HawkSquawk NCAA tournament bracket

[NJHAWK]

No sir I am no KY hater I am a Duke hater x 10 and UNC hater 2nd . I just think Rondo is overated in every phase of the game but defense. All defensive team yes, all star no. Do I usually root against KY in the tourney? yes but only because they have had they're fair share of titles and I like to see other schools win. Do I wish Laettner missed that shot at the Spectrem, you bet your ayss I do. One of my favorite Hawks all time was Antoine Walker too by the way. I thought KY would win because that #5 seed you mention didnt have the starting point guard and the were being coached by Bobby run the same play 100 times Huggins.Cal looked like a deer in the headlights. I know KY was relying on freshman but those freshman didnt fold like that all year long up till that game. WV I believe made alot of the 3's early on but down the stretch they ran the same play over and over but it worked. I realize KY could play 50 more games and not shoot as bad from 3 again but at some point you have to realize its not working and take the ball to the basket. Dont forget WV missed a ton of free throws as well.

[AHF]

I know KY was relying on freshman but those freshman didnt fold like that all year long up till that game.

They had a number of games like that one, but were able to pull them out by narrow margins against teams that weren't as good as WV.

WV I believe made alot of the 3's early on but down the stretch they ran the same play over and over but it worked. I realize KY could play 50 more games and not shoot as bad from 3 again but at some point you have to realize its not working and take the ball to the basket.

Agreed.

"Calipari never recognized that an adjustment needed to be made to the 1-3-1 zone WV was employing and let the team take a 1 in the paint 4 on the perimeter approach to braking the zone which works well unless you brick open J after open J."

Dont forget WV missed a ton of free throws as well.

?? I don't get this one. WV shot 70% from the year on FTs. Against UK they shot 68%. They were expected to make 23.9 against UK based on the FTA and made 23 instead. They did exactly what you would expect.

UK shot 67% on the year and shot 55% against WV. The 3pters were a bigger factor but UK's core perimeter guys really failed from the line. Wall, Bledsoe and Miller shot 75%, 67%, and 80% on the year and shot 50%, 16% and 50% against WV.

It was a cluster for UK on shooting and they never made the adjustments that might have allowed them to win in spite of that either offensively or defensively.

[NJHAWK]

They had a number of games like that one, but were able to pull them out by narrow margins against teams that weren't as good as WV.

Agreed.

"Calipari never recognized that an adjustment needed to be made to the 1-3-1 zone WV was employing and let the team take a 1 in the paint 4 on the perimeter approach to braking the zone which works well unless you brick open J after open J."

?? I don't get this one. WV shot 70% from the year on FTs. Against UK they shot 68%. They were expected to make 23.9 against UK based on the FTA and made 23 instead. They did exactly what you would expect.

UK shot 67% on the year and shot 55% against WV. The 3pters were a bigger factor but UK's core perimeter guys really failed from the line. Wall, Bledsoe and Miller shot 75%, 67%, and 80% on the year and shot 50%, 16% and 50% against WV.

It was a cluster for UK on shooting and they never made the adjustments that might have allowed them to win in spite of that either offensively or defensively.

WHats the noise coming out of U of K nation radio and newspapers? They must be frying Calapari. It actually looks like a replay of Memphis since his recruits were so good they are prolly going to bolt for the nba after one year. Watching that game it just seemed like they could have done so many other things but kept working with what wasnt working. If that was the Hawks in game 7 of the playoffs They would want Woody burned at the stake.

[AHF]

WHats the noise coming out of U of K nation radio and newspapers? They must be frying Calapari. It actually looks like a replay of Memphis since his recruits were so good they are prolly going to bolt for the nba after one year. Watching that game it just seemed like they could have done so many other things but kept working with what wasnt working. If that was the Hawks in game 7 of the playoffs They would want Woody burned at the stake.

Calipari inherited a team in the NIT last year that actually lost their best guard and arguably best performer in Jodie Meeks and then took them to 35 wins and an Elite Eight performance. People are still elated with Calipari's overall performance. There is definitely some second guessing about his game management against West Virginia but the expectations for UK this season were definitely met and then some. If you get enough uber-talented teams that make deep runs in the tournament, you can't be that critical of the guy's performance even if he is a weaker in-game coach.

How could you possibly be frying the guy for what he did this year? Some rational second-guessing sure, but you have to like what he did at Memphis and UK given what they were seeing before he arrived.

[NJHAWK]

Calipari inherited a team in the NIT last year that actually lost their best guard and arguably best performer in Jodie Meeks and then took them to 35 wins and an Elite Eight performance. People are still elated with Calipari's overall performance. There is definitely some second guessing about his game management against West Virginia but the expectations for UK this season were definitely met and then some. If you get enough uber-talented teams that make deep runs in the tournament, you can't be that critical of the guy's performance even if he is a weaker in-game coach.

How could you possibly be frying the guy for what he did this year? Some rational second-guessing sure, but you have to like what he did at Memphis and UK given what they were seeing before he arrived.

Im going on the assumption that at a place like KY success is measured in Final Fours and National Championships especially when you have arguably the best talent in the country and most likely together for a one and only shot at a title. Im not saying Cal doesnt already have more talent coming in but I doubt he has two or 3 lotto picks coming in including 2 of the top 4 players that should be drafted this summer. To me it seemed like there was alot of pressure to win it all and they did not leave they're best basketball on the floor so that can be a good reason to bash Cal.

Edited March 31, 2010 by NJHAWK

[AHF]

Im going on the assumption that at a place like KY success is measured in Final Fours and National Championships especially when you have arguably the best talent in the country and most likely together for a one and only shot at a title. Im not saying Cal doesnt already have more talent coming in but I doubt he has two or 3 lotto picks coming in including 2 of the top 4 players that should be drafted this summer. To me it seemed like there was alot of pressure to win it all and they did not leave they're best basketball on the floor so that can be a good reason to bash Cal.

IMO, there is no good reason to bash Cal for what he did this season. Coach K, Tom Izzo, etc. could not have done any better had they inherited the mess he did. Izzo could have done a better job of making in-game adjustments for the WV game, but I don't think any coach in the country could have taken over the leftovers from the Gillispie era and accomplished this much in so short a time.

The expectation for Cal is that he will need to reload next year, likely won't get the same level of impact players, but that he will be getting good enough players that UK will still be "back."

For next season, UK's top recruit is Brandon Knight who won high school player of the year awards both his junior and senior seasons:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/basketball/2010-03-23-knight-gatorade-player-of-the-year_N.htm

If UK lands the players they are expecting to land this offseason and if Bledsoe and Orton return as Draft Express is projecting, according to DE's 2011 mock draft UK players will be drafted with the following picks in next year's draft:

#6

#7

#13

#17

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2011/

Everyone is disappointed the team didn't win it all, but they improved so much from last year to now that I think only an ingrate would be "bashing" Cal right now. While Kentucky fans are often viewed as crazy fanatics ready to kill their coach, the team has only had 7 coaches since 1932 and the only ones who were fired were a pair of guys with drinking problems - Eddie Sutton and Gillispie. There won't be anyone calling for Cal's head after he just became the first coach in the history of men's NCAA basketball to put together 5 consecutive 30 win seasons.

[DJlaysitup]

Well Congrats to "Doin"...is that you DJGrizz? Anyway Doin and I have the same 3 of the final 4 and Doin has me by points at this stage. Pick-wise, there is no room for me to catch up. I checked a few rungs down on the ladder and it doesn't seem anybody else has a mathematical chance to catch up either.

Congrats fella....man-o-man...I tought I had a chance at the double this year .

You are the Winner!!

unless my math is wrong.

[DJlaysitup]

P.S. - and bigtime thanks to D for setting this up!

Edited April 2, 2010 by DJlaysitup

[HawkFoLife]

No sir I am no KY hater I am a Duke hater x 10 and UNC hater 2nd . I just think Rondo is overated in every phase of the game but defense. All defensive team yes, all star no. Do I usually root against KY in the tourney? yes but only because they have had they're fair share of titles and I like to see other schools win. Do I wish Laettner missed that shot at the Spectrem, you bet your ayss I do. One of my favorite Hawks all time was Antoine Walker too by the way. I thought KY would win because that #5 seed you mention didnt have the starting point guard and the were being coached by Bobby run the same play 100 times Huggins.Cal looked like a deer in the headlights. I know KY was relying on freshman but those freshman didnt fold like that all year long up till that game. WV I believe made alot of the 3's early on but down the stretch they ran the same play over and over but it worked. I realize KY could play 50 more games and not shoot as bad from 3 again but at some point you have to realize its not working and take the ball to the basket. Dont forget WV missed a ton of free throws as well.

What stood out to me out of all that is: You said Antoine Walker was one of your favorite Hawks of all time. :blink:

[DjGrizz]

Well Congrats to "Doin"...is that you DJGrizz? Anyway Doin and I have the same 3 of the final 4 and Doin has me by points at this stage. Pick-wise, there is no room for me to catch up. I checked a few rungs down on the ladder and it doesn't seem anybody else has a mathematical chance to catch up either.

Congrats fella....man-o-man...I tought I had a chance at the double this year .

You are the Winner!!

unless my math is wrong.

Yep, that is me! :biggrin:

Can't wait to do it again next year!

[Diesel]

Yep, that is me! :biggrin:

Can't wait to do it again next year!

Congratulations to Doin Work... Picking 3 out of 4 of the final four is very impressive this year!!!

[coachx]

Yep, that is me! :biggrin:

Can't wait to do it again next year!

You da' man !

Impressive bracket for such a crazy tourney.

Thanks to Diesel for setting this up too.

[frankthetank966]

If you aint first your last holds to be true for me!