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Author
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Topic: Good ESPN Article on ACC
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SCWC
Player
Member # 2464
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posted 03-20-2017 09:28 AM
From ESPN:
quote:
Wake Forest was the first to go, the First Four in Dayton when the Demon Deacons lost to Kansas State. But after a weekend that began on a high note with Notre Dame's nail-biter over Princeton and Virginia's victory against a UNC Wilmington team that was a trendy upset pick, now the entire ACC's hopes for tourney relevance rest on the team from Chapel Hill, the one that needed a couple of favorable whistles to get past Arkansas on Sunday night in Greenville. Virginia Tech was the first from the league to fall as Buzz Williams' group lost to Wisconsin. Miami went down in the first round to Michigan State on Friday, but that still left seven teams out of the final 32. But the weekend wasn't kind to the Atlantic Coast Conference. Notre Dame came up short against West Virginia, Florida State was pounded by Xavier, and Virginia managed only 39 points in a loss to Florida. Sunday wasn't much better as Louisville bowed out to a red-hot Michigan team, and then Duke was manhandled and shell-shocked by South Carolina. "The league isn't very tough," one ACC assistant said. "Too much finesse. You have to be tough to win in the NCAA tourney." "It was overrated," another ACC coach added. "I'll admit it. We won games in November and December, but most of our teams weren't that much better than teams in the other leagues. But we had a ton of résumé wins on the board because of Duke, North Carolina, Louisville and even Virginia -- and that allows the other teams to become overrated." "Miami was a fringe tourney team," he added. "Same for Virginia Tech, Wake and even Notre Dame. We had a lot of good teams but really no great ones." That's because Duke just never lived up to the hype. The Blue Devils were the near-unanimous preseason No. 1 but struggled with chemistry, consistency and health. Giles was never himself after a third knee surgery just before the season, and Mike Krzyzewski couldn't find a point guard on the roster. That wasn't just the issue in Durham, either. It's tough to win in March without a quality point guard, and that was something that ultimately bit a bunch of the ACC's teams when it mattered. Duke didn't have one, Florida State didn't either and Louisville's Quentin Snider was inconsistent and struggled in the loss to Michigan. The Sweet 16 is now set. The Pac-12 has its power trio of Oregon, Arizona and UCLA. The Big 12 has its top three in Kansas, West Virginia and Baylor. A down year in the Big Ten has produced three with Purdue, Wisconsin and Michigan. The Big East has Butler and Xavier, and even the SEC, which has been a national laughingstock for years now, claims three with Kentucky, South Carolina and Florida. Then there's the ACC and North Carolina flying solo through the first week. Maybe we were right about the league after all. Maybe it was in a class of its own, the most overrated in America. quote:
Posts: 17777 | From: Myrtle Beach, SC | Registered: Jun 2005
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Bama Cat
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Member # 153
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posted 03-20-2017 11:44 AM
It's always nice to see some honesty in journalism. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif) ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
Posts: 14464 | From: berea, ky, usa | Registered: Sep 1999
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Trey Ball
Administrator
Member # 332
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posted 03-20-2017 11:33 PM
So I didn't watch many games involving ACC teams this year, but the ones that I did watch I always came away thinking that most of those teams seemed "soft" and other than Louisville and Virginia defense was basically optional. I think this tournament proved that.
The thing that I just can't believe is how seasoned analyst across ESPN/FOX Sports/CBS Sports can't see that until after the fact.
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Wife's Mad. Told me we never talk anymore. And just last nite while watching super bowl told her 2 or 3 times to get me a coke and popcorn. Also told her not to forget to take out trash in the morning. Ain't that something. Also told me I was too indecisive. Can't figure out what to do about that. One nice thing I guess. She called me a pro crastinator. Don't know what a crastinator is but I guess I'm a good one for her to call me a pro. Gonna wait til tomorrow to look that up though. I love her but somrtimes can't help but thinking I should have told uncle Junior to keep his coon hound pup and stevens double barrel and also his youngest daughter.
redbone
Posts: 11957 | From: IN, USA | Registered: Dec 1999
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SCWC
Player
Member # 2464
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posted 03-21-2017 04:36 AM
I live in the middle of ACC country and have argued all season long that their conference was highly overrated, that they played little to no defense etc. Happy to see them now eating a little bit of crow, they gave me a hard time over the football heavy SEC this year, even rubbing in the fact that we could not even beat the ACC in football with Clemson winning the National Championship. If we can get UNC out of the tournament, I will have the last laugh.
Posts: 17777 | From: Myrtle Beach, SC | Registered: Jun 2005
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Bama Cat
Player
Member # 153
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posted 03-21-2017 01:07 PM
I am guessing that if we can beat UCLA we can be the one that stops them from the vinal 4. If we lose to UCLA, UNC just might go all the way.
Posts: 14464 | From: berea, ky, usa | Registered: Sep 1999
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