OT: D1

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I didn't even give the men's game much of a look. For one thing, the 9:20 starting time on a Monday night was ridiculous. And I figured that, like the women's game, it would be the case of the stronger team overcoming a single dominant player. I've never been as impressed by Smith and Loyer of Purdue as some of the commentators appear to be. Northwestern's guards shredded them when the Cats played them.

For a neutral fan, it was a pretty dull game. It was blatantly clear very early Purdue was eventually going to get run out of the building.

Eady got his but they had little else. UCONN is just on a different level than Purdue. The final score could have been much worse.

[Chuck Norris]

I think dominance and dynasties are good for sports, in general. I recognize that's probably not the popular opinion. But the reality is that you either root for the dynasty to keep rolling, or you root against it. There's no middle ground. People hate Hurley because he's the opposite of what people think coaches should be nowadays. He's not soft, he is a throwback, no nonsense type. His team is really good. There's nothing unlikable about them otherwise, in my opinion - and I don't even dislike them. I was pulling for UCONN. Give me the story. Sports need a villain.

Sports are at their best when people have passionate reasons to root for or against something. Often times that doesn't involve their own team.

I don’t disagree or have any issues with UCONN at all, I’d just like to see good, competitive games. I already knew my attention was going to be somewhat diverted from basketball because of Wrestlemania, but with the outcomes never being in doubt I didn’t wind up seeing much of them at all. It stops being fun for me when the bully just pummels everyone. The Christian Laettner Duke teams were the great villains of college hoops of my lifetime so far and to me their run became truly legendary when they won that epic regional final against Kentucky.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I don’t disagree or have any issues with UCONN at all, I’d just like to see good, competitive games. I already knew my attention was going to be somewhat diverted from basketball because of Wrestlemania, but with the outcomes never being in doubt I didn’t wind up seeing much of them at all. It stops being fun for me when the bully just pummels everyone. The Christian Laettner Duke teams were the great villains of college hoops of my lifetime so far and to me their run became truly legendary when they won that epic regional final against Kentucky.

Bygone era for sure. I basically see faceless teams now in D1. The name on the front of the jersey will be the same next year but the name on the back will surely be different.

The D1 game is a much different product today. Some of the best players are bypassing college altogether. The mega freshmen stay one year.

I hope someday we'll get back to that era but I doubt it.

[Chuck Norris]

Bygone era for sure. I basically see faceless teams now in D1. The name on the front of the jersey will be the same next year but the name on the back will surely be different.

The D1 game is a much different product today. Some of the best players are bypassing college altogether. The mega freshmen stay one year.

I hope someday we'll get back to that era but I doubt it.

Oh absolutely and that Duke-Kentucky game was an extreme example because it may very well have been the greatest college basketball game of all time and one of the great stories within a game ever, a story you simply couldn’t have happen today.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Oh absolutely and that Duke-Kentucky game was an extreme example because it may very well have been the greatest college basketball game of all time and one of the great stories within a game ever, a story you simply couldn’t have happen today.

The Laettner shot obviously was the story but the Kentucky wild-a$$ banked in shot seconds before was equally insane. I remember that guy drove to about the FT line area and shot a freaking bullet at the glass - that naturally somehow banged right in.

I remember watching that game live.

Look at those rosters now. Upperclassmen stars. Jamal Mashburn headlined the Wildcats. Laettner, Hurley, Grant Hill, etc., -- all first rounders.

That Duke run and the Fab Five was kind of the unofficial ending to that time in college basketball. It all changed shortly after. We never got to see Kobe, Garnett, LeBron, etc., play in college. Not to mention the other sea of players who declared out of high school, never should have and busted right out.

[EyeoftheHawk]

I didn't even give the men's game much of a look. For one thing, the 9:20 starting time on a Monday night was ridiculous. And I figured that, like the women's game, it would be the case of the stronger team overcoming a single dominant player. I've never been as impressed by Smith and Loyer of Purdue as some of the commentators appear to be. Northwestern's guards shredded them when the Cats played them.

I didn’t watch it at all. I really didn’t have an interest in the matchup and there wasn’t much intrigue. If it started at 7:30 I would have watched at least part or most of it, but 9:20 was a non-starter. I did watch the women’s game from start to finish.

[EyeoftheHawk]

The Laettner shot obviously was the story but the Kentucky wild-a$$ banked in shot seconds before was equally insane. I remember that guy drove to about the FT line area and shot a freaking bullet at the glass - that naturally somehow banged right in.

I remember watching that game live.

Look at those rosters now. Upperclassmen stars. Jamal Mashburn headlined the Wildcats. Laettner, Hurley, Grant Hill, etc., -- all first rounders.

That Duke run and the Fab Five was kind of the unofficial ending to that time in college basketball. It all changed shortly after. We never got to see Kobe, Garnett, LeBron, etc., play in college. Not to mention the other sea of players who declared out of high school, never should have and busted right out.

I watched the end of that game in the Wayne Avenue McDonalds. Funny the things you remember.

[Chuck Norris]

The Laettner shot obviously was the story but the Kentucky wild-a$$ banked in shot seconds before was equally insane. I remember that guy drove to about the FT line area and shot a freaking bullet at the glass - that naturally somehow banged right in.

I remember watching that game live.

Look at those rosters now. Upperclassmen stars. Jamal Mashburn headlined the Wildcats. Laettner, Hurley, Grant Hill, etc., -- all first rounders.

That Duke run and the Fab Five was kind of the unofficial ending to that time in college basketball. It all changed shortly after. We never got to see Kobe, Garnett, LeBron, etc., play in college. Not to mention the other sea of players who declared out of high school, never should have and busted right out.

That Kentucky team was just a few years removed from a major academic scandal that led to the program getting pretty much gutted by the NCAA. They brought in Pitino after his first crack at the NBA was pretty much a flop. He did bring in Mashburn but the core of that team was a bunch of lightly recruited guys who never would have wound up at Kentucky had the program not been crippled by sanctions. Laettner had the perfect game, I believe he was 10-10 from both the field and the line and hit the iconic winner, all while being a total dick, lol.

[Ship69]

That Kentucky team was just a few years removed from a major academic scandal that led to the program getting pretty much gutted by the NCAA. They brought in Pitino after his first crack at the NBA was pretty much a flop. He did bring in Mashburn but the core of that team was a bunch of lightly recruited guys who never would have wound up at Kentucky had the program not been crippled by sanctions. Laettner had the perfect game, I believe he was 10-10 from both the field and the line and hit the iconic winner, all while being a total dick, lol.

One of the greatest performances I ever saw was Bill Walton hitting 21-of-22 shots against Memphis State in 1973. And they weren't all dunks or layups. Several were mid-range bank shots. He also had four baskets nullified by offensive goaltending calls. Walton is way out there at times and not everyone's cup of tea, but when healthy the dude played center about as well as you could play it. If not for his foot problems, he probably would have been considered among the all-time best..

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Big Blue now 0-2

[Topper_Hopper]

The Laettner shot obviously was the story but the Kentucky wild-a$$ banked in shot seconds before was equally insane. I remember that guy drove to about the FT line area and shot a freaking bullet at the glass - that naturally somehow banged right in.

Whenever I see that play, I'm always in awe of the pass that Grant Hill threw. I doubt the average fan realizes how hard it is to throw the ball three-quarters of the length of the court (with the right loft), and have it land exactly where you want it to.

[Ship69]

Whenever I see that play, I'm always in awe of the pass that Grant Hill threw. I doubt the average fan realizes how hard it is to throw the ball three-quarters of the length of the court (with the right loft), and have it land exactly where you want it to.

On the women's side. Catlin Clark gets a lot of hoopla over her extra-long jump shots, but her passing is what has impressed me. I think she's one of the best, male or female, I've ever seen. She was constantly tossing half-court bounce passes on the dime during the tournament. Iowa didn't have the horses to take down South Carolina, but I was impressed with their ball movement and teamwork throughout the playoffs.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

BYU's Pope has accepted the Kentucky job.

Yikes.

Not exactly a sexy hire.

[Ship69]

BYU's Pope has accepted the Kentucky job.

Yikes.

Not exactly a sexy hire.

Perhaps they've had enough of sexy after Calipari and are going for a different approach.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Perhaps they've had enough of sexy after Calipari and are going for a different approach.

Different approach translates to about their 5th guy in line (and first to say yes).