2014-15 college basketball

[MakeItRain]

Don't really care the venue in which a Final Four is held. The key thing is to be there if you can.

The NCAA removed their dome rule for the final four because none of the metro areas on the coasts nor Chicago have one.

[MakeItRain]

Kentucky being Kentucky. This is how it will always be. Rupp, Hall, now Calipari. It will never change.

Not exactly sure what you're referring to here but other than winning there is nothing that Cal's Wildcats have in common with Rupp's Racists Runts

[sys]

http://thebiglead.com/2015/04/05/andrew-harrison-uttered-nsfw-thoughts-on-frank-kaminsky-on-a-hot-mic-f-that-n/

He was muttering crap the entire press conference. A real bad person.

i couldn't tell if he was making incredible shots all game long, or if it just seemed like it because i was giving one guy the credit for the plays of two guys.

[Powercat Posse]

Last 60 min of game action... Wisc got 1.37 PPP vs top 10 D team in Az and #1 Def team in the Nation in UK.   Just fabulous execution from the Badger Offense.  17 made 3s and only 29 missed shots in 3 halves of BB.   #TitleBound

[Powercat Posse]

On the flip side.... duke has only given up 219 pts in approx 251-252 poss. the last 4 games. Yep, that's under .90 PPP. Pretty damn salty.

[chum1]

By Sunday morning, Harrison was apologizing to Kaminsky on Twitter and saying that he had called “Big Frank” to apologize, adding that he used the words “in jest towards a player I respect and know.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2015/04/05/kentuckys-andrew-harrison-apologizes-for-expletive-racial-slur-toward-frank-kaminsky/

[chum1]

https://twitter.com/SheaSerrano/status/584563012830240768

[michigancat]

By Sunday morning, Harrison was apologizing to Kaminsky on Twitter and saying that he had called “Big Frank” to apologize, adding that he used the words “in jest towards a player I respect and know.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2015/04/05/kentuckys-andrew-harrison-apologizes-for-expletive-racial-slur-toward-frank-kaminsky/

I wish more players said what they thought. Not using that language, of course, but simply saying you don't like someone is like a scandal in sports and that's a shame. The warriors/clippers media jabs just make the season so much more fun.

[cfbandyman]

Wisconsin, KU's hopes and dreams are upon you now.

[j rake]

despite harrison apologizing to kaminsky, i still think his "f that n----" was directed at the reporter asking the question, and there seems to be plenty who think the same - including several media folks.

[Skipper44]

despite harrison apologizing to kaminsky, i still think his "f that n----" was directed at the reporter asking the question, and there seems to be plenty who think the same - including several media folks.

Who asked the question?

[chum1]

"f that n----" was directed at the reporter asking the question

It's totally plausible. I've seen no report that entertains the idea. Maybe reporters have a hard time imagining that a player would possibly direct something negative toward them.

[star seed 7]

"f that n----" was directed at the reporter asking the question

It's totally plausible. I've seen no report that entertains the idea. Maybe reporters have a hard time imagining that a player would possibly direct something negative toward them.

sports reporters are the biggest babies in media, so if it was directed at the reporter, i think they would have picked up on it.

[pissclams]

can I get a view of your babies in media scale pls?

[michigancat]

I wish more players would call out members of the media, too. Like, Russell Westbrook vs. Barry tramel was fantastic.

[sys]

i'm as happy to bash the media as anyone, but in this case, the question was fine.

[sys]

and in any case, harrison clearly wasn't referring to the guy who asked the question.  how do people like rake make it through the day with no ability to read human interactions?  the "omg" that followed obviously was for the reporter.

[chum1]

and in any case, harrison clearly wasn't referring to the guy who asked the question.  how do people like rake make it through the day with no ability to read human interactions?  the "omg" that followed obviously was for the reporter.

I think the second comment may have been a simple continuation/amplification of the first comment.

[j rake]

I wish more players would call out members of the media, too. Like, Russell Westbrook vs. Barry tramel was fantastic.

sports writers are dumb and lazy. not all of them, but a large percentage of them. in recent years, many sports writers have been exposed. it used to be that you'd read athlete quotes in the paper or on a website, and you wouldn't necessarily have the full context of the quote. you wouldn't see the question that led to the quote. you wouldn't see the tone of the question or the implication of the question or the way it was asked.

now, readers and fans get full context to everything, day after day, interview after interview, and it becomes pretty clear after awhile that the media (largely) has no ability to ask an intelligent question. media dinosaurs used to speak the same language as the players and coaches they interacted with. "Team A had X points, Y shooting percentage, and secured Z rebounds." nowadays, many media dinosaurs are still asking the same old questions, but the players and coaches are more concerned about points per possession, the amount of paint touches they're getting, deflections, etc.

the players and coaches have evolved, while a large percentage of the media hasn't.

look at the questions asked to kentucky's players after last night's game.

* * *

Q. How will you most remember this season and what you were able to accomplish?

Q. Talk about what you think happened when you had the lead, went five minutes without scoring.

Q. Karl, could you talk about Kaminsky and what makes him so difficult to defend.

Q. Karl, down the stretch, that Notre Dame game, guys went to the bigs, got the ball, that's how you won. Were you surprised you didn't get the ball more down the stretch?

Q. Willie, could you talk about what happened rebounding-wise?

Q. Such an incredible collection of talent you have. I was hoping you could sort of talk about what Coach Cal has taught you about being selfless and being willing to play fewer minutes and get lower stats for the sake of trying to win a championship.

Q. You hear Coach Cal talk about his former players as 'his guys.' Tell me about your guy, tell us about Coach Cal.

Q. Willie, it's hard enough to win a national championship as it is. But with the pressure of being undefeated, how much do you think that began to weigh on you guys these last two games?


to recap, the players on the most interesting college hoops team in the last 40 years were asked to sum up their cute, cuddly memories of the past season; they were asked to "talk about" various pointless things; they were asked to speak of the pressure of being unbeaten for the 58th time; they were asked ... virtually nothing interesting.

the only interesting part of the press conference came, oddly, when a player (harrison) muttered something to himself without realizing his mic was on. deadspin caught it (the media in attendance didn't), wrote a story, and posted it before midnight while all the dinosaur writers went back to their laptops to write about the game.

by the time the writers in indy filed their story, deadspin had already collected a half-million page views to their post on harrison's comment (and it will surely have a million page views by the end of today).

[chum1]

I don't know what sports reporters are supposed to ask about. To me, there's nothing important about sports. It might as well be Hollywood red carpet fashion reporting. So, I find it incredibly fitting when they're like, "Talk about..." No one truly cares what these players have to say. They just want to hear talking for some stupid reason.

[michigancat]

I don't know what sports reporters are supposed to ask about. To me, there's nothing important about sports. It might as well be Hollywood red carpet fashion reporting. So, I find it incredibly fitting when they're like, "Talk about..." No one truly cares what these players have to say. They just want to hear talking for some stupid reason.

Yeah. Maybe they could lead them into more crap-talking moments?

[michigancat]

And looking at k-state specifically, media could have asked oscar much more interesting questions.

I guess reporters are afraid of missing out on scoops by asking tough questions? But like I said when talking about fitz, I don't think scoops have much value.

[sys]

the question about kaminsky was the most interesting of the bunch.

[sys]

and in any case, harrison clearly wasn't referring to the guy who asked the question.  how do people like rake make it through the day with no ability to read human interactions?  the "omg" that followed obviously was for the reporter.

I think the second comment may have been a simple continuation/amplification of the first comment.

the first part was a sarcastic answer to the question.  the second part was an exclamation at how unreasonable he felt it was that his teammate was being asked to answer a question he found either stupid, insensitive or untimely.

[j rake]

And looking at k-state specifically, media could have asked oscar much more interesting questions.

I guess reporters are afraid of missing out on scoops by asking tough questions? But like I said when talking about fitz, I don't think scoops have much value.

i never see oscar get questioned about stuff he's previously said.

a question like this, as an example, to start things off ...

"coach, you said in november you thought marcus was the type of player you build a program around, that you'll go as far as he takes you, and you also praised his on and off-court leadership abilities. and now ... he's off the team."

weber: "yeah, it's unfortunate, blah blah blah."

"but how could you be so wrong about a player you had previously known for more than a year?"

weber: "well, sometimes..."

"is it time to revisit how you evaluate players? again, this is a guy you pegged as a leader."

weber: "we are disappointed with how things went..."

"how can a player's attitude turn sideways that quickly under your watch?"

weber: "i have to accept responsibility, no question..."

"did the two of you argue last year when things were going well, or is this something new?"

weber: "we got along great, but we were also winning more. when you lose..."

"well, you lost a lot at illinois, and then you got fired. is this a repeat of your illinois tenure?"

weber: "i don't think so. i think..."

"you'll be picked to finish last next year, you realize that, right?"

weber: "i think some of the players on this team might surprise some folks..."

"yeah, maybe so. but in year four, fans don't want to be surprised. they expect you to be good. for instance, fans this year were surprised, but it wasn't a pleasant surprise."

weber: "well, i think this year was kind of unique in that..."

"in that...it was exactly how your final few years at illinois played out? speaking of which, what did you learn from your illinois tenure? it feels like history is starting to repeat itself?"

weber: "i don't see it that way."

"do you expect this team to make the tournament next year?"

weber: "yes, i think we'll make a tournament."

"the ncaa tournament?"

weber: "i don't like to deal with hypotheticals."

"you aren't a good coach."

weber: "my AD thinks otherwise."

"speaking of your AD..."