IGP: The Tourney Edition

Illinois vs. Farleigh Dickenson
Tonight @ 8:30

Welcome to the 2005 NCAA Tournament Edition of the IGP. In only a few hours the madness will begin, and you will be on your way to winning the office pool…that is, if you follow my 3 Steps to Office Pool Immortality Guide. I expect a steak dinner in the off-season when you win.

1. Pick the winner. Like it or not, if you want to be in the $$$, then you need to pick the winner. It's nearly impossible to catch up on points if you don't have the final game predicted correctly. This one is easy, though. It's the Illini.

2. Bank on heavy hitters. I am not talking about the steroid induced gorillas in baseball. I am talking about college hoops gamers. Every year a prime performer hits on all cylinders and carries his team to the Sweet Sixteen or further. Randolph Childress, God Shamgod, Harold Arceneaux, and Kyle Korver are a few examples. This year we have the obvious choices like Salim Stoudemire - 'Zona, Jerry McNamara - 'Cuse, or Francisco Garcia - Louisville. But how about Nate Funk - Creighton (17.6 ppg), Allan Ray - 'Nova (17.3 ppg 41% 3pt shooting pct), or Andrew Bogut - Utah (21ppg 12 rpg). Bank on these guys winning at least one round, and Allen Ray leading his team to the Sweet Sixteen by topping 'Cuse (there is only room for one orange and blue team).

3. Bet on winners. I've seen Georgia Tech is a popular choice to go deep in the Albuquerque bracket. I don't understand why. They're 2-9 against the field of 64, and they barely squeaked into the field thanks to a late run in the ACC tourney. The Yellow Jackets are a shadow of the team they were last year - find the white out. Florida is another squad that will blow up your brackets if you pick them to go deep. Head Coach Billy Donovan is a choke artist in the NCAAs. He's an underachiever who will fall to an overachiever named Jay Wright who is the Head Coach at Villanova.

On to the meat and potatoes

I received a disturbing e-mail the other day from a diehard Illini fan who was at the Big 10 tournament. He told me that he was worried about the Illini in the NCAAs. "They didn't look like a final four team," he whined. After picking myself up off the floor, I wrote down a few of Illinois' accomplishments this year.

· 14-0 non-conference record
· 15-1 Big 10 record - Outright Conference Champs
· 13-0 vs. tournament teams
· 15 wks ranked no. 1
· 3 First Team All Big 10 Selections
· Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year - Dee Brown
· 5 Players averaging double figures
· Home Court Advantage throughout the tournament (Indy, Chicago, St. Louis)

Feeling better?

When we started the season, every overpaid hoops analyst said that our frontcourt was suspect. But who carried us through the Big Ten Tournament? James Augustine earned tourney MVP honors by averaging a double-double; while Roger Powell played like a 7 footer, pulling down every offensive rebound available. Our perceived weakness has become a strength.

Smiling?

We have the best backcourt in the country. Dee Brown was quoted in the paper as saying he's been taking 300 shots a day. He said that he's not concerned w/how many he makes. He is searching for his shooting touch. It's a feeling that is not satisfied by the sound of a swish but by the feeling he gets when the shot leaves his finger tips. Deron Williams gets that feeling when he sees a teammate open in the lane. He mentally chalks up an assist before Augustine or Powell even catch the ball. Luther Head gets that feeling when he's going to hole. He can smell the front of the rim, and something inside wills him to beat his man to the basket.

Getting charged up?

I told you earlier in this letter to bank on a few prime performers to take their teams deeper in the tourney. Illinois doesn't rely on one player to win They play the best team basketball in the nation. That is why they will succeed.

This year, I wrote that the Illini make sweet music when they play together; I said they were like superheroes on the basketball court; and I even compared them to a prize fighter. Illini fans, there is only one thing left that I want to call this team - CHAMPIONS.


Sincerely,

Mike Nett