NCAA TOURNAMENT POOL

NCAA TOURNAMENT POOL STANDINGS

Round 2 Day 2 

With apologies to Billy Joel, Say goodbye to Hollywood; say goodbye to Krzyzewski!!!! Down goes Duke, and Kentucky, Oregon, and North Carolina narrowly avoided defeat as well.  No real buzzer beaters, and no real Cinderellas, but finally some exciting games to whet our thirst for quality basketball.  Updating our champions remaining, we have people that have chosen 10 different teams of the Sweet Sixteen, so lots more excitement to go.  Our champions: Arizona, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Oregon, UCLA, Villanova, Wisconsin.  This list will remain the same throughout all of the updates, but I will remove the “bold” from teams as they lose.  Joshua and Katie Zdrowak is the highest placing entry that lost Duke.

Our leader remains the same, as Adam Jorgensen 2 correctly selected 7 of yesterday's 8 games; including the bonus points for Michigan over Louisville.  Also selecting Michigan was Christian Searcy, who vaults into second place.  Jennifer Armstrong is a solid third.  regains the lead, helped along by picking the Wisconsin upset of Villanova.  Yesterday's leader, Jonathan Wasserman, falls to third.

Speaking of picking Michigan, they are now undefeated (6-0) since the team survived a plane crash!  YES YOU READ ME CORRECTLY - THEY SURVIVED A PLANE CRASH!!!  I guess there is nothing like a team-wide near death experience to have the team focus on just playing basketball and having fun. The fact that this selection kept Adam Jorgensen 2 in first, and helped Christian Searcy, you would think that would be enough to earn them the Pick of they Day; and you would be incorrect.  Twenty-Five participants selected Michigan over Louisville.  Only one person selected South Carolina over Duke; Phil Doherty 3, earning him the Pick of the Day and 5 bonus points.  Runner-up is Eric Sain, who selected Duke to win, but for his entire bracket, spelled the team name as "Dook".  (Sorry Ty Leatherman).

The South bracket is the toughest remaining, as all top 4 seeds advanced; whereas the wildest is the East bracket where the remaining seeds total 22.  Many entrants have zero points remaining to earn out of that bracket.  If you have teams alive, that is a bonus for  you.

The mean point total from yesterday was 10 (Kansas, Oregon, North Carolina, UCLA, Kentucky), so if you scored more than that, you advanced; likewise if you scored less than that you fell in the standings.

Let us also welcome to our long-time player Karen Katz into the pool.  Part of the reason for waiting until now to post the standings was to see if her entry was in the mail - and it was.  Welcome!!!

As always, please review the standings and double check my math, as I may have missed something, missed an upset, or just simply miscalculated.  I try to be accurate, but sometimes I do mess up.  I will listen and change things as necessary.  If you point out a potential mistake, I will not take offense, but I will go re-score your entire bracket to make sure everything is accurate.

I will post more updates during the week to include the final picks of our entrants so you can start to gauge where you stand among the players that have selected your champion.

Please remember to pay, if you have not.  Payment instructions are on the rule sheet, or you can make other arrangements with me as necessary.

Good luck to everyone, and happy game watching.  Now, on to the standings.

1.  Adam Jorgensen 2 - 89

2.  Christian Searcy - 77

3. Jennifer Armstrong - 76

4.   Steven Usma 3 - 74

5.  Thomas Bean 1 - 71
     Carolyn Fowler - 71
     Joshua and Katie Zdrowak - 71

8.  Greg Kummerlen - 70
      David Peterson - 70

10.  Adam Jorgenson 1 - 69
      George Walks 5 - 69
       Jonathan Wasserman - 69

13.  Jim Coleman - 68
       Matt Nieman - 68

15.  Katie Kollmeyer - 67

16.  Silas Nichols - 66

      Pepe Sosa - 66

      Measha Williams 3 - 66

19.  Alex King - 65

       Mac Kroesen - 65
       Vic LaPira - 65
        Rich Samuels 1 - 65

        Rich Samuels 2 - 65

        Day Yi 1 - 65

25.  Debbie Searcy - 64

26.  Phil Doherty 2 - 63

       Colleen Hamilton - 63

       Eric Sain - 63

       Steven Usma 2 - 63

       Measha Williams 5 - 63

 31.  Jeff Plamondon - 62

         Measha Williams 2 - 62

33.  Eric Inge - 61

       Karen Katz - 61

       Anthony LaPira - 61

       Roxy Sheehan - 61
       Steven Usma 1 - 61

       Biscuit Zdrowak - 61

39.  Measha Williams 4 - 60

       Amy Zdrowak - 60

41.  Steffan Alexander - 61

       Dan Barsky - 61

43.  Debbie Igdaloff Nieman - 59

       Emily Lawson 3 - 59

       Kyle Sheehan - 59

       Jason Spuhler - 59

       Hershey Zdrowak - 59

       Katie Zdrowak - 59

49.  Matt Hopps - 58

50.  Phil Doherty 4 - 57

       Samantha Sheehan - 57

52.  Kent Armstrong - 56

       Thomas Bean 2 - 56

       Jacey Fowler 1 - 56

       Eddy P - 56

       Kulwadee Yung - 56

       Joshua Zdrowak - 56

58.  Phil Doherty 1 - 55

       Koma Gandy Fischbein - 55

       Allison Parker - 55

       Hannah Sosa - 55

       George Walks 2 - 55

63.  Thomas Bean 3 - 54

64.  Chris Kroesen - 53

       Sasha Moon - 53

       A.J. Rippin - 53

       Day Yi 2 - 53

68.  Paul Cummings - 52

       Jane Reynolds - 52

       Cheryl Spuhler - 52

71.  Jessica Ervin-Hang - 51

       Arlene Amo Hopps - 51

       Martha Kroesen - 51
       Ty Leatherman 1 - 51

       Ty Leatherman 2 - 51

       Max Macon 1 - 51

       Jason Murray - 51

       Ashley Poer - 51

       Justin Yung - 51

80.  Phil Doherty 3 - 50

        Traci Sheehan - 50

        Jeremy Spuhler - 50

83.  Carolyn Fowler and Jane Reynolds - 49

       Max Macon 2 - 49

       George Walks 1 - 49

       Wes Wiggins - 49

87.  Brian Badger Spatchek - 48

       Albert Harper III - 48
       Jessica Koch - 48

       Abigail Sosa - 48

91.  Thomas Bean 4 - 47

       Brent Bellinger - 47

       Emily Lawson 1 - 47
       Glen Merchant (with Mango and Duncan) - 47

       Measha Williams 1 - 47

96.  George Walks 4 - 46

97.  Jamie Foreman - 44
       Jacey Fowler II - 44

99.  Alvaro Gonzalez - 43

100.  Colleen Hamilton 2 - 30

101.  Barkley Sosa - 41

         John Wiederhold - 41

103.  Kingfish Parham - 40
         George Walks 3 - 40

105.  Keith Zdrowak - 39

106.  Luke LaPira - 38
         Colonel Kareem Montague - 38

108.  Emily Lawson 2 - 36

109.  Philip Kroesen - 34

NCAA Tournament Pool Standings Round 1 Day 2

NCAA TOURNAMENT POOL STANDINGS

Welcome back.  I know that games were played yesterday, but this is the standings after the completion of Round 1 (Friday’s games).  All second round totals/standings will be sent out after tomorrow.

Some interesting developments in Day 2.  Two champions went down, with the third seeded Duke Blue Devils losing to Mercer and the 6^th seeded Massachusetts Minutemen losing to Tennessee.  For the third major upset of the day, North Dakota State beat Oklahoma.  Nobody gets any special mentions for picking Tennessee as they were actually the betting favorite in Vegas.  More people than I thought picked North Dakota State, so the pick of the day goes to Cesar Gonzalez for actually selecting Mercer to beat Duke.

Stephen F. Austin pulled a VCU and beat VCU with quite possible the most bizarre regulation time ending in tournament history - a four point play.  A fair number of people had Stephen F. Austin, so only one entry receives special mention, as Trouble Kroesen was on the edge of the seat watching the ending of the game.

As far as the brackets go, Virginia, Arizona and Wichita State were all unanimous picks, which means that absolutely nobody in our pool selected any of the 16^th seeds.  That makes sense in that a 16 has never beaten a 1 in the men’s tournament.  It has happened on one occasion in the women’s tournament, back in 1998 when the 16 seeded Harvard Crimson, led by nations leading scorer Allison Feaster, defeated the number 1 seed Stanford Cardinal – at Stanford.  But I digress …

So I mentioned earlier that two champions went down, Arlene Hopps had selected UMass, and several entries – Steven Usma, Justin Yung, Kristen Bolton and Ty Leatherman all selected Duke.  Ty gets a pass as she is an alumna.  Steve Usma also gets special mention as he not only lost Duke, but he was the only person to have selected North Carolina Central. 

Please note – I will be sending out PayPal information soon!

Please check and/or double check my math with our brackets.  I am definitely not perfect, so I welcome the opportunity to correct any mistakes I may have made.

Congratulations to Cesar Gonzalez – who vaults into first place after correctly picking 28 of the first 32 games.  His only misses – he had Oklahoma State over Gonzaga, UMass over Tennessee, George Washington over Memphis and New Mexico over Stanford.  Great job Cesar.

A note – the standings will be posted over at WeMakeItRain.blogspot.com starting with this one.  Head over to that website to view the standings as I post them.  As this is new for this year, I will still send out an e-mail when the standings are completed – at least for the next couple of days.  After that – keep checking the blog for the results.

On to the standings!

1.         Cesar Gonzalez – 53

2.         Jane Reynolds – 52

3.         Anthony LaPira – 51

            Pepe Sosa – 51

5.         Greg Kummerlan – 49

6.         Alvaro Gonzalez – 47

            Ava Manon Gonzalez – 47

            Barkley Sosa – 47

9.         Steffan Alexander – 46

            Kim Bancsi I – 46

            Brent Bellinger – 46

12.       Jacey Fowler I – 45

            Colleen Hamilton 1 – 45

Megan Kossove – 45

15.       Carolyn Fowler & Jane Reynolds – 44

            Jason Spuhler – 44

17.       Karen Katz – 43

            Silas Nichols – 43

            Jacey Fowler II – 43

20.       Willa Fearrington 1 – 41

            Adam Jorgensen – 41

            Marc Rodney – 41

            Rich Samuels – 41

            Abigail Sosa – 41

            Hershey Zdrowak – 41

26.       Erin Devlin – 40

            Albert Harper III – 40

            Meredith Tanen – 40

            Jonathan Wasserman I – 40

30.       Philip Kroesen – 38

            Trouble Kroesen – 38

            Allison Parker I – 38

            Katie Zdrowak – 38

            Keith Zdrowak – 38

            Train Zimmerman – 38

36.       Ashley Poer 1 – 37

            Ryan Whitten – 37

38.       Michael Litsey – 36

            Cheryl Spuhler – 36

            Michael Williams 2 – 36

            Amy Zdrowak – 36

42.       Kyle Henderson 2 – 35

            Martha Kroesen – 35

            George Walks 1 – 35

            Michael Williams 3 – 35

46.       Willa Fearrington 2 – 34

            Matt Hopps – 34

48.       Kim  Bancsi 2 – 33

            Carolyn Fowler – 33

            Hilary Grace – 33

            Katie Butler Litsey – 33

            Sam Lozier – 33

            Hannah Sosa – 33

            Jonathan Wasserman 2 – 33

            Stacia Wilkaitis – 33

56.       Melissa Lazaerchick – 32

            Robert Tanen – 32

            George Walks 5 – 32

59.       Debbie Igdaloff Nieman – 30

            Alex Sotelo – 30

61.       Kyle Henderson 1 – 29

            Kyle Henderson 3 – 29

            Eric Inge – 29

            Mango Merchant – 29

            Allison Parker 2 – 29

            Steven Usma – 29

67.       J.C. Carralero 1 – 28

            Matt Nemo Nieman – 28

            Griffey Parker – 28

            George Walks 3 – 28

71.       Ashley Poer 2 – 27

            Justin Yung – 27

            Christina Pagdilao – 27

74.       Sean McInerney 2 – 24

            Kingfish Parham – 24

            Bridget Talley – 24

            George Walks 2 – 24

78.       Kristen Bolton – 23

            Arlene Hopps – 23

            Hilary Kroesen – 23

            Antonio Marinucci – 23

82.       J.C. Carralero 2 – 22

            Tanya Fresneda – 22

            George Walks 4 – 22

            Joshua Zdrowak – 22

86.       J.C. Carralero 3 – 21

            Jack Henderson – 21

            Chris Kroesen – 21

            Bill Lazarchick – 21

            Ty Leatherman – 21

            Sasha Moon – 21

            Michael Williams 1 – 21

93.       Colleen Hamilton 2 – 20

Day Yi – 20

95.       Mac Kroesen – 19

            Colin White – 19

97.       Sean McInerney 1 – 17

File a Greivis

Ok - so maybe it isn't that punny, but Greivis Vasquez is legit. He might already be the greatest hispanic college basketball player ever, displacing Temple's immortal Pepe Sanchez (he of the perennial 9 points, 11 rebounds, 15 assists, 7 steals and 4 blocks type of stat lines), although he does have a long way to go until he can be mentioned in the same breath as Manu Ginobili, the flopping sensation. In the only game in which the lower seed beat the higher seed in the first half of today's games, Vasquez scored 27 points, with 5 boards and 4 assists, and 2 steals, with only 2 turnovers as the Maryland Terrapins beat the 7th seeded California Bears 84-71.

Not only did Greivis have a great first round game, this Terps team has played much better, more inspired basketball ever since Vasquez asked to be returned to the point guard role, a spot he occupied for most of last year. Maryland isn't quite yet a shadow of its former self, but with Vasquez at the helm, they could beat almost anybody.

Other stars of today's games include Bryan Davis of Texas A & M with his 21 point, 9 rebound performance in Texas A & M's 79-66 defeat of BYU and Wayne Ellington of North Carolina with his 25 points. Special congratulations to UNC's Tyler Hansbrough, who with his 22 points became the leading scorer in ACC history displacing J.J. Reddick from the top of the list. Anytime somebody knocks Duke off of anything, they get my kudos. SEC Player of the Year Marcus Thornton also went off for 30, 10-15 from the floor, including 3 of 4 from three and 7 of 8 from the line. If Ty Lawson thinks that he is going to have an easy game back from his toe injury, he needs to seriously reasses that situation. Thornton can play.

Speaking of Texas A & M, they started the game 10 for 10 from the field. If that isn't a bad omen for BYU, I don't know what is. If the Aggies keep shooting like that, the are likely to go much further than previously thought.

The shooting star of the early games was Roburt Sallie of Memphis, who scored 35 off the bench, on 10-15 shooting from three point range (12-17 overall), in a surprisingly close game for the Tigers. Up next for Sallie, Vasquez of Maryland, of course.

Let Them Play, Let Them Play

I like to think I know a lot about the sport of basketball. However, even I must admit that most actual college basketball coaches know much more about the sport than I. Even with all of the knowledge that these coaches possess, they sometimes forget the easiest adage in the world, one that goes all the way back to the 1977 classic Bad News Bears in Breaking Training: "Let Them Play!"

Last night, the Belmont Bruins were on the verge of a colossal upset of the number 2 seeded Duke Blue Devils. In fact, with under one minute to play the Bruins held a one point lead over Duke. What does Belmont Coach Rick Byrd do? He calls timeout. Belmont, with the lead, a big defensive stop, the ball and the momentum suddenly had to stop everything for Coach Byrd to design a play. The play apparently was to hold the ball until the last second of the shot clock, drive and throw up a wild "shot" toward the basket and hope for a miracle. Now I understand that wasn't the play called by Coach Byrd, but it might as well have been. The wild shot missed, and Gerald Henderson then went coast-to-coast absolutely unimpeded for the game winning layup. Belmont gets the ball back, rushes over half court and then calls timeout again. Needless to say, Belmont lost.

Now, before you start to defend the timeouts, since almost every coach would have done the same thing, let's look at some of the facts. This is Belmont's third trip to the NCAA tourney in the past 4 years, losing to UCLA in 2005, Georgetown in 2007 and now Duke in 2008. They are incredibly experienced in playing in the NCAA tournament. They start four juniors and a senior. The one great equalizer for the teams from smaller conferences is that they are often experienced and have played together as a team for several years. At some point in time you have to trust your experienced players. The entire game Belmont ran their offense the way they wanted and did not let Duke dictate the game. What made a possession with 50 seconds left any different? Play your game and take a good shot in the course of your offense. When a team relies on the stall and prayer offense (which inevitably always occurs), that team is then unbalanced on defense and a team can exploit them on a fast break the other way.

Coach Byrd, your players had the basketball opportunity of their lifetime. When your four returning senior starters come back next year, let them play their first round game using their talents and knowledge of the offense. Save the timeouts for times to stop the opponents' momentum, to give your players breathers or to correct problems that you observe from the sidelines. Calling the first timeout last night gave Duke the opportunity to set-up on defense, took the momentum away from your team, and also took the crowd out of the game. The second timeout gave Duke the opportunity to set-up their defense and, perhaps more importantly, gave your players time to think about how they just blew the opportunity to beat Duke. Keep them on the court, let them think only about beating their man, running the play, setting screens, etc. Do not give time for doubt to set in.

You noticed that Coach Kryzewski didn't call timeout down one with the ball in that same situation, right?