My productivity at work today and tomorrow is gonna be nonexistent.

3/19/2014 9:02:58 AM

the first Thursday and Friday of the NCAA tournament are probably my two favorite workdays of the year. Followed closely by the first two rounds of the Masters

3/19/2014 9:19:03 AM

3/19/2014 9:25:04 AM

let's go State!

3/19/2014 9:53:40 AM

Quote :

"the first Thursday and Friday of the NCAA tournament are probably my two favorite workdays of the year. Followed closely by the first two rounds of the Masters "

I'd go with the first Thurs/Fri of the NCAAT. Followed by either New Years Day bowl games or wild card weekend in the nfl.

3/19/2014 10:07:04 AM

^ yes that.

3/19/2014 10:08:48 AM

Most people aren't at work watching those

3/19/2014 10:09:43 AM

^yes that

3/19/2014 10:40:12 AM

3/19/2014 10:47:39 AM

Not trolling/complaining, but that would have been called a foul in the ACC

3/19/2014 11:01:44 AM

They are basically pitt

3/19/2014 11:02:21 AM

i get nervous every time Beejay blocks a shot. It sounds like he loudly talks shit every time. I feel like I hear him scream "GET THAT SHIT OUTTA HERE!" Seems like sooner or later he'll get t'd up for that.

3/19/2014 11:05:07 AM

Yeah, I definitely heard him say that after a block last night........

3/19/2014 11:08:51 AM

Nard stepping over the guy yelling might have been a little over the top...



But I'll allow it

3/19/2014 11:10:53 AM

I definitely scream that every time he blocks a shot.

3/19/2014 11:11:22 AM

I've got my favorite pair of shants ready for tomorrow night.

3/19/2014 11:12:31 AM

thx mtn man214

3/19/2014 11:55:33 AM

Get that Jessica Beil out of here.


[Edited on March 19, 2014 at 12:10 PM. Reason : a]

3/19/2014 12:10:10 PM

3/19/2014 12:12:42 PM

some dude previewed how both State and Xavier would match up against the Billikens yesterday in the St. Louis paper (which doesn't really make sense to me when he could have waited a day and known the opponent, but whatever).

Quote :

"N.C. State and Xavier go at it tonight in an NCAA Tournament play-in game, and the winner advances to play Saint Louis U on Thursday in Orlando. Who's the more desirable opponent for SLU? It's a tough call. Let's take a look, all numbers and data are from KenPom.com unless otherwise noted: Xavier is the better team. Ken Pomeroy has Xavier rated No. 42, with N.C. State rated No. 66. By the way, KenPom gives Xavier a 66 percent chance of beating N.C. State this evening. SLU has more familiarity with Xavier; until this season they were conference mates in the Atlantic 10. But is familiarity necessarily a good thing? Yes, SLU is well schooled on Xavier's style of play, and the strengths and weaknesses of at least some individual players. But the same is true in reverse; the Xavier coaching staff has a full, first-hand scouting report on SLU. Personally, I think the Billikens are better off playing an opponent that isn't so familiar with them. If a team hasn't faced SLU's defense before, it's a disadvantage. Though they have slipped in recent weeks – and that must change, and now – the Billikens are very good on defense. They figure to be able to disrupt N.C. State more than Xavier. That's the theory, anyway. But the nation's eighth-best defense (according to the KenPom ratings) should be more vexing to N.C. State than Xavier. SLU has the advantage of experience over both teams. Here's where the three teams rank in experience: SLU is No. 10 among D-1 teams … Xavier is No. 257 … and N.C. State is No. 330. Xavier has played a more difficult schedule than N.C. State, but the difference is relatively small. And both have played more difficult schedules than SLU. Here's how N.C. State could pose problems for SLU: The Wolfpack are No. 28 nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency. That's better than any Atlantic 10 team that SLU faced this season; the best of the A-10 lot was Dayton at No. 30. The Wolfpack have a low turnover rate – they rank 34th among 351 teams with a turnover percentage of 15.9 pct. The Wolfpack can go get offensive rebounds, ranking 64th with an offensive-rebound percentage of 35 pct … The Wolpack ranks 18th in “effective” height. SLU ranks 87th. The Wolfpack gets more playing-time minutes from its bench than SLU does. The Billikens rank 223rd in percentage of minutes contributed by the bench (28.4 percent.) SLU plays excellent defense against the 3-point shot but that isn't N.C. State's game. The Wolfpack ranks No. 4 nationally in two-point shooting at 61.6 percent. The much of the damage done by the outstanding 6-8 sophomore forward, T.J. Warren, who averages just under 25 points per game. That said, N.C. State doesn't have a lot of assists, ranking 238th with an assist rate of 49.3 percent on its baskets. There are a lot of isolation plays in this offense, and SLU is capable of handling that. Here's where N.C. State is vulnerable to SLU: We've already talked about the experience gap. N.C. State hasn't shot three-pointers well, making 30 percent. A bad free-throw rate, 66.1 percent, which ranks 292nd. N.C. State's defense has a relatively low rate of forcing turnovers (17.6 pct.) and that should help a SLU offense that's had problems taking care of the ball. N.C. State was ranked 12th in the ACC (and No. 144 nationally) in adjusted defensive efficiency. But will SLU's offense be good enough to take advantage of it? This could be a big one: N.C. State gives up a lot of offensive rebounds; ranking No. 338 nationally in allowing an ORB rate of 36.3 percent. This is one of the poorest defensive rebounding teams in the nation."

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/billiken-bytes-n-c-state-or-xavier-who-you-got/article_3e96a19b-91f6-5e83-a187-a90b10a764c8.html

3/19/2014 4:59:47 PM

hope saint louis continues their slide.

[Edited on March 19, 2014 at 5:12 PM. Reason : .]

3/19/2014 5:11:12 PM

Quote :

"Xavier is the better team"

. Stopped reading there.

3/19/2014 5:20:14 PM

I mean, he did base almost that entire piece on data from KenPom so it's pretty much like reading a face analyis, but there's at least some interesting stuff in there.

[Edited on March 19, 2014 at 5:27 PM. Reason : a]

3/19/2014 5:27:23 PM

we will survive and advance

dubya

3/19/2014 5:28:06 PM

Fuck. Arnold must be a Terps fan.

3/19/2014 5:35:21 PM

Quote :

"it's pretty much like reading a face analyis"

haha

3/19/2014 5:37:40 PM

Quote :

"By the way, KenPom gives Xavier a 66 percent chance of beating N.C. State this evening. "

oops.

3/19/2014 5:41:42 PM

Obviously we show up at tourney time. This is a better team than the regular season. We can do this.

3/19/2014 6:01:54 PM

Quote :

" But is familiarity necessarily a good thing? Yes, SLU is well schooled on Xavier's style of play, and the strengths and weaknesses of at least some individual players. But the same is true in reverse; the Xavier coaching staff has a full, first-hand scouting report on SLU."

3/19/2014 6:14:16 PM

Quote :

"Joe Giglio ?@jwgiglio 27m Cat Barber feeling better today, out on floor practicing now, said he would play against Saint Louis"

Quote :

"Mark Armstrong ?@ArmstrongABC11 1h From State spokesman, Cat Barber 'feels better' and is back practicing after last night's illness."

[Edited on March 19, 2014 at 6:22 PM. Reason : a]

3/19/2014 6:19:59 PM

Arnold has some awesome moobs in that pic

3/19/2014 6:22:08 PM

Quote :

"The Wolpack ranks 18th in “effective” height. SLU ranks 87th."

I felt the need to look at their roster heights after this. Turns out Rob Loe is 6-11.

3/19/2014 6:25:42 PM

thanks for that pic, i guess

here's a video from the end of last night's game to their arrival in Orlando: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAL1Ic705FU. nothing too exciting but a couple funny Vandenmoments

3/19/2014 6:29:34 PM

ibtBanjoMan

3/19/2014 6:54:22 PM

One Shining VandenMoment

3/19/2014 7:12:34 PM

let's do this!

3/19/2014 8:08:21 PM

No, no, no

Quote :

"I'm gonna be sad when we lose"

3/19/2014 8:17:31 PM

Way too much moob on this page. I am not a guy, but even I know this needs to be fixed.

[Edited on March 19, 2014 at 8:44 PM. Reason : Lol]

3/19/2014 8:43:53 PM

Bullshit. I was just about to post grainy stills from Rob Lowe's sex tapes.

3/19/2014 8:55:06 PM

I'd rather see moob than that natty daddy shit

3/19/2014 9:04:26 PM

Duly noted and ignored.

3/19/2014 9:15:35 PM

Aww, they sell six packs of two gulp cans:



Natty Babies!

3/19/2014 9:24:57 PM

Such an adorable way to get shitfaced

3/19/2014 9:32:23 PM

So I haven't watched St Louis play this year and just looked into them and saw that their A-10 player of the year is 6'1" 215 lb Jordair Jett

3/19/2014 9:38:31 PM

the defense thing isn't an issue. half of the acc consists of elite defensive teams. virginia pitt clemson miami syracuse all play that level of defense or better and most of them play better offense.

the fact that we didn't turn over acc teams isn't going to help them if they are careless with the ball.

3/19/2014 10:32:09 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=govZHFxRsPw

3/19/2014 10:35:03 PM

I actually think our transition game is going to be the difference maker.

Their guards are hefty dudes..not the most athletic group ive seen

3/19/2014 10:37:06 PM

caption time!!

3/19/2014 10:42:15 PM

my forehead itches

3/19/2014 10:53:45 PM

Quote :

"virginia pitt clemson miami syracuse all play that level of defense or better and most of them play better offense. "

Yeah, but we lost to all of these teams at least once.

3/19/2014 10:58:39 PM