Final Four

Looking at the box score it's amazing how bad Duke played down the stretch, the final was 70 to 67. At the 3.03 Duke was up 64-55, from that point they score 3 points to Houston scoring 15. At 1.14 left in the game, Duke scored their final point on a FT and led 67 to 61, Houston scored 9 points from then on. Duke missed a layup at the 0.47 mark, a turnover at 0.30 mark and Flagg missed a jumper at the 0.08 mark. Have to give Houston credit, but Duke just melted down from the 3.03 mark till the end.
 
Solid choice, only 40 people out of like 400 in my pool picked them to win it all.
It was a gamble. I knew they were good enough but would need a little "Magic"! Florida was an easy pick for me on the other side of the bracket. My other two Final Four teams were Alabama and Michigan State, which didn't work out so well.
 
I have Houston beating Florida in the NC Game. So, I am still hanging in there! :)


I won my pool already by having Florida vs Houston and n the finals. I have Florida winning it all but I’m hoping for Houston. Also before the final four if I had to pick again I would have taken Duke and lost
 
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I won my pool already by having Florida vs Houston and n the finals. I have Florida winning it all but I’m hoping for Houston. Also before the final four if I had to pick again I would have taken Duke and lost
Florida v. Houston is a pretty common pick in my pool, with most people picking Florida. It's a $3000 pot, so coming in 2nd, which I will do if Houston wins, is still a nice pay day for a $20 bracket fee.
 
Florida v. Houston is a pretty common pick in my pool, with most people picking Florida. It's a $3000 pot, so coming in 2nd, which I will do if Houston wins, is still a nice pay day for a $20 bracket fee.
I need to find a pool that at least gives some payouts for 2nd and 3rd. We use ESPN and the last 2 years I've had 4 brackets in the 96th and above percentile and it's still not good enough in a winner take all scenario.
 
I was thinking about this today---Sampson and Tim Floyd got their first serious jobs at the same time. Floyd took over for Johnny Orr and Sampson took over for Billy Tubbs. Both made some questionable career choices. Both got in trouble with the NCAA. One hasn't been relevant in college coaching in probably 20 years. The other is playing for the national title tomorrow night. So weird.
 
Looking at the box score it's amazing how bad Duke played down the stretch, the final was 70 to 67. At the 3.03 Duke was up 64-55, from that point they score 3 points to Houston scoring 15. At 1.14 left in the game, Duke scored their final point on a FT and led 67 to 61, Houston scored 9 points from then on. Duke missed a layup at the 0.47 mark, a turnover at 0.30 mark and Flagg missed a jumper at the 0.08 mark. Have to give Houston credit, but Duke just melted down from the 3.03 mark till the end.
Houston ended the game on an 11-1 run and that 1 was from the technical. Might be wrong I consumed a very strong gummy last night and things are murky
 
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Houston has been Top 10 in offensive efficiency all season. All pregame was about Houston having to be elite defensively to have a shot because of Duke’s high powered offense. Houston is freaking # 1 defense. But they also can score in bunches when they need to, as they have bigs that finish around the hoop and snipers at every guard spot. They are a GREAT 2-way team.
 
I think the idea that Duke completely choked the game away isn't exactly true. I have been reading that over and over again today. Houston's def down the stretch was insane, huge block at one end with less than a minute left, another huge tip / steal on the inbounds pass. Great effort by Houston on the off boards to gather the missed 3 point attempt / dunk to get it down to a 1 point Duke lead. Great def on Flagg on his missed turn around with less than 20 sec left. Hand right in his face.

Yes, there was the Duke missed front end of the one and one, and there were a couple turnovers. But Houston slowly chipped away at that lead for over 10 min. It was more that the experience and never quit hustle / attitude from Houston finally sucked the life out of a dead tired Duke team by the end of the game.
 
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I think the idea that Duke completely choked the game away isn't exactly true. I have been reading that over and over again today. Houston's def down the stretch was insane, huge block at one end with less than a minute left, another huge tip / steal on the inbounds pass. Great effort by Houston on the off boards to gather the missed 3 point attempt / dunk to get it down to a 1 point Duke lead. Great def on Flagg on his missed turn around with less than 20 sec left. Hand right in his face.

Yes, there was the Duke missed front end of the one and one, and there were a couple turnovers. But Houston slowly chipped away at that lead for over 10 min. It was more that the experience and never quit hustle / attitude from Houston finally sucked the life out of a dead tired Duke team by the end of the game.
This. You don’t score 9 points in less than a minute because the other team choked.
 
Hunter Dickinson and Cooper Flagg have something in common now. Neither will play for a Natty.
 
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