February Game Discussion Thread

MalReyn · Post #1 » by **MalReyn** » Mon Feb 2, 2009 8:18 pm

Just in time for some great games these upcoming few days... games between two ranked teams bolded.

Connecticut at Louisville, February 2nd, 7 p.m.
Purdue at Ohio St., February 3rd @ 7 p.m.
Mississippi St. at Kentucky, February 3rd @ 7 p.m.
Wake Forest at Miami (FL), February 4th @ 7:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Michigan St., February 4th @ 8:30 p.m.
Duke at Clemson, February 4th @ 9 p.m.
USC at UCLA, February 4th @ 10:30 p.m.

MalReyn · Post #2 » by **MalReyn** » Thu Feb 5, 2009 3:39 am

Wake Forest looked absolutely horrible tonight. Miami isn't a bad team (and they played well this evening) but Wake really just played plain bad.

Elsewhere, Clemson is really bringing it to Duke, and it looks like Oklahoma has their hands full with a pretty good Texas A&M team.

Polynice4Pippen · Post #3 » by **Polynice4Pippen** » Thu Feb 5, 2009 3:53 am

Damn, guess Michigan State wasn't happy about that home loss to Penn State, although the Nittany Lions look tourny bound. 76-47 victory over a darn good Minnesota team at the Breslin.

Polynice4Pippen · Post #4 » by **Polynice4Pippen** » Sat Feb 7, 2009 2:44 am

Marquette loses at South Florida. Gotta strong feeling that's gonna come back to haunt them in their quest for a conference title.

El Turco · Post #5 » by **El Turco** » Sat Feb 7, 2009 7:48 pm

notre dame is terrible. i havent watched lot of college ball this season but i thought they were suppose to be contenders.

MalReyn · Post #6 » by **MalReyn** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 3:52 am

ElTurco wrote:notre dame is terrible. i havent watched lot of college ball this season but i thought they were suppose to be contenders.

Notre Dame's problem is the just can't play defense, for whatever reason. It's really inexplicable, after being a decent defensive team last year.

Post #7 » by **jman3134** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:00 am

A more serious problem with ND is their inability to hit threes down the stretch. McAlarney has been hot and cold and Hillesland and Ayers really have not stepped up as much as they were expected to. Harangody has been a one man show for much of this stretch, and it shows....

Post #8 » by **GYBE** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:41 pm

ND sucks. That's really all that needs to be said at this point. But it's worth pointing out how ridiculous their schedule has been over this losing streak.

@ #5 Louisville
@ #23 Syracuse
#1 UConn
#10 Marquette
@ #4 Pittsburgh
@ Cincinnati
@ #11 UCLA

The problem is two-fold. One, they can't play defense. Two, no one can score outside of Harangody. McAlarney has been hugely disappointing this season, he was much better last year. And no one else seems to want to step up.

MalReyn · Post #9 » by **MalReyn** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 4:00 pm

^ If you look at their remaining schedule, it doesn't even get a whole lot easier. I doubt it would surprise anyone if they finished 3-5, with wins only against South Florida, Rutgers, and St. John's.

They really miss Kurz more than anyone expected too, he gives a nice third option after Harangody and McAlarney. Tory Jackson just isn't best as a scorer.

One stunning stat really highlights their defensive issues this season. Their defensive efficiency (adjusted) for this season so far is 159th in the country. Compare this to last season, when their adjusted defensive efficiency was 42nd in the country.

Post #10 » by **jman3134** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 6:56 am

Villanova is tearing up the Big East right now. Shane Clark is finally playing at a level that most expect him to be at. Fisher has stepped it up and looks like a legitamite offensive option. And, when Scottie is on, this team is tough to stop. Dante has been consistent all year and Dwayne is playing well after returning from injury. This is going to be a tough team to stop come tournament time. Their defense is impeccable.

Polynice4Pippen · Post #11 » by **Polynice4Pippen** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 3:05 am

Thabeet just looked like a man amongst boys against Syracuse. Can't wait for UConn/Pitt on Monday.

MalReyn · Post #12 » by **MalReyn** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 3:28 am

Can't quite figure out what is going on in the ACC. WF losses AGAIN this time to an average NC State team. Granted, it was an away game, but Wake is FAR more talented.

Duke-UNC is entertaining as it always is. UNC started strong, Duke looked in control for awhile, but as expected UNC is making a nice run. Ellington, who has looked excellent of late, is playing horribly so far. It looks like right now UNC's size might be wearing down Duke, but I've watched far too much college basketball in my life to count them out.

Polynice4Pippen · Post #13 » by **Polynice4Pippen** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 3:09 am

Notre Dame 90, Louisville 57.

Don't count the Irish out yet.

Polynice4Pippen · Post #14 » by **Polynice4Pippen** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 4:07 am

Heartbreak city for Northwestern once again, this time against Illinois. How the hell did they lose that game up 7 with about 90 seconds to play? Demetri McCamey with the game-winner with 2.9 seconds left to cap off a furious Illini comeback. 60-59 Illini. Eerily similiar to the big lead they blew in the final seconds to Purdue earlier in the season.

Post #15 » by **GYBE** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 12:44 pm

Polynice4Pippen wrote:Notre Dame 90, Louisville 57. Don't count the Irish out yet.

Biggest margin of defeat for a Rick Pitino team. I really didn't see that coming.

MalReyn · Post #16 » by **MalReyn** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 6:31 pm

Polynice4Pippen wrote:Notre Dame 90, Louisville 57. Don't count the Irish out yet.

I think that destroys any chance Louisville may have had at a 1 seed, and seriously hurts chances of being a 2 seed.

Notre Dame still has a hill to climb to even get a berth. I think they need at least 5-2 in their remaining games (plus a win or two in the Big East tourney).

Wade2k6 · Post #17 » by **Wade2k6** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 7:47 pm

UCLA losing to 'Zona by 15 with 7 minutes left. (after a 8-0 run from UCLA too)

MalReyn · Post #18 » by **MalReyn** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 9:08 pm

Virginia, a team that would need to play their butts off to even get an NIT berth, beats Clemson in OT.

Really a bad loss for a team that wants to climb to the upper-tier of the ACC.

Post #19 » by **TMU** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 12:36 am

Duke is so overrated this year.

MalReyn · Post #20 » by **MalReyn** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:42 pm

Just over an hour till tipoff of a contest between 2 of the best teams in the country, UConn and Pitt.

The Thabeet-Blair big man matchup alone makes this one worth watching.