NCAA Tournament - Top takeaways from Day 3
Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz, Krysten Peek and NCAA champion Danny Green discuss the biggest second round storylines of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Video Transcript
JASON FITZ: It's time to put a bow on all the action and wrap up what we saw on Saturday in the NCAA tournament. Krysten Peek, Danny Green, I'm Jason Fitz for "Yahoo! Sports." Danny, what stood out to you?
DANNY GREEN: I mean, of course, I love seeing my Carolina boys win. So that's the first thing that stood out. But a player we spoke about earlier in the week, Terrence Shannon, Jr., another monster night, 30 points tonight. Illinois rolled. They played a great game. But he's averaging 32.5 points over his last four games. And he's been the player of the tournament for me, so far. So if he continues this, he could be MVP of the-- They're going to be in the Final Four, I think. And he'll be MVP of the tournament.
JASON FITZ: That is interesting to me because so much of what we saw today were teams coming in and taking away what happened in the first round. Nobody was able to take him away in this matchup.
DANNY GREEN: No, he's been playing extremely well, getting downhill, getting to the free-throw line, but getting his teammates involved. He does a little bit of everything, not just scoring and shooting. He actually started off slow tonight, had about 12 points in the first half, but finished off strong. They were up big, early. And they were able to get some rest as well. But they all played a really good game tonight.
JASON FITZ: All right, dominance for them. KP, what stands out to you?
KRYSTEN PEEK: I mean, it was nothing that happened on the court. It was what happened off the court, after the game, and that was after Gonzaga beat Kansas to roll to the Sweet 16. And Bill Self came out and said, for the last month, I've been thinking about next season, to be honest.
And, mind you, it was taken a little bit out of context. He went on to explain that they've been dealing with injuries all season long. And they have. They were missing Kevin McCullar, Jr., their number one scorer who averages 20 a game. And Hunter Dickinson has just been a shell of himself, with the dislocation in the shoulder. But to say that in a press conference, after your season just ended, no matter which way you're going with that comment, was just really shocking to see from a seasoned coach and a bad look for him.
DANNY GREEN: Yeah, I don't like to tell people, especially coaches, what to say. But there are certain things you can think and not say out loud. I'm glad he backtracked and spoke on it because if you're a player that's playing for him and you hear that, it's like you kind of feel like your coach might have given up on you in the last month or so. But, as I said, I'm glad he cleared it up.
They've been dealing with a lot. A lot of teams have. But in this time, tournament time, there's no excuses. You got to come out and play. But I do give them credit. They were down a man and a half because Hunter Dickinson did not have his full shoulder. But, as I said, things like that, you have to just keep to yourself.
JASON FITZ: And that brings me to my big takeaway from what we saw, and it's that, sort of, everybody belongs, right?
DANNY GREEN: Yeah.
JASON FITZ: As we were watching all of the games, over the course of today, it felt like-- it feels like, every round, we're seeing more of the fat trimmed. And what we're getting, the best of the best from the coaches, from the players, the teams that are able to figure out how to strategize against each other. As I mentioned earlier, we've seen strengths taken away. The teams that are surviving, this doesn't feel like a year of a wild, lucky buzzer beater, where you're sitting there, saying, how the hell did that team get to this spot? This feels like the teams that are surviving are actually the best teams. And I think that's good for the sport.
DANNY GREEN: For sure. It makes it kind of boring for the fan. The drama, people want to see more upsets. Not as many upsets this year, but we're getting a good brand of basketball.
KRYSTEN PEEK: Taking care of business.
DANNY GREEN: Yeah.
JASON FITZ: Yeah, and at the end of the day, as much as we love to see drama, we also love to see great basketball. And the Sweet 16 is shaping up to be exactly that.