The First Great Madness of the Weekend: Duke vs. UCF......Zion is Great!

The behemoth match up between Zion and Tacko at the most pivotal moment of the game! (Photo cred: USA Today video still)

The Duke-UCF game.
The behemoth match-up between Tacko and Zion. 7-foot-6 Tacko said he wouldn’t let Zion dunk on him. Then there was Coach K coaching against former top assistant, UCF Head Coach and Duke legend, Johnny Dawkins.
This was the first great Madness of the tourney!
UCF kept within striking distance for the 1st half and early into the 2nd half, Insanity Report Board Member and Gonzaga Correspondent, Marc Paulsen and I agreed that there seemed no real mojo in UCF to actually win the game.
But just like Apollo Creed’s trainer, Duke trying to talk Apollo out of a rematch with Rocky in Rocky II, UCF just kept…comin’…after Duke!!!! (the Blue Devils that is, not Duke the boxing trainer)
Coach Dawkins’ son, Aubrey Dawkins had the game of his life making shot after shot on his way to a 32 point, 12 for 19 from the field performance. He was unconscious. Tacko was doing what Tacko does. His presence had to be acknowledged at all times on his way to 15 points and 7 boards. UCF Guard, BJ Taylor brought it with timely hoops. As Boxing Manager Duke told Apollo, “UCF just kept coming after us!!! Now we don’t need that kinda (team) in our life!”
Fast forward to the final 2 minutes. UCF had the momentum with the 74-70 lead. They had a 2 on 1 break and Dawkins tried to finish the lob pass for an allep-oop dunk instead of a simple finish. Duke dribbled the ball down off of the Dawkins miss and 10 seconds later Cam Reddish dribbled around a screen to hit a huge trey for the 5-point turnaround! UCF only up 74-73 now.
Everyone in the Insanity Report Board Room knew that the Reddish trey was going to fall after the Dawkins miss. Dawkins saw the flash of the moment to put UCF up by 6, and it cost him the hoop. It was the Basketball gods that put that Reddish trey through the hoop to get Duke within 1 point, due to what seemed like the perceived search for glory by Dawkins.
After BJ Taylor hit 2 FT’s to go up 3 with 45 seconds left in the game, Duke dribbled down the court and seemed like they wanted the trey to tie it up all in one bunch. Zion shot that trey attempt as it seemed forced, but Javin DeLaurier grabbed the offensive rebound…..
Enter the behemoth match up.
The ball got to Zion and the other 4 Dukies cleared out. It was as if Zion was the only player in a Duke jersey on the TV screen.
He jab stepped, with his body language seeming like he was saying, “f%$* it!” Zion reverse dribbled and burnt BJ Taylor one on one to jump straight into Tacko…..here it was.
At the most pivotal moment of the game was the anticipated behemoth match-up like Andre The Giant staring down Hulk Hogan. Zion did not dunk on Tacko. He put a two foot stop and went up strong to the hoop……
And-1!!!!!!!
Duke down 76-75 with 14.4 seconds left. Zion missed his free throw and RJ Barrett was able to get the offensive rebound for the put back. Duke up one, 77-76.
RJ’s rebound could have been a missed push-from-behind foul onto Dawkins. Dawkins was pleading to the ref about the push and Insanity Report Board Member and Coaching Correspondent, J-Dawg was hat throwing and breaking clipboards in the Insanity Board Room about what he thought was a missed call by the stripes.
What do you think? Did RJ push Dawkins from behind too hard? Foul or no foul? Whatever you think, what is fact is that the freaking roar of the crowd after Barrett’s put back was insane.
It was March Madness InSaNitY!!!!!
UCF had one more chance with 8.1 seconds to win the game. BJ Taylor had a solid drive to the hoop and the ball bounced off the rim into a trailing Dawkins hand for the tip-bound.
That freaking basketball trickled inside the cylinder for a microsecond only to have it roll out.
Ball game. Duke wins.
42 of the 91 Inmates in the Insanity Pool who picked Duke as their Madness champion had a collective, straight jacket tearing sigh of relief!
Folks, take the hype train about Zion outta your brain for a second! Honestly, this hype train trivializes what he brings to the court and brings to his Dukie team! Zion is way more than an explosive jumper who weighs 285 lbs. We get it. We knew this back in November. Can we move on to what Zion has done on the court other then his highlight dunks? There is his defense, his developing jumper, his potential as a superstar.
Folks, Zion is great! Period.
Duke is a polarizing program all across North America. Millions love Duke and millions hate Duke. There are few Insanity inmates that don’t have an opinion on Duke. (D$, there is a Commissioner’s ransom for you for keeping any incriminating photos under wraps by the way) That is why March Madness is always more interesting when Duke is a powerhouse. It’s more entertaining. It tells a story of the “evil empire” or “us vs. everybody else”.
Duke makes the Madness more enjoyable. It just plain does.
There’s only 1 or 2 more weeks that we will see Zion in a Duke uniform…in the NCAA.
Whether you hate Duke or you love Duke, Zion is great. From his physical attributes. From his hustle. From his genuine support for and from his teammates. From the greatness of that last drive. It was one that again, was genuine. It wasn’t a forced attempt to get instant accolades or to “get his shots”. It was a drive with a determination to win.
To win and advance.
That is the creedo of every team in the single elimination tournament to determine the best team out of 353 teams.
Folks enjoy Zion. And folks, keep cheering for and against Duke.
Enjoy the Madness!
Yours in Insanity,
Commissioner Adolph

Day 3 Recap: Zags Stay on Path & KU with Mercy Ending to Season

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 1^st 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 1^st in the Insanity Pool, yet having sole possession of 1^st 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 1^st 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 2^nd round.

1^st 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 2^nd in the Money Division is Craig “Mack” Young with 40 points. His separation pick is Buffalo topping Texas Tech.

Joining Craig in 2^nd 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 3^rd 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 3^rd 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 2^nd 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 1^st 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 1^st 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 2^nd 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 6^th 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