EWB March Madness

[gunnar hendershow]

1 hour ago, DMN in the House said:

I'm pretty sure UNC just ended their rivalry with Duke, because there's no way the Blue Devils are ever topping the fact that the Heels basically ended Coach K's retirement party...twice.

Couldn't have happened to nicer school.

Given how near impossible it is for them to meet in the tournament outside of the Final Four, UNC won the biggest game that will ever be played between the two schools. It's really something. It's not like the Tar Heels are a plucky underdog school, for most of history they've been the better school than Duke. Beyond the run in the late 80s/early 90s and then the run in the late 90s/early 00s, Carolina has always been better. Winning more championships, more prolonged success, etc. 

It's so wild though that last night they felt like massive underdogs. Going up against a Duke team loaded with NBA talent and the best coach of the shot-clock era in his last dance. Carolina won with, almost literally, 5 total players. Hubert Davis might be one hell of a coach for years to come. The next in a nearly uninterrupted line from Frank McGuire's hire in 1952.

[gunnar hendershow]

Ooofff what a collapse by North Carolina. That halftime lead evaporated in a hurry.

[DMN in the House]

On 03/04/2022 at 08:42, damhausen said:

Given how near impossible it is for them to meet in the tournament outside of the Final Four, UNC won the biggest game that will ever be played between the two schools. It's really something. It's not like the Tar Heels are a plucky underdog school, for most of history they've been the better school than Duke. Beyond the run in the late 80s/early 90s and then the run in the late 90s/early 00s, Carolina has always been better. Winning more championships, more prolonged success, etc. 

It's so wild though that last night they felt like massive underdogs. Going up against a Duke team loaded with NBA talent and the best coach of the shot-clock era in his last dance. Carolina won with, almost literally, 5 total players. Hubert Davis might be one hell of a coach for years to come. The next in a nearly uninterrupted line from Frank McGuire's hire in 1952.

I wanted to argue, because the NBA has had the shot clock since 1954, so I was sure that Wooden coached some under it, but college has only had it since 1985, which is crazy.

[gunnar hendershow]

19 minutes ago, DMN in the House said:

I wanted to argue, because the NBA has had the shot clock since 1954, so I was sure that Wooden coached some under it, but college has only had it since 1985, which is crazy.

Yeah, it's one of those weird things like not moving out the 3 pt line for years and other rules quirks that really make college a plodding, slow-paced game far too often.

I think the better line may be Bird-Magic in '79 separating the modern era from the past. But 1985 saw the expanded tournament field and the shot clock.