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| Kispert! Great game yesterday, but keep those emotions in check please! (Photo cred: Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports) |
Good morning all! The first weekend
concludes highlighted by the Zion show in the afternoon with some games that
may tilt the leaderboard of the March Madness Insanity Pool and particularly
the Pete Vieweg Money Division.
Kirk “Old School RV Hall of Famer” Tyfting
is tied for 1st place in the entire pool, but unfortunately he did
not submit an entry fee into the Money Division. However, the Madness still
runs strong in Captain Kirk’s veins.
Also tied for 1st in the
Insanity Pool, yet having sole possession of 1st place in the Pete
Vieweg Money Division is Kirsten “Don’t Call Me Kirsten” Taylor with 41 points.
Just a reminder, Kirsten is currently in 1st place that has a prize
of $840!
The rest of the Insanity Poolsters have
submitted into the Pete Vieweg Money Division. The remaining top 3 poolsters
have many common games today with Duke, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina,
and Texas Tech in their picks to conclude the 2nd round.
1st Place Kirsten has some
tilting games with Ohio State to move on. She is the only one in the Top 3 that
has Liberty to move on. This could separate her more.
Tied for 2nd in the Money
Division is Craig “Mack” Young with 40 points. His separation pick is Buffalo
topping Texas Tech.
Joining Craig in 2nd place with
40 points is Russ “Our Resident A-Hole” Bock. He can rub it in all our faces if
Oklahoma, Iowa and Houston moves on today.
Filling out the 3rd Place position
in the Money Division is Kris “Kross” Russell as he has 7 of the 8 games alive
in his bracket. He has all common picks except Houston and Virginia Tech that
can help him gain some ground for the $840.
Finally, tied for 3rd Place is
Tarah “Izing” Paulsen who has ALL 8 games alive in her bracket with Oregon,
Ohio State and Buffalo has her uncommon picks.
Some insights for today’s games is
hopefully Tennessee can put Fran McCaffery out of his immature misery by
besting McScumbag’s Iowa Hawkeyes. Admiral Schofield and Grant Williams should
dominate in the frontcourt.
North Carolina has all of the match up and athleticism
advantages over Washington today. The Tragic12 is in the midst of a 3-5 year
slump, but UDub’s Head Coach, Mike Hopkins has built a program with a firm
foundation in only his 2nd season at the helm bringing Jimmy
Boeheim’s 2-3 zone from Syracuse as Jimmy B’s lead assistant for close to two
decades.
UCF and Tacko Fall bring in the hype of 7-6
Fall saying he won’t let Zion dunk on him. This is interesting in that Fall is
an absolute walking beast on the court, but key word on walking as he rarely
gets any space between his feet and the ground, while Zion gets little space
between his head and the rim.
Zion was very leveled in his response to
Tacko’s comments showing yet another refreshing trait in Zion as he handles
this media exposure of his talents while being a genuine player with a passion
for his team and inner genuine hunger to win.
Look for other 2 main keys for UCF guard,
Aubrey Dawkins and BJ Taylor to challenge Duke’s frontcourt and put up a fight.
If they can weather the athletic pressure of Duke to limit transition
opportunities, then whoooooo knows!
Buffalo v Texas Tech has some big Pete
Vieweg implications as already mentioned. Buffalo has CJ Massinburg while Texas
Tech has the 1st ranked team defense in the nation. Tech’s offense
has not been as sharp as it was in January, but they may have too much depth
for the Bulls of Buffalo. Nate Oats will devise a plan for Buffalo to put up
what may be the game of the day!
12-seeded Liberty can shoot from the
parking lot, but Va Tech is uber organized and has a backcourt of assassins on
both sides of the court. If Va Tech can get past Liberty (Liberty,
Liberrrrr-teeeee) then their warpath to Duke will remain.
Virginia had their scare in the 1st
round. They should roll a well-coached Oklahoma. This game will be boring to
many casual fans but to Insanity Pool Maniacs, this will be a clinic in well-disciplined
basketball.
Houston vs. Ohio State has a Houston team
that may be on their way to the Final 4 being on nobody’s radar. We shall see.
In the battle of the yearly 12 seed vs. 13
seed 2nd round game, the surprisingly deep UC-Irvine playing the
solid pressure D of Oregon. Oregon has streaky slasher Peyton Pritchard.
Speaking of 12/13 match ups and the yearly dismal performance of the Commish, I
just want to pick the correct 12/13 match up one year!!! Just one year!!!!
I had Northeastern/Georgia State as my
12/13 match up in the Midwest, but this didn’t pan out as Kansas put an
absolute cleaning on Northeastern.
But Auburn put a mercy ending to KU last
night as KU had a super disappointing lack of motor. The disappointment was
with their season ending to Udoka Azubuike and loss of Lagerald Vick and
ineligibility of Silvio De Souza and remaining inexperience, but not as
disappointing in the collective motor of this rag tag bunch of shoulder
slouchers.
The Kansas program and Head Coach, Bill
Self face NCAA sanctions due to the eligibility of De Sousa as well as more
possible fluff from the FBI NCAA Investigation. Rumors have it with Self pulling
the “Pete Carroll’ and heading pro taking the Chicago Bulls head coaching gig
avoiding all sanction hearings and penalties for him, but not for KU. We shall
see.
More of yesterday’s games had an
unceremonious ending to Wofford’s Fletcher Magee’s NCAA 3-point career record
career with an 0 for 12 game from downtown. This was a tight game and even if
he shot a poultry 20% from three point land Wofford could have been in the
Sweet 16. Baahhhhhhh, the basketball gods!!!!
Ja Morant put on a killer performance for
Murray State yesterday……for the first ten minutes. He continued to battle but
the depth of Florida State just decimated Murray State and Ja. NBA tankers,
you’re on the board.
Florida State 6th man and
leading scorer, Mfiondu Kabengele continues to rein treys and own the paint. He
may be joining Ja in the draft room this spring?
Gonzaga had an 83-71 win over gamer Baylor
where the win was never in doubt, but the depth of Gonzaga covered the stinker
of a game that Rui Hachimura has as well as the uncharacteristic technical foul
of Corey Kispert who was an uncharacteristic taunting prick on the court.
Straighten up Rui and Corey!!!
Finally, the support of Tom Izzo’s public
outburst on Aaron Henry was rampant after their first round game. Henry
dispelled all questions by supporting the outburst and supporting Izzo. One
more comment about this issue is that it is unfair to group this outburst with
other public shamings that coaches have had on players in the past.
What Tom Izzo has done is EARN the
permission of Henry and the rest of Sparty to challenge them the way Izzo does.
Tom is demanding but he’s never demeaning!
This challenging process of Izzo and his
roster has developed Cassius Winston and Matt McQuaid into leaders that may
take Sparty to yet another Final 4 berth.
Remember your months of the year folks:
January, February, IZZO, April, May, June, Jul……
Enjoy the last day of the first weekend
everybody! And off to the unproductive anticipation of the Sweet 16 for Monday,
Tuesday and Wednesday!
Good luck in your picks. As you look down
at the entrants below you…..be gentle on the Commish.
Yours in Madness,
Commissioner Adolph
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