NCAA tournament discussion thread

[WSUwatcher]

Probably not an original thought or posting, but one for you speculators and pot-stirrers to work with anyway, so let me get things started: what if WSU had been able to put Perry Ellis on the floor against Kentucky instead of one of the juco Canadians who eventually joined the crew after Ellis went astray? That's not to diminish our northern brothers, who were fine and entertaining Shockers -- but still, wouldn't the Shocks probably be the team squaring off against Michigan today? And might they not even be doing it as defending champs, or at worst, last year's runner-up?

Who would have thought Ellis was minimizing his NCAA opportunities by going to the Chickenhawk coop instead of staying home? That's certainly how it worked out, and it's something for the next Kansan who ends up seriously courted by both schools to remember.

[jocoshock]

Probably not an original thought or posting, but one for you speculators and pot-stirrers to work with anyway, so let me get things started: what if WSU had been able to put Perry Ellis on the floor against Kentucky instead of one of the juco Canadians who eventually joined the crew after Ellis went astray? That's not to diminish our northern brothers, who were fine and entertaining Shockers -- but still, wouldn't the Shocks probably be the team squaring off against Michigan today? And might they not even be doing it as defending champs, or at worst, last year's runner-up?

Who would have thought Ellis was minimizing his NCAA opportunities by going to the Chickenhawk coop instead of staying home? That's certainly how it worked out, and it's something for the next Kansan who ends up seriously courted by both schools to remember.

Ellis is not a good defender and disappears in a lot of games. There is no evidence to support the notion that he would have made a difference, especially when you consider that he plays the same position as Cleanthony.

If Ellis had come to WSU, we might not have signed CLE and CLE is better than Perry the last two years...

[pinstripers]

Ellis defends pretty well

[Dan]

as my KU friend would say, "Ellis plays small and struggles against bigger players". I don't think he would've made a difference.

[wsushox1]

Ellis defends pretty well

I don't know what games you have been watching.

[HenryMuto]

Kentucky has 10 losses which got me to thinking where would that rank all time if they won the National Championship.

Also Michigan State, Michigan and UCONN all have 8 losses are still left.

Most losses by a National Champion

11 - #6 Kansas 1988

10 - #8 Villanova 1985, #6 NC State 1983

9 - #3 UCONN 2011, #4 Arizona 1997 (ug), #3 Indiana 1981

8 - None

[Slam21]

WSU truly is the class of college basketball:

http://kentuckysportsradio.com/basketball-2/wichita-state-fan-writes-a-thank-you-to-kentucky-fansplayers/

[HenryMuto]

Game of runs.........UCONN was up 12-2 then MSU was up 32-23.........now UCONN is up 35-32........crazy game I thought MSU would win this one pretty handily

[1979Shocker]

Steven A. Smith just picked us to come back and win the NCAA tournament, followed by the NBA championship.



This was on SNL, FWIW.

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-stephen-a-smith/2768595

[Kung Wu]

Let's go Mighty Spartans!!

[Shock Top]

Game of runs.........UCONN was up 12-2 then MSU was up 32-23.........now UCONN is up 35-32........crazy game I thought MSU would win this one pretty handily

I picked UCONN, because they have the best player on the court. It's been a great game.

[coran13]

I want a UConn-Florida rematch.

[forevershockerfan]

Probably not an original thought or posting, but one for you speculators and pot-stirrers to work with anyway, so let me get things started: what if WSU had been able to put Perry Ellis on the floor against Kentucky instead of one of the juco Canadians who eventually joined the crew after Ellis went astray? That's not to diminish our northern brothers, who were fine and entertaining Shockers -- but still, wouldn't the Shocks probably be the team squaring off against Michigan today? And might they not even be doing it as defending champs, or at worst, last year's runner-up?

Who would have thought Ellis was minimizing his NCAA opportunities by going to the Chickenhawk coop instead of staying home? That's certainly how it worked out, and it's something for the next Kansan who ends up seriously courted by both schools to remember.

We had the squad to beat Kentucky with our own players and led much of the game. However, we tend to look back on the "what ifs." It is human nature and Lot's wife made that mistake. After watching the game over this weekend, I can point to 10 examples of plays and calls that could have went either way. In such a close game that we led much of the way, forget about a few too many calls because we sure had our chances that we did have control of and so did Kentucky. Louisville led them almost every solitary minute but not at the end that counted the most.

One such "what If scenerio" that ruminates around in my lil pea brain goes as follows: 'What if when Carl Hall came here and happened to have had an extra Season of eligibility for us?' Now that is just as hypothetical as the Perry question but would have had more of a positive impact for us winning IMO.

[ShockTalk]

The Mighty Spartans blinked and choked at the end. UConn deserved the win.

[Shock Top]

I thought UCONN had a good chance to make the Final Four once they got by Nova.

1) They have Shabazz Napier
2) They were playing in NYC

Those two things ended up being the difference in the end.

Good luck Huskies!