Tournament Team

[jeff93]

That, my friends, is a tournament team. Unfortunate that we had injuries this year, but there is no doubt in my mind that this is a 7-10 seed in the tournament the way they are playing right now.

Other thoughts:

1. Kentucky is VERY good.
2. Refs decided this game. No call on the three by Chatman (debatable) + then deciding not to whistle the shot clock and the impending lay up and technical, very well could have decided that game. We were in a good rhythm at that time, and that took all of the wind out of the team with essentially a 4-6 point swing.
3. Pissed. UK doesn't need help. They are really good. Why do the refs need to help them on 50/50 calls?
4. Hopefully we saw what senior Jordan Wright looks like.
5. This is what Scottie Pippen will face in the NBA. He is one of the best college basketball players I have ever seen. But I don't think his game translates to the NBA. Tonight's game backs that up.
6. Wheeler is a puss. He is a great player. Was at Georgia. Totally lame to transfer from the team you committed to, to the best team in the league. Pippen could have done the same. Character, or lack therof.
6. Really hope VU has a chance to be in the NIT, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Vandy187187]

good points all around but don't agree 100%.

Refs did not decide the game IMO. Wright had a great game. Love Scottie but don't see a difference going to NBA now vs next year. Transfers change your team, we had 2 that were huge difference makers. NIT we will be in, it would be criminal if we weren't

[Jason94]

That, my friends, is a tournament team. Unfortunate that we had injuries this year, but there is no doubt in my mind that this is a 7-10 seed in the tournament the way they are playing right now.

Other thoughts:

1. Kentucky is VERY good.
2. Refs decided this game. No call on the three by Chatman (debatable) + then deciding not to whistle the shot clock and the impending lay up and technical, very well could have decided that game. We were in a good rhythm at that time, and that took all of the wind out of the team with essentially a 4-6 point swing.
3. Pissed. UK doesn't need help. They are really good. Why do the refs need to help them on 50/50 calls?
4. Hopefully we saw what senior Jordan Wright looks like.
5. This is what Scottie Pippen will face in the NBA. He is one of the best college basketball players I have ever seen. But I don't think his game translates to the NBA. Tonight's game backs that up.
6. Wheeler is a puss. He is a great player. Was at Georgia. Totally lame to transfer from the team you committed to, to the best team in the league. Pippen could have done the same. Character, or lack therof.
6. Really hope VU has a chance to be in the NIT, but I'm not holding my breath.

Very good points. Wright's game is unusual because he can handle and has quickness to get to the rim but also has size and can post people up and rebound due to his strength. Just needs to show consistency and he is an all sec player next season.

Agree on pippen, but to be fair he is carrying an extremely heavy load and was coming off of two consecutive nights and had just played 37 minutes the night before and used 40% of the possessions, drawing 12 fouls which takes a heavy physical toll. He really could stand to gain 2 inches in height.

Tremendous effort against a very good UK team that but some favorable calls.

This team healthy almost certainly beats Temple, USC at home, and picks up at least one more win along the way. That would inside us a 20-13 team going into selection Sunday with road/neutral wins against Arkansas, Alabama, and BYU as well as a win against LSU. Plus a top 30 SOS. Definitely a tournament team.

[MrMemorial]

NITprojections movement tonight.

"Grand Canyon" just finished losing to New Mexico Tech. They are probably out.

Rutgers finished a decent 18-13 with a decent strength of schedule. They have been added as a low one seed.

VaTech is leading UNC in the second half. If they win they should move from NIT to NCAA.

If Texas A&M beats Arky tomorrow, they should move from NIT to NCAA. You would think.

UAB will probably win their tourney and be replaced by North Texas in the NIT.

It the brackets come out tonight, there may have been a Vandy @ Belmont opening round game but there is a long way to go until Sunday night. While it could still happen, the odds are against it.

Toledo will be in the NIT. They are pretty good but had an off night tonight.

[mathguy]

VaTech is leading UNC in the second half. If they win they should move from NIT to NCAA.

If Texas A&M beats Arky tomorrow, they should move from NIT to NCAA. You would think.

I don't think this helps our case for an NIT bid though, as those guys moving up to the NCAAs bumps two teams down to the NIT...

[MrMemorial]

VaTech is leading UNC in the second half. If they win they should move from NIT to NCAA.

If Texas A&M beats Arky tomorrow, they should move from NIT to NCAA. You would think.

I don't think this helps our case for an NIT bid though, as those guys moving up to the NCAAs bumps two teams down to the NIT...

Yet the new projections this morning bumped us up from a 6 seed to a 4 seed which means a home game!!

Other NIT projection news of local interest:
Belmont drops to a 4 seed
"Grand Canyon" (LOL!) is eliminated
SEC teams also listed as in: South Carolina, Miss.St., Florida
Rick Pitino's Iona is listed
Virginia dropped to a 6, Washington State dropped to a 7

I would like to see a general admission, first come - first serve NIT game like the one against South Dakota State that time. Stallings said having the loudest fans near the court made a difference.

[fldore]

2. Refs decided this game. No call on the three by Chatman (debatable) + then deciding not to whistle the shot clock and the impending lay up and technical, very well could have decided that game. We were in a good rhythm at that time, and that took all of the wind out of the team with essentially a 4-6 point swing.

....

6. Really hope VU has a chance to be in the NIT, but I'm not holding my breath.

I don't know about the first one. I didnt have a problem with the no call on the three. It wasn't even close to a legitimate shot attempt. I was surprised they didnt blow the whistle on the shot clock. But we never really saw a replay to see if kentucky got possession before it went off so not sure how close that was. Soon after though, I thought the refs really made up for it. We got three or four ticky tack fouls going our way over the next few minutes. And the charge millora-brown took I thought was a bad call. Maybe the rules have changed but the kentucky dude was in the air and millora wasn't even close to having his feet set as he basically took a big step to slide underneath. Anyways I thought the refs bailed us out during that stretch and allowed us to keep it close. The end of the game was an obvious miss although I wonder if they are only allowed to review the end of a play. so maybe they couldn't overturn that.

I think we're a lock for the NIT at this point. dratings.com has us as a 4 seed in a 32 team NIT bracket.

[alathIN]

5. This is what Scottie Pippen will face in the NBA. He is one of the best college basketball players I have ever seen. But I don't think his game translates to the NBA. Tonight's game backs that up.

My uninformed take:
Pippen is a very well coached player and student of the game who is maximizing his abilities and has refined his skill set. He's a very good athlete but not elite. He has very high hoops IQ.

I don't think it will matter whether he tries the NBA this year or next year. In the NBA he will face players who are also very refined and have maximized their skill sets and have very high hoops IQ, who also have elite size/strength/quickness/length.
In his favor, he will not be the main focus on an NBA team and could profit by the attention the opponent is giving to his teammate(s). But I don't foresee him being dominant in the NBA like he is in college.
Would be DELIGHTED to be wrong because he seems like a great young man and deserving of every success.