Originally posted by Columbuseer
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Over the course of 30-35 games in the regular season, that style will win you games in surplus. But it's not what wins in the NCAA Tournament. The fact they won the Tournament two years ago still bugs me. A ton of luck went into that championship. They were legitimately handed 2 victories in games that they had effectively lost. They also had a miraculous win against Purdue in the Elite 8. There were three games along the way they had absolutely no business winning.
In no world was Tony Bennett's team less talented than UMBC. Not even a freaking chance. But, when you want to win games in the 50s/low 60s, you reap what you sow. His approach is to limit possessions, but when your team goes cold in a first round NCAA Tournament game against a team that that couldn't miss, you're bound to lose. You can't play that way in a one and done scenario and expect to achieve success playing that style. I'm fully convinced that had Tony Bennett remained in the locker room that night, and his guys just taken the floor and played "streetball," they would have run UMBC out of the building. But he coached, and coached, and coached, and coached.. And played "his game." And they were on the wrong end of history.
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