St. Cloud is a well balanced squad. If we played them with our current roster 10 times they'd win 9/10 maybe even 10/10. That being said I really do like the final 8 teams across the board. Good luck all and I"ll see you on the recruiting trail..

Posted by bbunch on 2/21/2016 11:42:00 AM (view original):
Here were my Elite 8 picks......
Super early final 4 picks - Lander, Dominican, N. Florida, Wisconsin Parkside
Elite 8 - Pfieffer, NM Highlands, West Georgia, Concord

5 out of 8 - not too shabby, I guess. Some thoughts on the matchups.......

East
I said that it was impossible to assess #8 St. Cloud St. due to them being undefeated while playing nobody - well apparently they're extremely good, not really struggling through their first 3 NT games. Amazing guard play from them in particular.

#2. North Florida needed a game winning shot with 1 second left to beat Felician in the Sweet 16 (in a all-time DII Iba classic game). A very strong N. Florida squad (who could have been a #1 seed easily) goes up against this so-far unstoppable St. Cloud Squad.
Midwest

Midwest
No surprises here. #1 Lander has mostly toyed with Wingate, Anderson, and E. Stroudburg on their way to the Elite 8. They shoot lights out from 3, but have a penetrating point guard that will punish you if you cheat on their 3-pointers too much.

#2 Concord hopes to beat a slightly more talented Lander team by completely running them out of the gym. Will be curious to see if Lander slows down their offense, which could backfire and negate their talent advantage. Concord skirted by St. Ed's in the Sweet 16, with the Hilltoppers making a ridiculous 12-0 run with 2 minutes left to almost provide a shocking upset. If Lander tries to run with them, Concord could put up 90 easily. This will be a very interesting matchup.

South
#1 Dominican has beaten very good Grand Canyon and AASU squads by 10 a piece on their way to the Elite 8. They've been battling with Lander all season for a #1 ranking and RPI, and currently sit at #2 RPI and #1 ranking. This team really has 2 main scorers, but gets every rebound, and the team plays swarming team defense. Teams have shown they can hang tight with Dominican, but they are hard to beat.

#3 S. Indiana surprises me a bit - considering UWP won all three games against them, I thought that Parkside would be the much more likely team to make an elite 8 run. It took them OT to beat NW Nazarene in the 2nd round, and it took a horrific St. Mary's FT shooting effort to get their surprising Sweet 16 bid, but here they are....and in the words of Kevin Garnett..."AAANNYYYTHING IS POSSSIBBBULLLLLL!" S. Indiana doesn't play very good defense, but they're a very efficient offensive team that can win by trading buckets endlessly.


West
#1 CSULA - I guess I just wasnt a believer in a undefeated California squad with no seniors - that was dumb on my part. While they haven't played a tough schedule at all, they've won every game they played, and their 19 point victory over a very game Bellarmine squad was a head-turner. 2nd round opponent USC Upstate played them the closest, so they might have exposed a weakness or two in this undefeated squad. Make no mistake - no matter what CSULA does this season, they are a HUGE favorite to win it all next season.

#2 Pfieffer - The CVAC representatives have fought through possibly the toughest DII bracket with a mix of decisive victories and squeakers. Their 97-88 win over Bowie St in the Sweet 16, with all 5 starters scoring in double figures was very impressive. They have one position of weakness IMO, but are otherwise as solid of a team as any in DII Iba.




.

Looking forward to BB's F4 predictions :)

All 4 teams really deserve it. One of the best DII Iba F4's in a while....there's no mysteriously successful 12 seed that had a lot of RNG luck - all 4 teams have been in the top 8 all season long.

I do think everything is leaning toward a Lander/Dominican final, as those have been the top two teams all year. N. Florida and Pfieffer have been very close as well, and with a few chance plays that bounce their way, they can pull off the upset as there's not a huge gap between them and the favorites.

I'm not going to overthink this. If I had to put money on this final four, Iit's Lander vs. Dominican., and Lander takes it. (although I'm pulling for my conference mate Zorzii with Pfieffer, who can definitely win the whole thing).

Lander has one weakness : rebounding.

The three other teams are speedy offensive teams with good BH and solid passing.

Dominican has solid athleticism. It's also the best rebounding team.

I am leaning towards bbunch prédictions. I think Lander is the team to beat and Dominican is a close second.

By the way, Bowie State was an amazing team also. And we really almost lost to Montevallo, a solid Heartland team.

Looks like we have a little southeast showdown. A Carolina scuffle if you will.

Glad my old St. Cloud squad put on a show while I was away! Naturally it took getting rid of their crummy ol' coach to do it.

Could I get a Hoops Dynasty invite for this world from someone. Just started a Gridiron Dynasty and it's pretty fun and want to start a hoops one as well. I love both sports enough to do both. Please send me a personal message and I'll provide my email.
Thank you in advance.

Posted by BDsaint785 on 2/26/2016 9:27:00 AM (view original):
Could I get a Hoops Dynasty invite for this world from someone. Just started a Gridiron Dynasty and it's pretty fun and want to start a hoops one as well. I love both sports enough to do both. Please send me a personal message and I'll provide my email.
Thank you in advance.

Sure, but you'll have to start in D3. This thread is for D2. You should be able to move up after one or two seasons.

Posted by getbedarded on 2/26/2016 1:54:00 PM (view original):

Posted by BDsaint785 on 2/26/2016 9:27:00 AM (view original):
Could I get a Hoops Dynasty invite for this world from someone. Just started a Gridiron Dynasty and it's pretty fun and want to start a hoops one as well. I love both sports enough to do both. Please send me a personal message and I'll provide my email.
Thank you in advance.

Sure, but you'll have to start in D3. This thread is for D2. You should be able to move up after one or two seasons.

I know. I just want to see if basketball is just as fun as football is.

Posted by BDsaint785 on 2/26/2016 3:25:00 PM (view original):

Posted by getbedarded on 2/26/2016 1:54:00 PM (view original):

Posted by BDsaint785 on 2/26/2016 9:27:00 AM (view original):
Could I get a Hoops Dynasty invite for this world from someone. Just started a Gridiron Dynasty and it's pretty fun and want to start a hoops one as well. I love both sports enough to do both. Please send me a personal message and I'll provide my email.
Thank you in advance.

Sure, but you'll have to start in D3. This thread is for D2. You should be able to move up after one or two seasons.

I know. I just want to see if basketball is just as fun as football is.

It's much better than Gridiron Dynasty in my opinion, not even close.

Posted by bbunch on 2/26/2016 6:18:00 PM (view original):

Posted by BDsaint785 on 2/26/2016 3:25:00 PM (view original):

Posted by getbedarded on 2/26/2016 1:54:00 PM (view original):

Posted by BDsaint785 on 2/26/2016 9:27:00 AM (view original):
Could I get a Hoops Dynasty invite for this world from someone. Just started a Gridiron Dynasty and it's pretty fun and want to start a hoops one as well. I love both sports enough to do both. Please send me a personal message and I'll provide my email.
Thank you in advance.

Sure, but you'll have to start in D3. This thread is for D2. You should be able to move up after one or two seasons.

I know. I just want to see if basketball is just as fun as football is.

It's much better than Gridiron Dynasty in my opinion, not even close.

I've heard the same thing. Honestly it's why I've never tried gridiron. I barely
have time for 1 hd team!