Got to love the retards on ESPN

All year they've been harping on how wide-open college basketball is.  "Anyone can win it", "There's going to be a ton of upsets in the tournament", "I can definitely see team X making a run at it",  "Team X is really underrated, they have what it takes to make the final four."

But what happens when the brackets come out?  They take all chalk and almost every single one of them has the 1 and 2 seed facing off in the elite eight.

Unloading on North Carolina tonight

I don't think anyone would disagree that this season has been an unmitigated disaster for the Tar Heels.  After a rather promising start that hinted at another deep tournament run, the bottom has fallen out and North Carolina has sunk to the bottom of the ACC Standings, tied for fewest conference wins at two.  But as America's most high-profile college basketball team, the odds-makers haven't had to make any drastic adjustments to their lines, because the betting public has remained inexplicably infatuated with the young men in powder blue, in spite of their money-burning 7-14 A.T.S. record (2-6 A.T.S. in ACC play).  That is until now.  As the losses keep piling up, bettors have begun to grow weary of this sluggish and underachieving bunch.  People are sick and tired of being burned by these guys.  But tonight the mindset is all different and here's why.  For the first time in eons the Tar Heels are a home underdog.  They've sunk to such depths that finally the odds-makers have had enough and they've been forced to jack up their lines.  Due to this adjustment, I feel like finally there is some line value in betting on North Carolina.  This evening the Heels aren't being to asked to cover an inflated chalk line like they have failed to do countless times at home this season.  They are now the ugly home underdog, and that's a completely different role.  When nothing is expected of you, it's a totally different mind... [More]

Gonzaga/Portland- Game of the Month

I really think we have a great situation tonight in Spokane to catch a vastly superior team that will not only be extremely focused to win, but win BIG and by a MARGIN.  First though, let's examine the Gonzaga basketball season so far to help uncover the mindset and make-up of this Bulldogs team.

After an impressive non-conference season that featured wins over Wisconsin (N), Cincinnati (N) and Illinois (A) and close losses to Wake Forest (H) and Michigan State (A), the Zags embarked upon play in the West Coast Conference.  They began the conference season rather impressively, winning and covering their first three games at Portland (-2) 81-78 (wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicated), at St. Mary's (+4.5) 89-82 (led by as many as fifteen before the Gaels rallied late) and at San Diego (-8) 68-50.  So at this point the entire team must have been brimming with confidence considering their quick start.  They were also rising up the national rankings.  However, that's when complacency appeared to set in for this talented, albeit young squad.  In their fourth conference game, they stumbled and bumbled around at home against Pepperdine as 23-point favorites winning 91-84.  They followed that up with yet another lethargic home performance vs. Loyola Marymount (game was tied at half-time) before pulling away to eventually triumph 85-69, but any chance of covering the large 20.5-point spread was foiled by the slow start.  B... [More]

The bigger they are the harder they fall: One huge consideration NOBODY has mentioned ………………

Is that North Carolina has not faced ANY adversity throughout the entire tournament.  Besides LSU giving them a half-hearted scare for about 10 seconds, their five games so far have all been walks in the park.  Gonzaga, Oklahoma and Villanova were all double-digit blowouts that were never really in doubt.  On one hand it’s great that they’ve been so dominant and things have gone so swimmingly, however there’s also a negative to that.  The Tar Heels at no point have been forced to: make crucial free throws, get key defensive stops and rebounds, get big baskets when absolutely needed or any of the other little things required to win a close game.  They’re just so accustomed to going out, getting a big lead, having the opposition offer no resistance whatsoever, and then winning comfortably.  In sharp contrast, Michegan State has been playing close games throughout their improbable run.  The USC game was decided in the final two minutes and the Kansas game was decided in the final minute.  They also made big second half runs to pull away from Louisville and UConn when the game was still very much hanging in the balance. The Spartans have been in games that have come down to the final possessions where they had to execute and make big plays.  North Carolina hasn’t.  I guess that doesn’t matter to anybody though.

 

What happens tonight if say things do not ... [More]

Waving Goodbye to Cinderella, the End of March Madness as you’ve known it: Long Winded Theory

Following an exceedingly frustrating week in the NCAA Tournament (AKA a square’s dream) I have attempted to reflect on the causes of my failures.  I’ve picked twenty-one games so far, and gotten only about seven of them right.  I do not like losing at all.  Even though it’s inevitable, I still hate when it happens.  When I lose though, I like to know the reasons why I’m losing.  Afterwards, I try to better understand what I did wrong, why it happened and maybe what I can do next time in order to make a better decision and possibly eliminate a bad play in the future.  It’s all about learning from your mistakes.  I don’t always do this, but I try to.  This is how you get better.  Improvement does not come from following Covers hot capper of the week.  You yourself have to be willing to sit down and honestly examine the problem so you can attempt to remedy it.

 

Part of my lack of success so far is simply me not knowing a lot of these teams nearly as well as I should.  I focus mainly on the NBA, so I haven’t seen a lot of these teams play more than once or twice if at all.  However that’s no excuse, losers are still losers.  Enough about me though, I don’t think anybody gives a shit that I’m losing.  I don’t really give a f*ck when other people lose, so I would expect they’d extend the same courtesy to me when I falter.

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