Big Four S16 streak snapped

The Big Four fails to send team to Sweet 16 for first time since Black Sunday happened in 1979! Wow.

Good news is that Virginia advanced to keep the ACC’s streak of 35 straight years of having a S16 team.

Link

Tobacco Road hasn’t seen a springtime drought like this in more than three decades.

For the first time since 1979, the ACC’s Big Four — Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State and Wake Forest — won’t have a participant in the Sweet 16. If not for Virginia’s win over Memphis on Sunday night, the entire ACC, even with new additions Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame, would have been out before the Sweet 16 for the first time since ’79 too.

[snip]

There weren’t many close calls before ’96, as Dean Smith’s UNC teams made the Sweet 16 in every year between 1981 and 1993. Duke made the Sweet 16 in 1980.

In 1979, both Duke and Carolina lost their opening-round games (which were second rounders because of the tourney’s smaller field). Wake and State didn’t make the tournament.

Brett Friedlander takes a look at the Big Four’s struggles through the lens of the Final Four in this piece.

UNC’s loss to Iowa State in the third-round of the NCAA tournament, combined with earlier defeats by Duke and N.C. State, guaranteed a fourth straight season without an ACC team from North Carolina advancing to the Final Four.

It’s the first time that’s happened since just after Frank McGuire and Lennie Rosenbluth produced that first title more than a half century ago. The longest previous drought since 1962, when Wake Forest made its one and only Final Four appearance, was only two years.

So what gives?

After a combined 35 Final Fours and 11 national championships over an incredible era of dominance, have teams from North Carolina – most notably the Tar Heels and Blue Devils – finally lost their touch? Or have other factors contributed to the recent lack of NCAA tournament success?

[snip]

While unforeseen circumstances have and will always be an obstacle teams must face in the postseason, it’s also an undeniable fact that the landscape of college basketball has changed over the past few years.
Jabari Parker is expected to be the latest one-and-done player at Duke

Jabari Parker is expected to be the latest one-and-done player at Duke

Not only is the talent now spread out among more teams, but because of underclassmen leaving school early for the NBA, the disparity between the big boys and mid-majors stocked with experienced players that have been together for several seasons has shrunk considerably.

That scenario played out Friday when a young Duke team was upset in the opening round by a 14th-seeded Mercer featuring five senior starters.

Though it was never easy, the lack of continuity within the top programs has made the task of winning four straight games in March and getting to the Final Four is more difficult now than it’s ever been.

LOTS more to discuss happening here. PLEASE join the conversation and open a few of your own topics. Thanks!

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Home Forums Big Four S16 streak snapped

Viewing 21 posts - 1 through 21 (of 21 total)
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  • #49438
    StateFans
    Keymaster

    The Big Four fails to send team to Sweet 16 for first time since Black Sunday happened in 1979! Wow. Good news is that Virginia advanced to keep the A
    [See the full post at: Big Four S16 streak snapped]

    #49439
    Wulfpack
    Participant

    Pretty incredible when you think about it. If UVA can get by Sparty, watch out. They are playing better than anyone out there right now.

    ACC sends just one team to the Sweet 16. PAC 12, Big 10 and SEC send three teams.

    #49440
    tractor57
    Participant

    People rail about the decline of college basketball and yes there are some large issues there (maybe not so much decline but large changes) but in the end I have found no other sport that attracts me as much – warts and all. Many here are not old enough to remember carrying a transistor radio to school expressly to listen to the ACC tourney games on the ride home. The explosion of the NCAAT can be traced to 1983 and the miracle run of the Pack. Prior to then the NCAAT was nice and all but never had as much passion. The following year Villanova made a somewhat similar run to the top. This year maybe we will see another improbable run.

    #49452
    Hawkeye Whitney
    Participant

    Ed Hardin, in Sunday’s Greensboro News & Record wrote a column arguing that the other three big four fan-bases should be rooting for the Holes to continue the streak. Y’know Ed, not really. I think it is funny to see Roy cry.

    I am also glad that Pitt and Cuse have gone home.

    Go Flyers!

    #49453
    tractor57
    Participant

    crying huckleberry – now that is funny I don’t care who you are

    #49454
    JohnGalt78
    Participant

    UVA is very impressive. Obviously well coached. Smart, athletic players, I actually find them fun to watch. I wish them well.

    KY can go pound sand. I despise everything about that program now. They had my respect in the old days, like any perennial power. They are an NBA incubator “business” producing widgets.

    Why didn’t Duke win? They had Parker, didn’t they? I mean they could have phoned in that Mercer win. Oh wait…

    TN making our RPI soar! Oh wait….

    UNCheat made my day Sunday…the one sporting highlight! Even with their own clock operator they couldn’t “steal” a win. They finish their season with 3 losses in 4 games. Coach Williams, your thoughts:
    “I feel horrible for myself right now. This is really hard on me. I hurt so bad. Ya’ll don’t realize how bad it feels to put so much into creating this smoke and mirrors thing that we have here at the Flagship and then still losing. I mean that sh!t is embarrassing. I told those people, what do you call them….professors….administrators, whatever…I told em what I needed here to make this thing really hum and they went and f’d it all up by getting caught. Now look at what I got to work with here. We’re gonna have to sit down in the offseason and come up with something else. Maybe Calipari is on to something”

    #49456
    Wulfpack
    Participant

    I hate Kentucky as well. They represent everything that is wrong about college basketball. Hope Lville pounds them, and then Cal will skip the presser.

    #49457
    wufpup76
    Keymaster

    Coach Williams, your thoughts:
    “I feel horrible for myself right now. This is really hard on me. I hurt so bad. Ya’ll don’t realize how bad it feels to put so much into creating this smoke and mirrors thing that we have here at the Flagship and then still losing. I mean that sh!t is embarrassing. I told those people, what do you call them….professors….administrators, whatever…I told em what I needed here to make this thing really hum and they went and f’d it all up by getting caught. Now look at what I got to work with here. We’re gonna have to sit down in the offseason and come up with something else. Maybe Calipari is on to something”

    ^Not bad … slow clap.

    #49459
    bill.onthebeach
    Participant

    ^Tractor57…

    … while I remember some kids with “transistor” radios…

    … at my elementary and junior high schools over in the Sock Capital of the World…

    … some teachers brought Big Radios and others brought Black & White TVs with “rabbit ears” on that one Thursday in March!

    …PartyTime!

    #NCSU-North Carolina's #1 FOOTBALL school!
    #49460
    BJD95
    Keymaster

    Calipari is one hell of a coach, and he did a bangup job yesterday. I hope he takes it all. He’s no dirtier than the Holes (probably less so), and he takes all the shite like he’s the cause of problems, rather than just playing by the rules of the game that the Blues have set (and catch no shit for).

    #49462
    state73
    Participant

    I think Roy and K are going to find that it will be harder and harder for them to end up at the top of ACC year after year. The 1 or 2 seeding in the NCAA will also be a thing of the past. Several hungry and outstanding young coaches in the ACC will make it more difficult for K, Roy, and JB.

    #49463
    VaWolf82
    Keymaster

    Duke has Scout’s #1 recruiting class with 4 Top-50 players
    UNC is #3 with 3 Top-50 players

    Neither team will struggle for long as long as Roy/K is coaching.

    #49464
    tkewolf1975
    Participant

    Dan Kane has been driving nails in the flagship coffin for several years so when reading the box score of the *NC-ISU game it was serendipitous that the game winner was delivered by non other than D. Kane of ISU.

    Another observation is quite a few teams last week seemingly had games under control only to lose what appeared to be safe leads in the closing minutes. If TEAM defense and free throws were featured more on highlight reels, maybe kids would spend as much time honing those skills as they do perfecting their dunk shot.

    NCSU needs the equivalent of a football defensive coordinator on the basketball staff who does nothing but teach defense and recruit. Slam dunks may make the highlight reel but effective defense often wins games and reduces the pressure on the offensive end.

    And nobody leaves practice until the team drains 10 free throws in a row. Each player takes one turn in the 10-free throw rotation. As the number of successful free throws in a row increases, the next man up has increasing pressure not to let the team down…simulating game pressure situations. Miss and you let the team down and start over.

    #49468
    wilmwolf80
    Participant

    This insistence of the PTB at promoting the Duke-Cheat rivalry as the end-all-be-all has diluted the product to the point that we are where we are today. Not only have they cheated other conference schools out of a chance to be successful, their officiating “tendencies” have left the blue boys soft come NCAA tourney time.

    It’s not really surprising that neither team made it far this year if you look at their teams. The Cheats are a one man show in Paige. McAdoodoo is hot garbage, I mean, has there ever been a player that was a three time All-ACC selection that did less on the court with more talent? And Duke died by the three like they have so many times in the past. There is no denying that Parker is a great player, but he is not a carry the team type guy. Hell for my money Hood was better all year, yet Parker is a finalist for the Naismith. ACC propaganda at its finest.

    #49469
    ILPackfan
    Participant

    @tkewolf1975

    “And nobody leaves practice until the team drains 10 free throws in a row.”

    I really like that suggestion. Add in pushups and/or laps for every time in practice somebody loses their man or cheats over to allow an uncontested jumper.

    #49472
    Hawkeye Whitney
    Participant

    Without having any specific knowledge of how the Pack’s practices are run, I am quite sure that a lot of time is spent on free throw shooting over the course of a season.

    I think the little bit of extra fatigue due to the Tuesday night game in Dayton made the difference against St. Louis. If our guys had been a little bit fresher, then that game is a win.

    #49473
    Wulfpack
    Participant

    Or, we could have tried to stand between them and the basket…

    #49478
    Wulfpack
    Participant

    Highest NCAA ratings since 1990. Somebody is still watching…

    #49481
    tkewolf1975
    Participant

    Without having any specific knowledge of how the Pack’s practices are run, I am quite sure that a lot of time is spent on free throw shooting over the course of a season.

    Practice free throws three times during practice – at the beginning when legs are fresh, somewhere in the middle and at the end when players should be sucking wind.

    #49503
    13OT
    Participant

    John Calipari may be a great coach, no disagreement there, but I think, as do a LOT of people, that he’s a scumbag. It’ll be a cold day in hell before I’d ever pull for a Calipari team, especially Kentucky.

    As far as the Louisville-Kentucky game, it’s too bad they both can’t lose.

    #49515
    wilmwolf80
    Participant

    Regarding free throws- I make three footers on the practice green with my eyes closed all day long. On the course, not so much. The only sure fire way to practice free throws in game conditions, is to take free throws in game conditions. Muscle memory and technique are important, but mental toughness is more important. Just something the kids have to learn.

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