Going through the brackets, injury questions keep popping up. Self's true health and UCLA's Clark being definitely out and Boma possibly being out are legitimate questions. It's hard to complete my bracket when these questions are up in the air.
9F
Discussion and predictions here!
Just be you. You is enough. - K, 4/5/10, 0:13.8 to play, 60-59 Duke.
You're all jealous hypocrites. - Titus on Laettner
You see those guys? Animals. They're animals. - SIU Coach Chris Lowery, on Duke
Going through the brackets, injury questions keep popping up. Self's true health and UCLA's Clark being definitely out and Boma possibly being out are legitimate questions. It's hard to complete my bracket when these questions are up in the air.
9F
I will never talk about That Game. GTHC.
UCONN seemed to be a very popular pick last night. (With at least one Blue Devils/Huskies championship predicted.)
Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."
UConn too trendy a pick. Gonzaga, as the hunter for once instead of the hunted, and playing very well down the stretch, seems like a really good bet here. Kansas of course is solid too, but something tells me the Zags are gonna get there this year.
I like the Zags this year. Their defense has been playing better of late. And one could argue no one currently has better tournament experience than Few - he knows how to advance. I liked UCLA before, but they have too many injuries. I still wonder about KU, though.
UConn gets heavy ESPN love because ESPN is in Connecticut, so keep that in mind.
9F
I will never talk about That Game. GTHC.
I mean - I know what you're going for here, but in this region alone:
- Bill Self Tournament Record: 55-21. 24 appearances, 2.3 wins per tournament. 4 F4s, 2 titles.
- Mark Few Tournament Record: 38-22. 23 appearances, 1.7 wins per tournament. 2 F4s, 0 titles.
Few isn't a slouch by any means, he's made 7 straight S16s (minus Covid). But Self has 17 more tournament wins in just one more appearance (and not all as a high-seeded blue-blood).
Other current notables (wins per tournament)
- Shaka Smart: 0.7
- Rick Barnes: 0.9
- Mick Cronin: 0.9
- Matt Painter: 1.1
- Kelvin Sampson: 1.2
- Bob Huggins: 1.3
- Scott Drew: 1.6
- Mark Few: 1.7
- Tom Izzo: 2.1
- Rick Pitino: 2.3
- Bill Self: 2.3
- John Calipari: 2.6
Notable recent retirees:
- Jim Boeheim: 1.8
- Roy Williams: 2.6
- Coach K: 2.8. Not to go too crazy with K love on a Duke board, but the dude almost *averaged* an E8 appearance every year. That's insanity.
He's been practicing, all signs point to him playing. You never know with back injuries, though. He initially tweaked it against Texas 10 days ago, came back fine for the first game of the B12 tournament, then tweaked it again against WVU. *shrug*. Might really need him against Smith/Black, if KU and Arkansas meet in Round 2.
In potentially more interesting/concerning news, it appears Gradey Dick also tweaked his back, this one in the first few minutes of the Texas game on Saturday. He stayed in, locked up a bit on him after. I expect he'll play too, but never the kind of thing you want to be worrying about right now.
Looks like Self missed today's practice. Everyone is saying he's fine and it's just rest, but I'd peg him as doubtful for Thursday's game against Howard.
I saw a "Lets Go Capel and Lets Go Hurley" thread, but don't forget Coach Blakeney at Howard! Rooting for all of our Duke guys! We've got 3 in this bracket,lets send one of those to the Final 4 to meet Capel and Scheyer!
Howard is showing they belong.
UNCA, thanks for showing up.
Best thing I can say about UCLA/UNCA is both teams have great hair.