23/24 College Basketball

[chonestown]

He'll be good. In China.

After he fails as the Brook Lopez replacement...

I've mentioned before but dirt cheap Brook replacement who was a former big college name would be Luka Garza. He's very large, and has learned to shoot 3s. Not saying to get and to start and play 30 mins. But if they go to a Giannis at 5 main lineup but you need a cheap thick backup big who can shoot 3s for certain matchups he'd be a guy probably flying under the radar a bit.

The man do not fly under the radar, he lumbers under it.

Still, Minnesota does not have a lack of big guys and they've decided he's worth being activated.

This is the last nice thing I'll say about Luka Garza.

[DingleJerry]

After he fails as the Brook Lopez replacement...

I've mentioned before but dirt cheap Brook replacement who was a former big college name would be Luka Garza. He's very large, and has learned to shoot 3s. Not saying to get and to start and play 30 mins. But if they go to a Giannis at 5 main lineup but you need a cheap thick backup big who can shoot 3s for certain matchups he'd be a guy probably flying under the radar a bit.

The man do not fly under the radar, he lumbers under it.

Still, Minnesota does not have a lack of big guys and they've decided he's worth being activated.

This is the last nice thing I'll say about Luka Garza.

lol, I think he's slimmer/quicker than college. But yea what you said lines up with the 'brook replacement' idea of needing a big thick guy who can shoot 3s. I doubt he has the rim protection aspects but much of the other stuff should be there for league min.

maybe MN values him but I doubt it. Its not like I'm pining for him or anything, just in the last year or two of 'should we trade brook' he's popped in my head you could probably get competent replacement level out of for 10-15 mins a game for league min. I mean, he'd be better than most of the litany of guys circled through the end of the roster

[Finn]

Hunter Dickinson (the big fan favorite) is a 3 point shooting big man!

Maybe Moe Wagner (the true fan favorite) becomes available!!

[chonestown]

Hunter Dickinson (the big fan favorite) is a 3 point shooting big man!

Maybe Moe Wagner (the true fan favorite) becomes available!!

Please send your coordinates and I'll dispatch the cock-punching robot posthaste kthxbai.

[buckboy]

Acknowledging it’s easy to say now, I don’t know why anyone thought this was going to be an all-time game. Just media hype I suppose. Connecticut was very obviously the favorites and expected to runaway. “Two sevum foot’rs!”

People actually said that?

Huh.

Quite a bit. It was irrationally hyped-up because it was the first championship with "7 foot stars" since Ewing vs Hakeem. Everyone completely ignored the fact that it was more like "7 foot star vs. a complete team of NBA talent, with a tall guy too."

I thought UConn was a lock to win and a pretty easy cover at 6. I know it's easy to say that now, but that's what I thought.

[buckboy]

Yeah, I also had heard it. I think the spread only being 6.5-7 among KenPom or any other human's #1 vs. #2 team (Houston might've been if not for injuries) tricked people a little bit. Purdue was the #2 team on aggregate but did not have the ceiling to actually beat UConn, who clearly had more in the tank than shown most of the regular season, similar to an NBA team.

If anybody was going to do it, it was going to be Alabama...who had the blueprint in the 1st half (shoot 8/11 from 3). If they could've somehow gotten a miracle game where they did that wire-to-wire, they were about the only one.

Pomeroy had UConn -3. Which shocked me.

[buckboy]

Hunter Dickinson (the big fan favorite) is a 3 point shooting big man!

Maybe Moe Wagner (the true fan favorite) becomes available!!

Shoot me. Dickinson is among the biggest clowns ever in CBB.

[emunney]

Hunter Dickinson (the big fan favorite) is a 3 point shooting big man!

Maybe Moe Wagner (the true fan favorite) becomes available!!

Please send your coordinates and I'll dispatch the cock-punching robot posthaste kthxbai.

Think I've heard of that but want to make sure we're thinking of the same thing. Is that the robot that punches cocks?

[chonestown]

Hunter Dickinson (the big fan favorite) is a 3 point shooting big man!

Maybe Moe Wagner (the true fan favorite) becomes available!!

Please send your coordinates and I'll dispatch the cock-punching robot posthaste kthxbai.

Think I've heard of that but want to make sure we're thinking of the same thing. Is that the robot that punches cocks?

You have ascertained correctly, my brother.

[Kerb Hohl]

Yeah, I also had heard it. I think the spread only being 6.5-7 among KenPom or any other human's #1 vs. #2 team (Houston might've been if not for injuries) tricked people a little bit. Purdue was the #2 team on aggregate but did not have the ceiling to actually beat UConn, who clearly had more in the tank than shown most of the regular season, similar to an NBA team.

If anybody was going to do it, it was going to be Alabama...who had the blueprint in the 1st half (shoot 8/11 from 3). If they could've somehow gotten a miracle game where they did that wire-to-wire, they were about the only one.

Pomeroy had UConn -3. Which shocked me.

I'm always a defender of such a system...my thought is that UConn didn't run it up or bring it all during certain points of the regular season whereas somebody like Purdue had almost an entirely perfect/healthy regular season...that sets the aggregate rating.

[buckboy]

Yeah, I also had heard it. I think the spread only being 6.5-7 among KenPom or any other human's #1 vs. #2 team (Houston might've been if not for injuries) tricked people a little bit. Purdue was the #2 team on aggregate but did not have the ceiling to actually beat UConn, who clearly had more in the tank than shown most of the regular season, similar to an NBA team.

If anybody was going to do it, it was going to be Alabama...who had the blueprint in the 1st half (shoot 8/11 from 3). If they could've somehow gotten a miracle game where they did that wire-to-wire, they were about the only one.

Pomeroy had UConn -3. Which shocked me.

I'm always a defender of such a system...my thought is that UConn didn't run it up or bring it all during certain points of the regular season whereas somebody like Purdue had almost an entirely perfect/healthy regular season...that sets the aggregate rating.

Agree with all of that. The reason it shocked me is because the line was 6 1/2. It's almost never more than a point off Pomeroy unless there's an injury (which Pomeroy can't account for).

I would normally never bet against a line that was 3 1/2 of Pomeroy, but I did on Monday.

[MikeIsGood]

Will be curious to see where Avilla goes this offseason. With not just his play but also the hype/character built around him now, I imagine he's gonna get a haul.

He's hit the portal, but it sounds like he's likely to follow his coach to St Louis.

[Kerb Hohl]

Pomeroy had UConn -3. Which shocked me.

I'm always a defender of such a system...my thought is that UConn didn't run it up or bring it all during certain points of the regular season whereas somebody like Purdue had almost an entirely perfect/healthy regular season...that sets the aggregate rating.

Agree with all of that. The reason it shocked me is because the line was 6 1/2. It's almost never more than a point off Pomeroy unless there's an injury (which Pomeroy can't account for).

I would normally never bet against a line that was 3 1/2 of Pomeroy, but I did on Monday.

A friend of mine actually plays the "KenPom fade" and certain times will bet when the line is off from Ken by enough points.

The reason most support KenPom is as you say, it is basically the same as the betting line. But Ken basically has a rigid system that doesn't account for injury or tangible reasons for a team playing differently, etc.

Whatever Vegas uses is probably a similar formula but has people actively working on it. Much more dynamic and obviously can also be affected occasionally by public bets for line movement, etc. I'm sure they tried to account for whatever the indicator was that UConn was obviously playing like a team that was a world above what they were rated at.

[buckboy]

I'm always a defender of such a system...my thought is that UConn didn't run it up or bring it all during certain points of the regular season whereas somebody like Purdue had almost an entirely perfect/healthy regular season...that sets the aggregate rating.

Agree with all of that. The reason it shocked me is because the line was 6 1/2. It's almost never more than a point off Pomeroy unless there's an injury (which Pomeroy can't account for).

I would normally never bet against a line that was 3 1/2 of Pomeroy, but I did on Monday.

A friend of mine actually plays the "KenPom fade" and certain times will bet when the line is off from Ken by enough points.

The reason most support KenPom is as you say, it is basically the same as the betting line. But Ken basically has a rigid system that doesn't account for injury or tangible reasons for a team playing differently, etc.

Whatever Vegas uses is probably a similar formula but has people actively working on it. Much more dynamic and obviously can also be affected occasionally by public bets for line movement, etc. I'm sure they tried to account for whatever the indicator was that UConn was obviously playing like a team that was a world above what they were rated at.

I made a ton of money around 2008/2009 by betting on KenPom against the line. It wasn't uncommon at that time to see a line that was 4,5,6 points off KenPom. I hammered those games and won at a very high clip.

Unfortunately it didn't take Vegas long to catch on and their lines have been right on KenPom's since.

[Kerb Hohl]

Agree with all of that. The reason it shocked me is because the line was 6 1/2. It's almost never more than a point off Pomeroy unless there's an injury (which Pomeroy can't account for).

I would normally never bet against a line that was 3 1/2 of Pomeroy, but I did on Monday.

A friend of mine actually plays the "KenPom fade" and certain times will bet when the line is off from Ken by enough points.

The reason most support KenPom is as you say, it is basically the same as the betting line. But Ken basically has a rigid system that doesn't account for injury or tangible reasons for a team playing differently, etc.

Whatever Vegas uses is probably a similar formula but has people actively working on it. Much more dynamic and obviously can also be affected occasionally by public bets for line movement, etc. I'm sure they tried to account for whatever the indicator was that UConn was obviously playing like a team that was a world above what they were rated at.

I made a ton of money around 2008/2009 by betting on KenPom against the line. It wasn't uncommon at that time to see a line that was 4,5,6 points off KenPom. I hammered those games and won at a very high clip.

Unfortunately it didn't take Vegas long to catch on and their lines have been right on KenPom's since.

Right. That was probably the inflection point where they truly shifted to hiring Ivy League nerds with statistical models instead of considering that but having some guys in a smoke-filled room just saying, "I bet people will want to bet on the Cowboys and they're 7-4 and the other team is 5-6 so set the line at 6.5."

Those models are close to Ken's but probably have even more factors considered.

[Matches Malone]

Bucks legend

Read on Twitter

[MikeIsGood]

Can't wait for the fan takes

[Ryan5UW]

Can't wait for the fan takes

Yeah, it doesn’t seem like they’re reacting well to Mark Pope when they were expecting someone like Scott Drew or Dan Hurley

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

Looking back on his career, how the hell does a guy go from CBA to starting 45 games on a ECF team and back to the CBA in 20 months?

[drew881]

I learned today that Mark Pope went to medical school at Columbia. Horst should take note as he likes those advanced degrees. He could hire Pope when he is GM for the Pistons.