General College Basketball Thread 2020-2021

[CountryRoads]

Following simple commands is a great update.  They had been so radio silent I was fearing the worst.  Lets hope positive signs continue.

Stable and FaceTimed the team today. Great news for the college hoops community.

[GooooMarquette]

Stable and FaceTimed the team today. Great news for the college hoops community.

That is great news!

[MU82]

Thank goodness.

[Heisenberg]

Loyola Chicago tied in the second half against Bucky.

I really hate Bucky, I cannot tell you how much I hate the Badgers.  I don't want them to lose, I want them to be humiliated.

That said, we beat them.  So, do I want Bucky to turn into a total disaster (like I always do), or do I want them to do well to make our win look all the better?

Please advise.

[CountryRoads]

Loyola Chicago tied in the second half against Bucky.

I really hate Bucky, I cannot tell you how much I hate the Badgers.  I don't want them to lose, I want them to be humiliated.

That said, we beat them.  So, do I want Bucky to turn into a total disaster (like I always do), or do I want them to do well to make our win look all the better?

Please advise.

I'm in the same dilemma. Think we are good enough this year to not have to worry about how good our wins are though.

[MU82]

I look at it as a win-win. If Madison wins ... whatevs ... I guess it helps our tourney seeding. If Madison loses ... good ... I hate 'em.

[PGsHeroes32]

Kstate who entered at 2-4 including a loss to D2 Fort Hayes State(they were winless in D2 coming into the game) just beat Iowa State tonight. Their two wins coming into tonight were by 5 points combined to Kansas City Roos and UWM. Woof.


That was potentially a game between the two worst power 5 teams.

[HutchwasClutch]

Loyola Chicago tied in the second half against Bucky.

I really hate Bucky, I cannot tell you how much I hate the Badgers.  I don't want them to lose, I want them to be humiliated.

That said, we beat them.  So, do I want Bucky to turn into a total disaster (like I always do), or do I want them to do well to make our win look all the better?

Please advise.

I'm having a harder time this year working up hate for them. First, Gard seems about as good a guy as there is at this level of coaching. Other than Davison, none of the other players bother me. Not like the days of Koenig, Hayes, Kaminsky, etc.  Finally, not seeing their fans and Grateful Red section also makes a difference. 

Maybe it's too early still.

[BM1090]

I'm having a harder time this year working up hate for them. First, Gard seems about as good a guy as there is at this level of coaching. Other than Davison, none of the other players bother me. Not like the days of Koenig, Hayes, Kaminsky, etc.  Finally, not seeing their fans and Grateful Red section also makes a difference. 

Maybe it's too early still.

Same feeling over here. I don't want them to be great but i want them to be solid and am not disgusted rooting for them. Best case scenario they win out in non-conference, finish 3rd or 4th in the B10 and bow out of the tournament early.

[PGsHeroes32]

I'm having a harder time this year working up hate for them. First, Gard seems about as good a guy as there is at this level of coaching. Other than Davison, none of the other players bother me. Not like the days of Koenig, Hayes, Kaminsky, etc.  Finally, not seeing their fans and Grateful Red section also makes a difference. 

Maybe it's too early still.

I find Reuvers to be quite punchable.

But yeah overall they are not the typical hateable bunch aside from the name on the jersey.

[MU82]

I have no problem hating Madison and Notre Dame. None.

Meanwhile, for those wondering about Virginia's slow start, here's an article in The Athletic explaining that Bennett is re-tooling his entire offense to a 5-out attack that he got from a D3 school.

https://theathletic.com/2247863/2020/12/16/virginia-cavaliers-hoos-offense-tony-bennett-noah-laroche/?source=dailyemail

I know it's behind a paywall for those who don't subscribe, so sorry.

[4everwarriors]

I love watching UNC's transition game. Even when they stink, they still push the pace with the pass up the court.

Sadly, Tom Crean had seemingly never seen a single second of tape of Roy's team doing that as of very early April 2003.

Crean sucks

[MU82]

Obviously don't love the Dookies, but any ND loss is a good ND loss!

[Pakuni]

UTEP 76, Arizona State 63
Miners went into the game KenPom #188.

[GooooMarquette]

Obviously don't love the Dookies, but any ND loss is a good ND loss!

Yep. And it helps if you think of it as an ND loss instead of a Duke win.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

UTEP 76, Arizona State 63
Miners went into the game KenPom #188.

1. I really liked the Rodney Terry hire a few years ago. I think given time he could turn UTEP into one of the best programs in CUSA.

2. I did not understand the top 25 hype that Arizona State got at the beginning of the season. They scream bubbly to me.

[MU82]

I did not understand the top 25 hype that Arizona State got at the beginning of the season. They scream bubbly to me.

Irrational love for Bobby Hurley.

[wadesworld]

ASU brought back Remy Martin and brought in 2 Burger Boys.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

ASU brought back Remy Martin and brought in 2 Burger Boys.

Im aware and even with that they screamed bubbly to me

[MU82]

Duke ... better without Jalen Johnson? Apparently it's good we didn't get that "cancer."

[MU82]

In The Athletic, Ken Pomeroy says that early-season results show that home-court advantage has been reduced significantly this season. That was expected, but even he seems surprised at the degree.

https://theathletic.com/2268722/2020/12/18/college-basketball-home-court-advantage-covid-no-fans-kenpom/?source=dailyemail

I'm not going to cut and paste, because I want to honor the paywall, but a few highlights ...

++ "Over the past five seasons, the home team has won 60.1 percent of conference games. Through Wednesday, home teams have gone 36-28 this season, for a winning percentage of 56.3 percent. If it holds, it would crush the previous record for home-team futility of 59.0 percent in the 2016-17 season."

++ It's a small sample subjected to the randomness of early-season matchups and better conclusions can be made in a month or so.

++ Average home scoring margin relative to the "home-court-less predictions" to this point in the season is about 60% of the previous 5 seasons.

++ "Home foul advantage" has dropped by more than a foul per game. "Foul calls have been less lopsided toward the home team than in the past, suggesting the drop in point differential isn't a fluke. Even without fans, officials want to please the home team, but not as much as they used to."

++ "At least so far, it appears home-court advantage is about 60 percent of what we've seen in previous seasons. That would mean that the presence of fans is responsible for about 40 percent of home-court advantage."

++ Still give a team credit for winning on the road, "just not as much as you have in the past."

[jesmu84]

Wisconsin looking pretty good today

[Uncle Rico]

Wisconsin looking pretty good today

Louisville missing their best player and coming off a long layoff on the road.  Makes the Marquette win that much better.

[CountryRoads]

Louisville missing their best player and coming off a long layoff on the road.  Makes the Marquette win that much better.

They still look very incompetent today. I think a cupcake would blow them out today so at least they aren't suffering a bad loss for their sake. The ACC looks pretty terrible this year. Not unhappy to see that.

[Billy Hoyle]

Gonzaga looking lethal!