With two play-in games starting tonight, here's the East Region! Celtic, Freethinker and I will be finishing the other three regions before Thursday.
East Region
#1 Villanova – The Wildcats are one of the very few nearly all-black teams that is actually fun to watch. They are unselfish, play team ball for the most part, and usually avoid comical celebrations. Villanova does have two white players who play off the bench as the 6th and 7th men. Donte DiVincenzo is a stud. A starter for a lot of the year, DiVincenzo has put up some big numbers. However, since black player Phil Booth has returned from injuries, DiVencenzo’s numbers have fallen. Regardless, the 6’5 sophomore guard is completely capable of leading this team in scoring. He plays starter’s minutes off the bench and is one of the Wildcat’s top 3 players. Freshman guard Collin Gillespie has carved out a nice role for himself off the bench. The 6’3 Gillespie hasn’t looked to score much this year, but he’s been a great glue guy when he’s been in the lineup.
#16 LIU Brooklyn/Radford – Two crappy all-black teams from crappy conferences playing for the right to get pummeled by Villanova. My bad, Radford has one white who gets the honor of coming into the game off the bench to shoot threes. I don’t even think DWFs will want to watch this turnover and foul infested mess. Next.
#8 Virginia Tech – Bald wigger Buzz Williams has an all-black team back in the tournament, what else is new? They like to play fast and have guys that can get to the basket. I don’t expect these guys to be around past the Second Round.
#9 Alabama – The NCAA Selection Committee laughably gave this team a 9 seed with a 19-15 record overall and a losing conference record, showing that the Selection Committee believes in team affirmative action. Avery Johnson and the Crimson Tide are all-black, another mess of a team. They would’ve had a white starter, but Riley Norris got hurt, and the walk-ons of course don’t take their warmups off. Get ready for a lot of fouls, terrible defense and bad shots in this affair.
#5 West Virginia – Bob Huggins with another all-black pressing team that loves playing fast and attacking. Big men Maciej Bender and Logan Routt, along with sophomore guard Chase Harler, will usually see a couple of minutes in the first half to give the “real athletes” breathers. All of these guys are underclassmen, so maybe, just maybe, if the stars align correctly, West Virginia may actually have white players that do something next year!
#12 Murray State – The Racers are all-black like they have been the last 10+ years. The end.
#4 – Wichita State – Greg Marshall has the Shockers playing good basketball as usual coming into March. Wichita State will have one white starter in either senior combo guard Conner Frankamp or sophomore combo guard Austin Reaves, who’s really broken out this year. Frankamp began the season as the starter, but the play of Reaves forced him into a sixth man role before Frankamp has gotten consideration to start again as of their last few games. Regardless, both guys usually play starters minutes, giving the Shockers two white players on the floor the majority of the game. The 6’1 Frankamp, a Kansas transfer, usually makes his living shooting jump shots from beyond the arc or mid-range. He gets his shots, but his shooting percentage has been way down recently, leading to some not so good stats. Regardless, he averages 10 PPG, is perfect from the charity stripe, and dishes out a couple of assists per game. Austin Reaves is more of an attacking guard, although he can hit the three as well. Reaves averages around 8 PPG and 2 assists on year but is capable of a big game. Senior big man Rauno Nurger seems to have fallen out of favor somewhat as the season moved on. He still plays but has been seeing less than 10 MPG. One of the few good teams in the tournament that actually lets white players see the floor.
#13 Marshall – The Thundering Herd are back in the Big Dance for the first time since 1987. Coach Dan D’Antoni (brother of NBA coach Mike D'Antoni) has Marshall playing some fun to watch, fast paced basketball, and he has three white starters to boot. The star of the show is guard Jon Elmore. The 6’3 junior is one of the leading scorers in the country at nearly 23 PPG, and I’m glad he’ll be getting to showcase his talents in front of a national audience. Elmore will hit shots that will remind one of Steph Curry or Jimmer Fredette in his BYU days. The kid simply scores and is fun to watch. Elmore can also play a bit of defense; he’s first on the team in steals and second in rebounding. Also starting is power forward Ajdin Penava, a 6’9 junior. Penava is just as dynamic a player as Elmore is. The springy Penava is 3rd on the team in scoring at nearly 16 per game, and also leads the team in rebounding and blocked shots (averaging over four blocks per game; leading the country!). Penava stuffs the stat sheet better than anybody. The third white starter will be athletic 6’9 freshman forward Jannson Williams. With forwards Dani Koljanin and Milan Mijovic injured, these three will be the white players in the Thundering Herd’s rotation. They no doubt have the offense to pull an upset, but will they play good enough defense to allow them the chance?
#6 Florida – The wildly inconsistent Gators live and die by the three. Florida has just one white player, but he’s a good one. That is grad transfer guard Egor Koulechov. The 6’5 Russian senior has cooled off a bit from his scintillating start to the season, but he’s still second on the team in scoring (nearly 14 PPG) and is first in rebounding (6.5 per game). Koulechov alone makes the Gators worth checking out. For the Gators, how well they shoot determines how far they go. It’s simple for Florida: shoot well and they could be in the Elite Eight, shoot poorly and they won’t make it past the first round.
#11 St. Bonaventure/UCLA – The Bonnies are an all-black team with a good backcourt pairing. They like playing fast, and if they’re hot, they’re trouble for a lot of teams. Not much else to say for St. Bonaventure. UCLA is flying under the radar a bit this year after their fun squad last year, but the Bruins still have a couple of good white players. Senior Thomas Welsh is one of the two best players on the team. The 7’0 center is averaging a double double on the season with 13 points and over 10 rebounds per game. He’s the heart of the Bruins’ team this year, and he’ll have a large say in how far they get. Welsh is efficient, shooting nearly 50% from the field. Welsh also has one of the best midrange jumpers I’ve seen from a big man. Fellow senior Gyorgy Goloman is Welsh’s starting frontcourt mate. Goloman has really developed into a nice complimentary player this year, averaging 7 points and 4 rebounds. Goloman has really improved his defense; he leads the Bruins in blocked shots. Due to the blacks at the start of the year who decided to rob a store in China and get themselves suspended for the season, sophomore forward Alex Olesinki gets to be the backup to both Welsh and Goloman, and as a result, plays a fair number of minutes each game. He doesn’t look to score much but is a good player otherwise. Welsh and guard Aaron Holiday need to be playing well for UCLA to move on. This is the last year for awhile we’ll be able to cheer for UCLA.
#3 Texas Tech – A nearly all-black team from the Big 12. They’ve been trending the wrong way, losing five of their last seven. They’re hard to get a read on. The only white player who sees any time is freshman combo guard Davide Moretti of Italy. He averages 10 minutes per game. That marks the end of any regular white contributors, besides the walk-ons who bring out the chairs during TV timeouts.
#14 Stephen F. Austin – The only white player is senior combo guard Ivan Canete. The 6’4 guard is second on the team in assists and is a decent three-point shooter who averages 9 PPG. He’s also second on the team in steals. Finnish sophomore forward Samuli Nieminen gets in on the back end of the rotation to give the starters a breather. Not exactly a thrilling team to support. I guess success made the Lumberjacks forget about the many good white players who put them on the map a few years ago.
#7 Arkansas – The Hogs are another inconsistent (shocking, I know) all-black team who love to run fast and shoot threes. They have two guards who can apparently shoot really well. The one white walk-on is to give the illusion that the Razorbacks are a team of "student-athletes". A hit or miss team for those picking the brackets.
#10 Butler – The Bulldogs have been hit or miss this year; which version of the Bulldogs shows up will determine how far they go. Butler has one white starter but will often have two or three whites on the court. The lone starter is Sean McDermott. Fairly long and athletic, the underrated McDermott is a glue guy and three-point sniper for the most part. Junior guard Paul Jorgensen (who started for a good chunk of the year) will play 20+ minutes in a 6th man role off the bench. He’s capable of a huge game (he averages over 10 PPG on the year) and has the best assist to TO ratio on the team, but he’s struggled with his shot as of late. Center Nate Fowler, the Bulldogs’ second player off the bench, is one of the most perplexing players I’ve seen. He’s got a lot of upside and has had some great games the last two years as proof of that. However, the 7’0 Fowler plays like a p*ssy far too often. Fowler is very contact-averse and doesn’t dunk the ball nearly as often as he’s capable of, leading to some bad blocked shots or missed layups under the basket. I still have hope for him, he’s got an offensive game that stretches out to beyond the arc and he plays 15-20 MPG, but he could be a major player if he ever figures it out. Joey Brunk will get in if both centers ahead of him are in foul trouble. This team is so much better when their black “stars” are sharing the ball instead of chucking up bad shots. Hopefully they beat the Hogs.
#2 Purdue – The Boilermakers have an experienced group and are capable of a deep run. Purdue starts two whites, with five white players total in their nine-man rotation. The literal centerpiece of the team is Isaac Haas. The massive 7’2, 290 lb. senior is a mismatch inside for anybody. He’s great around the basket and will quickly put up big numbers if he gets going. Haas averages 15 PPG and nearly 6 rebounds, both good for second on the team. He’s also second on the team in blocks. 6’4 Senior guard Dakota Mathias is the other white starter. Mathias, one of my favorite players who reminds one of former Boilermaker Chris Kramer or Wisconsin’s Josh Gasser, is one of the emotional leaders of the team. He can do everything. He averages double figures in scoring at 12 PPG and shoots the rock at 48% from the field. He’s also the team assists and steals leader. Mathias also guards the other team’s best perimeter player, shutting them down more often than not. Ryan Cline is a three-point assassin who’s one of the first off the bench and shoots 40% from beyond the arc. Matt Haarms is 7’3 center who comes off the bench in relief of Haas. Haarms is a different type of player, he’s definitely a bit more athletic than Haas is, leading the team in blocks by a wide margin. Grady Eifert (brother of NFL TE Tyler) is an energy guy who’ll usually get 5-10 MPG. The Boilers have two weaknesses, rebounding (an odd problem, given the length of their front court) and the two black Edwards on the team sometimes taking too many bad shots. Overall though, Purdue is one of our best teams in the field with a shot to play for the whole thing and cut down the nets; go Boilers!
#15 Cal State Fullerton – A nearly all-black team who got hot and upset their way into the Big Dance. They’ve got one white forward who gets to exercise his white privilege and come into the game for 5-10 minutes to set screens and rebound. I hope this team enjoyed the flight, because Purdue is going to pound this team.
