March Madness Thread

[bisme37]

Congrats LSU!

The refs sucked but LSU was the better team today regardless of the calls.

[eminence]

So the NCAA players can’t leave school early to join the WNBA? I hear that right? That’s kind of garbage that they have to finish all 4 years of school.

I think they just have to be 22.

I think it's fair enough, this isn't the NBA, except for endorsements these girls aren't making bank (70k range for rookies). There's plenty that will make more than that on NIL deals in college.

[And1+2]

Respect on their name? I’m confused. LSU is a muuuuuuuch better team than Iowa. It’s a miracle Iowa was even there, and they wouldn’t be without the most spectacular player in, perhaps, NCAA history. That team is only like 3 players deep, lol.

LSU won the game, as they should have.

[Pointgod]

So the NCAA players can’t leave school early to join the WNBA? I hear that right? That’s kind of garbage that they have to finish all 4 years of school.

I think they just have to be 22.

I think it's fair enough, this isn't the NBA, except for endorsements these girls aren't making bank (70k range for rookies). There's plenty that will make more than that on NIL deals in college.

Okay that makes sense. Thanks for clearing that up. And yeah thank God they’re making $$ from the NIL now.

[jokeboy86]

So the NCAA players can’t leave school early to join the WNBA? I hear that right? That’s kind of garbage that they have to finish all 4 years of school.

It helps the college game(which it would for the men's) and the WNBA and women's college game seem to be on the same page more so than the men's and NBA so there's no rush to lower it. Plus I have a feeling that with the NIL now that lowering the age limit wouldn't make that much of a difference just because of the level of exposure the best players in the women's college game get in contrast to the WNBA players. Arike, Diggins and many other great players became huge names in college and haven't been as big in the WNBA. The WNBA is still behind the college game in the sports landscape even though the level of talent is leaps and bounds better.

[sikma42]

Respect on their name? I’m confused. LSU is a muuuuuuuch better team than Iowa. It’s a miracle Iowa was even there, and they wouldn’t be without the most spectacular player in, perhaps, NCAA history. That team is only like 3 players deep, lol.

LSU won the game, as they should have.

Not familiar with women’s college basketball but why wasn’t Iowa the higher seed. Hard to act like some 2 seed is a Cinderella.


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[Ballerhogger]

Read on Twitter

?s=20 No chill

[And1+2]

Respect on their name? I’m confused. LSU is a muuuuuuuch better team than Iowa. It’s a miracle Iowa was even there, and they wouldn’t be without the most spectacular player in, perhaps, NCAA history. That team is only like 3 players deep, lol.

LSU won the game, as they should have.

Not familiar with women’s college basketball but why wasn’t Iowa the higher seed. Hard to act like some 2 seed is a Cinderella.


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It’s divisional. They were second in their division, but some divisions are worse than others. In woman’s hoops, this particularly stands true.

[eminence]

LSU certainly had better depth (emphasized by some tough calls against Iowa), but I wouldn’t say they were a much better team by any means. Took their best shooting performance and a decent whistle to make it look relatively easy like this.

[And1+2]

LSU certainly had better depth (emphasized by some tough calls against Iowa), but I wouldn’t say they were a much better team by any means. Took their best shooting performance and a decent whistle to make it look relatively easy like this.

The depth in this game mattered. LSU did get the whistle, but having a bench is what won the game. Iowa didn’t have bench contribution the entire tournament, and it was going to hurt them eventually.

You’re right that that getting into foul trouble always amplifies all issues with having a lack of a depth, but that’s part of basketball. The most balanced team usually wins.

[thisiskoz]

LSU certainly had better depth (emphasized by some tough calls against Iowa), but I wouldn’t say they were a much better team by any means. Took their best shooting performance and a decent whistle to make it look relatively easy like this.

The depth in this game mattered. LSU did get the whistle, but having a bench is what won the game. Iowa didn’t have bench contribution the entire tournament, and it was going to hurt them eventually.

You’re right that that getting into foul trouble always amplifies all issues with having a lack of a depth, but that’s part of basketball. The most balanced team usually wins.

You're not wrong. It's just that in a single elimination tourney, most people don't want to see an over officiated game where the difference maker is which team has the better bench.

[stillgotgame]

Congrats LSU!

The refs sucked but LSU was the better team today regardless of the calls.

This.

I watched the game because of hearing about Caitlin Clark but congrats to Jasmine Carson for lighting it up when it mattered.

[Jkam31]

Great product the nba has just dive to the floor and get your FTs

[Jkam31]

Great product the nba has just dive to the floor and get your FTs

Wrong thread

[Tempe]

It sucks than Iowa lost. Angel Reese is a classless POS


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[MagicMamba88]

Read on Twitter

[erdamon]

The officiating was horrendous. I have no idea how mulkey can lay hands on a red and get nothing and we get that tech on Clark. But the game got turned into a rock fight which favored LSU and their depth.

[ellobo]

The women's final was a very weird game. The officiating was terrible, and not just in a "missed a lot of calls" way, but in a way that was both overassertive and also let the game get out of control at times. For instance, post players on both teams throwing elbows into opponents' necks that were not called offensive fouls, but were reviewed and deemed incidental contact. The stars on both teams had to sit for long stretches, there was little flow to the action, and the tech on Clark was ridiculous. After the game, the ref tried to spin it as a delay of game tech because there was a delay of game warning on Iowa earlier in the game. But to me, that makes it worse since it was dead ball and didn't really delay the game, it was two shots at a crucial moment in the game, and it counted as personal on Clark. Even if you want to make techs also count as personals, this seems like a case where the tech should just be charged to the team.

I'm a big Caitlin Clark fan, a Mulkey hater, and was rooting for Iowa, but I have to give credit to LSU. They stepped up and made championship plays. Two sub 10ppg average players had 20+ (Williams and Carson), Reese pounded the offensive boards, Morris closed the game by not missing from midrange (especially punishing Iowa's drop coverage on ball screens), and they kept Clark out of the paint and made her take a lot of tough threes. If you put up 102 points in 40 minute women's game, you're going to be tough to beat.

As far as Reese's taunting at the end, I didn't like it, but whatever. Clark has been known to do similar stuff, and when you win a championship you get to talk. I'd rather see the trash talk get left behind in the heat of battle and just focus on celebrating your victory instead of taunting the opponent, but I can't get too upset about it. With all the attention Clark gets, I can see other players having an, "I just beat her, so what about me?" kind of attitude.

[thisiskoz]

The women's final was a very weird game. The officiating was terrible, and not just in a "missed a lot of calls" way, but in a way that was both overassertive and also let the game get out of control at times. For instance, post players on both teams throwing elbows into opponents' necks that were not called offensive fouls, but were reviewed and deemed incidental contact. The stars on both teams had to sit for long stretches, there was little flow to the action, and the tech on Clark was ridiculous. After the game, the ref tried to spin it as a delay of game tech because there was a delay of game warning on Iowa earlier in the game. But to me, that makes it worse since it was dead ball and didn't really delay the game, it was two shots at a crucial moment in the game, and it counted as personal on Clark. Even if you want to make techs also count as personals, this seems like a case where the tech should just be charged to the team.

I'm a big Caitlin Clark fan, a Mulkey hater, and was rooting for Iowa, but I have to give credit to LSU. They stepped up and made championship plays. Two sub 10ppg average players had 20+ (Williams and Carson), Reese pounded the offensive boards, Morris closed the game by not missing from midrange (especially punishing Iowa's drop coverage on ball screens), and they kept Clark out of the paint and made her take a lot of tough threes. If you put up 102 points in 40 minute women's game, you're going to be tough to beat.

As far as Reese's taunting at the end, I didn't like it, but whatever. Clark has been known to do similar stuff, and when you win a championship you get to talk. I'd rather see the trash talk get left behind in the heat of battle and just focus on celebrating your victory instead of taunting the opponent, but I can't get too upset about it. With all the attention Clark gets, I can see other players having an, "I just beat her, so what about me?" kind of attitude.

Great post.

In general I always hope that these kinds of games lead to more nuanced discussions about officiating and its impact.

And my random thought of the moment. If not for Caitlyn and Iowa doing the heavy lifting and taking out South Carolina in the semis, we're talking about back to back titles and an undefeated season this morning. Just an ironic juxtaposition to the taunting and "I just beat her" factor you mention (which I think is a good observation).

Let's hope the men's game tonight lacks the controversy.

[erdamon]

I have little doubt that SCU would have beat LSU. They won by 22 toward the end of them season. Also if the refs let the game turn into a sloppy rock fight it favors SCU.