Surprisingly, people don't like guys who do this and brag about beer pong winning streaks. Who knew?
The remaining selection of teams include a Parthenon of superstars and a number of feel good surprise stories. Even though America's brackets are as shredded as the VCU defense, everyone simply has to enjoy this tournament. Few teams remain, some of them spectacular, some of them methodical, some of them free-ballin lob-throwers from the coast of Florida, but all of them could be legendary. Here's why each team could both make history, and fizzle before the weekend.
1 SEED. INDIANA
So Cody Zeller and friends didn't have the best weekend. Yeah, they're alive, but for a team who many deem to be the tournament's most gifted dream, (wow) they had a heckova struggle with an underrated Temple team. Of course, by temple, I mean Khalif Wyatt, and by underrated, I mean, Khalif Wyatt should really be a first round draft pick. What had me scared for the sake of Indiana wasn't Khalif's bucket eruption, it was their complete inability to execute on offense. Temple runs the same sort of smash mouth get-up-in-ya sort of defense that the Hoosiers have a track record of struggling with, the same breed that Wisconsin used to topple Indiana twice. Indiana can no longer hope to execute the beautiful game, in the tournament, the strong survive. Wichita State is alive for a reason, they will beat the snot out of their opponent regardless of what the name on the opponents jersey says. If Indiana can't succeed against physical teams, they'll be back home before Tom Crean can call for a foul. The Hoosiers do possess two of the top ten players in the country, and when the Hoosiers are running, cutting, and shooting like they love to do, they're nearly unbeatable. How Indiana adjusts to the pressure will determine the length of their stay.
Victor is starting to have the look of a Bond villain, so that projects at least an extra round.
1 SEED. LOUISVILLE
Rick Pitino's attack simply is beautiful chaos. The organized havoc that the Cardinals play with is deadly but amazing, any team who forces twenty turnovers per game will always have a shot at winning a few games. Russ Smith and Peyton Siva are playing their best basketball, the Cardinal's supporting staff is coming into their own, and Montrezl Harrell looks like a star in the making. This Cardinals team is remarkably unselfish for a team that has as much talent as it does, and that won't change. Although the Cards are playing their best ball, inconsistency has been a concern all season. Not long ago, the Cardinals dropped twelve spots in a month after a blazing start. In their current state, Louisville is all but unbeatable, but when the wheels fall off, will Russ and Peyton revert to their stagnant turnover prone ways?
He isn't called Russdiculous for nothing
1 SEED. KANSAS
I haven't been impressed with Kansas at all. Particularly in the tournament, Ben McLemore, a guy who was supposed to be a superstar in this tournament, has been relatively awful. The Tar Heels exploited a serious speed and quickness match up early in the game before Jeff Withey remembered how big he was. That to say, when Kansas plays a team who can lock down the perimeter, and render Withey ineffective defensively, they may face real danger. Oh, and they're playing Michigan this weekend, and Michigan can do both of those things. Yikes. Kansas does however have a shot at elevating their play because, as proven, Bill Self's club is a great second half team, and they do have serious star power, even if their stars have sucked through two games.
Ben McLemore? More like Ben McLe-LESS! Ha!....I'm hilarious.
2 SEED. MIAMI
After a commanding win over Pacific and a less than stellar performance against the Illini, Miami is exactly what we expected them to be. Here, but without a whole lot of noise made. Honestly, Miami should've KILLED Illinois, that game was far too close to be acceptable. It was however expectable, in typical Miami fashion, they've just churned out win after win, time will tell if they can beat the nation's elite given their occasional underwhelming performance.
0 is for how many seconds it takes Shane Larkin to reach full speed out of a stand still.
2 SEED. OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes are in a great position to succeed for three reasons. One, Deshaun Thomas is on their team. If Deshaun Thomas is on your team, you are more likely to win games than if he is on the other team. This occurred in twenty-eight of thirty-five games this season. It's math. Two, Aaron Craft is either the bravest player in basketball, or the stupidest. How many point guards would take an extremely high stakes charge when there's a fifty percent chance he gets whistled and hands the other team three points? The same one who waves of one of the nations most gifted offensive weapons in the country in clutch time to call his own number after three missed free throws. Aaron Craft could guide them to the trophy, or he could lose them the game against Arizona, the Buckeyes are dependent on his play. Three, the Buckeyes are in a dead heat with Marquette for the luckiest team alive award. The remaining seeds out west are the 2, (them), an inconsistent 6, a 9, and a 13. Dang. The Buckeyes could walk to Atlanta, all they have to do is execute.
But next go round, Deshaun should really have the ball in crunch time.
2 SEED. DUKE
In my last bit, I said Duke didn't play perimeter defense, and I would first like to formally apologize for that. These Blue Devils have all the tools to win it all, veteran leadership, capable scorers, and a legendary coach. Unfortunately, they also find themselves in the middle of the "group of death". Michigan State can pound the ball down low, where Mason Plumlee struggles with bigger stronger posts. Louisville and Oregon are both plenty capable of beating Duke as well, who simply finds themselves in a very difficult position.
Ryan Kelly is also the world's greatest mismatch, always giving Duke an advantage.
3 SEED. MARQUETTE
Touched on this earlier, Marquette is the luckiest team still in the tournament. Don't tell me they're clutch, don't tell me they're scrappy, THEY ARE LUCKY. You aren't clutch because Davidson likes pegging balls out of bounds, and you aren't scrappy because Rotnei Clarke and Andrew Smith took really horrible and unnecessary bad shots. Marquette has won two games by an average of a point and a half. When Marquette plays teams capable of staying calm in the last thirty seconds of a game, they're screwed. On the other hand, luck is about as meaningful a factor as anything else in this tournament, so I also wouldn't be surprised at all if Marquette rattles of a few more wins in hilarious crunch time lore.
I have also taken it upon myself to nickname Davante Garder, "Clutch Orca" for his free throws, which did require an element of clutchness.
3 SEED. MICHIGAN STATE
Michigan State is this year's team anyone could beat but nobody wants to play them either. Derrick Nix and Adrian Payne double to form a two man hit man team, and the Spartans play with the ferocity of actual spartans. Keith Appling is a classic Michigan State point guard, and everything points to the Spartans potentially putting together a solid run. At the same time, Sparty isn't spectacularly explosive, and outside of their fiendish post game, I've never watched a Michigan State game and thought, "Wow, those guys really have the 'it' factor!". Slow and methodical's the name of the game, the question remains, is that enough?
You remember that CBS story, you HAVE to want to root for Adreian Payne.
3 SEED. FLORIDA
Florida is the frontrunner for the strangest team of the year award. The Gators won nearly thirty games by double digits this year, and has failed to win a game held within the single numbers. Patric Young and friends are 0-6 in games decided by less than ten, which is an issue in a tournament full of excellent teams who will undoubtedly keep games close. Florida simply has a huge issue with playing in minutes that matter, but the impressive mark of double digit wins suggest that when the Gators are good, they dominate. Mike Rosario, Kenny Boynton, and Erick Murphy shoot the lights out, as long as that remains constant, the Gators will at the very least return to the Elite 8.
Patric Young could rip a man's head off...I don't know if that can be applied to the court, but it's noteworthy
4 SEED. MICHIGAN
Ah yes, my Michigan Wolverines, the undisputed frontrunner for the national title and unstoppable basketball juggernaut. It'll be interesting of course to see who finishes second in these silly and arbitrary games, but I'm looking forward to crowning the Wolverines king. All of this is hyperbole obviously, but I do believe Michigan could do great things in this tournament. Trey Burke dominates the ball for nearly all of Michigan's possessions, and one of the keys to winning basketball games this late in the tournament is for teams to be able to hold on to the ball and move it around with confidence. The Wolverines supporting cast is strong as well, and Mitch McGary is blossoming into a stud post player and energy guy. McGary has proven however to be someone foul prone, and when Michigan goes thin in the frontcourt, they struggle. Other teams find it easy to penetrate the Wolverine defense without a rim protector, and a significant part of the offense dissipates. Michigan is a team capable of rolling through the final rounds, but also one capable of squaundering a season in a matter of minutes.
Also, this is my favorite player in basketball, so I shall praise Michigan religiously until they lose
4 SEED. SYRACUSE
The Cuse posses the length, athleticism, and defense to be a mind-boggling frustrating force of ball stoppage, and that 2-3 zone from hell isn't about to relent any time soon. I nominate CJ Fair for most underrated player in basketball, Fair is part of a uber talented front line that has gotten the best of nearly every team they've faced. Michael Carter-Williams seems born to play defense in the 2-3, and his passing makes everyone on the court a scoring threat. Michael can also be remarkably inconsistent, and has made nearly as many plays that cost Syracuse the game as plays that won them. The Orange will definitely be a threat thanks in part to that there is a zero percent chance they play Georgetown, courtesy of Florida Gulf-Coast.
It's 50/50 whether Williams is assisting a corner three or absent mindedly throwing the ball into the third row
6 SEED. ARIZONA
Zona possesses a scary mix of veteran leadership and young athleticism, which automatically makes them a threat to make a tournament run. Like most Pac-12 teams however, the Cats have struggled with inconsistency, and have proven little after wins over Harvard and Bucknell. Arizona did seem very impressive and remarkably focused in their first two games, but Arizona had a tendency to lose focus against good conference foes, and are liable to do the same against a focused and gifted Ohio State club. The good news, if Arizona can get past the Buckeyes, a Final Four birth is only one more win over a mid-major away.
This was Solomon Hill's confused face when he discovered his tournament schedule was easier than his early year non-conference schedule.
9 SEED. WICHITA STATE
Doug Gottlieb alluded to Wichita State possessing a "Junk Yard Dog" mentality during their upset win over Gonzaga, a term which personifies this Wichita team perfectly. The shockers don't care if you're from the Big 10, they don't care if you don't know them by name, and they really don't care if you thought Creighton was the only good team in the Missouri Valley Conference. They don't mind if you had no idea where they're from, Wichita State is here to out tough you, out work you, and out man you. Gonzaga wasn't as overrated as many people are led to believe, the Shockers are just one heck of a mismatch. What these guys lack in talent, they make up for in heart, a trait as valuable as any other during March Madness.
(Right) This is Ron Baker. He's not necessarily the Shocker's best player, but analysists seem to all have man-crushes on him, so get used to hearing his name.
12 SEED. OREGON
Before I say anything else, Oregon is not a 12 seed. Oregon was a 4 seed waiting to happen before the selection committee decided that winning the Pac 12 tournament was about as significant as the brand of zipper your jacket uses. (Did you know, zippers have an entirely unique and separate industry? I know right? Crazy!) But Oregon was thrown into the gutter and emerged from the trash as the severely pissed off homeless man who has a beef with society and won't stop fighting until he has claimed that which rightfully belonged to him. For the Ducks, that thing is respect. Oregon has opened some eyes, and are undoubtedly underrated. Domonic Artis, EJ Singer, Damyean Dotson, Arsalan Kazemi and Carlos Emory compose what may be the nations'most balanced scoring attack. Oregon shares one of Duke's struggles, as they find themselves in the group of death. Oregon has proven they belong: the next step will either be one toward historic greatness or a quick exit.
The Ducks' leading scorer changes nearly daily, so I just picked one, he has silly hair.
13 SEED. LA SALLE
The La Salle explorers are true American heroes, for they have vanquished the diabolical Marshall Henderson and his antics, so to me, they have fulilled their destiny. The explorers do have the ability to advance farther than they have, they didn't win three games over higher (or equal) seeds for no reason. In their opening round game against Boise State, the explorers went Eight minutes without missing a shot from the field. That's an incredible number in a gym with no one else around, but in a tournament game? Wow. La Salle also has a more interesting matchup than many realize. La Salle's fast paced and efficient game matches up interestingly with the scrappy Wichita State guards. Both La Salle and Florida Gulf Coast have a chance to make history as the lowest seed in final four history, time will tell if either will succeed.
Shout out to Marshall Henderson, shout out to the dude at Subway, shout out to my 4th grade science teacher, shout out to Meek Mill, shout out...
15 SEED. FLORIDA GULF COAST
What you've all been waiting for. For those of you who scrolled right through in hopes of finding this bit, I invite you to check out the rest of it. Good stuff, I promise. Now, what makes Florida Gulf Coast special, different from other cinderella teams, is that the Eagles didn't win their games through March magic, or a lucky play, or through the talents of a lone superstar, the Eagles were flat out better than their opponents.
FGC plays streetball. Their kids are so care free and pass happy that they look like they have no idea they're on any kind of national stage. They look like they're in a open gym, at the neighborhood court. The key for the Eagles to continue this immaculate run to immortality is found in the near innocence that they play with. If the Eagles start to worry, or do to much, or feel pressure of any kind, they will become road kill. Everyone in this tournament will crush the Eagles if they start playing with pressure. Remember, this team lost to Lipscomb twice. And you don't know what state that's in.
Sherwood Brown plays with that face, they even have a Swiss guy named Christophe Varidel who clog dances up the court after he hits threes, I can't make this stuff up.
The opportunity is present for every team remaining in the tournament to write their names in the book of college basketball history. Each team also has the potential to lose before the weekend even arrives. In a year full of parody, this is how basketball had to end, with surprises, superstars, and no Marshall Henderson.
No comments:
Post a Comment