Say Something Nice - Who has impressed after the opening weekend of the NCAA tourney | College Basketball Enquirer
Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel and Ross Dellenger are joined by Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated to share what they’ve liked so far from the Men’s NCAA tournament so far. Hear the full conversation on the “College Basketball Enquirer” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
DAN WETZEL: We've said plenty of mean, snarky, outright grumpy things today, but it's time to find our happy place and say something nice, courtesy of our friends at Prime Video. Tell me something positive about March Madness over the weekend. What you got? Pat, you're a beacon of happiness.
PAT FORDE: I am at all times, right? I'm going to talk about the literal largest man left in the tournament, the elephant in ballerina slippers, who is DJ Burns for North Carolina State, who is comically listed at 6'9 275-- is probably 6'9, 325. I mean, there is no way in hell that dude doesn't weigh 300-plus.
And he's got NC State on this crazy, crazy run. They have won seven straight must-win games. NC State has literally had to win every single game to keep going. And they keep doing it. Poor Oakland had no idea what to do with big DJ-- 24 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists. We'll see him in the Sweet 16.
ROSS DELLENGER: I'm going to say something nice about Tennessee coach Rick Barnes, who gets blasted around every corner, it seems, for his record in March. The last 12 tournaments that he's coached in at Tennessee and Texas, he's only gotten to the Sweet 16 twice. And so this is the third time they're here, and he knocks off his old team, Texas, to do it, to get in there.
But, obviously, the real test comes this next weekend. But at least he's gotten to the second weekend. So that's my "say something nice" for Rick Barnes.
DAN WETZEL: All right, I'm going to say something nice about who I think is the biggest guy in the tournament is Zach Edey. This guy--
PAT FORDE: I guarantee DJ weighs more, but he doesn't [INAUDIBLE]
DAN WETZEL: Well, Zach is big, and he just gets beaten on. I just like watching him play. It's a throwback game. There's nothing special. He's this oak tree in the middle.
I like his demeanor. I feel like everybody just rips him. He gets yelled at by the fans. He gets heckled by opposing fans. He's a stoic-- kind of stoic Canadian and just gets it done. I just love watching Zach Edey play.
And I feel like this Purdue team just has so much pressure on them. It's got to get done right now. And he was all business this weekend. So good on Zach Edey. I'm not rooting for any particular team in this tournament, but I'm rooting for him.
And I think he's carried himself exceptionally well. There you have it. We proved that three grumps like us can actually say something positive for once. Thank you to Prime Video. Find your happy place and take the stress out of streaming with Prime Video.
