Official March Madness Thread

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Mark Sears is another example of how it is possible to find really good talent in the portal. We probably can't afford the high end talent but it is there.
 

Ski-U-Ham said:
Mark Sears is another example of how it is possible to find really good talent in the portal. We probably can't afford the high end talent but it is there.
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Do you know where he was before?

The POY last year in the B10 for PSU (name escapes me) was from Northeastern IIRC.
 


Ski-U-Ham said:
Sears was at Ohio.

Edey was POY last year. But:

Jalen Pickett transferred from Siena
Andrew Funk transferred from Bucknell
Camren Wynter transferred from Drexel
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Thanks for the correction.

I was thinking of Pickett who was the MAAC player of the year in 2022 and was first team All B10 last season, in addition to being a Consensus 2nd team AA.


Amazing that Sears was at the non-P5 level before - wow is he good. There are so many good players out there, it’s hard to fathom.
 





Overtime in Memphis, A & M erases a double digit lead late. Hits a 3 at the buzzer to tie Houston. Houston in big time foul trouble, Cryer and Francis already fouled out and a bunch more with 4, including Shead
 

Cryer is already fouled out. Shead, Sharp, and Roberts all with four fouls.
 



Ski-U-Ham said:
Overtime in Memphis, A & M erases a double digit lead late. Hits a 3 at the buzzer to tie Houston. Houston in big time foul trouble, Cryer and Francis already fouled out and a bunch more with 4, including Shead
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Thanks for this I had given up on this game and came back to it in overtime. Wow!
 

This Houston kid shooting FT's reminds me of Daniel Carlson trying to kick his last FG as a Viking.
 





If A & M could have gotten that to 2OT, Houston would've been in a real tight spot! Houston survives and advances.
 








TNGophfan said:
No surprise for me for the BIG. Thought only Purdue and Illinois were top end throughout the year.
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Michigan State had the talent to do much better, and if they had gotten a10 or 11 seed, I would have taken them to the second weekend. The draw to face 1 seed in second game was too much. Getting a 2 or 3 would have helped.

Something is wrong in Izzoville. Too many years of underperforming his talent level.

While we handwring over transfers here, I’m really curious to see what happens there. It is functionally a referendum on his culture, which isn’t producing like it used to.
 

Holy Man said:
Michigan State had the talent to do much better, and if they had gotten a10 or 11 seed, I would have taken them to the second weekend. The draw to face 1 seed in second game was too much. Getting a 2 or 3 would have helped.

Something is wrong in Izzoville. Too many years of underperforming his talent level.

While we handwring over transfers here, I’m really curious to see what happens there. It is functionally a referendum on his culture, which isn’t producing like it used to.
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I think Tom is at the end of his era.

Time to sail off into the sunset
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
I think Tom is at the end of his era.

Time to sail off into the sunset
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He has enough of an ego that I bet he stays until he can on the uptick. A win against Carolina would have solidified him as a great March coach and given him the platform to let us know how great he is with all the challenges he faces with injuries, immature players, etc. it will need to wait until next year.
 

Holy Man said:
He has enough of an ego that I bet he stays until he can on the uptick. A win against Carolina would have solidified him as a great March coach and given him the platform to let us know how great he is with all the challenges he faces with injuries, immature players, etc. it will need to wait until next year.
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Like most athletes and coaches don’t know when to leave; that’s why TK and players like Barry Sanders are so special.
 

Holy Man said:
Michigan State had the talent to do much better, and if they had gotten a10 or 11 seed, I would have taken them to the second weekend. The draw to face 1 seed in second game was too much. Getting a 2 or 3 would have helped.

Something is wrong in Izzoville. Too many years of underperforming his talent level.

While we handwring over transfers here, I’m really curious to see what happens there. It is functionally a referendum on his culture, which isn’t producing like it used to.
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I wonder if it's just a matter or poor Transfer Portal Management, both Outgoing and Incoming.

I have no idea how the current Mich St roster was constructed, but the way it was done in the '00s & '10, when the Spartans were almost always Upper Classmen dominated, is much different now in the '20s.
 

Ope3 said:
I wonder if it's just a matter or poor Transfer Portal Management, both Outgoing and Incoming.

I have no idea how the current Mich St roster was constructed, but the way it was done in the '00s & '10, when the Spartans were almost always Upper Classmen dominated, is much different now in the '20s.
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Agreed. My guess is the older guys ran the the show and there are fewer of them now.

The heart of MSU was constant growth of players and maturity on the court. Much harder to do now than a decade ago.

Can Izzo adapt? I don’t think so.
 

Holy Man said:
Michigan State had the talent to do much better, and if they had gotten a10 or 11 seed, I would have taken them to the second weekend. The draw to face 1 seed in second game was too much. Getting a 2 or 3 would have helped.

Something is wrong in Izzoville. Too many years of underperforming his talent level.

While we handwring over transfers here, I’m really curious to see what happens there. It is functionally a referendum on his culture, which isn’t producing like it used to.
Click to expand...

Im interested to see how things go for Sparty and Izzo the next couple years.

They have had some talented players but also flawed/inconsistent guys. Walker is really nice but he takes a lot of long 2s which just isnt what most teams will find success with. Hall and Hoggard sometimes look like legit all conference players, then the next game they look like they shouldnt even start for a big10 team.

No legit big men. Izzo doesnt like to use the portal which is why it will be interesting how he handles the next couple years.

Im not ready to write him off yet though, I think he may have just had a more flawed group of guys the last couple years than anyting on his coaching abilities. Which happens.
 



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