If you can forgive the East Regional for having two of the least likeable coaches in college basketball, Texas Tech's Bob Knight and Southern California's Tim Floyd, this region should make you smile.
It has the most talented team, top to bottom, in college basketball: North Carolina.
It has the most talented player, easily, in college basketball: Kevin Durant of Texas.
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| Jeff Green's silky smooth in leading the Hoyas to the No. 2 seed. (Getty Images) |
And it has a veritable All-American team unto itself: Durant, North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough, Boston College's Jared Dudley, Georgetown's Jeff Green and Michigan State's Drew Neitzel.
Find me a better quintet of players in any region. Stop looking. You can't.
Find me a reason to like Floyd. Stop that, too. You can't. But as soon as Texas gets rid of Floyd's Trojans in the second round, the East will be on a collision course for two of the best games in this entire tournament:
UNC vs. Texas in the Sweet 16.
UNC vs. Georgetown in the region final.
Three storylines
1. The mask of Hansbrough: Hansbrough struggled in the ACC Tournament after having to wear the biggest, worst-fitting nose-mask I've ever seen on a basketball player. You'd think UNC could afford better. Guess not. In three ACC tourney games, he averaged 10 points and six rebounds, roughly half his usual production, and shot 9-for-23 from the floor. If Hansbrough has to play with that mask throughout the tournament, I don't like the Tar Heels' chances to win it all. His reaction to the mask has been that bad.
2. Durant vs. Wright: Greg Oden was the top recruit from the class of 2006, but Texas' Kevin Durant and North Carolina's Brandan Wright were widely considered the class' next best two players. That was validated this season, with Durant emerging as the college game's best offensive player and Wright showing himself worthy of a lottery pick whenever he enters the NBA Draft. Durant and Wright should face each other in the Sweet 16. Considering both are 6-feet-9 with condor length and ridiculous agility, they surely would defend each other. Woohoo!
3. Like father, like ...: Washington State and Texas Tech, two pioneers of the father-begets-son coaching lineage, could meet in the Sweet 16. The Cougars are coached by Tony Bennett, who deserves national Coach of the Year in his first season after replacing his father, Dick. Texas Tech is led by Bob Knight, whose son, Pat, is his designated replacement. In May 2006, I wrote that when Bob Knight retires, "the rest of the Big 12 is having a party. Pat Knight will be invited. He'll be the one wearing the lampshade." In July, Pat and I shared an elevator in Indianapolis -- and instead of taking a swing at me, he said he wished he had a lampshade to autograph. How can I not like that guy?
East Region picks
Who will win: It says here that Hansbrough will ditch the mask and reassert himself as the best player on the deepest, most talented team in college basketball. UNC wins this thing by outrunning the enormous Hoyas in the region final.
Dark horse pick: Fourth-seeded Texas will have the best player on the court in every game it plays, and if you don't think that matters, ask Syracuse from 2003, when Carmelo Anthony did for the Orange what Durant could do for Texas.
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Most likely upset: Seventh-seeded Boston College stumbled late in the season, and by the time you read this sentence, Bob Knight already knew why. BC's struggles will continue in a first-round loss to the 10th-seeded Red Raiders.
Best mascot: Marquette, which for 36 hours once called itself the "Gold," is the worst. So let's not go there. The best? New Mexico State's Aggies, because any school that can make fun of its redneck heritage is cool with me.
Best point guard: Lots of solid point guards in this region -- Tywon Lawson, D.J. Augustin, Jarrius Jackson and Derrick Low -- but the best of the best is Marquette's Dominic James, who is Augustin with more explosion, or Lawson with a better jumper.
Best school colors: Nothing beats that burnt orange of Texas. Normally orange uniforms are a bad idea -- see: Tennessee -- but that sun-browned orange of the Longhorns is saucy yet masculine.
Best coach: Back in the day Bob Knight was the best, but not anymore. Roy Williams is the best recruiter in this region. But the best coach? The guy who gets the most from his players? Tom Izzo.
Best reputation: You don't have to like North Carolina. Fine. But if you don't think UNC is one of the top two or three basketball schools in the country, you're a turnip.
Five stars
1. Brandan Wright, Fr., PF, UNC: A force at both ends, Wright blocks shots, fills fast-break lanes and finishes.
2. Jeff Green, Jr., SF, Georgetown: Green has skyrocketed up NBA Draft boards by adding a veneer of smooth to his all-around game. He's a mini-Durant, capable of scoring inside and out.
3. Drew Neitzel, Jr., SG, Michigan State: The emergence of Travis Walton as a steady point guard has allowed the ambidextrous Neitzel to flourish off the ball. It's hard not to love this guy's moxie.
4. Derrick Byars, Sr., SF, Vanderbilt: Byars, who transferred from Virginia three years ago, was the SEC's best all-around player this season. He's the kind of long, athletic wing that first-round opponent George Washington recruits.
5. Caleb Green, Sr., PF, Oral Roberts: Along with ORU guard Ken Tutt, Green has scored 2,000 career points. They are the only 2,000-point tandem in this tournament.
Random Notes
- Every year there's a first-round game or two that seems more like a Sweet 16 matchup. Marquette vs. Michigan State in the East Region's No. 8-No. 9 game is one of those. A shame someone has to lose so early in this tournament.
- Belmont is somewhere in Tennessee. Once upon a time they had a player named Adam Mark. Otherwise I can't help you on Belmont, but after Georgetown beats it by 40, will it matter?
- Paranoid conspiracy-theorist Karl Hobbs isn't my kind of guy, but he did a (cringe) fabulous job this season leading George Washington back into the NCAA Tournament after losing three starters from last season's record-setting GW team.
- New Mexico State has more transfers on its roster than every team in this tournament, combined. That might be an exaggeration, but possibly not. The Aggies have a player from Charlotte (Martin Iti), Utah (Justin Hawkins), St. John's (Elijah Ingram), Kansas State (Fred Peete), Prairie View A&M (Tyrone Nelson) and Pepperdine (Shaun Davis).
- Southern Cal exceeded expectations this season as a No. 5 seed, but if juniors Nick Young and Gabriel Pruitt don't turn pro ... and if freshman Taj Gibson doesn't lose his mind and turn pro as well ... and if top recruit O.J. Mayo can navigate through churning waters that include his recent marijuana citation and amateur issues to play as a freshman ... the Trojans in 2007-08 could be a Top 10 team. Much as I hate to say it.
- Boston College has lost five of its last season games, beating only yuckies Clemson and Miami. A No. 7 seed? In an NIT region, maybe.
