I'd bet the house against them. Burns in particular. He's going to have like a 6-19 day.
NCAA Men's Elite 8 Thread
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
- Start date
I don't think the seed number for NC State matters anymore. They're playing as good as anyone outside of UConn and if Purdue lost to them it wouldn't look nearly as bad as losing to a 16 seed last year.
Sure, the odds are in your favor, but he just went 2-4 against Marquette in 27 minutes, and his teammates still got the win. He played terrible against Duke in the ACC Semis, and they won the game.
Can Purdue do the same if Edey has a bad game? He doesn't have many of them, so it's tough to know, but if Burns can stay out of foul trouble and use his body to force Edey to catch the ball out near the free throw line instead of down on the block, I think that's the recipe for slowing Edey down. When he becomes passive and takes less shots, the team becomes less efficient. I think you constantly try to force him out of his position, and when he does get the ball down low, you gotta send a ton of help and hope they miss the kick outs.
If State pulls this off it will be the most impressive run that I've seen in college basketball. I have trouble seeing it, but that's why they play. I think the biggest thing they have going against them is the full week off and having to beat at least one and possibly two one seeds.
When UConn did the 5 wins in 5 days and then got the final four in 2011, you could see how much it had taken its toll. They were exhausted during the finals. They came out flat. They also got lucky in that they got to play two lower seeds. Kentucky was like a version of UConn -- very talented team that came together late in the year. They ended up winning a championship by winning two games in the 50s because their defense was amazing and they just refused to miss free throws for the entire tournament.
I'm not trying to be the asshole UConn fan that has to make everything about his team. Or maybe I am because it's just what I've paid attention to. Obviously, the teams are very different but the situation isn't. There is not going to be much room for NC State to come out tired or flat like UConn did and still be able to win. I would like State's chances better if the games were Wednesday Friday.
When UConn did the 5 wins in 5 days and then got the final four in 2011, you could see how much it had taken its toll. They were exhausted during the finals. They came out flat. They also got lucky in that they got to play two lower seeds. Kentucky was like a version of UConn -- very talented team that came together late in the year. They ended up winning a championship by winning two games in the 50s because their defense was amazing and they just refused to miss free throws for the entire tournament.
I'm not trying to be the asshole UConn fan that has to make everything about his team. Or maybe I am because it's just what I've paid attention to. Obviously, the teams are very different but the situation isn't. There is not going to be much room for NC State to come out tired or flat like UConn did and still be able to win. I would like State's chances better if the games were Wednesday Friday.
State isn't going to beat Purdue, but if they do, we may see a record margin of victory in a final. Like 50.
I got to go on a tour of the arena last night. It was really cool to see it empty and you realize how tiny a basketball court is compared to a football field. I got lucky that the locker room we got to see was the Huskies. No pictures allowed unfortunately -- they want the players to see it in person not social media. It's pretty cool how quickly all the branding was done. A few things that I found really interesting that others probably won't, but what the heck.
The court is elevated 29 inches. Any more and they would need a handrail for OSHA. When they first started doing the final four on a raised platform, they used the regular baskets that they use for the tournament, but they were actually suffering some vibrations. Now, they cut hole in the deck and the baskets are weighted down on the ground, not the platform, with 2200 pound supports. Each team's locker room is massive. It is half of an NFL locker room with a temporary wall. They are organized so that the teams playing each other on Saturday are not in the same locker room. So, it's UConn Purdue and Alabama NC State. There will actually be some overlap after the first game where the winning and losing team will return to the locker room with the teams about to play the next game on the other side of a rather flimsy wall. If the final is UConn Purdue, or Alabama NC State, they will completely move one of the locker rooms before the teams come to practice on Sunday, which is quite a bit of effort, given how much branding there is in each room. The teams' logos and stuff, and huge wall murals of pictures from the regional finals, are all set up and have to move. It's pretty massive operation. We also got to see the press room. I was shocked at how massive it is. They say for the Super Bowl it's like five times the size though. It is in a cavernous area under the stands. The number of temporary seats installed, including ones that overlay the standard seats for football games, is about 18,000. So, nearly an entire basketball arena of temporary seats.
I took lots of pictures but many are embargoed. Here are a couple that are not.
Three pointer:
Slam:
The court is elevated 29 inches. Any more and they would need a handrail for OSHA. When they first started doing the final four on a raised platform, they used the regular baskets that they use for the tournament, but they were actually suffering some vibrations. Now, they cut hole in the deck and the baskets are weighted down on the ground, not the platform, with 2200 pound supports. Each team's locker room is massive. It is half of an NFL locker room with a temporary wall. They are organized so that the teams playing each other on Saturday are not in the same locker room. So, it's UConn Purdue and Alabama NC State. There will actually be some overlap after the first game where the winning and losing team will return to the locker room with the teams about to play the next game on the other side of a rather flimsy wall. If the final is UConn Purdue, or Alabama NC State, they will completely move one of the locker rooms before the teams come to practice on Sunday, which is quite a bit of effort, given how much branding there is in each room. The teams' logos and stuff, and huge wall murals of pictures from the regional finals, are all set up and have to move. It's pretty massive operation. We also got to see the press room. I was shocked at how massive it is. They say for the Super Bowl it's like five times the size though. It is in a cavernous area under the stands. The number of temporary seats installed, including ones that overlay the standard seats for football games, is about 18,000. So, nearly an entire basketball arena of temporary seats.
I took lots of pictures but many are embargoed. Here are a couple that are not.
Three pointer:
Slam:
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What’s the rationale for the elevated court? I see that as something with very little benefit but huge huge risk. (Someone is going to seriously get hurt in a raised court.)
If you put the court in the center of a domed NFL-size stadium, the site lines for a lot of seats would be terrible. That's why they raise it up. Someone already did get seriously hurt on a raised court: Louisville's Kevin Ware. He completely shattered his leg.
I haven't been in that stadium in about 20 years. I love that place. Are they using the home/road football locker rooms as the split ones? I'm assuming yes. They do have other locker rooms in the stadium I am surprised they aren't using them.
Oh, I don't know. They said they were the football locker rooms, so I just presumed they were the Cardinals and the visitors, but I'm really not sure. They were really big.
I was only seeing half of it and it seemed big. But you know it didn't have any team specific stuff so maybe it wasn't actually. It's really big down there. Big enough to drive a truck.
Yep I believe it’s so the media and benches can be on ground level so spectators have decent sight lines. Although they are still not good. I had lowers at last years finals and the angle of the temporary seats are so shallow that people 3-4 rows in front of you will block your view if they are tall or standing.
I don’t think so. I just think he landed awkwardly.
But the space from the edge of the court and the sideline or end line just isn’t much and players go there every now and then, sometimes at high speed chasing a ball. It’s crazy to me that they’d risk serious injury to a player for potential improved sight lines for a handful of people.