NCAA Final Four Games for Saturday April 3

[Col. Bleep]

My day: two one-sided lacrosse defeats, a one-sided boxing match that resulted in a 6th round knockout, an NCAA semi-final in which the team that dominated us was blown out and then one of the great games of all time.

It was worth it.

Jamel Herring looked really good using his reach and size and then dominating inside.
Smart for Frampton to retire...two time world champ.

As for basketball...Not generally impressed with Zags' defense in their first real game of the season.
They may have a lot of trouble with Baylor.

 

[Col. Bleep]

Shows you how good Jim Nantz and Kevin Kugler (Westwood One PBP) are.
Stayed with the play...had all the info as it developed.
Especially Kugler on the radio.

 

[City of Cuse]

Shows you how good Jim Nantz and Kevin Kugler (Westwood One PBP) are.
Stayed with the play...had all the info as it developed.
Especially Kugler on the radio.

What a game. My wife was awoken by me making the same noises as those guys. OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

[Red Holzman]

UCLA dominated in 60's-70's, then added another title in '95 to total 12 NCAA championships.
Tough loss, but glad Zags now get their opportunity for a title.

Zags play smart basketball -well coached. Baylor is loaded with talent.
Hope to see both teams at their best, and another great game tomorrow night!

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Everybody has a fantasy ending for that game. Mine is that Pearl came back for his senior year and we inbound to him with 4 seconds left...and Walter Berry is watching on TV.

Mine was Coleman with a block on Smart. Had that dream often, actually. After Hak, it went away.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Suggs is so special. Usually players this good are gone long before they have this moment. So many players pass on this moment for the money, and given their economic situation it's completely understandable. There are players who will take a good paycheck and not regret it for a moment, but it's hard to put a monetary value on where Suggs is at this moment. What is it worth?

Isn’t he just a freshman?

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

Hows the spread 5 for Monday?

Baylor looks unbeaetable and they've actually played real teams.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

This might be better than duke-uk from 92.

Duke was losing though weren’t they? That elevates it above this I think .. it Suggs misses , they go to another OT..also it was a lucky bank .. vs skill

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Is the rule different now than it was in 1987? When UCLA hit that shot to tie it, the clock stopped at 3.3 seconds. When Smart hit his shot in 1987 there were 4 seconds on the clock and the clock kept running. We inbounded with 1 second.

And we had a TO left that we vapor locked on and didn’t use for 3 seconds

 

[SWC75]

UCLA dominated in 60's-70's, then added another title in '95 to total 12 NCAA championships.
Tough loss, but glad Zags now get their opportunity for a title.

Zags play smart basketball -well coached. Baylor is loaded with talent.
Hope to see both teams at their best, and another great game tomorrow night!

11, actually, 10 under Wooden and one under Harrick.

UCLA Bruins men's basketball - Wikipedia

 

[SWC75]

Suggs' shot reminded me of this:

John Gillon Buzzer-Beater | Syracuse vs. Duke - YouTube

All those people and not a mask among them...

 

[bpo57]

Know it will be tough with players to pick from either Baylor or Gonzaga putting up great numbers and performances, but to me, he should be tournament MVP hands down.

I'm not sure on this but I think Bill Bradley was the only guy to win MOP and not play in the title game.

 

[BuffOrange]

UCLA could have won in regulation if that kid instead of driving into a big trying to draw a foul had pulled up and taken a 10 footer like he had already done 10 times in the game.

Ya. "Put the pressure on the refs" is definitely climbing the ranks of worst announcer cliches. There are no fouls in a tie game. Down 2 it's totally different. Down 1 probably not, helps to be Michigan.

 

[BuffOrange]

Consider UCLA played over their heads. That was their tenth loss, so they haven't always knocked down big shots at critical times like they did tonight.

True. It didn't look that flukey though. I don't know what UCLA's deal was in the reg. season but they have some players; it's not like 5 of the first 6 picks on the playground would be Gonzaga dudes.

Maybe Baylor backers will look stupid for recency bias and all that Monday night..
But I definitely see some "Kentucky should've lost to Notre Dame, then lose to a Wisconsin team that does everything well" parallels.

 

[Alsacs]

Gonzaga can be a great team and lose to Baylor and not be surprised at all.
If this was a 7 game series I would expect it to go 6 or 7 games so it’s not like Gonzaga would have choked.

Their conference is a mid major if the Zags played in the PAC-12 they would still be the favorite but likely have a loss or two over the course of 18 games.

Baylor IMO when healthy is on Gonzaga’s level.

UCLA showed suspect the Gonzaga defense can be.
Gonzaga just has an unbelievable offense.

I have a Baylor +400 ticket that I will hedge a little with Gonzaga tomorrow.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

 

[rrlbees]

The more I see a replay of that charge in regulation the more I’m not sure I can call it a charge. The UCLA player started to slide to his left when the Gonzaga player turned his shoulder into him. Tough call.

 

[OrangeDW]

I just checked my standing.

While I had Gonzaga-Baylor in the final, I was seriously lagging in the 30th percentile after the first weekend.
I'm surprised to see that I am ninth in the Syracusefan pool, and 94% overall.
I would have thought more people picked Gonzaga-Baylor.

I picked Illinois, just to gamble. Figured if it happened, it would put me ahead of all the people who picked Baylor-Gonzaga. This is usually my strategy, and it usually doesn’t work.

 

[Cowtown]

1985 NC game as well it affected the end.
Nova let the clock run a little before inbounding the ball in the last minute.

Our game in 1987 had a similar run off.

New rule is in the second half the clock stops after a score in the last minute.

Completely overlooked in all this is how fast Kispert took the ball out and got it back into Suggs. Don't get me started on how he didn't box out Juzang after his first shot missed.

edit: in the post game interviews, both Few and Suggs spoke of how they practice end-of-game scenarios all through the season. Because you just never know.

 

[longtimefan]

Juzang was unreal. He gets his shot almost every time. What a run he had.

I think our staff was hoping for a mini-Juzang when they recruited Griffin.

 

[Cowtown]

Juzang was unreal. He gets his shot almost every time. What a run he had.

Overall, despite missing some early lay-ups due to UCLA's physical play inside, Gonzaga played better than the score might indicate. Juzang had 29 after averaging 16 on the season. His eruption was the difference that kept UCLA in the game. And he hit a number of shots with a defender in his face. But, "When you're hot, you're hot." That's basketball.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Isn’t he just a freshman?

Shhhh. Narrative spoiler

 

[longtimefan]

Suggs' shot reminded me of this:

John Gillon Buzzer-Beater | Syracuse vs. Duke - YouTube

All those people and not a mask among them...

I've seen that replay many times and never really noted that Gillon had to adjust in midair to keep from being blocked, Helluva shot.

 

[NineOneSeven]

The more I see a replay of that charge in regulation the more I’m not sure I can call it a charge. The UCLA player started to slide to his left when the Gonzaga player turned his shoulder into him. Tough call.

It’s always tough when it comes down to one of the hardest plays in sports. Juzang had that jumper too. Kept going though, close play. Usually they are blocks, called charges.. As a neutral fan, ending on free throws would have been tough.

 

[NateW]

Because the democrats are ruining this great country

First cogent thing you’ve said since football season.