Experts and Clowns Issue 26: NCAA Basketball Tournament Edition with Basketball Quotes

One of my favorite basketball quotes ever has to be from retired head coach Bob Knight when he said, "If the NBA were on channel 5 and a bunch of frogs making love were on channel 4, I'd watch the frogs, even if they were coming in fuzzy." While it definitely can give everyone a good laugh, he might want to reconsider after watching this ncaa basketball tournament.

The boys and I here talked about how there wasn't really going to be anyone outside of the top 10 in the NCAA basketball rankings who was going to win the ncaa championship this year. Boy were we wrong, try outside the top 4! Obviously I was one of those who went to print tournament brackets out only to turn around and blow with the "Lathargic Longhorns" over the weekend. Worst fans I ever saw in a regional semifinal with the team playing the game in their home state. Credit the Memphis Tigers for taking the whole stadium out of the game.

Anyways, time to get to our prestigious AC writers and see what they have to say about this year's ncaa basketball tournament. There will be no nicknames, no call outs, just plain old questions and answer while I try to think if I spelled lathargic right, but I don't really feel like spending the time to look it up. So if its wrong, I spelled it wrong TWICE!

Is it a good thing to have all four number-one seeds in the Final Four?

Zac Wassink: I don't see why not. If nothing else, it should make for three excellent games to determine the national champion. Cinderella stories are great and all but let's be honest. If Davidson would have made it to the Final Four this year and then been defeated by North Carolina, what would it matter? I'm all for good games during the NCAA Tournament and that's exactly what we should have.

Brian Joura: It's fun to have upsets and it would have been a great story if Davidson could have beaten Kansas . But the teams in the Final Four all earned their way here and anyone who is disappointed with the teams we have isn't much of a basketball fan. And for all of the grief the selection committee got this year over seedings, at least they got the number ones right.

Nick Meyer: I think so, but at the same time Davidson making it would have been better. If you can't have a so-called "Cinderella" then you might as well have the best teams. Some people have complained that there's not enough NBA talent on these teams to make the games interesting but I disagree (Skip Bayless...ha). Derrick Rose is an absolute must-watch player, Chris Douglas-Roberts will be a good pro, Kevin Love and UCLA's supporting players will have solid NBA careers, Carolina has 3-4 good pro prospects, etc. Kansas is more of a team based on depth and balanced scoring but it will be interesting to see if they and Bill Self can get over the hump. Anyone could win this Final Four and that's what could make it special.

Jake Emen: No, and I'll tell you why. In every office bracket across the country, there is the good for nothing, knows nothing about sports guy that picked all of the favorites to advance. Now he gets to strut around bragging about his knowledge and expertise, while he might as well have picked his results by the mascots or uniforms. This is an atrocity that should not be allowed to happen ever again.

HA! Jake gets two points for making me laugh because I see several people do that all the time, so for those of you who print tournament brackets out at work an win this year's ncaa basketball tournament, congratulations on splitting the winnings! Nick gets three points because for all those fans that their team's basketball plays couldn't carry them to the Final Four, most of them root for the underdog which there isn't one here and the star studded information he provided.

Like Wilt Chamberlain once said, "Everybody pulls for David, nobody roots for Goliath." So Brian gets a point for agreeing on the Davidson and 1/2 point for bringing up the grief of the committee. It would have been a full point, but had they positioned teams differently or more appropriately we may not be looking at this as our Final Four teams. Zac doesn't get any points because I won't be giving out negatives this week. The if they won and lost to UNC comment was good for a chuckle but if already knew the outcomes of the games, why play them?

If you could only watch 2 days of games, what would they be (Final Four games, Sweet Sixteen, opening rounds, etc)?

Zac Wassink: No question about it. The first two days of the NCAA Tournament are the best sports days of the entire year. Basketball is on for twelve hours straight, there are numerous chances for upsets and you still have that faint hope that your bracket could be unbeatable. I love the NCAA Tournament more than anything. Just don't tell the wife.

Brian Joura: Love this question. I think the Sweet 16 games are the most fun. You've gotten rid of the UMBC-type teams that have no business being in the tournament yet still have Cinderella-type teams for which to root. The teams are battle-tested yet don't have stage fright like they might have a week later at the Final Four. And there are still enough games going on the first day to have a bit of scoreboard watching going on. The Sweet 16 is the best of everything.

Nick Meyer: It has to be the opening rounds. Those are the day the bars are most packed, the days people get off work, and the most exciting games usually take place on this day. March Madness' legend grew based on all the wild, close finishes and last-second game-winners and this is the day you see most of that take place.

Jake Emen: I'd watch the Sweet Sixteen games. The Final Four is obviously the end-game and what the whole tournament is about. However, the Sweet Sixteen provides a great amount of action and 8 games for your viewing pleasure. As opposed to the opening rounds, there aren't any crazy 1-16 matchups, it's all quality teams and good opponents playing great basketball in meaningful matchups. 4 games a night is more than enough for a great time, plus the Sweet Sixteen will include just enough of the underdog Cinderallas to make things interesting for everybody.

Very cool, split down the middle between the first two rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament and the Sweet Sixteen into the Final Four. Zac gets three points because even people who aren't fans, but print tournament brackets out love to first 2 days to see how they are doing and excited about cheering for something they normally don't even watch. Then of course the hope of being unbeatable is so true!

However, you were going to get 4 points, but Jake and Brian both make compelling points about the Sweet 16 games, so they stole 1/2 point each. Plus they get two points a piece for swaying my decision back to neutral after I was going to remind them of Clemson, San Diego, Gonzaga, Belmont, American University, Mississippi State, Miami-FL, Pitt, and Marquette all showed us some great basketball plays and games in the first two rounds, but no one getting to the Sweet 16.

Oh, Nick gets 1 1/2 points for the opening round comments and reminding the United States that we lose millions upon millions of dollars in business the first two days of the NCAA basketball tournament. Okay, so he didn't say that entirely, but thats why he gets 1 1/2 points instead of 4.

If you had to pick one player to have on your team in this final four, who would it be?

Zac Wassink: It pains me to write it but I gotta go with Tyler Hansbrough. What more could you want from a player? He hustles on both end of the court and is guaranteed to get a double-double every game. He performs in the clutch, does all the little things and lifts up his team emotionally. He's the quintessential NCAA Tournament player.

Brian Joura: Kobe Bryant. Put him on any team in the Final Four and they're guaranteed to win. Wait, you want a college player? Okay, give me Stephen Curry. Imagine what he could do on a team that had a couple of other offensive weapons so the other team couldn't stage its entire defense around stopping him.

You mean a guy still playing? Okay, give me Tyler Hansbrough. I know he looks like he's missing a chromosome and he's one of the blandest interviews around, but put him on the court and he's terrific. He can get points inside or outside, he plays hard every possession, he's an underrated defensive player, he's a strong rebounder and he's content to play within the system. And I've never seen a big man so willing to dive on the floor for loose balls. While everyone else on UNC was choking in the second half against Louisville , Hansbrough single-handedly willed the team to victory. What else could you possibly ask a college player to do?

Nick Meyer: Kevin Love and Tyler Hansbrough get the most pub and CDR is a first-team All-American, but give me Derrick Rose. His stats weren't as impressive in the regular season but he is so talented that he can take it up a notch and carry his team to another level. He has been playing out of his mind in the past few rounds, just stuffing the stat sheet. He's like a combination of Chris Paul and Baron Davis (did you see that sick double-clutch reverse dunk against MSU?). Hansbrough is great but he is not a reliable go-to guy down the stretch against more athletic defenders sometimes. Rose makes everyone around him better and controls the tempo.

Going against Darren Collison will be tough but he has the talent to shine through and lead Memphis to the final game.

Jake Emen: I can't believe I'm really saying this, but I would pick Tyler Hansbrough. The guy has developed his outside shot that he can now hit with consistency. It doesn't need to be said, but his motor is off the charts. Why, his motor is so good, stick him in the front of Danica Patrick's race car, and she might actually win a race. Hiyo! He just devours rebounds, he can run the floor better than any other big man in the game and his defense has improved. Plus, he has the experience that a Kevin Love doesn't give you. Just, for the love of god, change the nickname.

Sorry, anyone that said Tyler Hansborough gets no points for that answer simply because if the refs wouldn't be afraid to call fouls on him, he'd be on the bench for thirty minutes out of the game. 11 times I saw him hack, push, and maul Padgett at the top of the key only to get called out on it once in the 2nd half. Find a group who calls it like they see it and he wouldn't do you any good on the bench.

Nick gets another three points for Derrick Rose, they guy has been sick this NCAA basketball tournament and his stock continues to rise for the NBA draft. Brian can have two points for making me laugh with the Kobe Bryant take, because you could see that question two or three different ways and he provided them all. Jake doesn't get any points because even though Kevin Love is only a freshman he can shoot the three (6-16 to Psycho's 0-1), he's scored 3 more points, has 6 more rebounds and 14 more blocks in the tournament,

Zac, Jake stole a point from you because he pulled out the Danica joke and you said Hansborough is guaranteed to give you a double-double even though there was two games out of the four they've played in this NCAA basketball tournament he has not so you get none, plus I said I wouldn't give any negatives this week.

Predictions: Who ya got?

Zac Wassink: As you can read in my upcoming article (cheap plug alert!), I stuck with my bracket and went with North Carolina and Memphis. Memphis quieted all the doubters after completely outplaying a very good Texas team and North Carolina is, well, North Carolina. They look unbeatable. That's why I'm picking the Tar Heels to win it all this year. I just can't see them losing a game in the next week.

Brian Joura: Memphis has been extremely impressive but I'm going to stick with North Carolina . It's hard to pick against the team with the coach that's already won a National Championship and who has a player who refuses to lose like Hansbrough.

Nick Meyer: I've got UNC in a close one due to the star power of Lawson and Hansbrough and their overall depth of talent matching Kansas'. Memphis will take down UCLA because they are just playing so well right now and are so athletic on defense that UCLA will have a real hard time scoring in some stretches.

Then I have UNC taking it all because they're like the USC of college hoops, everyone in their rotation is capable of going off and making big plays for them. They're just a little too talented to stop.

Jake Emen: Well I have to stick with my bracket and what I've been picking all along, UCLA over UNC, 72-65. UCLA, making its third straight Final Four trip, has an experienced team and coaching staff that won't get any nerves, even if their best player is a freshman. I believe they can lock down the run and gun attack of UNC, limit the posessions and score enough to get the win. Kansas to me looks like a team happy to be where they are, so they will not get any farther. UCLA is going to force Memphis to hit difficult shots- both on and off the free throw line, and they won't be able to hit enough of them.

This right here is why I wished Davidson would have made the Final Four regardless of the history made by the NCAA basketball rankings. They had the basketbal plays to hang with UNC during the season and it would have been fun in this NCAA basketball tournament, since no one picked Kansas, why not?

Anyways, Zac gets three points for still having UNC and Memphis in the finals, along with Jake having UCLA and UNC in the finals. I wasn't sure if Nick still has a finals bracket working so I'm not sure who he has, plus UNC can't be the USC of college hoops, because they lost to Kansas State in the first round. So NO SOUP 4 U! Brian gets 1 1/2 points because he did pick UNC, but I'm guessing he wants Memphis or just making a statement? I don't , so only half of the three here.

Final Results

Jake: 8 1/2

Brian: 7 1/2

Nick: 7 1/2

Zac: 6

Well, after talking about the NCAA basketball tournament, revealing a couple of old basketball quotes, and discussing the NCAA basketball rankings about all four #1 seeds making it to the Final Four we are all set for an exciting weekend! Rose, Love, Hansborough, Lawson, Collison, Collins, Chalmers, Rice, Douglas-Roberts, Dozier, Shipp, Westbrook, and several others will be showing those NBA scouts some magnificent basketball plays.

Its time to print tournament brackets out if you haven't done so already because it will be around 330 more days until the excitemtn starts to take shape again. Look for Brian Joura to hold next weeks edition.