NCAA Tournament Thread

canderson

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Probably, especially including the Finish.

Duke vs UK in 92 is the only one I can think of in the class, given game quality and meaning

Maybe Houston vs NC St, but that had a great finish, but it was pre shot clock, and not a tremendously well played game as both teams shot very poorly
UNC-Nova was very good but this game was played better overall I think.
 

CreedBratton

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A chance for a title and an undefeated season on Monday I literally can’t believe it. I just want them to cut those nuts down just once let’s goooo!
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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UCLA shoots 57.6% and Gonzaga shoots 58.7%, just great execution on offense. I have a feeling Monday will be more of a grind it out game.
 

E5 Yaz

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I think this type of game helps Gonzaga a great deal. They knew there'd be a nail-biter somewhere along the line ... and they got past it. Now they can just go out and let it fly against Baylor.
 

BigSoxFan

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I think this type of game helps Gonzaga a great deal. They knew there'd be a nail-biter somewhere along the line ... and they got past it. Now they can just go out and let it fly against Baylor.
Yup. Not many close games this year and they showed a lot of toughness down the stretch. Baylor has athletes galore so I think they’re in for another grind-it-out game.
 

Humphrey

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I don’t know. Brad Stevens might want to take notes about how to use timeouts.
actually, when Suggs got the wind knocked out of him and was down in the middle of the paint (I guess it's not 3 seconds if you are down like that), I thought Few should have used one of his time outs. Major blunder. They were up 5, another hoop probably ends it. Instead, they chucked up a desperation 3.
 
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Was that Nantz’s signature call?
I thought it was a pretty bad call, actually...and I say that as someone who likes Nantz's basketball work more than a lot of people here. The "Suggs for the win..." part was perfect, but then he seemed to almost flat-line on "Oh yes, oh yes, unbelievable, unbelievable", like he'd run out of breath and intensity and had nowhere to go. He was getting drowned out by Raftery and Hill, and that's not a signature call. Plus, I think "Their perfect season remains on go!" is an attempt to pun "go" with the first two letters of "Gonzaga" - it's too clumsy a phrase to have come about organically - and might be the worst of the many bad puns with which Nantz has ended games over the years.
 

rymflaherty

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I realized this morning, part of what made last night so great (beyond the play obviously) was that we didn’t have 15 minutes of time outs and replays at the end of regulation and OT.
It was refreshing to see a basketball game not end in that manner, and I’d argue the consistent flow elevated the enjoyment and the product on the court.
 

RedOctober3829

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When factoring in an undefeated season on the line and the finish, that is at worst the 2nd or 3rd best Final Four game of all-time and a great case to be made that it's the best. There's a few games that stack up with Gonzaga-UCLA, but not sure that any of them exceed both the high-level play from both teams and the dramatic finish.

The play that is going to be forgotten amid the Jalen Suggs play is the Drew Timme charge taken at the end of regulation. That took a lot of guts to step in and let the officials decide the game and the undefeated season on block or charge.
 

RedOctober3829

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Probably, especially including the Finish.

Duke vs UK in 92 is the only one I can think of in the class, given game quality and meaning

Maybe Houston vs NC St, but that had a great finish, but it was pre shot clock, and not a tremendously well played game as both teams shot very poorly
Duke/Kentucky was only a Regional Final, but still a high level basketball game.

I quickly thought of Villanova/UNC and both UConn/Duke FF games as games that were played at that kind of level. Both UConn/Duke games didn't have that kind of dramatic finish though although the title game in 99 came pretty close. Someone else mentioned Kansas/Memphis title game which I do agree that was a great game as well.

Last night's game is pretty tough to overtake.
 

BigSoxFan

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Duke/Kentucky was only a Regional Final, but still a high level basketball game.

I quickly thought of Villanova/UNC and both UConn/Duke FF games as games that were played at that kind of level. Both UConn/Duke games didn't have that kind of dramatic finish though although the title game in 99 came pretty close. Someone else mentioned Kansas/Memphis title game which I do agree that was a great game as well.

Last night's game is pretty tough to overtake.
The other element here is that the game winner was by Jalen Suggs, a guy who is likely going to be a top 5 draft pick. If he reaches his potential in the NBA and becomes an all-star level talent, we’ll be looking back at this shot a lot more in the future than if it were, say, Kris Jenkins.

But the Zags need to finish the job tomorrow or it loses a lot of its luster.
 

Captaincoop

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Duke/Kentucky was only a Regional Final, but still a high level basketball game.

I quickly thought of Villanova/UNC and both UConn/Duke FF games as games that were played at that kind of level. Both UConn/Duke games didn't have that kind of dramatic finish though although the title game in 99 came pretty close. Someone else mentioned Kansas/Memphis title game which I do agree that was a great game as well.

Last night's game is pretty tough to overtake.
Duke over UNLV in '91 was unbelievable, especially given the two-season buildup to that game.
 

Humphrey

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I realized this morning, part of what made last night so great (beyond the play obviously) was that we didn’t have 15 minutes of time outs and replays at the end of regulation and OT.
It was refreshing to see a basketball game not end in that manner, and I’d argue the consistent flow elevated the enjoyment and the product on the court.
Couldn't agree more. In addition to the half court advances after time outs, the NBA would have taken 5 minutes examining the charge call at the end of regulation (assuming the offensive team still had its challenge left).
 

johnmd20

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I realized this morning, part of what made last night so great (beyond the play obviously) was that we didn’t have 15 minutes of time outs and replays at the end of regulation and OT.
It was refreshing to see a basketball game not end in that manner, and I’d argue the consistent flow elevated the enjoyment and the product on the court.
This is unequivocally a fact and it's incredible that basketball, in general, is moving headfirst towards slower and more boring finishes than what we got last night.

There are way way WAY too many time outs allotted and the challenges are a nightmare. They kill the flow. Did it touch his fingertip? DID IT? Omg, this is worse than the JFK assassination, we need to get it PERFECT even if it takes 8 minutes.

Ice hockey and football know how to finish a game with excitement and intensity. I really hope the NBA finds a way to look at the game last night and improve their end of game product.
 

Mystic Merlin

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It sucks that the title game starts so goddamn late.

Why can’t they start at 8:20 or something? It’s the only major sports league that insists on starting it’s championship game well past 9P EST.
 

Deathofthebambino

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If they don't start calling 3 second violations on Baylor, the Zags are going to get destroyed on the defensive boards.

#0 just stayed in the lane for almost an entire possession, and got an offensive rebound.
 

DukeSox

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This feels over. Gonzaga looks like they have dead legs and no energy.
Gonzaga shitting the bed in yet another national championship final. Consistent at least.

I have not forgiven them for sucking vs UNC.
 

Kliq

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Baylor just feels more locked in and intense, and their athleticism feels off the charts.

But they are also hitting a lot of tough outside shots and Gonzaga will probably grow out of their nervous energy as the game goes on. Wouldn't count them out yet.