SI.com Expert Picks
- Thread starter KyLegacy
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2/4 have Duke in the Final-4. All I really needed to see.
I don't get the KU love. Dook is surprising in a way but they could be formidable if they right the ship.
LOL at Gonzaga and Butler. And Wisconsin. And Oregon.
LOL at Gonzaga and Butler. And Wisconsin. And Oregon.
Me either. I don't think they make the FF. I've only watched them a few times, but they have some major weaknesses, in my opinion.
Pretty mixed bag of picks there.
I mean, if far superior ku teams have gotten bounced in the second round why the hell is this team any different?
Having watched this team so far I wouldn't put them in the Final 4 either. Duke in the Final 4 at this point is ridiculous though.
Another year, another KU and Gonzaga Final Four circle jerk.
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UNC, Florida State, UCLA and UK
picking final four teams this time of year is a lot like the first release of the BCS. fun, gets people engaged, but ultimately pointless since we dont know what the actually bracket is going to look like.
but duke in the final four is a good bet as they will be placed in the fake bracket of death like always.
but duke in the final four is a good bet as they will be placed in the fake bracket of death like always.
Sorry but there is no way you can watch UK and not see we are one of the top 2-4 teams in the country. Only UCLA and maybe maybe Nova has been more impressive. UK has to be considered a final 4 favorite if not THE favorite. Putting Duke there is a joke . When picking a final 4 you want to pick 1-2 one to two seed type teams , a 3-5 seed type team and then a 6-10 seed type for the sleeper . IN that vain my final four picks as of now are UK/UCLA/FSU/ and my sleeper is Arizona
In general I am a pessimistic fan so that's probably one reason I wouldn't. But as much as I like this team they have some weaknesses that I think will come back to bite us at some point. I could definitely have a different opinion by March though.
As of today, I'd have UCLA, UNC, Villanova in. Not sure about the 4th.
Do these "experts" never learn about Kansas? Bill Self will choke. End of story!
I like these picks. Though I would say that WVU's style doesn't always work out so well against tournament teams with athletic guards (see: our beat down of WVU in 2015).
Chris Johnson infers that our schedule will hurt us in the tournament. He says our toughest games the rest of the year are Florida, Georgia, and Texas AM. I guess he forgot we play one of his final 4 teams in Kansas. Do these guys do any research or just throw some BS and mention UK to get some clicks?
For everyone loving UCLA simply cause they beat us... they have the 100th ranked Def, and that's with the 108th SoS (263rd non conf SoS). They are a phenomenal team, when they are hitting, but they don't have the Def. Folks here are scared of them beacuse they have their big blue goggles on and think that just cause they beat us (while we were young) that they are amazing. They lost to Oregon and almost to Utah.
Yet he has Gonzaga in there, lol. Doesn't even follow his own logic - what a dumbass.
Yeah, 1st in offense and 100th in defense is a recipe for 3rd or 4th round exit. Basically, they have to be hitting on all cylinders the whole tourney in order to win. Not likely.
I don't really get the point you are trying to make throwing in Oregon and Utah. Losing Oregon on a last-second shot is nothing to be ashamed of. And Utah is always a tough place to play period and UCLA won the game
Sure hasn't hurt us with 5 Elite Eights and 4 Final Fours in Cal's first seven years here.
Meanwhile, Gonzaga's weak conference is apparently a positive every year despite them never making a Final Four.
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Doesn't matter how they lost, they did. I'm justnsaying that they aren't as juggernaut as some on this board think. I cited those two games as evidence.
So in your opinion UK has weaknesses that will bite them in March, but the three you listed don't? UCLA has a less than stellar defense and Alford for a coach, UNC has shown that they can lose to NIT caliber teams and Nova is missing a true dominant big.
UK is #1 on KenPom and it's not close.
Now don't get me wrong, I don't want to be a homer, but the numbers don't lie.
That's fair. I'm a bit pessimistic as well, but it's hard not to like some of the things we've seen from this team so far. The Kansas and Florida games will give us an additional insight as to the makeup of this team.
I think I would go UCLA, UK, UNC, and a surprise team like Creighton/Oregon
Those teams have weaknesses too. I mean have you even watched UNCheat? I get that we have weaknesses, but our fans love to ignore that other teams do as well.
I would like to see UCLA play an elite defensive team. Right now I would put UL and WVA in that category. If UCLA draws one of those teams they are gone.
But the Utah game is odd to me. I'm not sure, but is Utah ranked? How did they hold UCLA to such a low point total?
Heck, Texas A&M held them well under their average and aTm is not a good basketball team right now.
I would not be confident if I were a UCLA fan. That defense is going to rear it's ugly head in March.
Is Alford a good enough coach to fix that? We shall see.
UCLA is the exact type of team where having no defense and great offense will bite them. UK is a bit difference as we don't rely on jumpshots (3s especially) for our high scoring offense. UCLA relies far heavily on those and those are the types of teams that get bounced on a cold shooting night.
As a side note, hard to remember a UK team since Cal has been at the helm with solid numbers like this one and a good makeup of talent being so overlooked.
Don't get me wrong, this may be a tournament where everyone else has the target on their back and thats fine by me, but I just don't remember a UK team at this current level not getting more "love."
In the article linked by the OP, the only real mention of UK was about Monk possibly being a tournament hero, and being included once in the Final 4 picks. I just found it strange.
There's also mention of UK in the 'bold predictions' at the bottom. The bold prediction was that we would go 18-0 in SEC play. Hope he's right.
I think UK is being drastically underrated in this article but I wouldn't exactly laugh at Oregon as you suggest. They were and early season favorite who got off to a bit of a shaky start but seem to really be playing very well right now and have a good coach that I respect. They could be a tough out in the tournament. I agree, Duke could yet be tough if they right the ship but it's not looking too good at them moment and I hope it stays that way. Gonzaga? Undefeated and beat a few teams who aren't too bad but have a cupcake schedule for the most part. But, they are winning big and who knows about them. Maybe this will finally be the year that Few and Gonzaga break through.
Yep, they won't be able to string together six great shooting nights, let alone the last four that will be against real teams.
Yes I picked UCLA to make the final 4 but you won't win a final 4 with that D. You need a top 30ish D to win a title. I think UK and UCLA play in the semi final game and UK avenges the loss.
I don't get the FSU love on this board. My final four picks (which are irrelevant until a bracket is released) are UNC UCLA UK Villanova
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