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NCAA Tournament Roundtable: Can NBA Guys Predict March Madness?

By Michael Saenz

Mar 10, 2017; Brooklyn, NY, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Joel Berry II (2) controls the ball against Duke Blue Devils guard Frank Jackson (15) during the first half of an ACC Conference Tournament game at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 10, 2017; Brooklyn, NY, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Joel Berry II (2) controls the ball against Duke Blue Devils guard Frank Jackson (15) during the first half of an ACC Conference Tournament game at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 4, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Lonzo Ball (2) controls the ball against the Washington State Cougars in the second half at Pauley Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 4, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Lonzo Ball (2) controls the ball against the Washington State Cougars in the second half at Pauley Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports /

The best player of the 2017 NCAA Tournament will be…

Saenz: Josh Jackson. I believe during the NCAA Tournament, he will separate himself from the rest of the top NBA Draft prospects – this is where not playing in the Tournament will hurt the likes of Markelle Fultz and Dennis Smith Jr.

Huberman: Lonzo Ball. UCLA lives and dies by Lonzo Ball and if they are going to go deep into the tournament as many predict they will, Lonzo Ball will have to be on point in every single game. The Bruins cannot win in the later stages of the tournament if he is ineffective. If he has another gear above his jaw-dropping season we all witnessed, we’ll see it in March.

McFee: This question is probably the hardest one to answer in this roundtable – we’ve all seen plenty of occurrences where a player has an incredible game but it’s just not enough to translate to a W because his team isn’t as well rounded/constructed. With that in mind, I (as much as it pained me) stayed within the powerhouse teams (UCLA, UNC, Duke, you get the idea) to pick a player and came up with UCLA’s starting guard…. Bryce Alford.

Look, I get it. Lonzo Ball is the real deal. Despite his funky shooting mechanics, he’ll (most likely) be a perennial All-Star in the NBA. He’s drawing comparisons to Jason Kidd, and that’s not a common comparison. That’s high praise. While attention will (and should) be paid to Ball, I’m very high on Bryce Alford.

Alford is averaging 15.8 PPG (a darn good scoring average in CBB) to pair with 43.8% shooting from distance while….. (wait for it) ATTEMPTING 7.5 3s A GAME!!

SEVEN. POINT. 5.

Whether it’s the NBA or NCAA Basketball – doesn’t matter which – those are impressive stats, and I think he’ll continue his strong play in this year’s tourney.

Pontin: Joel Berry III will be the best player of this year’s NCAA Tournament. Guards are associated with dominance in March, so a safe pick for player of the tournament would be the best guard on one of the country’s best team.

Webb: Justin Jackson, The ACC player of the year is the most important player for UNC and he will have a memorable tournament.

Macri: Lauri Markkanen. I’m cheating a bit, because there will certainly be better performances here and there, but no big-time player is on a team with a better chance to make a deep run than Markkanen on Arizona. He is absolutely dominant in the college game, and he should get at least five games to prove himself worth of this designation.

Dator: If we are talking about the best player period. No doubt, Josh Jackson of Kansas will be my guy. As I have said in my article, his versatility and two-way game will be in full display during the tournament.

Yet, if we are talking about winning the most outstanding player in the Final Four. Then, it will be Duke Freshman, Jayson Tatum. Duke has peaked at the right time. They were the best team last November and may still end up being the best team come April. Tatum will be the guy to bring home the Championship for the Blue Devils.

Gonzalez: Jayson Tatum. He is going to light it up for Duke and can himself back in the top 5 pick discussions.

Piers: This year’s Buddy Hield, Frank Mason from Kansas.

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