh, so you're saying that the referees are/were in North Carolina's pockets. You brought up what Eric Montross did to Chris Webber and Juwann Howard in the 1993 title game, and neither of them came close to fouling out. In fact, Chris Webber scored 23 points and had 11 rebounds, and would have been the tournament MVP if Michigan had won the game. Also, the referees overlooked TWO calls against Webber in the final sequence before he called the fateful timeout. He tried calling timeout when he got the rebound off of the Carolina missed free throw. The referees gave him a break by ignoring his timeout call, because it would have been a technical foul against Michigan had they granted him it. Then he clearly traveled, and the referees did not call that  either. Only when he picked up his dribble and called timeout (for a second time in that 8-second sequence) did the referees grant him the TO, which resulted in the technical foul. 

Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks each were called for 4 fouls last night, and Meeks' 4th foul last night was called on him with almost 10 minutes still left to be played in the 2nd half. There were also clear-cut missed calls on an airball that the referees said was deflected by a North Carolina player (it wasn't, it was an airball), a foul on Collins on a made basket by Carolina in the 2nd half, and a foul called on Berry when he cleanly stripped Karnowski. 

Last year, Villanova was given several questionable calls and non-calls in their title game  win over North Carolina in the first half. Ultimately, Villanova won because they made one more play than did North Carolina down the stretch. There is no conspiracy for or against North Carolina and/or ACC teams. The referees were overly aggressive against both teams in the 2nd half of last night's game between UNC and Gonzaga. It interrupted the flow of the game in general, it didn't favor either team. Carolina won because they made a couple of more plays than Gonzaga did down the stretch last night, as did Villanova against the Tar Heels in last year's title game.

 

o

[Frobby]

The night a team plays a perfect game, I will expect the refs to be perfect.   Until then, they're all human and I'll expect some bad calls, and not that they'll necessarily even out.    

Duke beating UNLV in 1991 was one of the great upsets, and the refs had little to do with it in my opinion.    

[Rene88]

Thanks to everyone for playing/signing up. The tournie is always a blast! 

Congrats to Spyfox!!! #1!!!

 

2. Norfolk O's

3. OFFNY

4. O's and UNC

5. Rick

6. Me (no clue how I went from 23rd on up lol)

7. Harp 6

8. John/O's84

9. Aaron

10. Tony OH