2021 NCAA Tournament (Day Three)

Games I saw (some of):

(8) Loyola-Chicago 71-58 (1) Illinois

OMG, great game. Loyola pretty much dominated from the jump, up at the 1st tv timeout, never trailed. Grutwig! I can't say enough about him, he was great, all time great, pleasure to watch. Seriously: the most masterful 2-way performance I've probably ever seen, like Olujawon in his prime, peak Mark Messier, old school Klaw-level Kawhi, the way Loyola swarmed reminded me of the Lawrence Taylor Football Giants--yes! I just compared Grutwig to Lawrence fuckin' Taylor! He roamed like a LB, kept the center of the floor perfectly cleared out leaving him free to drop on Cockburn from the weakside, everything they did worked. That was just on the defensive end; on the other end he was prime Chris Webber: locked down at the FT line, swinging the game to his will, they had so many brilliant weakside cuts. Dude, this guy was amazing--yes, Lawrence Taylor, Chris Webber, Mark Messier, and I'll throw in Arvdyas Sabonis just to finish it off. This guy was fucking amazing today and I think he's gonna be the MVP of this tourney. 

This was a clinical display of the difference btw an NBA prospect and a good college player (what baseball might call "4A"): Grutwig (Loyola-C) controlled the game on both ends of the court as well as any single performance in fucking decades. But you know what: he's never gonna make it out of summer league, might play his way into the 2nd rd if he's lucky. Whereas Kofi Cockburn (Ill-C) is going top 10 and deservedly so. See, Krutwig is the experienced big man that's wrecking shop at both ends, that half Draymond Green/half Chris Paul mythical creature that all the Moreys dream of. But he ain't gonna do that in the NBA, that path is not available to him. At the next level, he'll be playing the 3 and guarding perimeter, lucky to get garbage time mins in his first contract. He can play professionally because he's that smart, if his body holds out, he can be a lifelong pro baller, but not in the NBA. Why? Because there's no way that guy guards Joel Embiid, then Julius Randle, then Durant, then chips on Tatum/Brown, no way; so he's not an NBA center; nor is he a wingman or point-forward, either. He doesn't have a position at the next level, he's too uniquely suited to the NCAA game. Cockburn, on the other hand, oh yeah, he'll do fine. Cockburn, wow, that kid is huge, like...this kid is huge, he can bang at the next level, he'll be fine. He's not a stiff, he moves well, but I didn't see any particular nose for the ball and he's got rudimentary drop step skills, so he can score a little, I guess. But body wise, he can play the defense, he can play the minutes, so I expect him to be a high draft pick and well positioned for a second contract. Krutwig is a great NCCA player, feels like he's about to have one of the great tourneys of all time. 

I'll go ahead and say it right now: I don't think they beat Gonzaga, but they can beat anyone else, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Loyola against Gonzaga in the Final. These guys are good and Krutwig is a NCAA jedi and I hope he rocks the fuck outta this tourney. And the crew he's with all work together, they methodically find their shots, the team defense is amazing, (their transition defense was maybe the best I've ever seen, they were never out of position in the entire first half!), and they even know how to spread out their fouls (how'd they give up so many fouls and yet never have anyone in foul trouble?). I think Illinois was legitimately the second best team in this tourney and Loyola just tore them apart like a fat kid going through puddings on Xmas morn. It could be they just played the game of their lives and now they are spent; but I don't think so, I think they played an ordinary game against a good opponent, and they smoked said opponent. And I think they'll do it again. I wholeheartedly believe this team can beat anyone left in this tourney, except maybe Gonzaga. Yeah, would not be at all shocked to see Loyola in the Finial. 

(9) Wisconsin 63-76 (1) Baylor

Kinda predictable game: Wisc played hard and hung around but Baylor had a more dynamic offense and slightly better defense and controlled throughout. Badgers needed buckets and they never came through. Baylor is a nice team, gonna be a tough out against anyone.

(11) Syracuse 75-72 (3) West Virginia

Fun game! Syracuse shot up a good lead early, then in the 2nd half West Virginia made a run, took the lead, but Syracuse got hot again down the stretch and finished it off. Some good back and forth so even though Syracuse mostly controlled the game, the Mountaineers made it a game to the last possession. Two even teams, Syracuse shot better and they're moving on (don't they do this every year? Come in as an underdog and make the Elite Eight?). 

Games I saw (pretty much) none of:

(6) Texas Tech 66-68 (3) Arkansas

(10) Rutgers 60-63 (2) Houston

Houston outscored Rutgers 18-6 in the final 8 mins. Houston made their most of their chances late. Good W. Game effort from Rutgers but this Houston team is used to winning. 

(15) Oral Roberts 81-78 (7) Florida

Florida was up 69-62 at the 8-min TO; Oral Roberts outscored them 19-9 after that. These Oral Roberts guys are good, Abmas and Obanor are monsters, if they can keep getting by playing their starters 40 mins a night, they can keep winning.

(13) North Texas 61-84 (5) Villanova

(12) Oregon St 80-70 (4) Oklahoma St

Day #3 Conference breakdown: Big 10 (0-3), Big 12 (1-3), SEC (1-1), ACC (1-0), Pac-12 (1-0)

Day #3 MVP Cameron Krutwig (Loyola-Chicago), Krutwig was the shit. Abmas and Obanor (Oral Roberts) again, those two are badasses.