Greg
This tournament really has left a sour taste in my mouth as I examine it as a whole. There have been very few close games throughout, with many games being won, even when close seeds are playing, by double digits. There have been a few upsets, but mostly in the first two rounds, leaving "better" teams to the latter stages of the tournament, which typically leads to better basketball. Indiana and Kansas really disappointed this weekend. Ohio State fell flat as well, relying too heavily on Laquinton Ross to make shots and less on their token defense. Duke fell flat against Louisville on Sunday (second half), mostly due to the poor play of Ryan Kelly and Rasheed Sulaimon. Florida flopped also, as the trend of double digit leads for entire games continued. I hope the games this weekend are more competetive throughout.
This past weekend saw Syracuse dispatch two good offensive teams by playing the best defense of their season thus far. Michael Carter-Williams was stellar in both games as well, propelling the Orange back to the final four.
Michigan, other than the first part of the second half against Kansas, has been extremely impressive all tournament long. They need to keep up their hot shooting against Syracuse. Trey Burke carried them to the Elite 8, and now they will need a team effort to defeat the zone of Syracuse.
Louisville overcame the most horrendous sports injury I've ever seen to blow Duke out of the gym in the Elite 8. Kevin Ware's injury was one that made everyone who saw it cringe and made other sick. Louisville has enough senior leadership to overcome that though and have history on their side when they play Wichita State for a chance to go to the championship game.
Wichita State is the best story of the tournament so far. They have great players, a great coach, and have taken out both the #1 and #2 seed in their region on the way to the Final Four. History is against them though. A 9-seed has never made it to the championship game, and Louisville is just pounding teams right now.
I'm looking forward to this weekend, and hoping for a Big Ten/Big East championship game between Michigan (fewest turnovers per possession in the NCAA) and Louisville (force most turnovers per possession in NCAA). It would be a much more fitting end to a great tournament than a re-match between Syracuse and Louisville. More on the Final Four on Friday...
Andrew
After what I thought was a great opening weekend, I was looking forward to this weekend for so many reasons. Now it's a weekend I view as a disappointment. Why? Let me tell you...
First off, my picks heading into the weekend were looking somewhat intelligent. 7 of my 8 Elite 8 picks were still there (all but Wisconsin), and all of Final Four picks were playing well. That all changed and for the first time ever, I don't have a Final Four pick correct. Ouch!
Secondly, my team is out. Indiana is my favorite team in any sport and they fell flat on their faces. And it's not like they didn't have a good team... I personally believed them to be the favorite to win it all. They had every piece of a championship team, but couldn't figure out a 2-3 zone. Bad coaching and worse execution resulted in a disheartening loss. They swept Michigan this season yet the Wolverines will be in Atlanta while we're at home. Wichita State will be playing even, but we won't. We've been better than Syracuse and Louisville for the whole year too, except for the past couple weeks. That's what matters! So much for Banner #6. Now, I view this season for IU as a failure (mostly), despite a a Big Ten outright Championship. It also ruined the beginning of my Jamaican vacation!!!
Thirdly, the games weren't that exciting overall. Ohio State and Arizona was... Kansas and Michigan was... but that's it. Every other game had been decided well before the final buzzers. Wichita State is a nice story, but Florida Gulf Coast was the team I wanted to break through.
Lastly, the Big Ten flopped again. It was clear watching this season that the Big Ten was loaded. They went 10-3 in the opening weekend and looked primed for multiple Final Four bids (maybe even 4). But then they only sent two teams to the Elite 8 (Big East had 3), and only one team made the Final Four (Big East has 2). Regular season play doesn't matter if your can't back it up in March. Maybe the Big East has been better all along.
Now for the positives...
Wichita State really is a great story. They continued the trend of mid-major success in the tournament recently (Davidson, Butler, VCU), and Gregg Marshall is now a wanted coach (Minnesota, are you listening). They even have the nickname "Shockers" which is fitting for this run. They out-toughed an Ohio State team that is as gritty as they come. They proved us all correct that any team could have come out of that West region. But can they keep it going (wait until Friday)?
Louisville has proven the selection committee correct as being the best overall team. They looked the part yet again in both of their wins this weekend. They are the heavy favorite in Atlanta for sure. There is a reason that we had them in the top 2 in our preseason poll. It was unfortunate to see Kevin Ware get injured, but it was cool to see them rally around him. Also, Russ Smith got screwed by only being on Third Team All-American. This tourney has proven that...
Michigan finally found their defense and Mitch McGary has finally proven to be an elite freshman. We all knew what they were capable this season, and they are realizing that potential now. Depending on how much you view tourney play as a deciding factor, Trey Burke cemented his National POY campaign this past weekend. Move over Oladipo! They remain the Big Ten's only hope at a championship.
Syracuse is clearly playing their best basketball of the year. Their defense is absolutely outstanding and their length is causing a lot of trouble. Michael Carter-Williams is playing great once again showing the world why so many (including me) thought that early in the year he was a POY candidate. Despite sucking for about a month to close the regular season, they are playing to their potential now (unfortunately for me and IU).
In terms of individuals, here are five players that stood out to me this weekend: Russ Smith (Louisville), Peyton Siva (Louisville), Trey Burke (Michigan), Mitch McGary (Michigan), and Michael Carter-Williams (Syracuse). Wichita State plays great team basketball so it's hard to pick out an individual for them (maybe Cleanthony Early or Malcolm Armstead). The Syracuse big men who make up the back of that zone deserve a shout out too for their defense. But the five I mentioned have transformed their teams from good to great in the NCAA Tournament.
We'll preview the Final Four on Friday. Later!
By: The Sports Guys
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