ACC-Big10 Challenge Thread

[BlueintheFace]

I thought I would start a thread for discussion of all the challenge games this week.

VaTech and Wisconsin are playing the first game of the challenge right now.

... the refs seem to be ummmm unfocused tonight

[Duvall]

I don't even *like* Virginia Tech, and I think this is getting ridiculous.

[ugadevil]

It makes me so happy to see Virginia Tech and Seth Greenberg continue to lose games this way.

[roywhite]

It makes me so happy to see Virginia Tech and Seth Greenberg continue to lose games this way.

Confess your sins, Seth. It's obvious you are receiving cosmic punishment for some good reason. Out with it.

[Cavlaw]

Wow, really exciting finish to that game. I feel bad for the Hokies, but... what the heck is speed pool?

[dukelifer]

It makes me so happy to see Virginia Tech and Seth Greenberg continue to lose games this way.

Wow- two heartbreakers already this year on last second shots. Great (almost) comeback by the Hokies though.

[BlueintheFace]

Va Tech= unluckiest team in basketball with less than 1 minute left in the game

[PURDUE7]

I don't even *like* Virginia Tech, and I think this is getting ridiculous.

I have to agree.......that poor Allen kid got Hummel V OK squared. Did he play 10 minutes?

[duketaylor]

thoughts on tomorrow's game? I expect a tough game with a score in the mid 70's, I predict Duke 78-72. What do you think are the key match-ups?

[PURDUE7]

thoughts on tomorrow's game? I expect a tough game with a score in the mid 70's, I predict Duke 78-72. What do you think are the key match-ups?

Foul trouble for Hummel will kill PURDUE again.
I am worried about DUKE and their ability to drive to the hoop.
How both teams handle the pressure D/TO's and hitting 3's will go a long way.
If PURDUE can't force some turnovers and hit their 3's....they will struggle to score.

It should be a great game.....2 class coaches and schools. Actual student athletes what a concept! This ain't Memphis and Louisville.......

[phaedrus]

Va Tech= unluckiest team in basketball with less than 1 minute left in the game

Maybe, but in the two examples from this year VT has made really difficult plays to stay in the game. They don't get "lucky" on that tough three with 7 seconds to go, and no one's talking about them being "unlucky" that they gave up a tough runner in the last second.

[gw67]

I watched the game and feel bad for any team that loses a game like that. As DBR pointed out, Tech needs to begin to play well and win most of their remainder OOC games so their RPI is decent prior to ACC play.

Last night again showed that Ryan is one of the college game’s best coaches. He rarely gets a player who will play in the pros yet his teams continue to be Top 25 teams. His offense is a good fit for the players he recruits and is fun to watch. Purdue and Michigan State are expected to compete for the league title but I would not count out the Badgers.

gw67

[riverside6]

I have to agree.......that poor Allen kid got Hummel V OK squared. Did he play 10 minutes?

he played 15 minutes, scored 2 points and grabbed 3 rebounds. (http://www.scacchoops.com/tt_Game_Box_Score_External.asp?hGame=1413)

[arnie]

It makes me so happy to see Virginia Tech and Seth Greenberg continue to lose games this way.

I am glad to see someone else views Greenberg and VPI as I do. This may be heresy on this site, but I dislike the vpi coach more than I dislike ole roy. I think greenberg is vile, coaches a rough style of bball and then continually I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.es when the refs call it.

I hope the ACC-Big 11 classic finishes up at 9-2 in favor of the ACC.

[riverside6]

If you haven't checked out our Live Stats, I'd encourage you to do so tonight. We have live tempo-based stats for each of the games (something you can't get anywhere else), and we also graph the tempo-based stats throughout the game. If you're wondering why a team went on a run, the graphs are really good.

Here are the Live Stats links available for tonight's games...

Iowa @ BC (http://www.scacchoops.com/ViewHDGame.asp?hSchedule=1884)

Ohio St @ Miami (http://www.scacchoops.com/ViewHDGame.asp?hSchedule=1885)

Clemson @ Illinois (http://www.scacchoops.com/ViewHDGame.asp?hSchedule=1886)

Duke @ Purdue (http://www.scacchoops.com/ViewHDGame.asp?hSchedule=1887)

[Acymetric]

Ok, watching the Miami game one of the announcers mentioned Miami "Shooting the lights out." Now, I may be wrong, and this is why I'm bringing it up here, but isn't it "Shooting lights out" meaning were the lights out they'd still make shots? Does anyone have a more definite idea of the proper way to say the phrase/what it means? What on earth would "shooting out the lights" have to do with basketball? I mean, if you hit any lights at all I'd say there's something significantly wrong with your shot...:rolleyes:

[riverside6]

wow, Jack McClinton ejected for swatting at a OSU player. McClinton had made his first 4 three point attempts prior to the ejection.

[BlueintheFace]

Jack McClinton just got ejected for supposedly slapping an ohio st. player. It looked like he was trying to slap away defensive hands to me at first look, but it is very hard to tell... Also, the ohio st. player went down like an italian soccer player. pretty embarrassing for him.

[DukeFanInTerpLand]

he also hit McClinton in the face right before that. But I think McClinton was trying to take a swipe at the OSU player.

Thad Motta was irate about the double dribble not called, he never saw the swipe. Announcers always seem to double down when they are wrong. Really annoying.

[77devil]

Jack McClinton just got ejected for supposedly slapping an ohio st. player. It looked like he was trying to slap away defensive hands to me at first look, but it is very hard to tell... Also, the ohio st. player went down like an italian soccer player. pretty embarrassing for him.

It looked like an intentional swipe at the face to me even if it wasn't a hard foul. Watched the replay more than once. Correct call in my opinion.

[throatybeard]

Ok, watching the Miami game one of the announcers mentioned Miami "Shooting the lights out." Now, I may be wrong, and this is why I'm bringing it up here, but isn't it "Shooting lights out" meaning were the lights out they'd still make shots? Does anyone have a more definite idea of the proper way to say the phrase/what it means? What on earth would "shooting out the lights" have to do with basketball? I mean, if you hit any lights at all I'd say there's something significantly wrong with your shot...:rolleyes:

Yes, God forbid a native speaker of a language use an idiom.

[willywoody]

maybe UI should've had their fans wear a different color. Clemson looks like the home team.

[RelativeWays]

So the ESPN announcers are just now seeing that the Ohio State player made a swipe at McClinton first. Funny to here Lavin say they didn't have that footage available before. Yes you did, don't lie. You were too busy yakky yakking away to see.

[DukeFanInTerpLand]

And Allen Hopkins FINALLY tells the announcers why Matta was so upset. I could tell from 2000 miles away!

[RelativeWays]

Somebody must have told Stev Lavin that he looked like a real life Glen Quagmire because he's not slicking his hair back anymore (least the last two times I've seen him).

[BlueintheFace]

And Allen Hopkins FINALLY tells the announcers why Matta was so upset. I could tell from 2000 miles away!

Hopkins is a solid court/fieldside reporter. He gets the dirt in both basketball and soccer games.

[DukeUsul]

Somebody must have told Stev Lavin that he looked like a real life Glen Quagmire because he's not slicking his hair back anymore (least the last two times I've seen him).

giggity

[DukeFanInTerpLand]

Hopkins is a solid court/fieldside reporter. He gets the dirt in both basketball and soccer games.

agreed, he does a good job with US/MLS games.

[BlueintheFace]

Miami needs to break this game open... I want to see this game pick it up because they are running a few minutes late it seems.. NO FOULS

[riverside6]

Thinking the same thing blueintheface. Lots of threes guys!

[Oriole Way]

This looks like it will be a close game, and it's already running long. Once the foul-fest starts in the last 2 minutes, this is going to cut into several minutes of the Duke game.

So tired of missing significant portions of Duke games because ESPN always schedules an earlier game. Any way we can write to ESPN to let them know their programming/scheduling is terrible?

[BlueintheFace]

Some close games never have the foul fest... here's hoping it stays a one posession game in the last 2 minutes

[jlear]

This looks like it will be a close game, and it's already running long. Once the foul-fest starts in the last 2 minutes, this is going to cut into several minutes of the Duke game.

So tired of missing significant portions of Duke games because ESPN always schedules an earlier game. Any way we can write to ESPN to let them know their programming/scheduling is terrible?

espn360.com will have the game if the UM game runs long it is an option for some.

[willywoody]

Clemson game is close with a minute to go if you have an itchy remote control.

[gw67]

My impression after last night's games is that the Big Ten has a host of young teams that should improve as the season progresses. Wisconsin, Purdue and Michigan State are top 25 teams but nothing more.

Mike Davis is a local youngster (Alexandria, VA) who plays for Illinois and played very well last night. In high school, he played the pivot and, based on the one game I saw, he was not that impressive. I did not realize that he went to Illinois. Based on last night, he now plays away from the basket and has a nice, soft touch on his shots. He is only a soph and it appears that he could be a very good college player.

I expect the ACC to eke out a victory in the Challenge.

gw67

[Cavlaw]

Four of the first six games were really good with exciting finishes. Any fan of college basketball who has had a chance to watch the challenge so far has to be pleased.

We have to be happy with our game, as well, which means 5/6 so far have been enjoyable. The only real dark cloud over the challenge to this point in terms of watchable games for Duke fans was the Minnesota beatdown of struggling Virginia. It just wasn't a fun game to watch, even if you don't like Virginia (which I try to).

[davekay1971]

So, it's 3-3, largely because Va Tech remains the most cursed team on earth (karmic payback for their fans loutish behavior toward JJ and family, IMHO) and Miami remains the stupidest team on earth. How in the world could McClinton be so dumb? I know the Ohio State kid poked him first, but that was at least in the context of ball defense. Taking a swipe back in front of 3 refs and the Ohio State bench? Stupid.

[CDu]

My impression after last night's games is that the Big Ten has a host of young teams that should improve as the season progresses. Wisconsin, Purdue and Michigan State are top 25 teams but nothing more.

Mike Davis is a local youngster (Alexandria, VA) who plays for Illinois and played very well last night. In high school, he played the pivot and, based on the one game I saw, he was not that impressive. I did not realize that he went to Illinois. Based on last night, he now plays away from the basket and has a nice, soft touch on his shots. He is only a soph and it appears that he could be a very good college player.

I expect the ACC to eke out a victory in the Challenge.

gw67

The ACC should win the challenge comfortably again. UNC, FSU, Ga Tech, and Wake Forest should all win, while Maryland should win at home. FSU can be up and down (especially on the road) but they have a big talent edge. UNC may be without Hansbrough, but Michigan State did lose to Maryland recently. Tech and Wake simply play inferior teams, and at home. Maryland is a bit all over the map, but I could definitely see a Wednesday sweep. These matchups are definitely more favorable for the ACC.

[juise]

Apparently, the Big Ten teams I thought were horrible (Penn St., Northwestern) are not as horrible as their ACC opponents (Georgia Tech, FSU).

[wisteria]

Actually, this year, Big10 was a few points away from winning it for the first time.

[feldspar]

10-0.

Cue jokes about how the name should be changed from "challenge."

Nice job ACC.

[BlueintheFace]

Sun's gotta shine...