NCAA Tournament

[Shady Franchise]

I wasn't surprised or shocked Loyola Chicago made the sweet 16, Miami and Tennessee are overrated/ not that good. But Michigan State got bounced in the 2nd round to Syracuse

I still have Loyola alive in my bracket too! Too bad the rest of my bracket is busted with Xavier out and Arizona out as well. Still have Duke, Kansas and Villanova in it.

[tiderulz]

I wasn't surprised or shocked Loyola Chicago made the sweet 16, Miami and Tennessee are overrated/ not that good. But Michigan State got bounced in the 2nd round to Syracuse

I still have Loyola alive in my bracket too! Too bad the rest of my bracket is busted with Xavier out and Arizona out as well. Still have Duke, Kansas and Villanova in it.

i had Nova winning it all, but over Arizona. 3 of my final 4 still alive (Nova, Kansas and Michigan)

[InFlames]

How bout my Noles

[tiderulz]

How bout my Noles

they looked very impressive last night

[PennytoShaq]

FSU did look great. I was happy with that win. They shoot the 3 better this year and their defense is so good. Their offense is run far more efficiently as well - they prioritize corner 3s or shots at the rim.

I have no idea if they can keep this going, but they are a very deep team and I think that helped them make their run last night.

[Patrick1978]

FSU did look great. I was happy with that win. They shoot the 3 better this year and their defense is so good. Their offense is run far more efficiently as well - they prioritize corner 3s or shots at the rim.

I have no idea if they can keep this going, but they are a very deep team and I think that helped them make their run last night.

Will some players from FSU be in the draft?

[PennytoShaq]

FSU did look great. I was happy with that win. They shoot the 3 better this year and their defense is so good. Their offense is run far more efficiently as well - they prioritize corner 3s or shots at the rim.

I have no idea if they can keep this going, but they are a very deep team and I think that helped them make their run last night.

Will some players from FSU be in the draft?

I doubt it. That is the interesting thing. They had 3 NBA players on last year's team yet were not as good.

One reason is I believe the team plays much more selfless now. Last year too much free reign was given to XLM and Bacon. Not only was Isaac not able to develop his offense much, but the team simply was easier to defend as a result.

This year, any player on FSU can score the ball. So it is tougher to defend.

[Patrick1978]

FSU did look great. I was happy with that win. They shoot the 3 better this year and their defense is so good. Their offense is run far more efficiently as well - they prioritize corner 3s or shots at the rim.

I have no idea if they can keep this going, but they are a very deep team and I think that helped them make their run last night.

Will some players from FSU be in the draft?

I doubt it. That is the interesting thing. They had 3 NBA players on last year's team yet were not as good.

One reason is I believe the team plays much more selfless now. Last year too much free reign was given to XLM and Bacon. Not only was Isaac not able to develop his offense much, but the team simply was easier to defend as a result.

This year, any player on FSU can score the ball. So it is tougher to defend.

Which interesting players do they have?

[PennytoShaq]

Will some players from FSU be in the draft?

I doubt it. That is the interesting thing. They had 3 NBA players on last year's team yet were not as good.

One reason is I believe the team plays much more selfless now. Last year too much free reign was given to XLM and Bacon. Not only was Isaac not able to develop his offense much, but the team simply was easier to defend as a result.

This year, any player on FSU can score the ball. So it is tougher to defend.

Which interesting players do they have?

Terrance Mann is a solid player. Playing with a groin injury though now, but he still made a big impact at the end of last night's game.

Christ Koumadje is a 7'4 Center who drives teams crazy with his length on D. Pretty remedial offense, but he can move pretty well for his size.

Cofer and Angola are upperclassman who can shoot the 3 and are team leaders in scoring.

It's just a really balanced roster. No superstar. I could see Mann maybe being a 2nd round pick.

[PrimeThyme]

I doubt it. That is the interesting thing. They had 3 NBA players on last year's team yet were not as good.

One reason is I believe the team plays much more selfless now. Last year too much free reign was given to XLM and Bacon. Not only was Isaac not able to develop his offense much, but the team simply was easier to defend as a result.

This year, any player on FSU can score the ball. So it is tougher to defend.

Which interesting players do they have?

Terrance Mann is a solid player. Playing with a groin injury though now, but he still made a big impact at the end of last night's game.

Christ Koumadje is a 7'4 Center who drives teams crazy with his length on D. Pretty remedial offense, but he can move pretty well for his size.

Cofer and Angola are upperclassman who can shoot the 3 and are team leaders in scoring.

It's just a really balanced roster. No superstar. I could see Mann maybe being a 2nd round pick.

I could see Mann maybe having a chance in the league. I mean, I think XRM signed a ten day with the Knicks this year and I’d say Mann is at least as good as he was for us last year. He offers a really nice all around skillset. He’s not really great at any one thing but has a great motor and does a lot of things well. He could be a role player for the right team. Probably not a great chance that it happens though.

[RookieStar]

I still think Duke wins it all despite whoever they meet.

It would be surprising if they don’t. They are more talented than Syracuse and have been playing zone defense all season pretty effectively. It’s realistically between Villanova and Duke.

The thing is though... we have seen some pretty talented teams get whopped by *supposedly* not-as-talented no-name teams.

My Duke prediction is based the same as when that Brian Zoubek and co. led team won.. gut feeling. LOL To be fair, my gut feeling also told me the Magic were winning against the Lakers in the Finals and look what happened.

[pepe1991]

Haha appreciate it bro. At this stage you are right. His game offensively atm is too raw to play SF. I’m not ready to pigeonhole him into anything yet though and say that he can’t/won’t be this or he definitely will play this position. I really want to see him get a summer with Forcier and start developing his game. It’s really going to depend on him developing a much tighter handle and gaining confidence in his shot at the NBA level.

If he can do those things and add the off the dribble dimension to his game I think it’s definitely a possibility he could become a 3/4 hybrid guy with AG. I’m not sure how long that will take though. The game is going to have to slow down for him offensively and he is going to have to add to it before we know for sure. I’m open to 3/4/5 right now.

Given his asthma problems would it be easier to him to play big man over SF in general? Big guys tend to move less ,but game is more physical for them. Jimmy Butler, at SF , in 2016 lead whole league in average distance per game ,2,76 miles.

I never saw anything SF-ish in isaac comming from college, in nba it just got more clear. Ofc over years he could and should develop ballhandling and shooting off dribble, passing . But that skillset will be "force fed" to him, not something he is comfortable doing naturally.

Because of that i'm hesitateing about idea of drafting another big man. How many min you can distribute to that guy, Isaac and Gordon and make it work and shouldn't lottery be way how to build your starting 5 ,than figure bench later instad of adding players that don't fit ? ( Hello 2014 all over again when Oladipo got Payton to ruin him ).

Maybe best Magic solution is to trade Gordon for guard. Example- Jamal Murray and Nuggets pick for Gordon and salary dump to make it work. ( Murray is easly one of most talented young guards in nba that nobody pays notice because he plays in Denver , guy is 20 and averaging 16,4 ppg on 58% TS)

Pepe, I would love Murray, but why would they do that? Murray is their starting PG, and they have a lot of bigs. They just signed Millsap to be their PF next to Jokic, and thats not to mention they are going to hand him a HUGE contract soon. Maxing out Gordon and Jokic would hinder their future. I think we would need to add the draft pick + a lot more in order to get Murray and his remaining rookie contract. Lets face it, Gordon has value, but his value goes down with his pending payday around the corner.

It was more trade idea about what type of player i would target than anything else. It just ended up being liked by other posters more than i ever thought

But if we talking about real deal, than Nuggets could sent Millsap and Murray and we would give up Gordon's new salary . Should work fine with money.

[BadMofoPimp]

All for IT.

[mrtcsm]

What about the Martin twins from Nevada? Cody specifically looked like a young Fournier in that win vs Cincinnati. Good handles, great decision maker and shot creator (25pts, 7asts, 6rebs) on a 22pt comeback on a must win game. Quite impressive...

I also liked DJ Hogg from A&M. Very sound game, high b-ball IQ, plays both sides of the floor, sweet shot and at 6’9” can handle the ball and create. Looks like a Parsons/Kuzma type of player. Intriguing prospect too.

[IllMagic04]

Duke is gonna destroy Cuse. They are not a very good team. I watched that Mich St game. They gave up like 15 offensive rebounds. Bagley is gonna feast on them on the glass. Also as bothered as Mich st was by the zone, they got great looks in the 2nd half. They just missed them. Duke are gonna nail those shots. Syracuse's offense is a mess. Duke vs Mich st woulda been a great game

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[Blue_and_Whte]

Duke is gonna destroy Cuse. They are not a very good team. I watched that Mich St game. They gave up like 15 offensive rebounds. Bagley is gonna feast on them on the glass. Also as bothered as Mich st was by the zone, they got great looks in the 2nd half. They just missed them. Duke are gonna nail those shots. Syracuse's offense is a mess. Duke vs Mich st woulda been a great game

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Yeah I fully expect Duke to crush them.


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[nymets1]

Duke is gonna destroy Cuse. They are not a very good team. I watched that Mich St game. They gave up like 15 offensive rebounds. Bagley is gonna feast on them on the glass. Also as bothered as Mich st was by the zone, they got great looks in the 2nd half. They just missed them. Duke are gonna nail those shots. Syracuse's offense is a mess. Duke vs Mich st woulda been a great game

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Michigan State outrebounded Syracuse 51 to 30. Jaren Jackson Jr and Langford both had 8 rebounds and Tillman was their leading rebounder with 12. What if both Bagley and Wendell Carter each get around 8 rebounds and Duke outrebounds Syracuse by at least 10 and still lose like MIchigan State did with Syracuse? It's possible.

[MagicMatic]

Duke is gonna destroy Cuse. They are not a very good team. I watched that Mich St game. They gave up like 15 offensive rebounds. Bagley is gonna feast on them on the glass. Also as bothered as Mich st was by the zone, they got great looks in the 2nd half. They just missed them. Duke are gonna nail those shots. Syracuse's offense is a mess. Duke vs Mich st woulda been a great game

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Michigan State outrebounded Syracuse 51 to 30. Jaren Jackson Jr and Langford both had 8 rebounds and Tillman was their leading rebounder with 12. What if both Bagley and Wendell Carter each get around 8 rebounds and Duke outrebounds Syracuse by at least 10 and still lose like MIchigan State did with Syracuse? It's possible.

Definitely possible. However, Duke has also been playing a better version of the Syracuse zone defense the whole season. If duke has any kind of outside game, it’s over.

[Nemesis21]

FSU did look great. I was happy with that win. They shoot the 3 better this year and their defense is so good. Their offense is run far more efficiently as well - they prioritize corner 3s or shots at the rim.

I have no idea if they can keep this going, but they are a very deep team and I think that helped them make their run last night.

We'll need Angola to be making shots, to have a chance at beating Gonzaga. We're 15-3 when his shot is going in, 7-8 when it's not. He's the X-factor for a Noles victory.

[nymets1]

I'm glad I'm off Thursday cause all the most intriguing or interesting games are all from the left side of the bracket. None of the matchups on the right side of the bracket are as intriguing or interesting as the games from the left side. It could possibly turn out the games from the right side of the bracket have closer games, But before the games start, clearly the best matchups to see are all on the left side of the bracket.