Watching the tournament games

[CTWarrior]

I got the DirecTV package and hosted a tourney watching party Thursday with some friends (pretty much all UConn/Big East fans) in our annual playing hookey for the NCAA tournament.  A buddy hosted on Friday.  A few things I noticed:

1.  Tremendous three point shooters seem to grow on trees!  All these mid-majors seem to have three!  Why can't we get a couple of those?
2.  The constant drawing of charges while standing under the basket has reached epidemic proportions.  They are going to have to put the NBA semi-circle under the basket.  Trust me, despite what Coach K has wrought, basketball wasn't meant to be played this way, where the most effective defensive technique is to pretend to be knocked down instead of trying to block a shot.
3.  Corollary to point 2.  The officiating is way too important in determining who wins these games.  Ed Hightower did not blow his whistle in a manner  unfriendly to Xavier the entire game.  I pointed him out to my buddies while we were watching the game and it became a running joke.  Somebody linked to a Louisville article in one of these posts and the author was right on.  At the end of the Duke game, a Duke player obviuosly stepped out of bounds on the defensive end at the end of the game against Belmont and then did the same on the offensive end and the officials missed them both and Paulus took two steps, and then three more while calling timeout and no travelling call.  Stuff like this happened constantly in many of the games.

[MUSF]

"1.  Tremendous three point shooters seem to grow on trees!  All these mid-majors seem to have three!  Why can't we get a couple of those?"

I'm sure we could get a couple. The question is; do you want to put all of your eggs into the three point basket? Most of the mid-major three point specialists are just that, specialists. They are not complete players and most are not great athletes. These mid-major schools can't always get complete players or great athletes so they turn to the great equalizer in college bball, the three point shot. If a team has good shooters that get hot, they can beat any team in the country. That, in my opinion, is why they should move the three point line back.

That said, I still wouldn't want to trade one of our starters for some three point specialist. I wouldn't want to tie our fate to such a low percentage shot. Even great shooters go cold. Look at Duke against Belmont. They can't guard anyone that is remotely athletic and when they don't hit the outside shot they are very vulnerable.

[romey]

"1.  Tremendous three point shooters seem to grow on trees!  All these mid-majors seem to have three!  Why can't we get a couple of those?"

I'm sure we could get a couple. The question is; do you want to put all of your eggs into the three point basket? Most of the mid-major three point specialists are just that, specialists. They are not complete players and most are not great athletes. These mid-major schools can't always get complete players or great athletes so they turn to the great equalizer in college bball, the three point shot. If a team has good shooters that get hot, they can beat any team in the country. That, in my opinion, is why they should move the three point line back.

That said, I still wouldn't want to trade one of our starters for some three point specialist. I wouldn't want to tie our fate to such a low percentage shot. Even great shooters go cold. Look at Duke against Belmont. They can't guard anyone that is remotely athletic and when they don't hit the outside shot they are very vulnerable.

Funny you say that.  I have 20 year old son and a 16 year old son - both basketball players - and as I watched them growing up and playing (coached them at the rec level) it became very obvious to me that there is a phenomena that the three point line has spawned.  One dimensional players.  These are kids with a hoop in the driveway that they just launch bombs at and work on nothing else.  A lot of kids today don't do what I did as a youth and that's play basketball games.  Pick up games - three on three, five on five.  They only develop one skill - the 20 foot shot.

[MUSF]

Anybody wish we had three point shooters like Duke now?