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| Will Zach Norvell Jr. continue his run that can garner national attention? (Photo credit: Ted S. Warren, Associated Press via Chron.com) |
The first weekend is done and it was pure Anarchy.
Madness. Insanity.
It was historic.
There is the stamp of the weekend that was
the #16 seed UMBC Retrievers win vs. #1 overall seed Virginia Cavaliers. This
was historic for so many reasons in that it was not only the first time a 16
seed ever won, but also they won by friggin’ 20 points!!
The hyperbole of the whole game have been
mentioned over and over, but one story that lasts for the Insanity Report Staff
is that of the UMBC media guy, Zach Seidel, who handled the @UMBCAthletics
twitter account with absolute sarcastic and sass gold. His piece he wrote for
The Athletic was a great great read, here’s the link: https://theathletic.com/280189/2018/03/19/as-the-retrievers-stole-our-hearts-umbcathletics-entertained-us-heres-the-story-from-the-guy-behind-the-twitter-account/
Recapping Sunday’s game with UMBC vs.
K-State, the Retrievers were playing on absolute fumes. They played their same
high IQ game they did vs. Virginia but there were no shots that were going in.
K-State played absolutely horrible for a power-5 conference team, and if UMBC
made one-8th of their misses, they would have made the Sweet 16.
This is not a shame by any means, as we as fans and The Retrievers as the
Madness darlings were playing on house money. We will never forget this team
led by Jairus Lyles, PG K.J Maura and Joe Sherburne and head coach, Ryan Odom.
Sunday’s games just punched us all in the
Straight Jacket guts and can be summarized by Insanity Report Degenerate
Correspondent, D$’s text:
“Top 4 seeds in a region out after Sweet 16
for first time ever.
Just today:
#1 Xavier
#2 Cincy & UNC
#3 Izzo
#4 Auburn
All go down TODAY!!!!
Absolute Madness”
After all of the Madness of the first 3
days, this past Sunday was just Insanity overload. The FSU and Nevada comebacks
were nothing out of the norm for Madness veterans on their own accords, but
after the first 3 days we already had and to have the Sunday with the above 4
upsets it just goes to show that March Madness is indeed the gift that keeps on
giving.
One final note for the weekend was Michael
Porter Jr. playing for Missouri in The Madness. He was the #1 high school recruit
before Marvin Bagley Jr. reclassified this fall. Porter Jr. freshman year for
Missouri had him play only 2 minutes before playing in the SEC tourney a week
before the NCAA Tourney in their lone loss to Georgia. Many pundits chimed in
saying he’s silly to play, as this will risk his draft status if he was to
reinjure his herniated disc once again. This is a very logical take as millions
of dollars are on the line with where Porter Jr. will be drafted this spring.
Porter Jr. has many family ties to the
Missouri basketball team and department. His Dad was the Director of Basketball
Operations for the Women’s Basketball Team from 2010 to 2016 and is now the
Assistant Coach for the Men’s team. Both of Porter Jr.’s sisters play for
Missouri right now too who is coached by their aunt, Robin Pingeton. .
MPJ’s younger brother, Jontay then decided
to reclassify from the class of 2018 to this years class of 2017 in order to
play with his older brother. Yes, it was a risk to play in the SEC tournament
and in the first round of the Madness. And he did so as both games were losses
and his stats were mediocre and he didn’t make a difference that a player of
his stature normally would. But he got to play with his brother and for his
father while wearing a Missouri jersey that runs deep within his immediate
family. They went out quietly in their loss to Florida State in the first
round, but it was great to watch this family affair quietly unfold amongst the
utter Insanity that clotheslined us in the larynx.
Here’s a quick preview of tomorrow’s Sweet
16 games:
SOUTH REGION
First of all, another nutty historic first
for the Madness is that this South Region is the first region to have the top 4
seeds be eliminated before the Sweet 16. Yep, cray cray!
#5 KENTUCKY vs. #9 KANSAS STATE
Kentucky should wallop K-State here. As
mentioned, K-State was absolutely atrocious in their win vs. a shattered UMBC
team. Kentucky’s McDonald’s All-American talent dominates Kansas State’s personnel,
while Kentucky froshie, Shae Gilgeous-Alexander is busting out as a dominant
point guard who’s draft stock is rocketing to the lottery sphere.
#11 LOYOLA (ILLINOIS) vs. #7 NEVADA
This will be an evenly matched affair vs.
two solid teams despite their low-ish seeds. Loyola’s defense is very stellar
guarding the trey, while Nevada has a solid up-tempo attack making this a very
compelling match up between two different style teams. My take on this game is
that Nevada eek’s out a tight win over Loyola as Loyola reached a little too
much into the Madness karma bag with both of their wins being of the buzzer
beater variety, Nevada also has some solid talent in the front court with the
Martin twins…….however, they are playing without their starting point guard due
to injury giving Loyola a definite Madness chance. Just like Mr. T predicted
pain in Rocky III, we predict, Maaaaadness in this game!
WEST REGION
#4 GONZAGA vs. #9 FLORIDA STATE
This should be a win for Gonzaga based on
their disciplined, high IQ style vs. Florida State’s questionable decision
making at times. Gonzaga has the advantage in all position match ups. The key
is Gonzaga’s point guard, Josh Perkins although solid, must pick up his
production in order to beat this scrappy Seminole team. Same goes for Johnathan
Williams in the blocks vs. the 7-footers that FSU has. If redshirt freshman
Zach Norvell Jr. continues his dominant run then expect a Gonzaga victory and
further national coming out party for Norvell Jr.
#3 MICHIGAN vs. #7 TEXAS A&M
This is another super match up of
contrasting styles. Michigan plays a slow down disciplined style while Texas
A&M have talent coming out of their ears with a front court led by Robert
Williams’ highlight windmill dunks. Both of these teams are peaking at the
moment with Michigan’s usual John Beilein constructed Madness run. Texas
A&M were favorites to challenge for the SEC title only to fizzle for most
of the year. Disappointments for Texas A&M, such as the average play of Jr.
Forward Tyler Davis and oft-suspended Jr. G DJ Hogg, are turning around to
fulfill the high potential seen for Texas A&M in the pre season. The
Insanity Report Staff expects a great heavyweight bout between two solid teams
tomorrow night.
Onto Friday’s games:
EAST REGION
#1 VILLANOVA vs. #5 WEST VIRGINIA
Villanova looks to be the strongest team
left in the Madness vs. Huggy Bear’s stellar Press Virginia D that is causing
havoc thus far. Although the quality of opponent for West Virginia hasn’t been
very challenging they are peaking at the right time. West Virginia’s defense is
led by Sr. PG Jevon Carter. He may get into some foul trouble with their Press
Virginia pressure, and this entails the key match up vs. Villanova’s all-world
PG Jalen Brunson. This is another heavyweight bout that is intriguing and
shan’t not disappoint! Dilly Dilly!
#3 TEXAS TECH vs. #2 PURDUE
Wow, a Sweet 16 match up between the top
seeds remaining in this bracket pod. Whoa man!
Texas Tech has talent coming out their ears
as well, led by Sr. G Keenan Evans. Purdue is dealing with the loss of Sr. C
Isaac Haas and his fractured elbow. Purdue lets the three point shots fly and
we shall see if fellow 7-foot Center Matt Haarns can keep the spacing for
Purdue’s trey attack. A guarantee is how much Haarns constant hair adjusting
will irritate the bejesus outta Insanity Report Westwood Correspondent, Lee-Wai
Yu and the rest of the nation.
But you know what??? There are rumblings of
the Purdue training and medical staff still working on a brace that will be
allowed under NCAA game rules to be used for Hass’ elbow. Judging by Isaac
Haas’ pre-game shooting attempts last game, he still will barely be able to lift
his shooting arm in any functional manner. However, with the attempts to still
play, will Haas play for something like 5 minutes on Friday to give Purdue an
emotional boost ala Willis Reed’s inspirational minutes for the Knicks in the
1970 NBA Finals? As Wooterson would say, “it’d be cool if he did!!”
MIDWEST REGION
#1 KANSAS vs. #5 CLEMSON
There are still concerns of KU bigman,
Udoka Azubuike’s MCL injury, but I just have a hunch that he will ball out on
Friday. Clemson comes into this game as an under-rated commodity with a win vs.
a very good New Mexico State team in the first round and an absolute
shellacking of Auburn in the 2nd round. KU has the stronger
personnel here and many of the Insanity Report Board Members allegiances to the
Rock Chalk nation are hoping for a KU victory, but again, Clemson will be a
tough go.
#2 DUKE vs. #11 SYRACUSE
Syracuse Coach, Jim Boeheim has been
interviewed admitting that the talent on his squad is vastly inferior to Duke’s
stacked line up. Duke’s stacked line up should dominate Syracuse due to their
mid-season adjustment of playing a fulltime 2-3 zone. They have the more
talented team and are fighting fire with fire here opposing Jimmy B’s famous
2-3 zone with a zone of their own. Duke has the shooters and length to
breakdown Syracuse’s main strength of the classic Boeheim 2-3 zone.
That’s it. Enjoy the Sweet 16 and Elite 8
folks. When you get the time, the Insanity Report Straight Jacket Emporium will
be open for 24-hours to handle the influx of fitting and sizings due to the
100% rate of torn, shattered and tattered Straight Jackets within the Madness
Universe.
Bring on more Madness!
Yours in Madness,
Commissioner Adolph
