Monday, March 15, 2010

7 Things to Follow in the Tournament

The Madness creates its' own story lines (that is why it is the Madness) but going into it here are 7 things to watch for.

1. The Villain
aka Evan Turner will probably be named National Player of the Year. He is Ohio State. Literally. 4 of 5 starters play 35 minutes or more. There is no fall back position. He needs to be the best player in the country for tOSU to advance. The Villain led tOSU to a Big 10 title, can he lead tOSU to the Final 4?
Evan Turner - National Player of the Year and Master of Magnetism

2. The Freshman
Forget Dicky V's diaper dandy stuff....No freshman since Carmelo Anthony has led his team to a national championship. John Wall has the potential to do that for Kentucky (before it's erased due to recruiting violations by Calipari). The question...will he?
Don't ask what Ashley Judd is willing to do for a Kentucky Championship (you can order the DVD from BSD later this month tho)
3. The Fill In
In one of the weird connections Roy Williams left Kansas for UNC unable to win the big game. Since being at UNC Williams has won 2 Championships. Bill Self who replaced Williams has won 1. Can he tie Williams championship run this year?

4. The Knee
Syracuse has been as good as any team in the NCAA this year. Their destruction of Villanova still ranks as my best win of the year. However questions are circling Syracuse over the injured quad of Arinze Onuaku. If he's healthy it's hard not to think of 'Cuse at least as an elite 8 team, without Onuaku well it might be a far earlier exit.

5. The Pyrite
Since Duke's loss to UConn in the Final 4, Duke has been the equivalent of fool's gold. They look good in the regular season (winner's of 9 of the past 12 ACC tournaments) but crapping out in the Madness (haven't advanced deeper than the sweet 16). With a high seed and senior leadership will they be the year the Dookies live up to their hype?

The Dookies are looking for success

6. The Prospects
Every year some NBA prospects make a big statement in the tournament thereby raising their profile and stock for the NBA Draft. Kentucky's Demarcus Cousin and Pat Patterson, Cuse's Wesley Johnson, G-Tech Favor, G-Town's Monroe, and KU's Xavier Henry and Cole Aldrich all have that potential.

7. The Cinderellas
The beauty of the Madness is the possibility/potential for the Cinderella run. With the major conferences as weak as I can remember the ball room is open for some dancing with glass slippers. Potentials range from the A-10 (Temple, Xavier), the MWC (BYU, New Mexico), and the WAC (Utah State)

Scarlette is off to find a quality HD TV

8 comments:

MJ said...

1) For the next few weeks, I will be signing all college basketball related comments with the "ET4POTY" moniker. Quite simply, Evan Turner has been the best player in college basketball. He can do it all, he's the most important player on his team and he's not a fucking scumbag like the guys at Kentucky are.

2) Ashley Judd's awesome legs aside, I'm rooting against John Wall like no one's ever been rooted against. I hate his guts. The kid makes Derrick "Illiterate" Rose look like a choir boy. This kid is trouble.

3) Ditto KU. I hate Bill Self and I can't stomach the thought of him winning another title.

4) I like Jim Boeheim so anything that's good for 'Cuse is fine with me.

5) I find Duke's being awarded a #1 seed offensive enough. But giving them the winner of the play-in game in the first round? WHAT? Isn't that usually the reward for being the #1 overall seed? Shouldn't Kansas be complaining that Duke is getting special treatment? Fuck Duke. Incidentally, you insulted the Christmas Poo. He hates Duke too.

6) Xavier Henry's brother CJ is a former first round draft pick of the Yankees. He sucked at baseball and tagged along with his brother onto the KU basketball team. Fuck Xavier Henry.

7) I'm rooting for Cornell in this year's field of Cinderellas. They almost took down Kansas and I'd love to see them squeak out a win and give the weekend some excitement.

ET4POTY

Gutsy Goldberg said...

1) i love the pics in this article
2) evan turner is the man. et4POTY. too bad there's no bench and they have a murderous draw. it's like playing clue out in that region. someone's going to knock out my buckeyes - either georgia tech in the conservatory, tennessee with the pistol, or georgetown with the lead pipe. yowswers.
3) i always hate kentucky, but i'm still considering them (sadly) to win the whole thing. they have 3 top-10 picks in this nba draft. crazy.
4) i hate duke and can't wait for them to lose. even more insulting than their 1-seed and getting the play-in winner is drawing 2-villanova (ice cold, can't stop losing), and 4-purdue (no robbie hummel, no chance). Go Baylor, my adopted team!!!
5) you want a super-cinderella? let's take Ohio U over Georgetown. Just found out why Ohio U was the 9th-seed in the MAC- they were missing one of their players on suspension for 5 games. so, yes, there's a 4.2% chance they take out georgetown.

Hitman said...

I'm not as well-versed in college hoops as I used to be, but here goes:

- Everyone in the country falls on one side or the other of the Duke-UNC divide. I'm on the Blue Devils side. Coach K is a good Polish boy from Chicago, Jon Scheyer is a good Jewish boy from the Chicago burbs, and I just always liked Duke better.

- That said, absolutely it makes no sense for Duke to get the play-in winner. That should have gone to Kansas.

- Nobody in the State of Illinois likes Bill Self. I hope KU loses.

- Maybe it's not seen as an upset because of Hummel's injury, but #13 Siena over #4 Purdue has to stand out as the most likely upset in the 1st round.

- Kentucky's winning this whole thing.

MJ said...

"Everyone in the country falls on one side or the other of the Duke-UNC divide. I'm on the Blue Devils side."

Hitman, that might be the most offensive thing I've ever heard. I just pissed, pooped and puked myself simultaneously with that news.

Hitman said...

Really? Well then I'll have to remember to repeat this next time I see you in person. I've never seen the Simultaneous Bodily Excretion Trifecta.

Mighty Mike said...

I assumed one only gets the pissed, pooped, and puked reaction to the thought of Bill Self v. Calipari in the National Title again....

MJ said...

@Mighty - A Self vs. Calipari rematch in the finals would definitely create the "Simultaneous Bodily Excretion Trifecta." The difference is in the proportions. Hitman's Coach K admission only resulted in a few droplets of pee, a small turd and an infant-level amount of spit-up. Seeing those two greasy SOB's in the finals would be more piss, poop and puke than you can imagine.

Gutsy Goldberg said...

wow. piss, poop, and puke. i love march madness!