UConn 2023 Overcomes Kevin Love to Make Final 4

In what should have been our title game based on all-time rankings, #11 UConn 2023 survived #15 UCLA 2008 in an Elite 8 game in our third all-time tournament, 74-68. The Bruins gave the Huskies a much tougher battle than any of their six opponents in the actual 2023 March Madness tournament. Here is our blog on the entire Elite 8 with updated rankings.

For the second game in a row, Kevin Love drew 5 fouls on an all-time great opposing Center (Wes Unseld in All-Time Sweet 16, Adama Sonoga in Elite 8). UCLA drew 23 fouls (while only committing 15 fouls) and hit 20 of 23 free throws, while UConn countered by hitting 7 three-pointers while not allowing a single three-pointer by UCLA for the 74-68 win.

Alex Karaban had two of the key plays of the game, with a 4-ponit play to break a tie and give UConn a 31-27 lead, then later a 3-point play on a bucket and free throw to key 11-0 run that gave UConn the lead for good at 55-45.

UConn next faces the winner of #25 Duke 2015 against #33 Georgetown 1989 in one of two Final Four semifinals in our 3rd Value Add Basketball tournament. Bill Walton's UCLA 1972 team won the first tournament, and Paul Pierce's 1997 Kansas the second.  The win should bump UConn up one spot just ahead of Villanova 2018 for 10th place all time of the all-time great Value Add Basketball Game, which would also make them the top-ranked Big East team in the game.

Pos	#15 UCLA 2008	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Ht	Season Stats
1-PG	Russell Westbrook	15	0	6	3	4	2	1	0	2	6'3	12.7 Pts, 3.9 Reb, 4.3 Ast
2-SG	Darren Collison	17	0	5	7	7	3	1	1	2	6'1	14.5 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 3.8 Ast
3-SF	Josh Shipp	10	0	2	6	6	5	2	1	3	6'5	12.2 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 2.1 Ast
4-PF	Luc Richard Mbah a Moute	4	0	2	0	0	3	0	0	1	6'8	8.8 Pts, 6.0 Reb, 1.5 Ast
5-C	Kevin Love	12	0	4	4	6	13	1	2	2	6'10	17.5 Pts, 10.6 Reb, 1.9 Ast
1-PG	James Keefe	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'8	2.8 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 0.2 Ast
2-SG	Nikola Dragovic	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'9	2.5 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 0.2 Ast
3-SF	Alfred Aboya	2	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	2	6'9	2.9 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 0.3 Ast
5-C	Lorenzo Mata-Real	4	0	2	0	0	2	0	1	1	6'9	3.1 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 0.2 Ast
		0
	Totals	68	0	24	20	23	33	5	5	15
Pos	#11 UConn 2023	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Ht	Season Stats
1-PG	Tristen Newton	11	1	3	2	2	2	4	0	2	6'5	10.1 Pts, 4.5 Reb, 4.7 Ast
2-SG	Andre Jackson	7	1	2	0	0	2	3	0	4	6'6	6.7 Pts, 6.2 Reb, 4.7 Ast
3-SF	Alex Karaban	9	1	2	2	2	7	0	0	3	6'8	9.3 Pts, 4.5 Reb, 1.7 Ast
4-PF	Jordan Hawkins	9	1	3	0	0	7	0	0	3	6'5	16.2 Pts, 3.8 Reb, 1.3 Ast
5-C	Adama Sanogo	15	0	7	1	2	8	0	2	5	6'9	17.2 Pts, 7.7 Reb, 1.3 Ast
1-PG	Hassan Diarra	4	0	2	0	0	1	0	1	2	6'2	2.1 Pts, 1.3 Reb, 1.8 Ast
2-SG	Joey Calcaterra	8	2	1	0	0	3	0	1	1	6'3	5.8 Pts, 1.7 Reb, 1.2 Ast
3-SF	Nahiem Alleyne	2	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	1	6'4	5.2 Pts, 1.2 Reb, 0.8 Ast
4-PF	Samson Johnson	5	1	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	6'10	0.9 Pts, 0.8 Reb, 0.1 Ast
5-C	Donovan Clingan	4	0	2	0	0	2	0	0	1	7'2	6.9 Pts, 5.6 Reb, 0.5 Ast
	Totals	74	7	24	5	6	37	7	4	23

Unseld Fouls Out Guarding Love, UCLA 2008 Cruises to Claim Final Elite 8 Spot

The versatile Kevin Love hit a couple of stretch 3-point shots early, then drew fouls on the legendary Wes Unseld to prevent any chances of a second upset by Louisville 1968.

Going up against four future NBA players in Russell Westbrook, Darren Collison, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Kevin Love, Louisville was already trailing 59-48, so could not afford to sit the legendary Wes Unseld with his four fouls. At that point Love drove and drew the foul while hitting the bucket to send Unseld to the bench with his 5th foul. Love completed the 3-point play to make it 62-48,and with point guard Butch Beard the only future NBA player for Louisville the rest of the game - UCLA dominated the rest of the way for an 80-58 win.

The only bad news is that their next opponent in this Value Add Basketball Game Elite 8 is the No. 1 seed in this tournament, the 2023 National Champs from Connecticut. The bracket and scores appear below the box score of this game.
 

Pos	Louisville 1968	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Ht	Season Stats
1-PG	Butch Beard	8	0	2	4	4	4	2	1	3	6'3	16.0 Pts, 4.9 Reb
2-SG	Fred Holden	5	1	1	0	0	2	2	0	2	6'3	10.7 Pts, 2.5 Reb
3-SF	Marv Selvy	8	0	4	0	0	6	1	0	1	6'4	7.2 Pts, 3.7 Reb
4-PF	Jerry King	13	1	5	0	0	1	0	2	3	6'5	14.2 Pts, 5.7 Reb
5-C	Wes Unseld	6	0	2	2	2	3	1	2	5	6'7	23.0 Pts, 18.3 Reb
1-PG	Ellis Bryant	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'0	1.5 Pts, 0.8 Reb
2-SG	Denny Deeken	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'3	5.3 Pts, 1.7 Reb
3-SF	Ed Linonis	4	0	2	0	2	4	0	0	1	6'6	2.8 Pts, 3.3 Reb
4-PF	Bob Gorius	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'6	2.2 Pts, 2.1 Reb
5-C	Mike Grosso	8	0	3	2	2	11	0	1	1	6'9	5.8 Pts, 7.0 Reb
	Totals	58	2	22	8	10	34	6	6	19
Pos	UCLA 2008	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Ht	Season Stats
1-PG	Russell Westbrook	18	2	4	4	4	2	0	3	3	6'3	12.7 Pts, 3.9 Reb, 4.3 Ast
2-SG	Darren Collison	13	1	5	0	2	3	2	0	1	6'1	14.5 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 3.8 Ast
3-SF	Josh Shipp	7	1	2	0	0	7	2	0	1	6'5	12.2 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 2.1 Ast
4-PF	Luc Richard Mbah a Moute	8	0	3	2	4	9	0	0	1	6'8	8.8 Pts, 6.0 Reb, 1.5 Ast
5-C	Kevin Love	24	3	5	5	6	14	0	2	3	6'10	17.5 Pts, 10.6 Reb, 1.9 Ast
1-PG	James Keefe	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'8	2.8 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 0.2 Ast
2-SG	Nikola Dragovic	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'9	2.5 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 0.2 Ast
3-SF	Alfred Aboya	4	0	2	0	0	2	0	0	1	6'9	2.9 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 0.3 Ast
4-PF	Lorenzo Mata-Real	2	0	1	0	0	3	0	2	1	6'9	3.1 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 0.2 Ast
	Totals	80	7	24	11	16	42	4	7	13

Unseld v. McAdoo All-Time Great Center Match-up by Category

At 6'7, 245 pounds, Wes Unseld was immovable under the basket, and as the greatest outlet passing center in NBA history, had the edge in today's super match-up as a passer and rebounder. However, Bob McAdoo (taller at 6'9 but lighter at 210) has the edge as one of the greatest scoring centers and top half dozen shot blockers of all time.

Result of game added at bottom.

A look at the two Value Add Basketball Game cards for our next all-time tournament game between Louisville 1968 and UNC 1972 shows McAdoo with a better card on 4 items - steals, blocks, shooting and free throw shooting, while Unseld is stronger in another 4 including drawing fouls, rebounding when UNC misses as well as when Louisville misses, and finally passing. The explanation for each category appears below these photos.

Steals - Advantage McAdoo with an excellent steal range for a center of 11-15, compared to rare steals for Unseld at 11-11.

Blocks - Advantage McAdoo as one of a half dozen players in basketball history who not only blocks shots in the whole block range on the opposing center (21-26) but also blocks the shot of any player on the court on either a 32 or 66. The short Unseld is a good but not elite 21-25.

Fouls - both average at 35-36 committing fouls.

Turnovers - both average at 41-43.

Dunk and Adj Dunk - both a strong 51-56 dunking but also -6 on adjusting opponents dunk, so neither will get any automatic dunks or automatic stops in the 51-66 range against each other as those cancel out.

Field Goal Shooting - advantage McAdoo who scores on 1-11 when he gets a chance including a "and 1" on a roll a 1 on the 1-20 die. Unseld scores on 1-9.

Drawing Fouls - Advantage Unseld who draws fouls on a dominant five numbers - 10-14 - which can be the great equalizer since he has a much better chance of getting McAdoo in foul trouble to perhaps force UNC to use a much weaker defensive player like Craig Corson or Bobby Jones or worse yet foul out McAdoo.

Free throw shooting - Advantage McAdoo who makes free throws 80% of the time (1-16 on 20-sided die) while Unseld is 65% (1-13).

Rebounding on Louisville miss - Advantage Unseld whose 19 rebounds a game over 3 years is one of the greatest totals ever and gives him a 1-11 offensive rebounding meaning on an 10 or 20 on the 20-sided die for high rebounder in game goes to Unseld since offense gets the tiebreaker and McAdoo's defensive rebound is also 1-11. 

Rebounding on UNC miss - Advantage Unseld whose 1-11 defensive rebounding keeps the rebound against McAdoo's 1-8 offensive rebounding.

Assists - we do not have an actual assist factor on the cards, but it obviously improved every other players' shooting stats, and Unseld was one of the greatest passing centers in history and averaged 3.5 assists per game in the NBA compared to only 1.6 for McAdoo.

And we have an upset in this round. Unseld managed to play through 4 fouls and Louisville upset UNC 71-69 to survive and advance. Here is the scoresheet. UNC with 4 more rebounds but 3 mire turnovers.

Current tournament.

Seed	Men's unbeaten	Player #All-Time Rank	Round of 32 & Sweet 16
1	Connecticut 2023, #7	Adama Sanogo	bye (next Gonz-TX)
2	Connecticut 1996, #14	Ray Allen #52	bye (next SMU-KS)
3	Western Kentucky 1966, #24	Clem Haskins	bye (next UNC-Xavier)
4	Houston 2021, #26	Quentin Grimes	bye (next Duke-Mia)
5	Purdue 2024, #35	Zach Edey	W 69-42 vs. UMass 1971, #219 (2nd R Gtown-ASU)
6	Michigan 1993, #36	Chris Webber #65	W 73-62 vs Gonzaga 1981, #216 (if W TN-Ore St)
7	Rutgers 1976, #39	Phil Sellers	W 84-82 OT vs. Duquesne 2024, #203 (Col-LSU)
8	North Carolina 1972, #40	Bob McAdoo #54	L 69-71 vs Louisville 1968, #178 (eliminated)
9	UCLA 2008, #44	Russell Westbrook #46	v nc stare 2024, #153 (Lville)
10	Colorado 2021, #56	McKinley Wright	vs. LSU 1953, #147 (if W rutg)
11	Tennessee 2023, #59	Santiago Vescovi	vs. Oregon St. 1990, #140 (if W MI)
12	Georgetown 1989, #63	Alonzo Mourning #69	vs. Arizona St. 2009, #139 (if W Purdue)
13	Duke 2015, #65	Justise Winslow	vs. Miami 2023, #131 (if W Houston)
14	North Carolina 2022, #67	Armando Bacot	vs. Xavier 2023, #86 (if W West KY)
15	SMU 2017, #70	Semi Ojeleye	vs. Kansas 2022, #79 (if W Uconn 1996)
16	Texas 2023, #71	Marcus Carr	vs. Gonzaga 2023, #76 (if W Uconn 2023)
17	Gonzaga 2023, #76	Drew Timme	vs. Texas 2023, #71 (if W Uconn 2023)
18	Kansas 2022, #79	Ochai Agbaji	vs. SMU 2017, #70 (if W Uconn 1996)
19	Xavier 2023, #86	Jack Nunge	vs. North Carolina 2022, #67 (if W West KY)
20	Miami 2023, #131	Norchad Omier	vs. Duke 2015, #65 (if W Houston)
21	Arizona St. 2009, #139	James Harden #33	vs. Georgetown 1989, #63 (if W Purdue)
22	Oregon St. 1990, #140	Gary Payton #48	vs. Tennessee 2023, #59 (if W MI)
23	LSU 1953, #147	Bob Pettit #31	vs. Colorado 2021, #56 (if W Rutg)
24	NC St. 2024, #153	D.J. Burns	vs. UCLA 2008, #44 (if W Lville)
25	Louisville 1968, #178	Wes Unseld #60	W 71-69 vs. North Carolina 1972, #40 (UCLA-NC St)
26	Duquesne 2024, #203	Jimmy Clark	L 84-82 OT vs Rutgers 1976 (Eliminated)
27	Gonzaga 1981, #216	John Stockton #25	vs. Michigan 1993, #36 Eliminated
28	Massachusetts 1971, #219	Julius Erving #19	L 42-69 vs. Purdue 2024 #35, Eliminated

Unseld's Louisville Hits Buzzer Beater to Withstand Oakland's 3-point barrage, 75-72

After trailing Wes Unseld's 1968 team 68-58 with fewer than five minutes to play, Oakland 2024's Jack Gohlke and Blake Lampman hit four of five 3-point shots and Lampman added a 2-point shot with 16 second left to tie the game 72-72. However, Butch Beard then hit a buzzer beater 3-pointer - only the second Louisville 3-pointer of the game, pull out a third narrow win for a new team added due to having one of the greatest players of all time over a 2024 team added because their school did not yet have a team but this year they won an NCAA game.

More important, this was the first game in which we used the new dunk rule. It did come into effect on one play, when Lampman drew a "missed 3-pointer" but a 52 dice roll to fall within his dunk range. Under the new rule in this combination of rolls, the player gets a look at an open 3-pointer instead of simply laying the ball in for 2-points. Lampkin's 3-point made range of 1-5 was increased to 1-10, and the roll of "6" on the 20-sided die gave him a 3-point made shot.

Louisville was a 14-point favorite, and dropped from 154th place (-8.0 rating) to 180th place (-6.0) all time with the closer than expected game. Oakland improved from 233rd place (-20.0) to 231st place (-18.0) by almost repeating their real season stunner over Kentucky with an upset of Louisville in this game. A key was holding all-time great Unseld, one of the greatest rebounders of all time at 1-11 in both offensive and defensive rebounds - to only eight rebounds to not let him take over the game.

Advanced Jack Gohlke "Dunk Range" Rule updated in the Value Add Basketball Game

On April 23, 2024, we made an adjustment to the Value Add Basketball Game regarding the result if a roll of 51-66 falls within a players dunk range (or stop range). We call this the Jack Gohlke Rule. You can still use the basic rule, which is that the offense has the option of changing the result of a 20-sided die roll to a "2-point basket made" if the 11-66 dice result in a "Dunk." However, or the more accurate results, follow these instructions for a roll in the dunk range:

In most cases the player has a "Dunk Range" of 51 or higher, which is adjusted by the defenders "Adj" + or minus. So a 51-53 range, and a -1 on the defenders card would be a 51-52 dunk range for the game. If the roll is within the range use this chart to convert the result of the 20-sided die roll:

Result on 20-sided die	If two 6-sided die falls in players dunk range (adjusted by defenders + or -)
3-point shot made	remains 3-point shot made
2-point shot made	remains 2-point shot made
FTx2 - fouled and 2 free throws	Still fouled, but 2-point basket good and 1 free throw
Missed 3-pointer	DOUBLE 3-point made range (e.g. 1-5 becomes 1-10) and roll 20-sided die again. Result is within doubled range then 3-point shot good, if outside range then 3-point shot missed.
Missed 2-pointer	2-point shot made

If the result of the dunk range plus or minus the defenders "adj" is less than 50, then the player instead has a STOP range. This can be found in red on the chart in the instructions, but for every number below 50 a STOP range is created above 50. So a 51-47 and a -1 on defense adds up to a 51-46 dunk range. Since 46 is 4 less than 50, a STOP range of 51-54 is created - but you can look this up on the dunk chart in the instructions rather than try to do the math. If the roll is within a player's stop range, then one of the following two things happens:

 

If STOP Range instead of DUNK Range	If two 6-sided die falls in players STOP range, which means result of dunk range adjusted by + or - defense is less than 50.
If PG or SG (2 players furthest LEFT on sheet in game)	Ignore 20-sided die - result is TURNOVER
If SF, PF or C (other 3 players in game)	Ignore 20-sided die - result is missed shot and defender guarding players gets rebound.

New Cards for 22 of Greatest 75 Players for New Teams

Click here for the google sheet or on the images below for the 22 all-time great players for the new Value Add Basketball Game teams we are now creating.

The four other new teams we are adding are from the www.kenpom.com era, so I can make them based on those stats and do the whole team at a time. The coincidentally are based on four incredible players in four consecutive seasons who made the Athletic list of the greatest 75 players of all time;

Texas 2007 Kevin Durant #13 player of all time.

UCLA 2008 Russell Westbrook #46 player of all time.

Arizona St. 2009 James Harden #33 player of all time.

Weber St. 2010 Damian Lillard #68 player of all time.

The process for the 20^th century teams takes much longer, and one step we always do is compare the NBA stats of the great players, particularly for stats not kept on college when they played (minutes played, three point shots, steals, blocked shots etc).

We basically took each players best NBA season (obviously against much tougher competition than they faced in college, and assumed they’d draw more fouls and hit 10% more of their 3-point shots (much closer arc) and 2-point shots (much easier defenders).

Below are the cards we created for each player. Note the dunk range and adjusted defense range are all the same, 51-56 and -6. These are usually for the whole team to adjust for level of competition, however since these players cards are based on playing against NBA players we don’t need to adjust the cards down for the ones who played lighter competition.

Durant, Westbrook, Harden and Lillard will be created with the rest of their teams from www.kenpom.com, but we will later add the 22 teams that go with these players.

Do note on the cards below that some great players from the days when front line players played inside, often with their backs to the basket, and would never have taken a 3-pointer, have no 3-pointers but do score and get fouled on a "1" on the 20-sided die roll instead.

Blue numbers on these stats were estimated using various methods because those stats were not kept then.

Here are the College Basketball links to the players above.

Jason Kidd Robert Parish Ray Allen Dave Cowens Allen Iverson Alonzo Mourning John Stockton Karl Malone Wes Unseld Bob Pettit Hal Greer Julius Erving Chris Webber Bob McAdoo Billy Cunningham Dolph Schayes Gary Payton Lenny Wilkens Steve Nash Walt Frazier Reggie Miller Tiny Archibald