Eastern Conference Playoff Preview

In today's NBA, the Western Conference gets a lot of the attention, most of the best teams have been in the West the last couple of years. This year it's the top four teams in the West of the Warriors, Spurs, Thunder, and Clippers who get all the attention. But the East is starting to look more promising, LeBron is always a contender, no matter which team he is on. But the second place team the Toronto Raptors have been very good this year, mainly because of the Kyle Lowry-Demar Derozan duo. However I feel like the Raptors need another piece to really challenge the Cavs in the playoffs. I just don't see this Raptors team taking down LeBron, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love in a seven game series. The Boston Celtics are at third in the East at 35-25, they are a very strange team, they aren't really led by one player in particular. The Celtics have seven players who average 10 or more points per game, and have good pieces all around. That's why it is important for the Celtics to make a push for a big name free agent this summer, because one All-Star caliber could take this team from good to great. Even if they don't get a big name free agent this summer the Celtics are still in great shape for the future. Boston has probably the brightest future in the NBA because they own a lot of draft picks acquired from other teams that they can use in the future, including a couple first rounders in the upcoming NBA Draft.

The other teams that I could see making some noise in the playoffs would be the Bulls, Pistons, and Pacers. Not all of these teams are for sure playoff teams, but I think all of these teams have the necessary talent to shake up the playoffs as lower seeded teams. The Bulls have been probably been one of the most underachieving teams in the NBA, and are again severely effected by injuries. Jimmy Butler, Joakim Noah, and Nikola Mirotic are all out right now. Surprisingly Derrick Rose hasn't been the main one out with injuries this year, only missing 10 games, mainly due to minor injuries. But the Bulls have proved to be difficult for contending teams the last couple of years. Last year they took the Cavs to six games, and probably would've won the series had it not been for a LeBron James game winning shot in game four. This year they own a 2-1 series lead over the Cavs, 3-0 versus the Raptors, and 2-0 versus the Thunder. The Pacers were the number one seed in the playoff just two years ago and still have their star player Paul George. I think the Pacers still have it in them to make some noise the playoffs, especially with the core of Paul George, Monta Ellis, George Hill, and Myles Turner. 

Western Conference Playoff

The NBA Playoffs start on April 16th, which will be here sooner than you think, and many think that the Warriors will sweep every team that they play. I hope that doesn't happen but it's starting to look like a possibility, the Warriors are a league best 52-5, that means they win 91% of their games, which is pretty impressive. Although it seems like recently they have had a number of close games where Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson do pretty much all of the scoring. Yesterday against the Thunder, Steph scored 46 and Klay had 32, but only one other person was even in double figures. The game before that Steph scored 51 points, and the game before that Steph had 42 and Klay had 33. I feel like at this point the only thing that could stop the Warriors from dominating the playoffs would be fatigue. In the regular season Steph shouldn't have to take over games and score 40 or more points per game. That is something he should be saving for the playoffs, because right now if they think they are going to the finals they have at least 40 more games, and a maximum of 52 more games. I know the Warriors want to beat the record set by the 95'-96' Bulls of 72 wins. But they don't want to be the team who had the most regular season wins in NBA history but then ran out of gas in the playoffs.

Many thought it would be the Spurs who would be the one team to challenge the Warriors, but I think the Thunder are probably better suited to do so. Even though the Thunder have lost both of their games against the Warriors, they have pushed the Warriors more than a lot of teams have. In the first game in Oakland, the Warriors won 116-108, but the Thunder made a late push and made the game close. In the second game the Warriors came back to force overtime and ended up winning 121-118. But in both games the Thunder challenged the Warriors, which we haven't seen from many other teams. Although another interesting team to look at would be the Portland Trailblazers, they are being carried by star point guard Damian Lillard, and currently sit at 7th in the West. But if they dropped to 8 they could potentially challenge the Warriors. Earlier in the season Portland blew out the Warriors 137-105, some say that game was a fluke, but that would definitely be an interesting one vs eight match-up.

Big 10 Update

Earlier in the year the Big 10 was pretty simple it was Iowa, Maryland, and maybe Michigan State who were all considered contenders for the Big 10 regular season championship. But now the race has gotten a lot more competitive, with Indiana at the top. The reason for the change in the race is largely due to the fall of Maryland, and especially Iowa. Maryland has lost three of their last four games and still have a road game versus Indiana on the schedule. They still haven't reached their full potential, but I wouldn't count them out because they have such a stacked roster. Iowa is on even more of a slide, losing three in a row, and four out of five. It's very disappointing, but at least in the last couple of games they have shown more effort. Now they just need to figure out how to get the offense going, and how to defend to the best of their ability.

The risers have been Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan State, who are a combined 17-4 in the month of February. Indiana is still very inconsistent, but when they are on, they can beat anyone in the country. They already have a share of the Big 10 title, but do still have games left against Iowa and Maryland which could be very difficult. Wisconsin and Michigan State are very similar teams, both are disciplined and mentally tough, and can both can really shoot from deep. I still think that Wisconsin is nowhere near as good as Michigan State is, especially if they have an off shooting night. Michigan State has built a strong program and a tradition of making it far in the tournament, and playing their best basketball late in the season. They are also led by two strong veteran leaders in Denzel Valentine and Bryn Forbes.

Iowa Basketball

As of today the Iowa Hawkeyes are 20-6 overall and 11-3 in the Big 10, but they are only 4-3 since a impressive win versus Purdue that put them at 16-3. They have also lost two of their last three games, and that one victory was at home by four versus a 6-19 Minnesota team. One of the losses was a sloppy game at Indiana which the Hoosiers won 85-78, and the other was an even sloppier loss at Penn State, who is just 13-13 overall. The most concerning thing in these games is that is seems like the team is either tired, or just not motivated to play. Another problem was that is seemed like the only people scoring for the Hawkeyes were Peter Jok and Jarrod Uthoff. Earlier in the season it seemed like everything was clicking and almost everyone was contributing. Certain players I feel have slipped into a role too much, it's almost like they don't want to score. Especially Adam Woodbury and Mike Gesell, Woodbury's main role is to rebound and defend the rim, and Gesell is tasked with distributing the ball. One thing that also bothers me is that often times it seems like the offensive sets are too simple and there isn't enough movement and screens. This often means that players are forced to take tougher shots which they usually miss. The offense also seems to grow stagnant when Iowa is forced to go to their bench, mainly because they don't have a good ball handler off the bench. But that is the smallest problem, because many teams that struggle with depth.

Luckily the Hawks are in the middle of a week off between games, so they should be able to rest up, and figure out what is wrong. They have a couple of tough games left on their schedule, but they control their own destiny when it comes to the Big Ten regular season crown. Plus if they win out their regular season and have a good showing in the Big Ten tournament, then they have a shot at a high seed, whether it be a one or two. 

But I could also easily see them maintaining their same lethargic energy level, and finishing the season with 8 or 9 losses, losing early in the Big Ten tournament, and getting upset early in the NCAA Tournament. I say this because two years ago a similar thing happened, and it seems like Iowa never makes it far in the Big 10 tournament or NCAA Tournament. So obviously I hope this doesn't happen, and I hope they prove me wrong.

ACC Is The Best Conference in College Basketball

Many people will say that the Big 12 is the best conference in the country, and to a certain extent, yes they are good, but not quite as good as the ACC. The ACC is a bigger conference, and quite frankly a better conference, although both Louisville and Syracuse cannot participate in postseason play.
Even with those teams not included the ACC is still in contention for the top conference. At the top there is Virginia, North Carolina, Miami, and Duke. Virginia has one of the most impressive resumes with wins over teams like Ohio State, West Virginia, Villanova, Miami, and Louisville. However all of the Cavaliers five losses have come on the road to non ranked teams, this is concerning for the Cavaliers because in the tournament they will be on a neutral site, against probably inferior teams for the first few rounds. Another reason they could struggle in March is because they get into a lot of low scoring, close games. This helps them because they have experience with close games, but also, anything can happen in a close game, so I'm thinking Virginia could lose again in either their second, or third game in the tournament.

North Carolina is a large, experienced, and skilled team that could be an eventual final four participant. The Tar Heels already have accomplished big men, with a trio of Justin Jackson (6-8), Brice Johnson (6-10) and Kennedy Meeks (6-10). Brice Johnson is the main low post threat, he rebounds, defends, and almost always finished around the hoop. But for them to get there I think they need more production from their guards, especially Marcus Paige. Paige is an All-American caliber player, and needs to step up in March if the Tar Heels want to make it to the Final Four.

Miami is a team that I don't know a whole lot about, the Hurricanes are 21-4 and 10-3 in the ACC, which is good for first in the conference. But from looking at their schedule, I can tell that Miami doesn't have a true signature win, but they have chances down the stretch. Their next four games are at North Carolina, home vs Virginia, home vs Louisville, and at Notre Dame. If they can go 2-2 or better in those games I'd say that would be good for the Hurricanes. Ideally they would want to win the two games at home and deal with losses on the road.

The rising team in the ACC is Duke, the Blue Devils are 20-6, 9-4 in ACC, and are fresh off a victory at North Carolina. Many people doubted Duke throughout the season, but it is hard to argue with a four game win streak featuring wins over Louisville, Virginia, and North Carolina. Still I don't think that the Blue Devils will make it very far in the tournament, largely due to depth. Duke has a very limited rotations, which means consecutive games like they will play in March, will take a toll on their players freshness. Next year should be a strong year for Duke, as they bring in three 5-star prospects.

March Madness: Seeds 1-5

March Madness is just around the corner, and that means there will be a lot of debate over the seeding of the teams. It's not often that all number one seeded teams, but usually a mix of teams in the top five or six seeds. It's also almost a guarantee that there will be one team seeded 10 or higher that makes some noise by upsetting someone, but they usually don't make it much farther than the sweet sixteen. In my opinion the top overall seed would be the Kansas Jayhawks, with the other 1 seeds being Villanova, Oklahoma, and North Carolina. These are probably the top overall teams, although this year especially it really doesn't mean anything, any of those teams could lose in the second round. I personally think that Oklahoma is probably the most unpredictable 1 seed, they could win it all or lose in their second game, mainly because of their reliance on the three pointer.

The two seeds would probably be Virginia, Maryland, Iowa, and Xavier. I think that Maryland is probably the best team out of the group, but they haven't really reached their full potential. Virginia will be an interesting team to watch because in the last two tournaments Michigan State has upset them in the 2nd and 3rd round respectively. I hope obviously that my team, Iowa, makes it far in the tournament, but I wouldn't be surprised if they got knocked out early, although they do have good senior leadership. For my 3 seeds, I picked Michigan State, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Iowa State.

This is a very strong group of 3 seeds, and I could see all of them making it far in the tournament no matter where they are seeded. Michigan State is always a good bet in the tournament, and they have been very good as of late. The same applies for Kentucky, they seem like the have finally got it together, and they could be very dangerous in the tournament. 

Miami, Indiana, Arizona, and Oregon are my picks for the 4 seeds, and Purdue, Dayton, Notre Dame, and Providence for the 5 seeds. These teams usually only produce one or two teams that make it far, and are usually picked to be upset early. The 5 vs 12 and 4 vs 13 match-ups are the trendiest picks for upset, usually because the 12 and 13 seeds are conference champions from weaker conferences. In  2013 three of four 12 seeds won, and the same for 2014. I'm guessing there will be many upsets and surprises in this years tournament, as there is no dominant team in college basketball this year.

NBA All-Star Saturday Night

All-Star Saturday night was the time for young stars to shine, whether it was the skills challenge, the 3-point shootout, or the dunk contest. Even on Friday night, some young stars proved how good they could be in the Rising Stars game. Zach LaVine took home the MVP with 30 points 7 rebounds and 4 assists as Team USA took down Team World 157-154. Also Jordan Clarkson, D'Angelo Russell, and Devin Booker all topped 20 points for Team USA. Andrew Wiggins, Kristaps Porzingis, Emmanuel Mudiay, and Mario Hezonja were the top performers for the international team, Wiggins had 29 points, Porzingis made 5 three's on his way to 30 points, Mudiay had 30 points and 10 assists, and Hezonja had 19 points 10 rebounds and 7 assists. It looks like the future of the NBA is in good hands with stars like Porzingis, Towns, Wiggins and Russell.

On Saturday night the fun really began starting with the skills contest, where big man Karl-Anthony Towns took down Boston point guard Isaiah Thomas for the skills contest trophy. The NBA switched up the format this year by having two separate brackets, one for the big men, and one for the guards. Towns emerged as the top big man, and Thomas as the top guard. In the championship round, both were basically even and it all came down to the three point shot, Towns and Thomas both missed their first couple but Towns was able to knock his down before Thomas and won it for his fellow big men. 

Then came the three point contest which wasn't as fun as previous years but was still pretty entertaining. It started off very well with five players scoring a 20 or above. The "Splash Brothers" Klay Thompson and Steph Curry both scored over 20 so they avoided the shootout, and advanced to the final round. Which meant Suns rookie Devin Booker, Rockets superstar James Harden, and Clippers sharpshooter J.J. Redick competed in an additional 30 second shootout to choose who advances to take on Thompson and Curry. Surprisingly Devin Booker beat out the other two accomplished players and had to take on Klay and Steph. I think he got maybe a score of 16 in the championship round which is pretty average, so it meant it was basically down to Splash Brother vs Splash Brother. Steph had a decent score, I think 20 or 21, but Klay easily topped that scoring a 27 and taking home the crown. 

The dunk contest was the biggest show of the night, as it should be, but hasn't been in recent years. Last year the Minnesota Timberwolves rookie Zach LaVine wowed viewers with an impressive show of dunking skills, he blew away the competition and it wasn't even close. This year LaVine won again but there was much more competition, mainly from the Orlando Magic's Aaron Gordon. All the dunks between Gordon and LaVine can be seen here, I would highly recommend taking five minutes out of your day to watch it. I think many people who watched the dunk contest thought that Aaron Gordon should've won, I would agree. The scorers can only go as high as 10, but some of Gordon's dunks were above 10, and so were some of LaVine's, but I just think that Aaron Gordon should've won that night. Plus if they would've given it to Gordon it would've created a Gordon vs LaVine rivalry that would go on for a long time, but that might happen anyway.

State of the NBA

Right now the Golden State Warriors are dominating the NBA, they are 48-4 overall, which is on pace to beat the '95-'96 Bulls record of 72-10, a team that many considered to be the best of all time. They started out the season 24-0, and finally lost to Milwaukee, and at one point they lost 2 out of 3 games. That must have sparked them because they then went on a five game tear where they beat teams by an average of 25 points. The most impressive part of that is that Cleveland, Chicago, Indiana, San Antonio, and Dallas were the teams they beat during that stretch. Those teams are all playoff teams (well maybe not Chicago, but I'll get to that) and San Antonio and Cleveland are considered contenders. It's like the Kentucky basketball team last year, after a while people begin to despise your team because they are so good. It seems like in today's NBA you're either with the Warriors or you're against them, and there are a lot of people who are against them. I think part of that is the constant and unrelenting coverage by the media, all you see on ESPN, Sporting News, Bleacher Report, and Sports Illustrated is stuff about the Warriors. It gets very old, I actually rooted for the Warriors against Cleveland last year, but the media has made me hate them. Now it's a question of who can beat them, Houston, Toronto, Cleveland, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City have tried, but none have prevailed. All four of Golden State's losses don't matter, they serve a purpose other than to prove that no team is perfect. It will be important to watch how the Warriors play against the NBA's other contenders like Oklahoma City, San Antonio, and Los Angeles (Clippers). If one of those teams can beat Golden State, it might give more hope to this years playoff. But if the Warriors continue to dominate and have no trouble with other contenders, then they might as well not even play the playoffs. San Antonio and Oklahoma City are the two teams I thought could contend with Golden State, but now it might only be Oklahoma City. Both have recently played the Warriors on the road, both lost. However the Spurs lost by 30, and the Thunder lost by 8, even though the Spurs have the second best record in the league at 45-8. Hopefully the Thunder, Spurs, and Cavs can all get it together because the playoffs won't be very entertaining if the Warriors just sweep every team they play.

The team that is arguably the most disappointing right now would probably be the Bulls, they are 27-24, but they are 5-13 since January 9th. As a Bulls fan it is getting very hard to follow them, their starting lineup of Rose-Butler-Dunleavy-Gibson-Gasol isn't bad, and they have some valuable bench pieces. I think the Bulls could use a small forward, and maybe trade some of their current assets for a good draft pick to build a better future. I would say Dunleavy, Mirotic, Noah, and maybe even Rose are all considered trade-able.

Iowa loses, OU-KU Rematch

On Thursday night, Iowa traveled to Bloomington, Indiana to take on the Indiana Hoosiers in a game that meant a lot for the Big 10 Championship. They lost 85-78, but personally I thought they looked horrible in that game. I think a large part in that was how well Indiana played, the Hoosiers had well executed offensive sets that led to a lot of points. The game was actually pretty even in almost every single category, the one thing that probably decided the game was free throws, Iowa was 13-23 from the stripe, while Indiana was 18-21. A lot of people would say that the loss doesn't really matter because it was on the road and Indiana is expected to win at home, but I don't buy that, if Iowa wants to get a one seed then they need to start winning some of these big games, even if they are on the road. The last two big games Iowa has played in have been on the road and Iowa has lost, but in both games there seemed to be a lack of confidence or effort. In the previous games against Purdue and Michigan State, Iowa seemed to have a swagger, and played with a lot of effort. Iowa needs to figure it out and start winning big games, starting with the rematch vs Indiana at home on March 1.

Another major story line in college basketball right now would be the rematch of what many thought was the game of the year, Oklahoma vs Kansas. The previous game was played at Phog Allen Fieldhouse in Kansas, where the Jayhawks won 109-106 in three overtime periods. The game was a #1 vs #2 at the time and it lived up to all the hype. The game seemed like it just didn't want to end, each team hit big shots and finally Kansas came out on top. The leaders for both teams gave it their all, Buddy Hield had maybe the stat line of the year with 46 points 8 rebounds and 7 assists, Perry Ellis had 27 points and 13 rebounds for Kansas, and Frank Mason made a steal late in the game to seal the victory. If the game is the same as the last one then we will be in for a treat, expect a lot of three pointers and hopefully another overtime classic. In the last game Kansas had a couple opportunities to end it in overtime but didn't convert, so again it might come down to who makes the first mistake.

Super Bowl 50

To be honest Super Bowl 50 wasn't very entertaining, from the game, to the halftime show, and even the commercials, other than "Puppy-monkey-baby". The Denver Broncos won 24-10 in a game that was absolutely awful if offense was your thing. The Broncos daunting defensive line lead by DeMarcus Ware, Malik Jackson, and Von Miller were in the backfield on every play it seemed. It was just too much for the Panthers offensive line and Cam Newton to handle. Which reminds me that after the game a lot of the blame for the loss was heaped on Cam Newton. Now to be fair, the quarterback of the losing team usually receives a lot of the blame, and Cam Newton is a very confident person. In fact Cam kind of set himself up for a win or be shamed situation, with all of his talk, celebration, and success (the Panthers were 17-1 coming into the game). But despite all of this, there seemed to be a popular opinion that the MVP Cam Newton would shred the Broncos, and yet after the game, it seemed as though those same people mocked Cam, and photo-shopped his face into memes. Plus no matter how good the quarterback is, there isn't much he can do when two or three linemen are in his face on every single play. I find it funny how much peoples opinions can change from just one game.

The game can be explained by the fact that there was pressure on almost every play, and also by turnovers, both teams had trouble hanging on to the ball. The Panthers turned the ball over four times and the Broncos turned it over twice, one of the biggest factors in the game. The Panthers did however have over 300 yards of offense and 20 first downs, but was never able to consistently score. Cam Newton was bothered early on in the game, giving up a touchdown to the Broncos defense by way of a strip-sack. Shortly after that the Panthers scored their first touchdown, but after that all offense from both teams sort of just halted. Carolina was able to get a couple long plays down the field, but the Broncos were able to consistently put the Panthers in difficult third down situations.

Carolina was able to get it to a 16-10 game in the second half, but weren't able to do anything with it, coughing up a fumble in their own red-zone to set up a Denver touchdown. It wouldn't surprise me if both of these teams were in position for a Super Bowl next year, although I think the Panthers have a better chance. Th Broncos need to focus on getting a good quarterback because right now they have the best defense in the NFL.

Recruiting

Recruiting is a big part of college football because there is a strong correlation between recruiting well and playing well. Alabama has won 4 championships in the past 7 years, and they have also had the number one recruiting class in the nation for six straight years. That doesn't mean that just because a team recruits well that they will automatically play well. Teams like USC, Texas, Miami, and Penn State have had consistent top 25 recruiting classes but over the past 2 years they have had records of 14-12 (Miami), 14-12 (Penn State), 11-14 (Texas), and 17-10 (USC). So it definitely isn't a guarantee that a team will win just because they have better recruits. However it is true that the SEC is the best conference for college football but they also recruit very well throughout the conference. In the 2016 class there were around 10 SEC teams in the top 25 of the rankings, 12 in 2015, and 10 in 2014. Compared to the Big 10 who had 5 teams in the top 25 in 2016, 3 in 2015 , 4 in 2014. That just has to get better if the Big 10 wants to improve. But the problem is that the Big 10 has to try a lot harder and spend a lot more money to recruit on the level of the SEC teams, and even some of the Big 12, and ACC, and Pac-12 teams. This is because the states that have the best recruits are Florida, Georgia, Texas, and California. So many SEC teams pull their recruits from Georgia and Florida and don't have to spend too much money to recruit them. Pac-12 teams can recruit from California, which is probably the 2nd best recruiting states in the nation. Which brings me to the top recruiting states in the nation, Texas, which is where many Big 12 schools pull their recruits from, and also some SEC schools, like LSU, Texas A&M, and Arkansas. But in general Big 10 schools have to travel farther to reach good recruits. States like Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Minnesota just don't produce high level recruits like southern states do.

Despite all of this Big 10 schools, like my own team, Iowa, need to recruit better. It is necessary to compete with all the other schools. The Big 10 and schools like Iowa, Wisconsin, and Nebraska should be dominating the recruitment of offensive and defensive line prospects. All of those schools are known for producing top linemen, people like Marshal Yanda, Travis Frederick, J.J. Watt, Mike Daniels, Ndamukong Suh, and Brandon Scherff. Yet in 2016 many of the top offensive line recruits went to schools known for producing skill position players rather than lineman.

Final Four Contenders

There are many teams that have the capability to make the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament, but there are a handful of teams that are the top of the top, and will be expected to reach the Final Four. The blue blood programs (programs that are consistently good, national powers) aren't doing as well this year, Kansas, North Carolina and Louisville are really the only ones that are good this year. Duke is 16-6 overall but is just 5-4 in conference, Kentucky is also 16-6, but has lost three games in a very poor conference. Arizona is 18-5, which seems good, but they have also struggled in conference with 4 out of their 5 losses coming to conference opponents. It is unlikely that any of these teams will make it very far in the NCAA Tournament. With such programs being down it has made for a far more open college basketball landscape, many top 10 teams have been beaten and there is no real dominant team in basketball. So teams like Xavier, Texas A&M, Iowa, West Virginia, and Oklahoma have risen to the top of their respective conferences. Xavier has a strong record, already at 20-2, but don't have a strong resume because they lack a signature win. The Musketeers have beaten Michigan, USC, and Providence, but they would benefit greatly if they were able to take advantage of their opportunity to knock off Villanova at home later this season. Texas A&M is the team to beat in the SEC, especially because Kentucky is having a bad year. The Aggies have a couple nice wins over Big 12 powers Iowa State and Baylor, and have also taken down Gonzaga and LSU. They are certainly in the running for a #1 seed in the tournament because it appears that they will coast to a regular season SEC Championship.

Iowa has already played most of their big games, losing to Iowa State by one, sweeping Michigan State and Purdue, and losing at Maryland. But I still feel like there is more they need to do, especially if they want to win a Big 10 regular season championship. They have probably only three more games that they could potentially trip up in. They have two games against Indiana that are crucial to deciding who wins the Big 10, and a road trip to Michigan the last game of the season. In reality they will probably go 2-1 in these games, probably losing at Indiana, but they could cement themselves as leaders if they swept Indiana and took care of business in all the rest of their games. I think it is completely reasonable to think that Iowa will not lose another regular season game, probably not more than one, if they do lose. Which would put them at around 25-5 or 26-4, a very solid record, and possibly also be the Big Ten champs. 

West Virginia and Oklahoma are currently leading the Big 12, although it is a toss up as to who will win the Big 12. Oklahoma, West Virginia, Kansas, Baylor and maybe even Iowa State could win it. Although ISU has the most ground to make up as they have already lost four in conference. I would say that any of those five teams could make it to the Final Four, although I'm predicting right now that at least two of them won't make it past the second game of the tournament.