MVN - Most Valuable Network

First Round First Teamers

Are you pumped up yet? I’ve been listing to this Jay-Z instrumental of his “Roc Boys” track - it is my March Madness song. There were some major league performances in that first round over the past two days. Day one might have been ho-hum, with K-State pulling the only “major” upset. Even then, you could argue that they were even with USC all year and it was a little ridiculous that the BeasleyCats were given an 11 seed. I guess majo.exe and beasley.exe were set to lock horns in the computer system that seeded the teams. Got to give it to those programmers for setting that up! Maybe the computer system got the Trojan virus?

In case you missed some of the key note performances, no worries. I’ve got my first round first teamers right here. Are you ready? These guys definitely were and it has their teams moving on to the second round.

For the first player, I’ve got to start with the top performance of the first round. Everyone knew coming in that Davidson sophomore Stephen (pronounced “Stefan” instead of “Steven”) Curry was going to be the player Gonzaga had to contain. He is the nation’s fifth leading scorer at 25.5 points per game, son of former NBA guard and VCU alum Dell Curry. With his team down 11 with 15 minutes to go, Curry had 15 points in the game. He scored on a layup with 14:45 on the clock and converted the old fashioned three point play. From that point on, Curry had 22 more points and finished with 30 in the second half to lead his team to the 82-76 victory. Curry had 40 of those 82 points and connected on 8-of-10 bombs from long distance.

It was the first time I had actually seen him play and he was even better than advertised. He’s impossible to stop, due to a quick release and smart use of screens and cuts. Because of the constant attention, he’s become accustomed to catching the pass and getting the shot off very quickly, but also fundamentally sound. The thing that people might overlook is the fact that he also played solid defense and grabbed a game-high five steals. Can he pull off the upset over Georgetown? It should be a great game. Set your clocks for 2:50 Eastern time on Sunday.

The second first-teamer is the one player who scored more second half points than Curry. Miami’s Jack McClinton scored 32 after halftime to lead the Hurricanes in a second half comeback over St. Mary’s. That’s right. He matched St. Mary’s second half output personally. McClinton 32 - Gaels 32. McClinton’s teammates shut out the non-factors and Miami rolled. The amazing thing is that McClinton was suffering from the flu in the days leading up to the tournament. McClinton’s 10 points in a 25-5 run early in the second gave the Canes a 52-38 lead. St. Mary’s could only get within eight before McClinton and Co. shut the door.

The next PTPer who stepped up and led his team to victory was Mississippi State’s Charles Rhodes. The 6′8″ 245 pound senior forward-center for the Bulldogs scored 34 points on only 12 shots from the field. He was 14-for-18 from the line and he also pitched in 9 rebounds. This helped Mississippi State overcome a 2-for-14 shooting performance from junior point guard Jamont Gordon. Gordon also had 11 rebounds and 9 assists, but 6 turnovers as well. With Gordon struggling, it was a great time for a career-high from Rhodes and the senior delivered.

Another player who carried his team to victory in an 8-9 game was Arkansas forward Sonny Weems. The 6′6″ senior scored 31 points to lead the Razorbacks over Indiana, 86-72. Like Rhodes, Weems also kept the shot attempts down. He was an efficient 12-of-14 from the field, including 3-of-4 from deep. He added 5 rebounds and 2 steals to his performance. They will need another efficient game from him if they are to have a shot at upsetting the top team in the land - UNC.

Finally, rounding out the first round first team is Western Kentucky’s Tyrone Brazelton. The Missouri State transfer was familiar with Drake from his days in the Missouri Valley Conference. He came up big against Drake’s Adam Emmenecker and finished with 33 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in their 101-99 victory. While Brazelton hit 6-of-10 from deep and also consistently got to the rim against the Missouri Valley player of the year, it was his final assist to beat the buzzer in overtime which sent the Hilltoppers over the top. With 5.7 seconds left on the clock, Brazelton drove it the length of the court and dribbled it into the defense before dropping it off for an open Ty Rogers. You know the rest…

Honorable Mention (Sixth Man Award) goes to Siena’s Kenny Hasbrouck. I was expecting Shan Foster to have a big game, but he was held to thirteen as the Saints 6′3″ junior guard scored 30 points in a 21 point victory. While Hasbrouck was 9-for-14 from the field, it was his perfect 10 at the line that padded the margin.

Four players played exceptionally well in losing efforts. Kentucky senior guard Joey Crawford had 35 of his team’s 66 points in a eight point loss to Stanford on Thursday. Baylor junior guard Curtis Jerrells had 27 points and 8 dimes, but didn’t get enough help as the Bears fell to Purdue, 90-79. Cal State Fullerton’s 5′11″ junior point guard who transferred from Washington State, Josh Akognon, had 31 points and eight rebounds in a 15 point loss to Wisconsin. Akognon took 23 shots in the game and didn’t dish out one assist though. Finally, Drake’s man in the middle - 6′8″ junior Jonathan Cox, had a huge game in the losing effort. His 29 points and 16 rebounds almost won the game as Drake came from 13 down with seven and half minutes to go to force overtime. Over the final ten minutes of regulation, Cox scored 17 points (three 3’s, two tip-ins, and four free-throws).

To recap, the first round first teamers are Davidson’s Stephen Curry, Miami’s Jack McClinton, Mississippi State’s Charles Rhodes, Arkansas’ Sonny Weems and Western Kentucky’s Tyrone Brazelton. My MVP of the Fab5 is Brazelton for the fact that his play came against the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year and that he set up his teammate for the game winning shot. What do these five players have in store for the second round? Can they stage more upsets against the top dogs? Stay tuned as the madness ensues…

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 22nd, 2008 at 11:51 am and is filed under Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, Kenny Hasbrouck, Tyrone Brazelton, Ty Rogers, Stephen Curry, Stanford Cardinal, Missouri Valley Conference, Charles Rhodes, Curtis Jerrells, Jamont Gordon, Kyle Weidie, Bulldog Maroon and White, Josh Akognon, Dell Curry, Gonzaga Bulldogs, St. Mary's Gaels, Jay-Z, VCU Rams, Red Lasso, Davidson Wildcats, Siena Saints, Sonny Weems, Baylor Bears, Cal State Fullerton Titans, Drake Bulldogs, Shan Foster, Purdue Boilermakers, Michael Beasley, Indiana Hoosiers, O.J. Mayo, Miami Hurricanes, Kansas State Wildcats, Jon Burkett, Wisconsin Badgers, March Madness, NCAA tournament, Georgetown Hoyas, Joey Crawford, UNC, USC Trojans, Adam Emmenecker, Jonathan Cox, Mississippi State Bulldogs, Jack McClinton, Kentucky Wildcats, Arkansas Razorbacks, Oregon Ducks, Missouri State, Final Four, North Carolina Tar Heels, Vanderbilt Commodores, NBA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.