It's the most wonderful time of the year (NCAA tourney, baby!)

[scaeagles]

See, I love the full court press. It can be used to speed tempo, slow tempo, take teams out of an offense, create turnovers....I love defense in general, and I love when teams makes other teams pay for pressing.

Xavier will present an interesting challange for them, I think. Very athletic. I am envious of my boss who will be there (I wasn't going to shell out $110 per ticket - yikes!).

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

See, I love the full court press. It can be used to speed tempo, slow tempo, take teams out of an offense, create turnovers....I love defense in general, and I love when teams makes other teams pay for pressing.

Oh, it's a perfectly intelligent strategy in the context, I just think it points out a flaw in the context (as I amended, I don't hate that it's done, I hate that it works). It's not so much good defense as exploiting crappy offense and sloppy ball handling skills. Implement a full court press against non-amateurs and you'll get burned every time.

Now, if the whole team could move the ball the way Love does, it'd be a different story. The kid's got skill.

[scaeagles]

Depends on how you utilize your press and the goals of it, but I see your point.

I suppose the main reason I love it is that I consider defense to be the great equalizer. EVERYONE can play D, and if you are a good athlete without a lick of offensive skill you can make an impact.

[SacTown Chronic]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

I suppose the main reason I love it is that I consider defense to be the great equalizer.

Which is exactly why a fan of a #1 seed might be susceptible to bemoaning the existence of full court press defense.


Cause and effect, GD. Full court D forces bad offense and crappy ball handling skills as much as it reveals them. Ever see a full court press fluster John Stockton and force him into turnovers? I have.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by SacTown Chronic

Cause and effect, GD. Full court D forces bad offense and crappy ball handling skills as much as it reveals them. Ever see a full court press fluster John Stockton and force him into turnovers? I have.

Oh sure, it can be a very effective weapon on occasion. But the vast majority of the time, and NBA team is going to blow right past a press. That's why you rarely see it except in just the right situation.

There's a huge difference between going to the press in pressure situations to force a rare mistake vs. pressing the entire game because you know that the few easy breakaways will be far outweighed by the copious unforced errors (yes, I call them "unforced" because a team SHOULD be able to get past a press) that will result.

And it's not just sour grapes re:UCLA. It's prevalent in all of college basketball and one of the main reasons I don't watch the sport, no matter who's playing. I don't really enjoy watching 40 minutes of sloppy passing.

[scaeagles]

I coach HS ball, and I know snoppy passing. College ball is nothing.

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

I coach HS ball, and I know snoppy passing. College ball is nothing.

I don't know what a snoppy pass is, but I do know how you feel when we talk Oscars every year. Snore.



And it's not the whole 'gay men don't like sports thing either'. Ralphie watches UCLA games and loves them. And I even watched the whole Super Bowl this year.

[scaeagles]

Good Lord....OK, GD, I'm with you tonight. Beyond boring tonight. Yikes. Two games, one with a 20 pt half time margin, the other with a freakin' unbelievable 30 pt half time margin. Ick.

[SacTown Chronic]

Kansas has a player named Sasha Kaun!


Chaka, Chaka, Chaka
Chaka Khan
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Chaka Khan
Let me rock you
Let me rock you
Chaka Khan
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That's all I wanna do
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Let me rock, chock, Jayhawk you
'Cause I feel for you
Chaka Khan



Yeah, tonight's games suck.

[SacTown Chronic]

Oh man, these Elite 8 matchups are tasty.


Xavier* vs. UCLA 3:40pm
North Carolina vs. Louisville* 6:05pm


Sun:

Memphis* vs. Texas 11:20am
Davidson vs. Kansas* 2:05pm




*My lead-pipe cinch, five diamond winners. Accuracy not guaranteed nor realistic. No refunds.