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NCAA Final Four...Welcome to St. Louis!!

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B

Bowser

Member
Wow, never would I have imagined Carolina could take a 13 point cushion into halftime. Aside from the Felton fouls, that was a 20 minutes of great basketball. Just need to keep it up for one more half!
 
N

Nerevar

they call me "Man Gravy".
Bowser said:
Wow, never would I have imagined Carolina could take a 13 point cushion into halftime. Aside from the Felton fouls, that was a 20 minutes of great basketball. Just need to keep it up for one more half!
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the only joy I'm taking from this is that if you win your players are more likely to jump pro.

p1_stern_getty.jpg

He's calling you, McCants, Felton, May, and Marvin Williams. Just think of all the money you'll make ....
 
B

bigfurb

Member
Raymond Felton a Laker?!?! OH HEEEELLLLLLLL NO!!!!!!!!!!

My Heels doing exactly what I thought they could do against the illini. Illinois lives and dies by the three, so if they're not hitting at a ridiculous clip, they're beatable. My Heels aren't the one-trick pony that Illinois is. We have balance on offense. we can kill you from the inside and the outside. But Illinois isn't out of it. Any team that can hit threes as well as they can is always capable of coming back. That's been the story of college basketball all year. But I'm hopeful that my Heels will come out in the second half and finish the job they've started

TARHEELS BITCH!!!!!! :D :D :D
 
A

AntoneM

Member
bigfurb said:
My Heels doing exactly what I thought they could do against the illini. Illinois lives and dies by the three, so if they're not hitting at a ridiculous clip, they're beatable.
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yeah, Ill. is hitting at a ridiculous clip now
 
B

bigfurb

Member
But Illinois isn't out of it. Any team that can hit threes as well as they can is always capable of coming back. That's been the story of college basketball all year
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I should be an analyst
 
N

Nerevar

they call me "Man Gravy".
Cloudy said:
Sean May is like a poor man's Elton Brand. He'd be dumb to not enter the draft...
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in all fairness, Brand was longer - May is thicker. May will probably have a bit harder time in the NBA than Brand.
 
C

Cloudy

Banned
Not if he plays next to a decent center. He needs to show some range to be really compared to Brand though...
 
S

suaveric

Member
May proved to be the difference. Still, Head had two good looks at the end of the game to tie/take the lead; I'm not sure what else the Illini could ask for. Good game.
 
O

Outdoor Miner

Member
Great game, grats to Roy and UNC.

It's crazy how close it was, we had 3 different opportunities to tie it @ 72-70, but the shots just didn't fall.

For all the emphasis on Illini's passing and team play, it's what finally bit them in the ass. I'm referring of course to Luther Head's drive inside the basket and picked off pass that would've gone to Deron. Always that extra pass that's gotten them through, but not this time. Felton knew and played it to perfection, grats on that.

Hell of a game and way to close out the season!

Man that interview with Weber got me choked up. You can tell he's crushed. Sucks, he deserved it. But so did Roy, and one of them had to lose.
 
A

Agent Icebeezy

Welcome beautful toddler, Madison Elizabeth, to the horde!
Sal Paradise Jr said:
Always that extra pass that's gotten them through, but not this time. Felton knew and played it to perfection, grats on that.

Hell of a game and way to close out the season!
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When Felton picked off that pass, I thought the same thing
 
B

bigfurb

Member
Congrats to Roy, after all the years of "when will you win the big one?" , he's finally got his chip. Sean May is a beast, pure and simple. I would love to see him in a Nets uniform next year playing with Kidd, Carter and Jefferson. He could be that solid interior presence they need to get back into contention. Raymond shows why he's one of the best floor generals in the game (and lets hope he doesn't become a laker next season, I don't want Kobe anywhere near this kid)

HEELS BITCH!!!!!!!
 
B

Bowser

Member
Lathentar said:
And Bowser wins the Bracket!
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:D :D :D

Man what an awesome game. Definately a classic. So many open 3s in the end that just didn't fall for Illinois. Oh man, this is such a great feeling!
 
D

Dilbert

Member
Agent Icebeezy said:
these fuckin refs need to get their asses kicked
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Very true. Augustine was getting called for fouls if he so much as made eye contact with anyone...yet, Sean May could lower his shoulder into defenders with impunity, and moving screens were somehow legal.

If they wanted to let them play, that's fine...but for fuck's sake, call it evenly. Having Augustine post an oh-fer because of foul trouble pretty much sealed the deal for UNC.
 
N

Ninja Scooter

Member
-jinx- said:
Very true. Augustine was getting called for fouls if he so much as made eye contact with anyone...yet, Sean May could lower his shoulder into defenders with impunity, and moving screens were somehow legal.

If they wanted to let them play, that's fine...but for fuck's sake, call it evenly. Having Augustine post an oh-fer because of foul trouble pretty much sealed the deal for UNC.
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they were letting Illinois run moving screens all over the place in teh 2nd half though.
 
C

ChronoMagnus

Banned
I hate all sports teams from illinois with a passion (i'm from Milwaukee, WI). I so happy the fighting Illini lost, actually, i dont know one Milwaukeean who doesnt have a smirk on their face right now.
 
D

DJ_Tet

Banned
They just reported at the end of Sportscenter that Rashad McCants will be "testing the NBA waters". Here's hoping that May, Felton, and Williams follows his lead. They should, they'd all get drafted over a 6'3 small forward whose a head case :)
 
J

J2 Cool

Member
*slaps face*

The line "It began in March, finished in April, and ended in May" killed me afterwards. *deep breath* *sigh* Tough loss. Tough misses near the end. I was sure one of Deron's was gonna fall. They looked so good. And Sean May.. I have to say he's great. He's still got that style of play I hate though. The Shaq type body, and the intense screams after he scores. I was hoping they'd just bring Nick Smith in to kick May in the nuts. I thought he may be able to do that much right, and earn himself some type of rememberance with Illini fans, other than an Illini momentum breaker. I wanted to see Roy cry so much too :( He'd have gone straight emo if he'd of lost again.

Ah well, just a 1 in a hundred chance, a miracle season, a game short of huge prospects....... Hey, the Cubs are undefeated, and the Bulls will be in the playoffs. What'd'yaknow!

Just another Chicago sports gut punch. Where are you MJ!?? I'm going to watch my Ultimate Jordan dvd now. *deep breath* *sigh*
 
F

FnordChan

Member
Just got back from Franklin Street, which was in the throes of happy rioting. Bonfires, fireworks, drum circles, tons of pot smoke - as I said to the naked guy I passed, "Shit, it's like Burning Man." When I left the cops were dragging a co-worker of mine out of a tree, where he and some other guys were reducing it to kindling and lobbing branches (with varying degrees of accuracy) at the nearest bonfires. Ah, it's '93 all over again. Go Heels!

FnordChan
 
H

Hollywood

Banned
NLB2 said:
Having a champion and a shiteater is better than having an almost and a could have been :D
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How about a shiteater and an almost? LOL .. Oh that's right you are banned now. All the shit you Illini guys talked and you finished near the same position as us. No title, just a good season ending in a loss late in the tourney. But you know, there's always next year. Oh wait ... this is Augustine led Illinois to look forward too with an awesome recruiting class of two 3 star recruits. :lol
 
A

AntoneM

Member
Hollywood said:
How about a shiteater and an almost? LOL .. Oh that's right you are banned now. All the shit you Illini guys talked and you finished near the same position as us. No title, just a good season ending in a loss late in the tourney. But you know, there's always next year. Oh wait ... this is Augustine led Illinois to look forward too with an awesome recruiting class of two 3 star recruits. :lol
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and how does this change the fact that Illinois had a better team than Louiville this season?
 
S

suaveric

Member
max_cool said:
and how does this change the fact that Illinois had a better team than Louiville this season?
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Don't worry about that, according to Hollywood's book "How to Act After a Tough Loss", what we need to do now is to start talking trash about UNC's football team.
 
J

J2 Cool

Member
Hollywood said:
How about a shiteater and an almost? LOL .. Oh that's right you are banned now. All the shit you Illini guys talked and you finished near the same position as us. No title, just a good season ending in a loss late in the tourney. But you know, there's always next year. Oh wait ... this is Augustine led Illinois to look forward too with an awesome recruiting class of two 3 star recruits. :lol
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get the hell out of here. What a bitch.
 
H

Hollywood

Banned
max_cool said:
and how does this change the fact that Illinois had a better team than Louiville this season?
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It changes the fact according to that assclown, a good year doesn't matter if you don't win the title. So hey, join the class of 'almost' teams, without a title. And yes, lets play the Illinois vs. Louisville who's better game ... because you know, its not like UL doesn't have a preason top 10 football team and basketball team for next year.
 
J

J2 Cool

Member
Hollywood said:
It changes the fact according to that assclown, a good year doesn't matter if you don't win the title. So hey, join the class of 'almost' teams, without a title. And yes, lets play the Illinois vs. Louisville who's better game ... because you know, its not like UL doesn't have a preason top 10 football team and basketball team for next year.
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Well sure, we pushed 23 year old Francisco into coming back another year, you should have a top 10 team.
 
N

Nerevar

they call me "Man Gravy".
:lol

just as I predicted, the celebration will be short-lived for UNC fans:

Both UNC, Illinois face massive roster changes

Andy Katz said:
ST. LOUIS -- Marvin Williams better stay.

If he doesn't, North Carolina is looking at a complete rebuilding situation.

The freshman forward was noncommittal after the title game about whether or not he would return for his sophomore season.

Williams could be a top-two or three pick if he opts for the NBA draft. No one is saying he's ready to play in the league, but his potential means he could command that type of draft status.

Williams is the anchor to the Tar Heels next season. Why? The Tar Heels are definitely losing four players, and possibly six. Williams' departure would make it seven.

Junior Rashad McCants said after the Tar Heels' victory that he would hold a news conference in a few days to make his announcement.

This will be about as suspenseful as Monday's Hall of Fame announcement that Connecticut's Jim Calhoun and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim will be inducted into the class of 2005 after word got out on Friday.

"I've known for a while that Rashad would leave," North Carolina junior Sean May said.

May has said for weeks that he would return for his senior season. But that was before he was named the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player and was easily the most dominant big man in the NCAA Tournament. May has his national title to match his father, Scott, and soaring stock that could land him in the lottery.

"I'll sit down with my father and make a decision," May said. "Raymond [Felton] could have an opportunity to leave. The big fella, Marvin, might leave, so there's no telling what might happen."

Felton, who is in the same junior class as May and McCants, started off his day by winning the Bob Cousy award as the top point guard in the country. Felton then came up with the clinching steal and converted key free throws to ice the championship game. He's considered a potential lottery (or at least first-round) pick, too.

"We're just going to enjoy this and not worry about the next season," Felton said. "I'm not thinking about it right now. I'm going to enjoy this moment and then me and my family will sit down. Whatever's best for me, I'll do. Of course, if I were in the lottery …"

He'd go like the rest of them. But the real cutoff point could be lower -- as in the first round -- since they might not know how high they'll go before June.

The Tar Heels signed four players for next season, highlighted by forward Tyler Hansbrough, who has all-ACC freshman team and national freshman of the year capabilities.

Returning role players David Noel, Quentin Thomas and Reyshawn Terry have the potential to be more productive, but probably aren't the anchors for the team next season.

We already knew that the Tar Heels were losing seniors Jawad Williams, Jackie Manuel and Melvin Scott. So, in a worst case scenario the Tar Heels could lose seven players. Now that Roy Williams has a national title, though, the Heels' faithful can be a little more patient.

What about Illinois?

The Illini could lose as many as six players. Four of them are seniors -- Luther Head, Roger Powell Jr., Nick Smith and Jack Ingram. Expect junior guard Deron Williams to declare for the NBA draft and likely stay in rather than check his draft status. Junior guard Dee Brown might just go through the draft process, going to Chicago before pulling out if he's not guaranteed a first-round spot.

If Brown returns along with senior James Augustine, Richard McBride, Brian Randle, Calvin Brock, Fred Nkemdi, Warren Carter, Shaun Pruitt and three signees, including shooting guard Jamar Smith, the Illini have a potential NCAA team again. But if Brown goes, like the Tar Heels, the Illini would be without an experienced lead guard to keep them at or near the top of their conference.

This was a tremendous run for both teams. It's a shame it's unlikely to be repeated again next season.


Andy Katz is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
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Carolina possibly losing seven players. Insane.
 
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