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Feast week - Maui & Vegas game thread

Not doing money to charity. And before you call me a POS I donated a significant amount of money to the family who lost their child from my hometown this year when he passed away during a HS football game (Selma, AL). Will do avatar bet before St Jude’s. No offense to those kids, definitely in my prayers.

You could’ve saved a lot of keystrokes by just saying you’re not confident in your team.
 
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For all we know neither of these bum teams makes the final four for 5 years. Jk not bum teams but final fours require a good bit of luck as well.
 
Auburn does look to have the tools you need to win it all though. I don't really see much weakness with that squad. Pg experience I guess, but it doesn't show bc the whole team passes so well and they can all attack the basket.

Then again they had a lot of those tools last year.
 
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In the last AP poll, KU rec'd 51 #1 votes. Auburn 3. Quite a gap to make up in one week.

Then again, all KU managed to do was beat a favored Duke team without their top scorer/rebounder for the last 10 minutes...
 
In the last AP poll, KU rec'd 51 #1 votes. Auburn 3. Quite a gap to make up in one week.

Then again, all KU managed to do was beat a favored Duke team without their top scorer/rebounder for the last 10 minutes...
Eh, but how good is Duke really at this point? They loss to Kentucky, lost to you guys, and I do think Auburn win vs them next week as well.
 
In the last AP poll, KU rec'd 51 #1 votes. Auburn 3. Quite a gap to make up in one week.

Then again, all KU managed to do was beat a favored Duke team without their top scorer/rebounder for the last 10 minutes...

You might be right. The gap very well could be too large. Though, it should be reasonably close.

FWIW, Hunter Dickinson was -2 in the box plus/minus. He wasn't exactly killing it. Bidunga was +5.
 
You might be right. The gap very well could be too large. Though, it should be reasonably close.

FWIW, Hunter Dickinson was -2 in the box plus/minus. He wasn't exactly killing it. Bidunga was +5.

Bidunga will make a few plays, but he's still very raw. They can't even trust him to catch an entry pass w/out fumbling it.
 
Eh, but how good is Duke really at this point? They loss to Kentucky, lost to you guys, and I do think Auburn win vs them next week as well.

I don't know. People were hyping them as the most talented team in the country before this game, and they were favored.

The better question is what did Auburn do to deserve to collect 49 more first place votes? They beat an Iowa St team that hasn't beaten anyone yet, and a UNC team that KU also beat.
 
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I don't know. People were hyping them as the most talented team in the country before this game, and they were favored.

The better question is what did Auburn do to deserve to collect 49 more first place votes? They beat an Iowa St team that hasn't beaten anyone yet, and a UNC team that KU also beat.
We both know most talented does not equal best team 😎
 



Maui broke Dan Hurley. No more MTEs for UConn. Seems like a bit of an overreaction lol. But, what else do you expect from Hurley?

Also, Isaiah Abraham, a 4-star freshmen for UConn, should be officially entering the portal soon.
 
Lol. Blaming the format? Apparently UConn was the only team at a disadvantage. What a bitch. 😆
giphy.webp
 
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He is this era's Bob Knight. Great coach but can't control his emotions and it will eventually be his undoing.
Is he really a great coach though? The last two years were great, but his entire career without the last two years has been pretty meh in my opinion.
 
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Is he really a great coach though? The last two years were great, but his entire career without the last two years has been pretty meh in my opinion.
Mark Pope has a higher career winning percentage, even without 2 nattys. 😂

Mark Pope >>>>>>>> Dan Hurley
 
Pope may be better? Based on....?
May, not is. There are a lot of coaches I think "may" be better based on Hurley's entire body of work outside the last two years. I'm not excluding those two years, but outside of them, I don't see a very impressive career, and I don't believe so many people would be calling him the best or at least one of the best in the game without the last two years. Now if his next 5 years or so are impressive, then yeah, I'll submit to him being one of the best in the game. But I am betting on the opposite.
 
May, not is. There are a lot of coaches I think "may" be better based on Hurley's entire body of work outside the last two years. I'm not excluding those two years, but outside of them, I don't see a very impressive career, and I don't believe so many people would be calling him the best or at least one of the best in the game without the last two years. Now if his next 5 years or so are impressive, then yeah, I'll submit to him being one of the best in the game. But I am betting on the opposite.
All I know is that to this point Pope has passed with flying colors.

Inherits a "team" with no players. Cupboard is completely bare. Puts together a team in under two months. Has landed multiple five stars and is firmly in the mix with others. Beats Duke, and has UK ranked in the top 5.

I don't know about comparisons to Hurley, but I can tell you this much, Pope is a vast, vast improvement over Calipari. And it's not even close at this point.
 
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All I know is that to this point Pope has passed with flying colors.

Inherits a "team" with no players. Cupboard is completely bare. Puts together a team in under two months. Has landed multiple five stars and is firmly in the mix with others. Beats Duke, and has UK ranked in the top 5.

I don't know about comparisons to Hurley, but I can tell you this much, Pope is a vast, vast improvement over Calipari. And it's not even close at this point.
Pope likely won't have a melt down after a loss, try to fight fans in the stands, and blame the refs after every loos either. I'm not trying to pump Pope up or sell him as better than Hurley, or any other coach for that matter. I just fail to see Hurley deserving of the pedestal he has been put on all of a sudden.
 
Pope likely won't have a melt down after a loss, try to fight fans in the stands, and blame the refs after every loos either. I'm not trying to pump Pope up or sell him as better than Hurley, or any other coach for that matter. I just fail to see Hurley deserving of the pedestal he has been put on all of a sudden.
Oh, I definitely agree with the first sentence. Pope will be nothing but a great ambassador for UK. Have no worries about him acting like a fool during games like Hurley.

As for Hurley, when you win back to back championships in college basketball (which in my opinion is the most difficult of all sports, both collegiate and professional, to go back to back in) and are offered the Lakers job, you will be on a pedestal. You can be a jerk and a rotten person, but you are on a pedestal.
 
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May, not is. There are a lot of coaches I think "may" be better based on Hurley's entire body of work outside the last two years. I'm not excluding those two years, but outside of them, I don't see a very impressive career, and I don't believe so many people would be calling him the best or at least one of the best in the game without the last two years. Now if his next 5 years or so are impressive, then yeah, I'll submit to him being one of the best in the game. But I am betting on the opposite.

Winning back to back in dominant fashion will do that for you. And it’s not just that they won, but how sound they were fundamentally, and the great sets they ran. Both teams were a machine.

That said, I don’t think he’s the best coach in the country, and I think some members of his staff deserve a lot of the credit. He didn’t just crack the code overnight.
 
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Winning back to back in dominant fashion will do that for you. And it’s not just that they won, but how sound they were fundamentally, and the great sets they ran. Both teams were a machine.

That said, I don’t think he’s the best coach in the country, and I think some members of his staff deserve a lot of the credit. He didn’t just crack the code overnight.
I can't disagree with any of that.
 
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Is he really a great coach though? The last two years were great, but his entire career without the last two years has been pretty meh in my opinion.
Yes, he’s a great coach.
Pope likely won't have a melt down after a loss, try to fight fans in the stands, and blame the refs after every loos either. I'm not trying to pump Pope up or sell him as better than Hurley, or any other coach for that matter. I just fail to see Hurley deserving of the pedestal he has been put on all of a sudden.
Wtf? He won back to back national championships. Happens like almost never.
 
Yes, he’s a great coach.

Wtf? He won back to back national championships. Happens like almost never.
I acknowledged that the last two years were great. But he has also had 12 years where he had 10 losses or more 9 of the 12 years and 8 of those 12 years he failed to make the NCAAT. The 4 times he did make it in those 12 years, it was a first round exit. Yeah the back to back titles were great, but the other 12 years of his career were very mediocre. For me it takes more than two great years and 12 mediocre ones to be be labeled as a "great" coach. Good? yes, great? Meh. It's ok to agree to disagree. If everyone had the same opinion, there would be no reason for these forums to exist.
 
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