NCAA Tournament - Day 1

[Kingspoint]

PAC 12:

No kidding. It's amazing how many Final Fours they get with how bad the conference always is. Always thought that adding the Conference Tournament, but it hasn't. I'm convinced it has more to do with quality of Coaches.

[WVRed]

Whatever Sean Miller allegedly paid his players, it was too much.

I know this won’t be popular, but if I’m Arizona, I cut my losses with Sean Miller as early as this weekend if not Monday morning.

As a UK fan, Buffalo scares me, but Kentucky may use the same formula to beat them that they did Davidson. Pound it inside and drive. Kentucky also has more length than Buffalo will have seen with Arizona.

Kentucky vs Virginia in Catlanta seems like a real possibility though.

[cumberlandreds]

Whatever Sean Miller allegedly paid his players, it was too much.

I know this won’t be popular, but if I’m Arizona, I cut my losses with Sean Miller as early as this weekend if not Monday morning.

As a UK fan, Buffalo scares me, but Kentucky may use the same formula to beat them that they did Davidson. Pound it inside and drive. Kentucky also has more length than Buffalo will have seen with Arizona.

Kentucky vs Virginia in Catlanta seems like a real possibility though.

I didn't see any of the Buffalo game but I imagine they got a lot of good looks from the three. Hopefully UK's length will give them a lot of problems. Also teams rarely shoot that well in back to back games. UK will probably use the same strategy as they did against Davidson. But I do think they will need a few three's themselves to win this game. I wonder how many teams win while not making a three in the game? I imagine they are few and far between.

[Boston Red]

I went to the late games in Wichita last night. The Michigan/Montana game had to THE single worst NCAA Tournament game I've ever watched. Both teams were brutal. Penn would have handled both those teams (Montana by about 20).

[jimbo]

Buffalo's coach said his team played harder. That says a lot.

I saw an Arizona team that appeared to be very disconnected. Regardless if the FBI wiretap story on Miller is true or not, probably best for the program to part ways with him. I almost hope it is true, not because I dislike Miller or Arizona basketball, but I think it would be even more disappointing to realize that unethical sports journalism has become.

[WVRed]

Buffalo's coach said his team played harder. That says a lot.

I saw an Arizona team that appeared to be very disconnected. Regardless if the FBI wiretap story on Miller is true or not, probably best for the program to part ways with him. I almost hope it is true, not because I dislike Miller or Arizona basketball, but I think it would be even more disappointing to realize that unethical sports journalism has become.

Agreed.

As I stated earlier, Arizona needs to move on. For two reasons:

1. This was the best team in terms of overall talent that Miller had assembled at Arizona and should have been in San Antonio in two weeks. Not to mention the path they were given by the selection committee to get there.

2. The FBI probe, whether true or not, has damaged Miller as a coach. He cannot effectively recruit and all of the commitments this season have de committed and went elsewhere.

I see Arizona wanting to return to the Lute Olson coaching tree. Josh Pastner, baggage aside, makes sense. He’s a tenacious recruiter and working under Calipari and Olson he would be a good fit.

[Revering4Blue]

No kidding. It's amazing how many Final Fours they get with how bad the conference always is. Always thought that adding the Conference Tournament, but it hasn't. I'm convinced it has more to do with quality of Coaches.

As for this season, it certainly didn't help the conference that:

*Their pre-season top three had either:

*FBI probes (Arizona and USC) or a shoplifting incident (UCLA) hanging over their heads -- not that I expect a Steve Alford coached team to overachieve, much less live up to expectations, in NCAA tourney play .

*Oregon, Colorado and Utah -- programs with solid coaches -- were in reloading, transitional years.

*Mike Hopkins was given little to work with in his initial season in Seattle. Still, he overachieved, and the future is bright.

[Revering4Blue]

Agreed.

As I stated earlier, Arizona needs to move on. For two reasons:

1. This was the best team in terms of overall talent that Miller had assembled at Arizona and should have been in San Antonio in two weeks. Not to mention the path they were given by the selection committee to get there.

2. The FBI probe, whether true or not, has damaged Miller as a coach. He cannot effectively recruit and all of the commitments this season have de committed and went elsewhere.

I see Arizona wanting to return to the Lute Olson coaching tree. Josh Pastner, baggage aside, makes sense. He’s a tenacious recruiter and working under Calipari and Olson he would be a good fit.

Agreed for the most part.

But taken in a vacuum, Arizona should be able to do better than Pastner (ties to school or not), but with the possibility of severe NCAA sanctions, perhaps not.