The World Series of Basketball: Day 4

Can Carmelo Anthony lead the New York super team to the 2013 World Series of Basketball title?  Reuters/PHOTOCREDITS

   After three days of assembling each team, it is finally tournament time in the World Series of Basketball. With 34 teams making the cut (out of 54), the teams are locked and loaded with NBA talent. Some teams, such as Illinois and New York, look like front runners for the title, while teams like Minnesota look absolutely dreadful. Regardless, the skill level and unpredictability of the tournament should warrant sufficient satisfaction from this year's World Series of Basketball.

     The tournament itself is divided into 4 regions. Seeing that the country has already been divided up geographically, we will skip the conventional method (North, South, East, and West), and take one from Mother Nature (and Aristotle), which means the regions will be Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. Now that the regions are settled, it's time to seed the tournament. I decided that randomly seeding the tournament would provide a more exciting and unbiased approach. With the help of a random number generator, the teams were placed into 34 seeds and put in their respective regions. Because there are 34 teams, the four lowest seeds overall will play two play-in games to determine which teams face the number one seeds in the Earth and Water Regions.

     Teams will advance through the tournament on Day 4 through my personal inquiry. Games will be picked on which team would most likely win the basketball game, without any personal bias towards particular players or states (But still, go Hoosier State). A champion will be crowned, making that team the 2013 World Series of Basketball Champion. Yet, if this is an entirely fictional tournament, the title has no real meaning. However, I've thought of a way to increase the stakes. After Day 4, the top 16 teams from today's tournament will be put into a NBA 2k13 Playoff Mode simulation tournament. This way, this year's World Series will be put into another dimension and give basketball fans another way to relate to the tournament. But that's a day away, so try and control your emotions till at least the rest of the article. And now, here is the 2013 World Series of Basketball Tournament.

Here is another look at all the teams invited to the tournament.
 
New England (ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT)

Massachusetts – Michael Carter-Williams, Lazar Hayward, Jeff Adrien, Alex Oriakhi, Nerlens Noel

Mid-Atlantic (PA, NY, NJ, MD, DC, DE)

Pennsylvania – Dion Waiters, Kobe Bryant, Tyreke Evans, Markieff Morris, Dejaun Blair

New York – Kemba Walker, Lance Stephenson, Carmelo Anthony, Andre Drummond, Roy Hibbert

New Jersey – J.R. Smith, Michael Kidd-Ghilchrist, Kenneth Faried, David West, Andrew Bynum

Maryland – Ty Lawson, Jarrett Jack, Victor Oladipo, Michael Beasley, Jeff Green

District of Columbia – Greivis Vasquez, Delonte West, Sam Young, Rudy Gay, Kevin Durant

Midwest (ND/SD, NE, KS, MN, IA, MO)

Minnesota – Nate Wolters, Jon Leuer, Mike Muscala, Kris Humphries, Joe Przybilla

Iowa – Kirk Hinrich, Kyle Korver, Harrison Barnes, Nick Collison, Patrick O’Bryant

Missouri – Ben McLemore, Bradley Beal, Alec Burks, Otto Porter, Tyler Hansbroug

Great Lakes (MI, WI, OH, IN, IL, KY)

Michigan – Jordan Crawford, Jason Richardson, Wilson Chandler, Kenyon Martin, JaVale McGee

Wisconsin – Devin Harris, Wesley Matthews, Caron Butler, Steve Novak, Carl Landry

Ohio – Trey Burke, Norris Cole, Lebron James, Jared Sullinger, Kosta Koufos

Indiana – Mike Conley Jr., Eric Gordon, Gordon Hayward, Zach Randolph, Cody Zeller

Illinois – Derrick Rose, Dwayne Wade, Evan Turner, Andre Iguodala, Anthony Davis

Kentucky – Rajon Rondo, Shelvin Mack, Nolan Smith, O.J. Mayo, Darius Miller

Southeast (VA, WV, NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, TN)

Virginia – Kendall Marshall, J.J. Redick, Grant Hill, Mike Scott, Andray Blatche

North Carolina – Chris Paul, John Wall, Stephen Curry, Reggie Bullock, John Henson

South Carolina – Ramon Sessions, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Jordan Hill, Jermaine O’Neal

Georgia – Lou Williams, Kentavius Caldwell-Pope, Josh Smith, Derrick Favors, Dwight Howard

Florida – Austin Rivers, Brandon Knight, Vince Carter, Chandler Parsons, Amare Stoudemire

Alabama – Eric Bledsoe, DeMarre Carroll, Jamario Moon, D.J. White, DeMarcus Cousins

Southwest (MS, LA, AR, TX, OK, CO, NM)

Mississippi – Isaiah Cannan, Mo Williams, Travis Outlaw, Romero Osby, Al Jefferson

Louisiana – D.J. Augustin, Danny Granger, Thaddeus Young, Paul Millsap, Greg Monroe

Texas – Deron Williams, Jimmy Butler, Chris Bosh, LaMarcus Aldridge, Emeka Okafor

Oklahoma – Kelenna Azubuike, Xavier Henry, Blake Griffin, Ekpe Udoh, Daniel Orton

Northwest (AK, WA, OR, ID, MT, WY)

Washington – Nate Robinson, Avery Bradley, Rodney Stuckey, Jamal Crawford, Spencer Hawes

Oregon – Terrence Ross, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Kyle Singler, Terrence Jones, Kevin Love

West (AZ, NV, UT, CA, HI)

Nevada – Pierre Jackson, C.J. Watson, Shabazz Mhammad, Armon Johnson, Luke Babbit

California – Jrue Holiday, James Harden, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Brook Lopez

International

Argentina – Pablo Prigioni, Manu Ginobili, Carlos Delfino, Andres Nocioni, Luis Scola

Brazil – Leandro Barbosa, Nene Hilario, Tiago Splitter, Anderson Varejao, Fab Melo

Canada – Steve Nash, Cory Josesph, Anthony Bennett, Andrew Nicholson, Tristan Thompson

France – Tony Parker, Rodrigue Beaubois, Nicolas Batum, Boris Diaw, Joakim Noah

Spain – Ricky Rubio, Jose Calderon, Pau Gasol, Serge Ibaka, Marc Gasol

     Earth
          (1) Brazil v. (8) Winner of Missouri v. South Carolina
          (2) Illinois v. (7) District of Columbia
          (3) Spain v. (6) Michigan
          (4) Maryland v. (5) Minnesota
     Water
          (1) Pennsylvania v. (8) Winner of Nevada v. Oklahoma
          (2) Georgia v. (7) Argentina
          (3) Iowa v. (6) Kentucky
          (4) New York v. (5) Florida
     Air
          (1) Washington v. (8) Mississippi
          (2) Massachusetts v. (7) Indiana
          (3) Texas v. (6) Oregon
          (4) North Carolina v. (5) France
     Fire
          (1) Virginia v. (8) Ohio
          (2) Alabama v. (7) California
          (3) Wisconsin v. (6) New Jersey
          (4) Louisiana v. (5) Canada

Play-in Games
     South Carolina def. Missouri (101-99)
     Oklahoma def. Nevada (95 - 70)

First Round
     Earth                                     Water
       (8) South Carolina def. (1) Brazil                (1) Pennsylvania def. (8) Oklahoma
       (4) Maryland def. (5) Minnesota                  (4) New York def. (5) Florida
       (3) Spain def. (6) Michigan                          (6) Kentucky def. (3) Iowa
       (2) Illinois def. (7) District of Columbia        (2) Georgia def. (7) Argentina
     Air                                          Fire
       (1) Washington def. (8) Mississippi             (8) Ohio def. (1) Virginia
       (5) France def. (4) North Carolina               (4) Louisiana def. (5) Canada
       (3) Texas def. (6) Oregon                            (6) New Jersey def. (3) Wisconsin
       (7) Indiana def. (2) Massachusetts              (7) California def. (2) Alabama

Sweet Sixteen
     Earth                                     Water           
       (4) Maryland def. South Carolina              (4) New York def. (1) Pennsylvania
       (2) Illinois def. (3) Spain                            (2) Georgia def. (6) Kentucky
     Air                                          Fire
       (5) France def. (1) Washington                 (4) Louisiana def. (8) Ohio
       (3) Texas def. (7) Indiana                          (7) California def. (6) New Jersey

Elite Eight
     Earth                                     Water           
       (2) Illinois def. (4) Maryland                       (4) New York def. (2) Georgia
     Air                                          Fire
       (3) Texas def. (5) France                           (7) California def. (4) Louisiana

Final Four     
       (2) Illinois def. (3) Texas                                               
       (7) California def. (4) New York

Championship Game 
       (2) Illinois v. (7) California
          
         Derrick Rose          Jrue Holiday
         Dwayne Wade        James Harden
         Evan Turner           Paul George
         Andre Igoudala      Kawhi Leonard
         Anthony Davis       Brook Lopez

       California 125, Illinois 121
       Tournament MVP: James Harden