Grad, that's a great way to put it...Also reminds me of the most important tool my buddies and me are going to be using in a few weeks when we hit the Gulf out of Venice... The single best chum churning device on the market...
Actually, in my TigerForums ESPN bracket, I had them beating West Virginia to reach the Final Four. Which is exactly what happened.
Yah I know what u meanz. On da flip sidez: LSU was actually Final Four worthy but LSU barely made any outside shots in their tourney game. That brought them to the point where they could not compete. They played well below their level of talent and failed to get hot in the tournament...
everyone can say all they want about WV not being good and just getting hot in the game but fact of the matter is, you dont get a 20 point lead over a great team with one of the best coaches of all time without playing a little defense. West virginia was hot from three but anytime you get that many open looks it means you are running your plays to perfection and coming off of screens well. West virginia made a great run with an average team. it's the sign of a good coach and hard workers. They only run like 7 deep and are limited in size. I think they should be applauded for a great effort and a great run in the tournament they beat wake forrest ( a lot of people's choice for NC in the beginning of the year, and even in the tournament) bobby knight, and came VERY CLOSE to beating Rick Pitino's team to advance to the final four. Call it a choke or whatever you want, west virginia was tired, and over powered down the stretch and there was really nothing you can do about it... that's why you get some upsets in the tournament but ultimately the best teams always advance to the final four. WEST VIRGINIA, SHAKE THE HATERS OFF! CONGRATULATIONS ON A GREAT SEASON AND WE OWE YOU ONE FOR THE EARLY SEASON LOSS!
All the props in the world for them having a day that-as a program-they'll never see again in their lives. Never again with a team that any of those players compete on-and never before yesterday for that matter-will those players again collectively be that damn hot. There is no way. A career day, and a record day for not only them, but their program as well. Congrats... But, if you're under the delusion that Pitino didn't make a HUGE mistake by not switching out into man defense earlier on, then you don't know your basketball. I'm guessing you do follow the game, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, and figure you're just overlooking it. But, it seems to be that you switch out of the zone after what...8/11? What about when they hit the next one to go 9/12? What about when they were banking them in? Or when they were shooting from half-court at one point? Exactly when you do realize the damn zone ain't gonna cut down on a freak shooting night? The man would have limited that. You can say he was worried about Dean's ankle or Garcia's propensity to get into foul trouble in man (and indeed he did foul out), but that lead getting built was squarely the result of Pitino not switching defenses. The onus was on him as much as it was the Mountaineers going apesh!t on the three balls in the 1st half... As much of an amazing performance as that was in the 1st half was as much of a tank job by them in the 2nd half...That they couldn't get past Louisville without their best player for the last 3:00 of regulation, AND overtime, as well as Dean being hobbled with his ankle for most of the game, that says that sans that shooting streak (Which could have been prevented with a defensive switch), WVU was outmatched... Having said all that...Props to WVU...They'd have been one of the more undeserving Final Four teams of all time...
I didnt get a chance to catch the first half so I have NO IDEA what happened in the first half... but I do follow the game and it all makes sense now that I know they were playing zone defense... pitino really stayed in a zone defense through the whole first half?!!!!
His interview at the half of the UNC/Wisc. Elite 8 game insinuated that they hit 6 threes in the 1st half against the zone, and 4 against the man I'll take at his word... I do know that he was stubborn enough to end the half in the zone...I just don't see the logic in it...
Undeserving, I have to take issue with that. If they would have held on they would have been at least as deserving as any team in the history of the Final Four. Teams that won because of fluke shots or bad calls may have been somewhat undeserving but not a team that played over it's head for a several games.
