March Madness Predictions....Sleepers....Who's overrated?

THE BIG EAST - My Votes/Picks

       I just want to start this out by saying this has been one of the most enjoyable years to watch the Big East.  There is no doubt this is the best and deepest conference in the NCAA, and I agree that setting a record of possibly having 11 teams as locks to get into the NCAA Tournament has been earned at this point.  Marquette is most likely the 11th team to get that spot in the tournament, but they deserve it with huge wins against SU, West Virginia, Notre Dame, and a monster win against UConn on the road last week.  Marquette plays everybody tough and even the best of teams in the Big East know they're in for a battle every time they match up with Darius Johnson-Odom and my favorite, Jimmy Butler.  Even West Virginia with their total lack of scoring, has been able to get solid conference W's with their hard nosed tough team defense.  How can you keep Bobby Huggins out of the NCAA Tournament with wins over Georgetown, Purdue, Cincy, and Notre Dame by 14.

       It's been said a lot this year, but it's true, as the Big East has gotten stronger and impossible to predict each night, the rest of the conferences have gotten weaker.  The PAC10, ACC, and SEC are typically solid major conferences, however, this year these 3 all don't have much to show for themselves.....here's a question for you to think about....how would DUKE do if they were in the Big East this year???  One game doesn't provide any guarantees, but they did get blown out by 15 against an unranked St. Johns team.
  Syracuse has been a roller coaster this year, but sitting at 12th in the AP and winners of 6 of their last 8 you can't complain.  Brandon Triche should get the award for Most Improved Player in the conference this year, as he's gone from a quiet role player to a flat out scorer in crunch time, almost 90% from the free throw line as well.  With opposing defenses focusing on Joseph and Jackson, Scoop and Triche have recently kept me from pulling my hair out....it's definitely a love-hate relationship with Scoop...I love ya right now pards. 

My Big East Picks:

Player of the Year: Kemba Walker  (Besides a small stretch that he struggled, he's put up big numbers throughout the year, sorry Hardy fans)  

Most Improved: Brandon Triche

Coach of the Year:  Steve Lavin no doubt (The Johnnies simply haven't been an important piece of the Big East in almost a decade, so Coaches do matter)

Sleeper in the Big East Tournament:  Cincinnati (athletic, well coached, hit 3's, and rebound with 

Who will win the Big East Tournament: St. Johns (they're ripping it up their last 10 games and flat out blowing people off the court...solid teams too.  Playing at home doesn't hurt either in the tournament)

Biggest Collapse since midseason:  What has happened to NOVA...wow, blown out last night vs. Notre Dame.


The double-double award:  BIG RICK JACKSON (One of SU's most improved players over the course of his career, right there with Demetrius Nichols and Kris Joseph)

Cockiest player who didn't do ANYTHING until this year:  Ben Hansbrough.....do you shave yet son?


Big East High Game Scorer in Big East play *Record:  Marshon Brooks with 52 points....I would say pass the ball, your team blows, but I don't know any other player on your team....keep shooting.


Don't let me shoot 3's in your face award:  Tie between Tim Abromaitis (he must use Proactive) and Ashton Gibbs (I love my set shots)


Your Season Could Be In Serious Jeopardy Award:  Georgetown (Losing Chris Wright for a couple weeks and the uncertainty of his play once he returns should scare any G-Town fan, he's their floor general and 2nd leading scorer)


Current Big East Standings:

BIG EAST	Pct	Overall	Pct
^Pittsburgh	13 - 3	.813	25 - 4	.862
^Notre Dame	13 - 4	.765	24 - 5	.828
Louisville	11 - 5	.688	22 - 7	.759
St. John's	11 - 5	.688	19 - 9	.679
Syracuse	11 - 6	.647	24 - 6	.800
Georgetown	10 - 7	.588	21 - 8	.724
Cincinnati	9 - 7	.563	22 - 7	.759
Connecticut	9 - 7	.563	21 - 7	.750
West Virginia	9 - 7	.563	18 - 10	.643
Marquette	9 - 7	.563	18 - 11	.621
Villanova	9 - 8	.529	21 - 9	.700
Seton Hall	5 - 11	.313	11 - 17	.393
Rutgers	4 - 12	.250	13 - 15	.464
Providence	3 - 13	.188	14 - 15	.483
USF	3 - 13	.188	9 - 21	.300
DePaul	1 - 15	.063	7 - 22	.241

 

2010 Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket - Sleepers??

MIDWEST REGIONAL

Sleeper Picks: Oklahoma State(7) beat Kansas earlier this year

Northern Iowa(9) was nationally ranked nearly all of this year and could pose problems for Kansas in the 2nd round.

_______________________________________________________________

WEST REGIONAL

Sleeper Picks:  Murray State(13) is 30-4 on the year and has the size and athleticism to create serious match up problems for Vanderbilt(4)

Xavier(6) should be a formidable opponent in the 2nd round for Pittsburgh and has played very well over the last month in the A-10

Gonzaga(8) has been ranked in the top 25 for most of the year and has the size down low to get offensive rebounds against Syracuse without Center Arinze Onuaku.

__________________________________________________________________

EAST REGIONAL

Sleeper Picks: Missouri(10) is 22-10 on the year and was 10-6 in conference play in the very tough Big 12

Texas(8) should be a very interesting matchup in the 2nd round against a young Kentucky squad that will be evenly matched in athleticism by the Longhorns.

Marquette(6) has played the best of the best in the Big East tough all year and will need the leadership of Lazar Hayward and Jimmy Butler to make a run towards a Sweet 16 matchup against conference rival West Virginia

_______________________________________________________________

SOUTH REGIONAL

Sleeper Picks: Siena(13) should pose serious problems for a depleted Purdue team that is lost with Robbie Hummel

Louisville(9) with two huge wins over Syracuse this year could disrupt and pressure the Blue Devils in the second round, as Rick Pitino will have his boys ready for a big upset.

Old Dominion(11) won the CAA Conference Championship and has held opponents to an average of 57 points per game this year.  This should be a close game between ODU and Notre Dame and could come down to the last shot.

What are your thoughts?  What other sleepers do you see out there?

THE CUSE Remains Perfect with 75-51 Victory Against St. Francis

   SU fans must be happy they saw no let down by THE CUSE today against St. Francis.  After a much tighter game Thursday against the Florida Gators, this afternoon SU proved they truly have a balanced scoring attack and were able to dominate down low.  Today, Senior Center Arinze Onuaku showed his presence in the paint with clutch shots and a fabulous left hand as he put up 14 points on 70% shooting from the floor....that a baby Arinze!  Syracuse is now 10-0 on the season for the first time since the 1999-2000 season in which they started 19-0.  You truely never know which guy is going to lead the team in scoring, as 8 players can each put up double digits if called upon to do so.  Against St. Francis, Junior forward Rick Jackson had 11 points and hauled down six rebounds.  Junior forward Wes Johnson put up 12 points with nine boards while also logging three steals, 2 assists and a game-best four blocked shots....wow, this guy gets up in the air.  Redshirt freshman Mookie Jones was the last double digit scorer with 10, as he made 3 trifectas in the game today.  I was a bit surprised to see Mookie put up the numbers he did, but he looked great doing it. 
         At this point in the season I must say that I'm pleasantly surprised with the high level of point guard play out of Scoooooop Jardine.  He's consistenly played and handled the ball well and it's definitely evident that the team and coaches are expecting great things from Jardine on the court each game.  I never thought of Jardine as much of a scorer, but he's even been able to do that this year, as he's averaging 8.9 points.  He's an impact player that's been a big jolt for The Cuse so far this year.  Jardine's known as a solid passer and today was no different as he dished out a game high 9 assists.  Coach Boeheim had this to say after the game about the team chemistry and particularly the team passing: 

      "We played well together. We had 24 assists again tonight -- everyone has been very unselfish, looking for each other. We work hard and we are getting better, we just have to keep improving. We played just the first part of the season and we have a long way to go. The bottom line is we have to get better."

It was a positive effort all around today as St. Francis didn't pose much of a threat against SU's size and superior skills.  The one thing I do want to see going forward, however, is for SU to get the number of turnovers down, as they had 16 on the game today.  I'm sure everyone else is greatly looking forward to SU's upcoming BIG EAST schedule, but for the time being we're all happy with SU's out of conference W's that keep wracking up.  Go Cuse, keep the train rollin'....

The Only Orange Florida Can't Squeeze

It's not uncommon that the Syracuse University Men's Basketball team starts a season 9-0, they've certainly attained that mark multiple times before. However, it's not every year that you see THE CUSE start out their season with high quality out of conference top 25 victories. Although SU's win versus Florida was by no means convincing, unlike the one over then 13th ranked California and the following night over 4th ranked UNC, the win over Florida did show us how SU can respond to adversity. SU was in control for most of the game, however, they were down 2 with less than 10 minutes left in the game. This was caused by The Cuse giving up three straight 3 pointers to the Gators and at that point in the game every SU fan must have been shaking in their boots. Nonetheless, Rautins immediately showed his leadership abilities and demanded the ball as he hit a 3 with absolutely no hesitation.... love it. After that, SU didn't give up the lead again as Wesley Johnson decided he was going to show up and prove he's the best player SU has to offer.
The one thing this team has this year is perseverence and a sense of team. They overcame a tough Florida team and really do play well together. There isn't one guy that has to take the shot when SU needs a bucket; they can go to nearly anyone on the floor and can expect something positive. Guys like Rick Jackson exemplifies this fact. Rick plays tough D, goes for nearly every board, and has through hard off-season work become a very solid offensive player...nearly shocking after his output as a Freshman. That's why Boeheim is a hall of famer, because he's able to bring the best out of players. Great game last night gentlemen, I had knots in my stomach throughout, but still an impressive showing.

SU resurgence... LeMoyne who??

It seems like years ago that the Syracuse Men's Basketball team lost to Division II LeMoyne in the Carrier Dome. I think any true and long term SU fan was thinking the same thing I did when the clocked struck zero, wow, is this what "our" team has become after losing Jonny, Devo, and Harris. Even though it was a preseason game and SU played man-to-man throughout, you know Boeheim was supremely embarrassed, and he should have. However, with all the off-season hype of recent additions like Brandon Triche and Wesley Johnson, the LeMoyne game was a very rough start to what appeared to be a long season ahead.

Boy how things have changed over the last month. Recently I can't turn on ESPN without hearing Dicky V or Steve Lavin annointing Wesley Johnson the next coming of Christ, a lil early but you gotta enjoy the SU love that has been long overdue. I must say that I do love all the hype that has followed since I watched arguably two of the best games I've ever seen SU play as they routed the extremely overrated California Golden Bears and a very young, but by all indications a legit North Carolina team. As we all know, it's very early, but so far I must say it's been the most exciting team I've seen out of SU since 2003. The defense is phenomenal and has been the staple of the whole SU turnaround since the LeMoyne game. We're all very excited for the upcoming Florida game on Thursday, as SU can once again confirm they are the real deal, and prove they are not some early season flare up that will sizzle out come Big East ball.
Wesley Johnson, Brandon Triche, Andy Rautins and company need to keep the train moving, and I'm sure the SU fans will be there every step of the way, as we always have pumping our fists throughout and looking forward to another successful SU bball team. See everybody after the Florida game.

K-Geo
Posted by K-GEO at 7:47 PM
Labels: SU- Florida coming up
1 comments:
matt said...
Nice work KG i think the biggest difference this year is D, quick enough and big enough for the zone....also Wesley is Christ so dont be confused.....I cant be more excited for a season after the low that i felt against lemoyne i now feel amazing about the season and in a fully confident way cause we got the coach we got the system and now weve got the players.....GO CUSE