NCAAT

Thecycle27

All-Conference
Sep 17, 2017
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It is a wonderful tournament with the wrong matchup and/or a poor shooting night it can end to anyone.

There is a mix of veteran teams and rebuilt teams thru the portal.

UConn is built with guys that all have bought in. Not a ton of NBA guys but play their system really well. Alabama is the only team left with the fire power to beat them.
 
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BooneCo_Card

All-Conference
Mar 20, 2005
8,205
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It is a wonderful tournament with the wrong matchup and/or a poor shooting night it can end to anyone.

There is a mix of veteran teams and rebuilt teams thru the portal.

UConn is built with guys that all have bought in. Not a ton of NBA guys but play their system really well. Alabama is the only team left with the fire power to beat them.
Agreed. I also think that it shows what a group of guys can accomplish when they buy in to their respective roles and what their coach is selling. It's easy to see with UConn, but Bama, Duke, UT, NCST and Clemson have all played well above expectations. Whoever thought NCST or Clemson would make the E8 a month ago?

I hated it when Shead from Houston went down with the injury, but the remaining Cougs showed a lot of heart and fight in his absence.
 

MikesMarbles

All-Conference
Dec 31, 2002
13,100
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I think the way Duke and UK put together their teams just doesn't work anymore for winning the Championship. They are going to have to stop trying to sign 5 NBA ready players out of HS every year and start hitting the Portal like everyone else. Both programs are behind the times and hopefully they dig in and double down.

I couldn't be happier having a Portal first coach.
 
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Thecycle27

All-Conference
Sep 17, 2017
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I think what we are seeing is 2 kinds of coaches. Those that live in the portal and can implement their system. Those the are good at keeping their core group together. Relying on freshman is now a problem.

The elite eight teams are all veterans. TN, Purdue, Clemson, North Carolina, NC State, Duke and Houston returned their core group. Alabama and UConn were both built through the portal. There weren’t many impact freshman on these teams.