Let’s talk March Madness, the Sweet 16 and anything else on your mind! Enjoying the new round of AT&T Lily ads? Already forgotten what channel number truTV is if you have cable? Oh, and how about this round of NCAA Tournament games?
Jaime Jaquez's footwork is unreal. The way he's able to lull defenders asleep and juke guys completely out of position with a pivot or two is a thing of beauty.
Markquis Nowell getting one last hoop instead of dribbling out the clock is absolutely legendary. What a performance. What a flex to finish it off. He's got so much Jameer Nelson to him.
Halftime in Las Vegas. UConn physically bullied Arkansas effectively in the early going, which has resulted in the Razorbacks hesitating to attack the rim and making some really ill-advised passes off penetration. The UConn offense has excelled at drawing in defenders and rotating to the right spots to make an easy pass and get off a quick shot.
UConn's ball movement is beautiful. They've scored on multiple possessions through the first 10 minutes of the first half where there were more passes than dribbles on their side of the court.
Yes and no. No in that if you'd told me the B1G would only get one team to the Sweet 16, I'd have said...Yeah, that tracks. But yes in that it's Michigan State. Purdue was the obvious choice to advance, but Indiana seemed too talented to not put it together for two games. Oops.
So the top photo is from my vantage point; I'm in the hockey media press seating. I may need some cotton swabs for my nosebleed. Not complaining though, it's incredible to be in this building, in this city, for the Sweet 16.
My walk to the arena from The Linq, I saw a decent amount of Arkansas gear, some UCLA, a little bit of Gonzaga and no UConn gear. Shortly before tip, it seems like that was indicative of how the crowd would shake out. LOT of Arkansas people in Vegas and they're loud.
I've always had a lot of respect for UCLA basketball. I genuinely despise the move to Fox, errr, the Big Ten. But this team specifically is fun and when UCLA is good there's a very cool energy to games at Pauley.
Folks we're calling him A.J. Hogwarts because he keeps pulling tricks out of the bag.
Taking a break from Serious Basketball Banter to just mention CM Punk having never seen any of the Rocky movies and calling the plot of Rocky III "stupid' makes me hate him that much more. https://pressbreak.substack.com/p/creed-iii-keeps-the-rocky-legacy
Good reason he's called CM Punk and not CM Outstanding Citizen!
4.99 star classic between KState and Sparty.
March Madness should go international and hold a Final Four in the Tokyo Dome
UCONN really are further hammering the Big East is back narrative
I don't love the BIG EAST being...well, not in the East. But it's only right for the conference to be outstanding at basketball.
Personally, I love that the BIG EAST is back. It's nice to see it on the rebound after outside forces tried to kill it.
Absolutely. And I'll put it bluntly, outside forces = ESPN, making it that much sweeter the league's bounced back so nicely.
How many Manhattan/New York jokes have been made? And what's the over/under on it?
DID YOU KNOW IN KANSAS IT'S CALLED THE LITTLE APPLE
Jaime Jaquez's footwork is unreal. The way he's able to lull defenders asleep and juke guys completely out of position with a pivot or two is a thing of beauty.
Pretty shocking that on Zoom availability they'd allow Sinbad from the board at F4W to submit a question about Batista
I'm headed down to the locker rooms to get postgame interviews. Chat among yourselves, and if you haven't, read the newsletter entry from earlier today! https://pressbreak.substack.com/p/march-badness-never-lasts
Markquis Nowell getting one last hoop instead of dribbling out the clock is absolutely legendary. What a performance. What a flex to finish it off. He's got so much Jameer Nelson to him.
Was the argument about the playcall a fake out or a shoot disagreement?
Not sure, but it seemed like a ploy, which is awesome if so.
Reverse-dunk alley-oop late in overtime is one of the greatest plays in March Madness history. Unreal.
NSFW https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1639068487447633920
Markquis Nowell nearly replicating the Tyus Edney https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS8QCoYfzW8
(I think he got fouled, btw)
Arkansas is severely damaging my There's Still A Place For Mid-Range Shooting In The Modern Game narrative
I appreciate K-State's commitment to sparing us more TOM IZZO IS MR. MARCH discourse.
Halftime in Las Vegas. UConn physically bullied Arkansas effectively in the early going, which has resulted in the Razorbacks hesitating to attack the rim and making some really ill-advised passes off penetration. The UConn offense has excelled at drawing in defenders and rotating to the right spots to make an easy pass and get off a quick shot.
Hogs are fortunate to have Anthony Black tonight. His defense on the perimeter is the primary reason UConn isn't ahead by 30.
UConn's ball movement is beautiful. They've scored on multiple possessions through the first 10 minutes of the first half where there were more passes than dribbles on their side of the court.
And then there was this. Legit couldn't believe he pulled from here. https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1639048003066675200?s=20
*Eight* assists for Markquis Nowell before halftime, that's pretty damn good.
Markquis Nowell is high on my list of Future European League ballers in this tournament. A classic undersized NCAA scoring PG.
Not as big as Shane Larkin, but I feel like he's got comparable game.
RE: Michigan State's Tyson Walker, in retrospect it seems obvious he was going to power-conference pick up from the portal when Roy Williams gushed about his play for Northeastern back in 2021 (article here: https://www.flohoops.com/articles/6912024-tyson-walkers-defense-could-prime-northeastern-for-a-march-ncaa-run)
Serious Basketball Observation: Kansas State's unis having lavender accents is *chef's kiss*
Are you surprised to see Michigan State as the lone B1G program left in the tournament?
Yes and no. No in that if you'd told me the B1G would only get one team to the Sweet 16, I'd have said...Yeah, that tracks. But yes in that it's Michigan State. Purdue was the obvious choice to advance, but Indiana seemed too talented to not put it together for two games. Oops.
So the top photo is from my vantage point; I'm in the hockey media press seating. I may need some cotton swabs for my nosebleed. Not complaining though, it's incredible to be in this building, in this city, for the Sweet 16.
My walk to the arena from The Linq, I saw a decent amount of Arkansas gear, some UCLA, a little bit of Gonzaga and no UConn gear. Shortly before tip, it seems like that was indicative of how the crowd would shake out. LOT of Arkansas people in Vegas and they're loud.
Dang good look for ksu at the end but he was lacking in Scandinavian blood.
So how am I supposed to feel about UCLA in general? Both this year and as a program.
I've always had a lot of respect for UCLA basketball. I genuinely despise the move to Fox, errr, the Big Ten. But this team specifically is fun and when UCLA is good there's a very cool energy to games at Pauley.
Where the white women at?
Fuck all that, here comes Mongo!