Round 3 & 4 Wrap

Two Big East teams are still kicking. Gus Johnson would still be yelling if he had been the play-by-play guy for the Nova-Pitt game. My National Champion pick (UNC) is still alive and well despite my utter lack of competence everywhere else on the bracket.

Best Story

Forget about Villanova’s impressive run to The Motor City—featuring a ‘why the heck did people pick this team to go to Detroit’ (when they were trailing American by double digits) and ‘this Scottie Reynolds is stinking up the joint’ comments from yours truly—Michigan State takes the cake here. Me hailing from Michigan, what a surprise, huh? Well, Tom Izzo and Co. deserve it. MSU is far from dominant, but they’re a fun team. Fun to watch interact with each other, fun to see plead with an irate Izzo, fun to watch on a fast break, fun to analyze which big man (there’s 5) Izzo will usher into the game, and extremely fun to witness pound a ‘powerful’ Big East team into the ground.  Jump on the MSU bandwagon now national media, yeah, own up.

Spartan Fever (Image:Newscom)

Player Most Instrumental To Team’s Success

Villanova- One guy has been playing way over his head. Senior guard/forward Dwayne Anderson. He’s scoring and rebounding over his season average. He does not want to play his last collegiate game.  Give me more Dwayne says.

North Carolina- Tywon Lawson is a top 5, top 10 draft pick?  Probably working himself into the former based on this three game tear where he’s shooting above 50% from inside and outside the long line, feeding and turning over the rock at a 10/1 ratio, and out potty mouthing Ari Gold. If I didn’t know any better I’d say Ty is healthy.

Connecticut- Lanky 6′9 Stanley Robinson sans the opening round game when he scored 24, has just been pretty good, nothing legendary, but he hasn’t needed to be. When Jerome Dyson went down with season ending injury, UConn needed someone to step up, play more minutes and be a threat to consistently score in double figures, and Craig Austrie sure wasn’t going to be that guy. Stanley Robinson is that X-factor guy.

Michigan State- The 6′10 Bosnian senior Goran Suton has been PUURRRE! the last two games, totaling 39 points (5-10 from deep), 19 rebounds, and 6 steals. Don’t know if he’ll be able to be so PUURRRE! against Mr. Thabeet, but if he is, MSU will be playing on Monday for the title.

Prediction For The Final Four

Ford Field will be a Green and White madplace for the Saturday 6:07 tip v. UConn and then for the Monday rematch with UNC.

Prepare.