This is the most wide-open NCAA basketball tourney ever
There are no 1 seeds – not one. There are lots of 4 seeds but no 1 seeds. Every team has huge flaws or are incomplete to be labeled as a 1 seed.
And as such on any given night, any team can win. Remember that St. Johns beat Duke and there are other examples of teams that are not very good knocking off top ranked teams. Furthermore, the supposed top teams are so bloody inconsistent that it is more of a surprise that more upsets did not happen.
The fatal flaws – (1) NONE OF THE TEAMS CAN SHOOT. There is not one team that can be considered a good shooting team. There are only a handful of players in the entire country that can shoot. And we are talking here about consistent, money guys who never have a bad day shooting and are good enough to light it up for 30-40. So, all teams don’t shoot well. And, ironically, they all think they can shoot. However, those that know the game know differently.
(2) Don’t or cannot play defense – Anyone can play defense. It takes hard work, being physically fit, the will to do it, and getting the required instruction/coaching. Lot’s of teams don’t or cannot – Duke. So, what does that say about the coaching and the players? Just watch any game and look for players not boxing out [because they are watching the flight of the ball]; playing donkey defense; not being aware of where their man is; not getting back on D because they are showboating at the offensive end.
(3) Stupid and selfish players – pick any team – except Virginia [and Gonzaga], as they are the only team that has players with high hoops IQ and are not selfish. All other teams have players – key players – who meet the criteria. And that will be the Achilles heel of these teams. The most egregious – Michigan; Michigan St; Oklahoma; West Virginia; Virginia Tech.
(4) Brutal coaching – unable to sustain a system through the game; do not have a knockout set that will finish off an opponent; teams not fundamentally sound; cannot even have consistent halves in the same game. Check out any team and look for the following – players not playing D [see above]; players showboating [see above]; players taking bad shots [see above]; players not following their shot [see above can’t shoot]; donkey defense [see above]; no ‘money/killer’ set to get a hoop or foul shot to wrap up or close down a game or to get must points [if you don’t get this, just 2 names – John Stockton and Karl Malone – if you still don’t get it, then you should watch another sport or at a minimum NEVER THINK OR SAY that you know anything about the game; no special defensive looks – press variations; half court presses, box and 1; diamond and 2; inability to attack a zone defense or play one; trying not to lose as opposed to trying to win.
The above are the reasons that anyone, though unlikely, could win this year’s tournament. It is the ‘on any given day’ maxim.
[Don’t’ be surprised if a 16 beats a 1 – we predict it will happen this year].
Who are the least flawed:
Virginia
Duke
Gonzaga
Purdue
Loyola-Chicago
South Dakota St
Villanova
Another element affecting a game’s outcome will the game coaching. It is one thing for brutal overall coaching, it is another thing altogether if a coach is a bad game coach. And there are plenty in the tournament and some of them will most definitely be an impediment to their team wining. For teams that have a chance to win – Rick Barnes – Tennessee; Mike Krzyzewski – Duke; Matt Painter – Purdue; Tom Izzo – Michigan St; Arizona – Sean Miller; Greg Marshall- Wichita St. For teams who likely will not win – Jim’ the King of them all’ Boeheim – Syracuse; Lon Kruger – Oklahoma; Florida St – Leonard Hamilton. Just keep this in mind when teams blow big leads and lose or try to sit on a lead and lose.
So, there you have it. No other site will lay it out like PSR has and that is because the ‘writers’ for all other sites HAVE NEVER PLAYED AT ALL LET ALONE PLAY AT AN ELITE LEVEL LIKE PSR.
Let’s see how it all plays out. The first two days could be crazy and wild. Impossible to pick a winner since no team or teams have been consistent enough to make that prediction.
