Are you at work and unable to tune into the tournament? Not to worry. Fantasy Feud’s resident expert, Nolan Shulman fills you in on everything you can’t find out by reading a box score.
8:00pm – Down goes Frasier. Phil Pressey’s last second shot hit the front rim and the Tigers are going home. They had a heck of a year. Feel for their guys.
6:45pm – This Missouri game is unbelievable. Anything is possible. Missouri guard Phil Pressey has the heart of a champion.
4:59pm – Nicholson makes a three, does a rest job hedging, then make the right play and finds the open shooter in the corner. Bonnies still alive.
4:50pm – Really impressed with the Hoyas. Great balance. Jason Clark has done good job controlling tempo and getting Gtown into their sets. Porter has been electric from midrange, and Sims gives them a presence in the middle which has Belmont packing the paint. Have them in my Final Four and feel good about it.
4:21pm – No surprise the Bonnies are hanging tough. FSU has struggled in some games they should win. Harvard, Princeton, Miami, Clemson, and Boston College have all beaten the seminoles this year.
4:05pm – Otto Porter is absolutely wet from midrange. He’s going to cash in on a lost art one day.
3:06pm – Pat Young has really come a long way since the 2010 McDonalds game. He’s always had a high motor but his footwork is a lot more polished.
2:31pm – Trevor Lacey bringing it for Bama off the bench. Has 12 points, 4 rebounds at the half. Former Mr. Basketball in Alabama !!
2:05pm – J’Covan Brown has already hoisted 10 shots with 5 minutes left in the first half. He’s made 4 of them and also handed out 6 assists. He certainly isn’t shy about getting them up. Canadian Myck Kabongo (Toronto, ON) has missed his first 5 shots. Has 4 steals though.
1:07am – Big night for Andre Drummond. Had 2 points on 1-4 shooting with 3 rebounds and 4 blocks. Been saying it for 3 years but at what point do we start to realize this kid is never going to have a good motor and never going to be able to stay engaged for more than 2 minutes at a time. Meanwhile Jeremy Lamb and “Shabizzness” Napier are black holes. Shot a combined 12-28.
9:09pm – Freshman backcourt tandem of Kevin Pangos and Gary Bell combined for 27 points on 9-17 shooting with 6 assists.
7:44pm – Newmarket native Kevin Pangos has 8 points on 3 of 3 shooting to lead the Zags to an early 21-10 lead over West Virginia.
7:11pm – Fantasy stud of the day was Marquette’s Jae Crowder. Big East Player of the Year had 25 points and 14 rebounds.
6:52pm – Long Beach State lost and their goes my 5 million dollar bracket. That lasted long. Harvard making a game of this thing. Down 6 with 1:24 left.
6:27pm – Blown layup keeps the upset alive. Long Beach State ball with 50 seconds left. 4 point game.
6:04pm- Looks like Harvard is going to be the end of my perfect bracket. Down 14 and not really a team that comes from behind. Also have Long Beach State. Huge fadeaway by Casper Ware makes it a one point game. Let’s Goooooo !!!!!
5:24pm – Cuse look to be in control. Rakeem Christmas did a very admirable job filling in for Fab. Missed a few assignments but overall his play was extremely positive. Syracuse needs more out of its seniors (Joseph and Jardine) to keep surviving and advancing.
4:25pm – UNC Asheville guard Keith Hornsby is no stranger to big moments. He was teammates with Syracuse replacement center Baye Moussa Keita at Oak Hill Academy. Also on the team were Kentucky shooting guard Doron Lamb, and Uconn wing Roscoe Smith.
4:09pm – UNC Asheville is currently fitting themselves for a pair of cinderella slippers. Up 5 on the Orange with less than 4 mins to go in first half. Pittsburgh crowd beginning to rally behind the first ever #16 over a #1.
3:55pm – Baye Moussa Keita and Rakim Christmas have recorded 6 points and 3 rebounds in 12 minutes on 3-3 shooting. Neither guy is a stranger to big games. Keita played his high school career at Oak Hill and Christmas played at Academy of the New Church in Philly.
3:28pm - Rakim Christmas gets the start for Syracuse. Will have big shoes to fill. Fab Melo ineligible, no problem. Jim Boeheim goes to the bench and calls up the #1 Center in high school basketball last season. “Rak” was a member of Team Final on the AAU circuit. Same travel team as Dion Waiters and Kentucky Forward, Michael Gilchrist.
3:19pm – Jae Crowder hunting a first half double-double. He’s got 9 points and 7 rebounds with more than 8 minutes to play. Dread locks flying around the gym with swagger right now.
2:57pm – Another winner moving on. Kansas State keeps my bracket perfect. Went 4 for 4 in the play in games and had both K State and Murray State. Have Louisville and Wisconsin in the remaining games currently underway.
2:42pm – Would love to be a fly on the wall in Frank Martin’s timeout right now. I would assume that whatever happens, he can plea temporary insanity.
2:41pm – I stand corrected. It looks like Gipson got Dejuan Blair’s hops. He got at least a half inch off the ground on that alley-oop.
2:35pm – Thomas Gipson looks like a cross between James Harden and Dejuan Blair. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear he got DNA from either.
2:30pm – That’s an atrocious shirt tie combo by Kenny the Jet. A bad purple is one thing, but if you are going to wear a neon green tie, you can’t wear a neon green pocket square that isn’t the same neon green. You just can’t.
2:20pm – First win is in the books. Murray State is on to the round of 32. Congrats to Coach Prohm and his staff.
2:18pm – My first Louisville InfraRED sighting. Poor decision to wear the black socks. Really thought the InfraRED socks brought everything together. Still trying to acquire a pair if any of my followers have a hook up.
2:01pm – First tournament meal is in the books. Swiss Chalet delivery. Soup and a sandwich. Felt like Murray State was matching me bucket for bite. Now ahead by 13. Cannon just 2-7 in 2nd half after going 2-6 in the 1st. Does have 6 rebounds and is playing tremendous defense. If State can win games when Isaiah isn’t on point offensively….
1:30pm – McGruder with 18 points at the half. Shot 6-11 from the field. Kansas State defense has been excellent. Holding Southern Miss to 33% shooting in the half. Losing the rebounding margin by two though.
1:18pm – Great segment on ex- Grassroots Canada shooting guard Brady Heslip. Used to play on the same travel team as Tristan Thompson, Cory Joseph, Myck Kabongo, and Dwight Powell. Was there watching when he was a 12th grader turning heads at the Adidas Super 64 in Las Vegas. It all started in the heat of Vegas. Great kid too !
1:12pm – Neil Watson with 2 quick buckets off the bench. Apparently he likes getting a gauge for the temperature of the game before entering. Leads Southern Miss in scoring on the season.
12:59pm – I’m officially nervous. Colorado State is hanging tough. Sharing the basketball and making shots. Up one at the half. That would be a bracket buster for me. I have Murray State in my Sweet 16. Isaiah Cannon just 2-6 in the first half. Going to need him to score the basketball in the 2nd half.
12:54pm – It’s a track meet at the Consol Energy Center. K State and Souther Miss have gone 4 possessions shooting without a single pass. Somewhere Bob Knight is chirping.
12:46pm – Just flipped to Kansas State game just in time to see K State forward, Jordan Henriquez get front rimmed on an alley-oop. K State leads 8-3. Henriquez is a Winchendon School Alum.
12:44pm – 6-7 F Edward Daniel with the big time move/prayer. Spin left with underhand junk spin over his right shoulder. Not sure what he calls that.
12:34pm – Pierce Hornung has 2 buckets for 4 points, 7 rebounds, and a steal through less than 8 minutes. He’s balling out right now. Colorado State winning rebounding battle 10-6.
12:30pm – 4 Nebraskans on the Colorado State team. Interesting fact.
12:21pm – Colorado State opens in a 2-3 zone while Murray State goes man to man.
12:18pm – Pierce Hornung with the tournaments first bucket. A tip in.
12:17pm – Steve Prohm is a class act. I had the chance to coach against him in the summer when he brought his team to Canada for their international tour. My team of ex professionals and CIS All-Stars lost by 14. Isaiah Cannon torched us.
12:07pm – Jim Boeheim is clearly tired of talking about Fab Melo ….”Sometimes in sports, things happen and you have to adjust. Our team has to adjust and play without him. We’ve done it three games so we have some experience.”
12:00pm – Charles barkley and Kenny the Jet. This should be interesting. Charles doesn’t even know the names of guys who play in the league. Something tells me this isn’t going to work.
9:17am – Just got to National Mailbox to laminate my bracket. Anytime you plan on sitting on your couch for 12 hours with friends and food, precautions need to be taken. I learned this from my older brother who is extremely OCD. While I generally make fun of all his insane tendencies, this is one I have a tremendous amount of respect for.
After yesterday’s win, do you feel that VCU has what it takes for another deep run?
I think Indiana is going to be a tough out for them. They are playing at a high level and freshman Cody Zeller might be too much to handle for D.J. Haley