Elite Eight Saturday Game Thread

wibi

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Jul 15, 2005
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Two great story lines today

First is the battle of the Jesuits in Gonzaga (1) vs. Xavier (11) where both teams are looking for their first trip to the final four.

Xavier vs. Gonzaga (-8.5)
O/U: 145.5

Second is the battle between an extremely hot Kansas (1) and an Oregon (3) team would have been a higher seed if not for the a late season injury.

Oregon vs. Kansas (-6.5)
O/U: 156.5

I lean Gonzaga for obvious reasons and I lean Oregon only because Oregon has the shooters to keep up with Kansas.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
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So my first reaction was, Fucking Puppets.

Then the puppets grew on me.

Now, I am sort of ashamed to have been that guy who didn't like puppets. Puppets are fucking great.

(And those who haven't turned on TBS yet, there were puppets. You missed them.)

Edit: But Coldplay still sucks.
 

johnmd20

mad dog
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Puppets are awesome. This game being on TBS is kind of odd, not that it's a big deal. But that seems a random choice.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
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I may be wrong, but I think all or most of the CBS games so far have been Verne Lundquist or Jim Nantz. I think times have passed Verne by just a bit, but I think these are two of the higher profile Masters lilting voices CBS guys. Maybe CBS has some weird brand standard logic or something?
 

wibi

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Gonzaga is hitting the outside shot ... Hopefully this is the game that the Gonzaga offense wakes up
 

wibi

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Gonzaga is in Spokane (my wife corrected me; I thought they were in CA, up north somewhere). She knew that because Bing Crosby went there. Go zags.
Little know fact but Bing got kicked out of GU for dropping a piano from the top of a 4 story building that is now the dorm known as Desmet
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
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An interesting sidestory that I haven't really heard much is the comparison and parallels between this year and 1999.

In 1999, Connecticut was arguably the best program never to have made the final four. They were a great tournament team, but they kept running into very high seeds who beat them in good games, including in a couple of regional finals. They lost a few to the eventual national champ. Finally, they got a supposed Cinderella in the regional final -- a 10 seed that won by a point in the sweet 16 -- and Connecticut finally broke through in a very tough game against an opponent that turned out to have been underseeded, never looking back.

The Zags are the best program never to make the final four. They have lost late in the tournament to eventual national champs. They finally get a regional final against a Cindarella that eeked out a sweet 16 win but is tougher than their seed.

The punch line, of course, is that the Zags were the Cinderella 10 seed that day, with Few on the bench as an assistant, and the loss kind of launched their program nationally, much like a close loss for Connecticut a decade earlier in the regional final had done the same. The Zags have never been as close to the final four since that day, until right now, despite players of the year, kicking ass in Maui, and great teams. I have no doubt they are going to close the deal today, though if the script is right, it's going to get a bit uncomfortable in the second half.
 

wibi

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Gonzaga has been running a 2-3 zone all game which means Few expected them to be tired after the WVU game. This is only the second game where Gonzaga has played more than minimal coverage on the 2-3 zone
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Gonzaga has been running a 2-3 zone all game which means Few expected them to be tired after the WVU game. This is only the second game where Gonzaga has played more than minimal coverage on the 2-3 zone
Or Few is concerned about Xavier go-bys
 

wibi

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Its not fair when Karnowski has to play against players that are that much smaller than him ...
 

wibi

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FUCKING FOULS AGAINST GUYS WHO ARE JUST BIGGER THAN THE OTHER PLAYERS
 

wibi

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I have no words ... Literally have tears streaming down my face right now ... the monkey just got fucked by Mark Few

I remember being on campus during the first run and thinking this was a great one time thing but never expected to have a team that would dominate their conference like this for that long ... fuck
 

DJnVa

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Congrats dude.

And I'm not just saying that because I've got Gonzaga in the $$$ bracket game.
 

wibi

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Mark Few's voice is cracking ... this meant more to him than he let on
 

wibi

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Mark Few's voice is cracking ... this meant more to him than he let on
 

Ale Xander

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They're also going to have a huge home court advantage next Saturday especially if Vs been there done that Gators
 

wibi

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They're also going to have a huge home court advantage next week
I have a buddy who is a big U of A fan and got tickets to the game ... He just offered them to me at face

Gotta figure out prices but I will likely be there
 

Drocca

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Jul 21, 2005
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Congrats. Wide open path to the Championship game too.

I'm excited for this Oregon/Kansas game. I am an idiot and took the over even though it's 157.5