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TCU vs Arizona

Duneaux Harm

Sophomore
Gold Member
Nov 30, 2020
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Jamie has done a really great job with TCU over the last two months. His team seems to be peaking in March.

I have been truly amazed at what Tommy Lloyd has done out here at UA. I figured they would be a competitive team but never figured they would be the best team in the country. They probably deserved the overall Number one seed over Gonzaga but they had to wait their turn. More than half of the team is an International player and of the routine rotation probably 80% or more are. I do think the Euro style of play is what makes it harder for a lot of the college Teams to match up against them.

My concern going into the tournament is that I thought that the pressure might be overwhelming to the kids and the INTENSITY from the fans might cause a little bit of nerves that would show through in the first game. That did not happen so I kind of feel they won’t be surprised by any opponent.

UA is a really fun team to watch, and like any other team, you have to watch them over many games to appreciate what all they can do. They are offensively gifted and shoot well and share the ball. Not really prone to turnovers. Defensively, they have Kokomo, Tubellis and Ballo under the basket so you will never beat them inside nor out rebound them. A great three point shooting team stands a chance, particularly if they drain them early. TCU is an okay 3 point shooting team but doesn’t look like its their bread and butter like Notre Dame would be.

The game is a 6:40 game on the West Coast so that gives any Tucson fans time to drive to San Diego And attend if they want to.

I was hoping Jamie may have had a chance to take TCU a few games into the tournament for a bit of a redemption overall because I think he deserves it, even if I never like his flirtations with other teams. I just don’t think Arizona is the giant he can take down. Honestly, I am not sure anyone is going to take down Arizona if they get momentum going.
 
Jamie has done a really great job with TCU over the last two months. His team seems to be peaking in March.

I have been truly amazed at what Tommy Lloyd has done out here at UA. I figured they would be a competitive team but never figured they would be the best team in the country. They probably deserved the overall Number one seed over Gonzaga but they had to wait their turn. More than half of the team is an International player and of the routine rotation probably 80% or more are. I do think the Euro style of play is what makes it harder for a lot of the college Teams to match up against them.

My concern going into the tournament is that I thought that the pressure might be overwhelming to the kids and the INTENSITY from the fans might cause a little bit of nerves that would show through in the first game. That did not happen so I kind of feel they won’t be surprised by any opponent.

UA is a really fun team to watch, and like any other team, you have to watch them over many games to appreciate what all they can do. They are offensively gifted and shoot well and share the ball. Not really prone to turnovers. Defensively, they have Kokomo, Tubellis and Ballo under the basket so you will never beat them inside nor out rebound them. A great three point shooting team stands a chance, particularly if they drain them early. TCU is an okay 3 point shooting team but doesn’t look like its their bread and butter like Notre Dame would be.

The game is a 6:40 game on the West Coast so that gives any Tucson fans time to drive to San Diego And attend if they want to.

I was hoping Jamie may have had a chance to take TCU a few games into the tournament for a bit of a redemption overall because I think he deserves it, even if I never like his flirtations with other teams. I just don’t think Arizona is the giant he can take down. Honestly, I am not sure anyone is going to take down Arizona if they get momentum going.
This is a matchup of the very worst March coach vs a team formerly coached by one of the worst March coaches.

There was a website I saw a few years ago that ranked NCAAT by some metric of performance vs seed line and Jamie Dixon was literally the worst in history. Miller wasn't too far above him. Maybe 10 rows above, maybe 20, something like that.

I said repeatedly that Dixon didn't really have a "March problem." His "issue" was his teams weren't as talented as their seed line indicated and only achieved such a high seed due to elite coaching and a style which was a great formula for regular season success. Dixon's team operated at maximum capacity, almost like robots from Game 1 on. But when you get to the tournament, you get everyone's best and his team, although seeded highly, usually were no better than the lower seeds who were beating them.
 
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Jamie has done a really great job with TCU over the last two months. His team seems to be peaking in March.

I have been truly amazed at what Tommy Lloyd has done out here at UA. I figured they would be a competitive team but never figured they would be the best team in the country. They probably deserved the overall Number one seed over Gonzaga but they had to wait their turn. More than half of the team is an International player and of the routine rotation probably 80% or more are. I do think the Euro style of play is what makes it harder for a lot of the college Teams to match up against them.

My concern going into the tournament is that I thought that the pressure might be overwhelming to the kids and the INTENSITY from the fans might cause a little bit of nerves that would show through in the first game. That did not happen so I kind of feel they won’t be surprised by any opponent.

UA is a really fun team to watch, and like any other team, you have to watch them over many games to appreciate what all they can do. They are offensively gifted and shoot well and share the ball. Not really prone to turnovers. Defensively, they have Kokomo, Tubellis and Ballo under the basket so you will never beat them inside nor out rebound them. A great three point shooting team stands a chance, particularly if they drain them early. TCU is an okay 3 point shooting team but doesn’t look like its their bread and butter like Notre Dame would be.

The game is a 6:40 game on the West Coast so that gives any Tucson fans time to drive to San Diego And attend if they want to.

I was hoping Jamie may have had a chance to take TCU a few games into the tournament for a bit of a redemption overall because I think he deserves it, even if I never like his flirtations with other teams. I just don’t think Arizona is the giant he can take down. Honestly, I am not sure anyone is going to take down Arizona if they get momentum going.
Tough draw for JD after a very solid first game. I’m not so sure this isn’t the best team in the field. Hopefully he can turn it into a grind and keep it a game until the end.
 
This is a matchup of the very worst March coach vs a team formerly coached by one of the worst March coaches.

There was a website I saw a few years ago that ranked NCAAT by some metric of performance vs seed line and Jamie Dixon was literally the worst in history. Miller wasn't too far above him. Maybe 10 rows above, maybe 20, something like that.

I said repeatedly that Dixon didn't really have a "March problem." His "issue" was his teams weren't as talented as their seed line indicated and only achieved such a high seed due to elite coaching and a style which was a great formula for regular season success. Dixon's team operated at maximum capacity, almost like robots from Game 1 on. But when you get to the tournament, you get everyone's best and his team, although seeded highly, usually were no better than the lower seeds who were beating them.
Damn that Jamie for continually having such great success to get high seeds in the NCAA tournament and being the only coach to lose to seeds that are lower than him!

Honestly the dumbest people make this argument. Thanks for confirming you’re in that group
 
Damn that Jamie for continually having such great success to get high seeds in the NCAA tournament and being the only coach to lose to seeds that are lower than him!

Honestly the dumbest people make this argument. Thanks for confirming you’re in that group
He isn't the only coach to lose to lower seeds but I'm telling you a fact that he is the worst NCAAT in history by that metric. He is a good coach and this record he holds is actually due to him being such a good coach, he got seeds which were too good for his talent. So, I don't think this is some terrible indictment of him. What it proves is that he is probably one of the best regular season coaches ever....at least as related to talent, NBA picks, etc.
 
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He isn't the only coach to lose to lower seeds but I'm telling you a fact that he is the worst NCAAT in history by that metric. He is a good coach and this record he holds is actually due to him being such a good coach, he got seeds which were too good for his talent. So, I don't think this is some terrible indictment of him. What it proves is that he is probably one of the best regular season coaches ever....at least as related to talent, NBA picks, etc.
He played like 5 or 6 total games against lower seeded teams. Seriously, piss off.
 
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This is a matchup of the very worst March coach vs a team formerly coached by one of the worst March coaches.

There was a website I saw a few years ago that ranked NCAAT by some metric of performance vs seed line and Jamie Dixon was literally the worst in history. Miller wasn't too far above him. Maybe 10 rows above, maybe 20, something like that.

I said repeatedly that Dixon didn't really have a "March problem." His "issue" was his teams weren't as talented as their seed line indicated and only achieved such a high seed due to elite coaching and a style which was a great formula for regular season success. Dixon's team operated at maximum capacity, almost like robots from Game 1 on. But when you get to the tournament, you get everyone's best and his team, although seeded highly, usually were no better than the lower seeds who were beating them.
I agree with some of this but not all. I agree that Dixon is indeed one of the worst March coaches. In addition to the website you are quoting, I’ll offer another stat. Against “Big East Level teams,” which I will generously call 13 seeds or better, Dixon was 7-11 which is a 39% percentage. Compared that to his 70 Big East rate.

So I do think there is a “March problem” with him but I don’t it’s because he performed above his seed line.

And we lost to plenty of teams in the tournament who were NOT as talented as we were-notably Bradley, Pacific, Xavier and even Butler. Beyond that, we didn’t always play well in some of our wins.

But you used a word that I think explains some of it - robots. Dixon had a perfectionist routine style which led to regular season success. But he wasn’t a turn it up a notch pull out all the stops approach. Nor is Dixon a huge “get the team up” motivator kind of a coach. He is creature of habit who believes in practicing what you can do and do it as you practice. And many other coaches look for something different and better in the tournament. I realize this is something of a nebulous concept. But nonetheless, his teams rarely played loose in the tournament and accordingly, never really played that well either.
 
I agree with some of this but not all. I agree that Dixon is indeed one of the worst March coaches. In addition to the website you are quoting, I’ll offer another stat. Against “Big East Level teams,” which I will generously call 13 seeds or better, Dixon was 7-11 which is a 39% percentage. Compared that to his 70 Big East rate.

So I do think there is a “March problem” with him but I don’t it’s because he performed above his seed line.

And we lost to plenty of teams in the tournament who were NOT as talented as we were-notably Bradley, Pacific, Xavier and even Butler. Beyond that, we didn’t always play well in some of our wins.

But you used a word that I think explains some of it - robots. Dixon had a perfectionist routine style which led to regular season success. But he wasn’t a turn it up a notch pull out all the stops approach. Nor is Dixon a huge “get the team up” motivator kind of a coach. He is creature of habit who believes in practicing what you can do and do it as you practice. And many other coaches look for something different and better in the tournament. I realize this is something of a nebulous concept. But nonetheless, his teams rarely played loose in the tournament and accordingly, never really played that well either.
Your last paragraph is spot on and exactly how I feel. However, I'm a little surprised you don't agree with what I mean about that type of style causing them to overperform during the regular season. Dixon's robots (and I don't mean that to sound negative because he should have a statue here) played at optimal performance and never had WTF games from November on. Everyone loses a WTF cupcake game. He rarely did. Everyone has a bad couple weeks and drops a couple to those old Rutgers or SHU teams. He rarely did. His style and coaching style was perfect for the regular season but didn't translate.

Also, Bradley with their NBA Center and Xavier with Jordan Crawford were more talented. Pacific beat arguably his worst team and were not out-talented by us. I'm probably forgetting one or 2, but the only team that beat us who I thought we were more talented than was Kent State. Dixon did NOT lose to teams with lesser talent but he didn't play many of those teams in March.

1 other thing about your BE win%. I would be interested to see what his record was vs P6 NCAAT teams. Better than his NCAAT performance for sure but not as good as you'd think. He made a living "not screwing up" the non-cons and cleaning up on RU, SHU, Prov, USF, etc. Then he'd go like 6-4 vs UConn, Lou, Syr, etc and get a great seed.
 
He isn't the only coach to lose to lower seeds but I'm telling you a fact that he is the worst NCAAT in history by that metric. He is a good coach and this record he holds is actually due to him being such a good coach, he got seeds which were too good for his talent. So, I don't think this is some terrible indictment of him. What it proves is that he is probably one of the best regular season coaches ever....at least as related to talent, NBA picks, etc.
Where did you see this?
 
I agree with some of this but not all. I agree that Dixon is indeed one of the worst March coaches. In addition to the website you are quoting, I’ll offer another stat. Against “Big East Level teams,” which I will generously call 13 seeds or better, Dixon was 7-11 which is a 39% percentage. Compared that to his 70 Big East rate.

So I do think there is a “March problem” with him but I don’t it’s because he performed above his seed line.

And we lost to plenty of teams in the tournament who were NOT as talented as we were-notably Bradley, Pacific, Xavier and even Butler. Beyond that, we didn’t always play well in some of our wins.

But you used a word that I think explains some of it - robots. Dixon had a perfectionist routine style which led to regular season success. But he wasn’t a turn it up a notch pull out all the stops approach. Nor is Dixon a huge “get the team up” motivator kind of a coach. He is creature of habit who believes in practicing what you can do and do it as you practice. And many other coaches look for something different and better in the tournament. I realize this is something of a nebulous concept. But nonetheless, his teams rarely played loose in the tournament and accordingly, never really played that well either.
Also, to add to this, Pitt was consistent seeded way above their talent level since they so heavily outperformed that level of talent through the year.

Look at teams seeded 1 and 2 this year. They all have first round guys unless I’m mistaken, and several of those guys could be lottery picks.

The 2009 team had no first round picks and 2011 had zero guys get drafted.

In the scheme of things, in a single elimination tournament where a guy can take over a game and go off, Pitt mostly never had that guy. Young was the closest thing to that, but never had a Dwayne wade or even a shelvin mack type guy.
 
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