Sources - Anthony Davis out multiple weeks with adductor strain - ESPN

Good thing the Mavs got rid of a guy with conditioning and injury issues for such an iron man.

That's the most Anthony Davis thing to ever Anthony Davis.

Sometimes, the narratives just write themselves

Lakers!.. Lakers!.. Lakers!.. Lakers!.. :lol:

The officiating is the absolute worst. At times I wonder if it's intentional to be used as click bait? Give it that WWF vibe of how are they going to screw the "good guys" tonight. :mild hyperbole: Don't take it too seriously.

Maybe it's because I only watched Fever games, but with Clark and Kelsey Mitchell they shot the ball better than the Lakers. By a lot. :) Hell, those two probably handle the ball better than the men too.

I’m sure you are just joking a bit here but Clark shot 34% from 3 which was below the Lakers average. Which means most of the Lakers players shot better than she did while being guarded by NBA players.

Clark playing is what got me to tune in. I'm from Iowa, my son was the offensive coach for West Des Moines Valley while Clark was playing HS ball for Dowling. He'll tell you she was great but they won two state titles and she didn't. ;)

I tuned in to the wnba see how she would do when having to face a much higher level of competition. I thought she would be good, and hopefully good +. I underestimated her. She is already a presence and is just starting to learn the pro game.

I don't know how much of the things you see on youtube to root for, or against her are just click bait. When you watch Indiana playing on the road the crowds seem to like her. As the newness of seeing her wears off I'm sure those away fans are going to hate her the way many NBA fans hated Jordan, Bird, or Magic. As long as that's about basketball skill, that is a great thing and it's great for the league.

I don't watch a ton of nba (maybe 2 games in 2024) so my last decent sample size for the Lakers would be 2023. Their team 3pt pct that year was 34.6%. Clark matched that percent, and she's a GIRL. ;) She did that as every team played her like it was game 7 of the nba finals.

The Fever last year shot 35.6 % as a team.

Point being Jon was talking about the poor shooting of the wnba. I was, just going from watching Fever games, thinking they shoot better than he was suggesting. I can't say anything about the wnba as a whole. I can say teams playing vs Indiana didn't seem to have a lack of good 3 pt shooters.

Did I say "by a lot"? Yes. Hyperbole? Maybe, but really just more of a feel from watching games. IOW Jon's feel is the women shoot worse than they do. Mine feeling was, at least between Clark and Mitchell (40%), they shoot better than they do. I'm guilty of going by feel, and not digging up the stats before posting. Having said that I think my feeling the women are NOT poor shooters stands. ;)

Clark’s hit rate on threes is probably a bit lower because she takes so many long threes. I bet if you just count “regular” threes, her rate goes up.

Sounds like someone needs to tell her that. The Fever would probably be better if she listened.

What's absent from all of these discussions, which have been going on for years now, is that women's basketball uses a smaller ball (circumference is 28 1/2" versus 29 1/2" for the men's basketball - diameter of 9.4" versus 9.1" - the rim has an 18" diameter). More room for accuracy errors. The women's ball also weighs a couple of ounces less than the men's ball.

None of this should discredit what Clark has done to develop a shooting range that boggles the mind, but it's a different game and (I hope this doesn't offend anyone - such a political topic these days) there are huge differences in athleticism and size between men and women.

My contention about the 3-point shot is that there is this line at an exact distance from the basket (that's no longer the case since the line is further away now, and there's no room in the corners). When you start treating it like the free throw line and you develop a routine approach for receiving a pass - getting the footwork right, squaring to the basket like you do for a free throw, you can become more accurate from the exact 3-point distance than just about anywhere else.

Of course, defenders know what you're doing and start contesting that spot, so you can't just sit out there and make 20 of them in every game. The fact that teams still take dozens of 3-point attempts, many of them from right at that line, tells you what's going on.

The really great shooters, like Clark, still have a good percentage when they're not right at that line. For most of us, once you get a foot or so in front of or behind the arc, accuracy goes to hell.

I'm pretty sure her coach and GM knew what they were getting when they drafted her.

The thing is, her percentage actually goes up the further away she gets from the basket, which is why watching her is so insane. He 3pt percentage also went up later in the season when she stopped having to force shots as the team got more in sync. Just to put her rookie career in focus:


"She is the first player in WNBA history to finish in the top 10 in scoring while also leading the league in assists (also first to lead in 3PM and assists). To understand how she truly crushed it on scoring + assists, no player in history had ever hit 650 pts + 300 assists; Clark finished at 769 pts + 337 assists. That is a historic level of offensive generation for her team. She is one of three players who finished in the Top 20 in all five major categories: scoring (7th), rebounds (18th and the #1 guard), assists (1st), blocks (17th and the #1 guard), and steals (15th). The other two were Stewie and Phee."


Next year, she is going to have even more talent around her. My guess is her scoring will drop a little, but her assists and 3pt% is probably going to go higher.

Clark's great and she's not the one anyone should call out because her degree of difficulty is higher than almost anyone's but it's just a fact that the outside shooting has been bad in the WNBA. It's down to 33.8% from 3 last year and the league has never topped 35.3%, NBA is at 36% and has consistently been in that range for 20+ years despite the massively increasing rate of them in recent years. People hate men's teams who shoot 3's poorly too, it's only Washington and Orlando shooting below the WNBA's league average and those aren't offenses I'm excited to watch either.

(Also seriously how is Orlando's 3pt shooting % still falling? 3rd worst is at 34%, Washington at 33.1%, the Magic all the way down at 30.4%. They could desperately use a Khris Middleton buyout deal or something, it's ruining that team more than the injuries have.)

The compilations of bad finishing or layups I've ever seen have mainly been Angel Reese lowlight reels. That woman gets too much hate for things she shouldn't but she really is a bad finisher and shooter for how good of a player she is. Kind of crazy she can still positively impact her team so much while shooting 40% at the rim or whatever it is.

Ah, no. Any coach that would try that should be immediately fired. Their coach last year hinted at this early in the season and was rightly met with a ton of WTF's. The D is pulled out of position just by Clark being on the floor and somebody always having to be close to her. It creates space for others and opens up some of those passing lanes leading to assists for Clark and others, along with many back cuts that lead to easy hoops.

Maybe opposing teams would be wise to not guard her when she's so far away? Pack it in, take away the passing lanes, and dare her to shoot. Yeah, that will go well.

Those Top 20 category finishes came with a very slow start as she struggled at the beginning of the season. She'll come in this year knowing what to expect and with an offseason conditioning plan.

She was also pretty much three or drive all the way to the rim. The D was get into her on the 3pt line and if she drives meet her at the bucket. Towards the end of the year she started to work on a midrange pullup adding to her tools. She works hard and is just scratching the surface of what she's going to be.

I don't think it's as much a skill issue as it is a math/rules issue. 33% from 3 is still a good efficient rate compared to most alternatives. It just looks ugly.

I think the line should be moved back in both leagues so it only becomes an efficient shot for the most skilled shooters or those with the most open looks.

FWIW, she really improved as the season went on and shot .370 over the last 14 games of the season.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Detroit Pistons have a 46 point lead after 3 quarters. In a regular season NBA game. On the road.

Much like it was in the boys game, I think it is less about prioritizing athleticism and size and more about not prioritizing skill development in all players. Ksyrup spoke on this regarding the officiating but it also applies when it comes to a player's skill. Coaching is just beginning to embrace helping girls in developing all of their basketball skills in the same way they do with the boys now. Remember, it was not that long ago that any boy over six foot six inches by his freshman year in was destined to spend the rest the of his days playing the game with his back to the basket. The only girls who played one on one basketball or playground games like 21 when they were elementary/middle school age were the girls who played with their brothers and their brother's friends or in coed rec leagues. Just like a lot of boys in a similar predicament those girls who could not beat the boys physically, learned to develop their handle to get past the boys, passing skills and yes learn how to shoot from beyond "normal" distances if they wanted to score. When they were place in an organized league, they had to fit into a position and a role. Those skills developed on the blacktop were considered much more taboo in the gym when it came to the girls compared to the boys. It is why most of us love the girls/women's game compared to the men's game. More team, less one on one etc. I don't think it is a coincidence that from Hall of Famers like Ann Myers to Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, and JuJu Watkins, the players who we consider highly skilled speak about playing on boys or coed teams or playing with older siblings.

Charlie Brown lines up for the field goal to win the game. In his demeanor, one can see that he has been here before. He's known heartache. He's known total, humiliating failure. Yet here he is, daring to try again. He eyes the goalpost one last time and shuffles his feet slightly. He nods to Lucy. Here's the snap. Lucy catches the ball and places it down. She spins it slightly. Laces out. Here comes Brown, he's winding up for a big kick...

And Lucy pulls the ball again! Charlie desperately tries to kick it anyway and lands on his back with a tremendous thud. His back is broken.

x.com

Jeff Goodman
@GoodmanHoops
BREAKING: Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens told @TheFieldOf68
that he is not a candidate for the Indiana University job.

“I thoroughly appreciate being a Celtic and love the people I get to work with every day,” Stevens told @TheFieldOf68
.

He'll be turning this job down until he's 70 years old.

Why would he have any interest in coaching IU when he runs an entire professional team? It’s silly that his name comes up every time.

I know the dunk contest is mostly dead right now, but Mac McClung just had one of the best dunks you'll ever see.

He's an Indiana legend for what he did with Butler, and everyone still remembers when the Indiana job was amongst the best in the world, and that the pull of the job would be enough to send even legendary coaches there..

Plus some would reason he's tired of running a team and wants to get back to coaching.

I'm an avid Indiana fan and have been my entire life but the brand is dead. The top recruits in Indiana go out of state. And all the old heads still expect a national championship every year. I know the NIL budget is huge, but it's not going to be an easy place for someone to come in and win. The best bet is to get someone young with alot to prove because it's going to take quite a bit of work to rebuild this team.

Wemby out for the year.

Blood clots.

Just watched a Hakeem Olajuwon compilation video. He was such an amazing player; very unique and ahead of his time

Flying back from Ft. Lauderdale today, I just watched the end of the Notre Dame/NC State women's game. #1 ND lost in 2OT. It shouldn't have gotten that far though. NC State had a 3 point lead with 5.5 seconds left and 2 FOULS TO GIVE and used neither of them, giving up a tying 3 at the buzzer to force OT. Got lucky at the end of OT #1 when a foul call at the buzzer was waived off as being a split second after time expired.

What moron coach doesn't have his team use fouls in that situation? I suppose he didn't trust that they would foul before the player was in the act of shooting? Seems inexcusable to me.

I have not paid that much attention to the Grizzlies this season but Zach Edey has looked pretty good every time I have seen him. Usually we talk about guys getting stronger after getting into a professional weight training program but Edey looks like he has gotten in better shape in terms of his cardio conditioning.

I've watched about every game of his. He has some struggles with bigs that can bring him out and hit the 3 and some PnR assignments. He's been really solid though in general and does things that won't show up in a box score. His screening and the attention he gets from help defenders do a lot for his teammates. I hope they start to give him some post-up chances, but they are so few and far between. His only hope for offensive output comes from his offensive rebounding. You can tell a lot of the Grizzlies have never played with a dominant big before. They don't know how to use him and throw him some of the worst passes you could throw to a giant.

So is Jokic having the best season ever by a NBA player?

LeBron James is somehow STILL performing clutch chasedown blocks in crunch time in YEAR TWENTY FREAKING TWO OF HIS CAREER AT AGE 40.



Test that man. Not for drugs.. for the fountain of youth.



https://x.com/JoseLAL23/status/1896425666670919994

dola: While Trump et al looked to be the run away winner for "Chutzpah of the Year", the Mavericks are a dark horse candidate gathering steam.

The Mavericks said season tickets will go up by an average of 8.61% next season and the increase is due to "ongoing investments in the team and fan engagement."

Mavericks raise ticket costs, cite 'investments' in team, fans - ESPN

There's been little to no drop off from ages 38 to 40 for LeBron. Jordan wasn't the same player his last year with the Bulls at age 34, but was still good enough to win a NBA title and MVP, and that's roughly the level LeBron is playing at now. What he's doing is crazy.

Plus he has so many more miles on his "odometer" between Jordan's baseball sabbatical, coming into the league sooner, and being six years older

Tone deaf much?

Mavericks raise ticket costs, cite 'investments' in team, fans - ESPN

edit to add: My bad on the post, didn't see that it was already here until I scrolled up slower

Then Kyrie hurt his knee pretty bad, I wouldnt be surprised if he's out a couple months

Edit;done for the season

Mavs are hard capped under the first apron and have burned up the room to sign 10-day contracts and they used their last remaining two-way slot on Kai Jones who only has like two weeks left. They can't sign any more 10-days until April.

Their active roster last night was only 8 players.

Mavs are hard capped under the first apron and have burned up the room to sign 10-day contracts and they used their last remaining two-way slot on Kai Jones who only has like two weeks left. They can't sign any more 10-days until April.

Their active roster last night was only 8 players.

Tone only matters if you give a shit about the people you are talking to.

This timeline from the Athletic is brutal:

Idea stolen from somewhere else, but this is crazy:

Lebron's stats JJ Redick's junior year at Duke: 27/7/7
Lebron's stats JJ Redick's rookie year in the NBA: 27/7/6
Lebron's stats when JJ Redick becomes a NBA starter: 27/8/6
Lebron's stats when JJ Redick is a 15 year NBA vet: 25/8/8
Lebron's stats when JJ Redick is a podcaster: 26/8/7
Lebron's stats with JJ Redick as his coach: 25/9/8

It is ridiculous to say but outside of the accomplishment itself, winning the title a few years ago has convinced the Nuggets that Nikola Jokic only deserves to win one NBA title with their organization.

If the Nuggets (currently up 116-114 with 3:04 left in the 4th) are able to beat the Lakers, this might be the most embarrassing win by an NBA team this season. Neither Lebron nor Luka are playing in the game. All of the Nuggets starters are playing and all are have double digits points. The Nuggets have 35-14 advantage in free throw attempts.

Dickie V just broke down on the Duke/Louisville game talking about cancer and it hit in all the ways it should.

WVU becomes the first team that was a unanimous selection in the bracket project, which tracks 111 bracket projections, to not make the NCAA tournament. UNC gets in as the last team, coincidentally their AD is the chair on the committee.

Texas went 6-12 in conference play and was safely in. UNC went 1-12 in quad 1 games.

The committee claims player availability hurt WVU with Tucker DeVries being out. He's been out for 4 months and all over WVU's biggest wins were without him.

How did UNC make it? :lol:

The committee chair had to justify the extension he handed Hubert Davis.

When asked by Seth about it that was some of the most awkward TV I've seen in a while. But yeah, total name/brand/$$$ pick, I think they'd have liked to have Indiana over Drake too but even they couldn't justify that.

Of the 111 brackets tracked by the bracket project.

WVU was in on all 111.

Indiana was in on 90.

Texas was in on 50.

Xavier was in on 30.

UNC was in on 27.

IU didn’t deserve to make it in. No loss there. Now we are clear of the season and can name a new coach.

Agreed. I told my dad (who's a season ticket holder*) that we needed at least one win in the Big Ten tourney to have a real shot.

Like everything else this season, IU fell short when they needed it...which is a shame, because I liked the kids on this team, but they just didn't seem capable of playing like a team when it counted.

* My mom died in March of last year from pancreatic cancer. Dad, who's always been a huge IU fan, was considering returning to Texas for the winter, so my brothers and I managed to secure season tickets for him as a lure to keep him in Indiana and close to family.

Sorry to hear about your mom, Drake. That’s awful.

It's truly absurd.

People look at that uniform and see Jordan, Worthy, Carter, etc.

The past is a powerful drug.

Because the committee had to pick 68 teams instead of 65? Maybe 64?

WVU should have gotten in but not as a replacement for UNC. UNC should not not have made it but I think WVU were worthy of at least a 10 seed if UNC as the last team in got an 11 seed.

I'm sort of surprised they were even on 27 of those. I saw some where they weren't even listed as a last 4 in. I know they played a tough schedule but they didn't beat anyone good all year it seems.

Ngl, this is pretty dirty stuff

South Alabama has NIT invite rescinded - 'Unacceptable' - ESPN

My boss is a U of L donor/season ticket holder and he's getting 2 tickets for Session 1 at Rupp on Thursday, so he's invited me to go with him (seeing as though I live 20 minutes from Rupp). Pretty cool. I've never been to an NCAA tournament game of any kind. Auburn plays in game 2.

Anybody seen or used this before? Any idea which stats have historically mattered the most in the tournament?

Algebracket

It sounds like WVU coach DeVries is a target at Indiana. Iowa tried but couldn't match the NIL and salary WVU has on the table for an extension. Indiana can and DeVries is a Midwest guy.

about to fill out my Buffett bracket. Wish me luck!

I've been a season ticket holder for a long time and my interest in college basketball is landing at an all-time low. Seeing WVU go 19-13 (10-10 in the Big 12) with neutral court OOC wins over Gonzaga and Arizona and @ Kansas (plus beat Iowa St) and not get in, while UNC and Xavier and San Diego St. somehow did. And seeing Oklahoma win .333 of their SEC games (and both have the same number of ranked wins as WVU has, despite having more opportunities) and getting a 9-seed was defeating.

But, the dagger is if we end up losing Devries, that will be 4 coaches in 4 years and complete roster turnover each year. I can't blame him for wanting to go to Indiana, I guess. But I can't see me caring about the tournament and now next year is going to be another lost season. Meanwhile, I'm paying for seats, licensing, have to walk a mile if I want to park, and spend about $75 to feed my family when I go to games. Feels like an arms race that I'm just throwing money into and getting zero return.

I just paid almost $4000 for three football tickets and I'm guessing the best hope there is to win 8 or 9 games.

College sports is pretty darn broken for all but a handful of programs. Coaching contracts don't matter, player contracts don't seem to matter (or at least equal any type of long term stability), and conference affiliation feels like it is all temporary. I'm tired of every offseason feeling like we go back to square one.

Get some of these people to pony up some NIL money, then.

For basketball, WVU has a really strong NIL budget. Definitely top 25, but still not competing with Indiana there if Indiana really commits. NIL is really the only thing coaches are caring about right now and WVU can get closer to Indiana than most realize but still not good enough.

Indiana side are saying it's done but are probably jumping the gun. I think he goes if/when offered. There are some good coaches out there to replace him but the pool isn't as deep as last cycle when it was hard to make a bad hire.

I'd say we generally punch above our weight in fundraising and certainly with NIL. Guys like John Chambers and Ken Kendrick have been very generous over the years and Pat McAfee has been very supportive since he's gotten more famous and wealthy. Our athletic department has already said that they are fully funding the maximum profit sharing (about $22M beginning in the 25-26 season), so the commitment is there to maximize what we have, I think.

The bigger issue is that, even at our best, we can't expect to compete with the Ohio States and Texases of the world, but with the Big Ten and SEC now earning so much through TV/broadcasting, the gap between WVU and say Vanderbilt/Miss. St./Purdue/Iowa is soon going to be insurmountable, too - even if we do everything right. We won't be able to retain assistant coaches, have as many staff members, budgeting for recruiting, etc.

I'm not asking for anyone to feel sorry for me here. It's just frustrating that the a lot of the winners and losers in this system were largely chosen by who you aligned yourself with 50 or 100 years ago.

Sounds like it might be Darian DeVries to IU.

Insane ending to the first play in game

Of all 8 of the first 4 and last 4 teams, UNC is ranked #1 in all relevant metrics except for quad 1 wins where they're last. Ever since UNC made their permanent starting lineup change, they've been playing like a top 25 team so that 1-12 quad 1 record was always a silly talking point. They nearly beat Florida and Duke (without Flagg). Previous 10 games UNC has had a top 10 offense and shooting 44% from 3. They were up 82 to 42 against SDSU at one point yesterday lol.

American needs to get the Rogers kid out of the game before he does permanent damage, if he hasn't already

dola- please stop showing his mom holding back tears

It was about this time last year that Coastal Carolina moved on from Cliff Ellis and I thought things were looking up for the program: much younger, more media/community friendly coach-all around campus/local news/town but sadly the team on the court might have been the worse yet. No wins in the Sun Belt until late in the season and then a first round loss as the 12th or 13 seed. :( If things don't improve with more of his own players on the team next season there may be a quick turnaround in head coaches.

Jesus. Clemson scored 13 points in the first half.

Wade's a great coach and will make NC State dangerous in the NIL era. I'm not sure how long he stays there, though, because he'll be attractive at other places in a hurry and if NC State isn't giving him enough resources he won't hesitate to leave.

Wade will have NC State near the top of the ACC in no time. I think he'll eventually end up at Clemson, though. He's obviously an alum, but I've heard he's super attached to them.

Went to the Louisville game. From what I saw, bad matchup with Creighton, Creighton hit everything in sight, and the refs called a game that allowed heavy contact inside that did UL no favors on top of everything else that didn't go their way. It wasn't for lack of crowd, though - I'd say 90% UL fans, at UK's home court. A bunch of people taking pictures with middle fingers at the Rupp sign. Then they threw bottles on the court near the end, causing a delay.

Thanks to UL blowing it, we left after the game and didn't watch Auburn.

NC State feels like a perfect fit but I'm a little surprised he isn't getting even bigger offers. That guy is a masterful tactician. Good lord that gameplan they had for Clemson in the first half was perfect.

A lot of risk there. It takes a string AD or someone willing to accept the risk
He has guys that bankroll his NIL needs and insert themselves in the program with no loyalty to the school. NC State's AD is on the hot seat a bit and is likely fired if he doesn't nail this hire so the risk made sense.

Every time I watch Kansas I'm amazed by how sloppy they are. I don't know how Self has managed to keep his sanity this year. Hopefully this is the end of Dickinson.

Did you throw the water bottle?

I think St Johns may be in some trouble

I didn't care enough about who won to get that pissed. It also happened on the other side of the court from where we were sitting.

Holy crap. Hogs beat Kansas!

Big 10 undefeated in round 1.

Holy crap. Hogs beat St John’s

The end of these games are unwatchable with all the reviews.

Duke is the only non SEC, B10, B12 team left. Underdogs.

Probably me and my stress/distractions, but this tournament just didn't grab me the way past tournaments have. Pretty uneventful/unexciting first weekend. With a couple of exceptions, UConn/FL is the biggest.

I think it was a little better than people give it credit for because there weren't any buzzer beaters until a Colorado State/Maryland game that gave us two, but I think with the current rules the top teams have never been better and the gap between them and the best mid/low majors who are usually the fun upset teams has widen considerably. Gaulke got the attention but the real star player from last year's Cinderella Oakland team made it to the Sweet 16 last night (Trey Townsend), he just did it as a depth piece on Arizona putting up 2/3/2 instead of the guy putting up 30/17 vs NC State last year (and he did it next to a guy who put up 20/7 a game at Campbell).

There are still occasional lightning in a bottle teams like Drake that pulled their top players up with the coach, or guys like Robbie Avila and Yaxel Landeborg who prefer a coach and situation they like over chasing the $$$, but for every one of them there are dozens of others that could be starring as the 1-3 on a frisky lower conference champ and 12-15 seed that are instead filling out the depth chart as the 4-8 at the high major teams with all that $$$ advantage. Really sucks as someone whose two teams are Charlotte (Igor Milicic, Dishon Jackson, LuCye Patterson last year, all gone to start for power teams) and UMass (RJ Luis, Javohn Garcia, Matt Cross, Josh Cohen going from All-A10 to 13mpg for a bottom tier B1G team, etc) and I think it definitely tamps down the number of upsets or close games early, but the flip side is this is pretty easily the best the remaining 16 teams should be so it's not what I prefer but there is a different reward at least. Literally the only team close to an underdog is Coach Cal's Arkansas and they're rolling out multiple 5* NBA prospects and a guy like Johnell Davis who also lead a recent Cinderella run at a smaller conference school.

We'll see if this year was just a huge outlier - and we'll still get SOME upsets - but I think we're entering a new top heavy era instead of the fairly wild west one we've seen recently. Since 2013 the top 25 KenPom teams have averaged between +21.62 to +24.94, this year they're up at +27.4, and the B1G should catch up to the SEC in fully weaponizing their money and the NIL structure. Big 12/ACC/some lower powers like Memphis or Gonzaga will be able to keep up with the cap if they can get near it or if their school chooses to focus on basketball over football, but you can't build around hidden gems over a couple seasons at the lower levels, 90% of All-Conference guys are gone after one.

The Sweet Sixteen matchups seem pretty good. UK/Tennessee is going to be interesting. I doubt UK can pull off a third victory against them this year.

UK, Arkansas and BYU all made the Sweet Sixteen. I think the coaching musical chairs worked out well for everyone.

Last year's hiring cycle was arguably the strongest ever. This year's is not.

The good thing about the relative lack of upsets this year is that the rest of the tournament is going to be incredible.

Yeah, I'm pretty excited for:
AZ/Duke
BYU/Bama (BYU is live here)
Kentucky/Tenn
Michigan/Auburn

A lot of good teams left (including my finals duo Florida and Houston) - should be some good games.

I failed to get my brothers to change our yearly NCAA bet - I wanted to pick every game as they happen instead of the traditional bracket before the start of the tournament. I still think it's a good idea so I'm going to try again next year. We're really close on score and it will just come down to whoever picked the right winner. It feels lame to me.

Women's basketball is watching 3-4 players hit the floor with no call and then a ticky tack call 2 seconds later.