North Carolina
Tyler Hansbrough has had a wildly successful four years for the Tar Heels. He’s a bigman with a great touch around the basket and a tireless worker. However, he’s not the only very good player on North Carolina. Ty Lawson is a lightening quick point guard, while Wayne Ellington and Danny Green offer a nice mix of athleticism and skill out on the perimeter.

Connecticut
Though he isn’t much of a threat on the offensive end, Hasheem Thabeet is a monster on the defensive end. At 7-foot-3, Thabeet can rebound and block shots as well as any center in the land. The team’s biggest offensive threat is senior guard AJ Price. Price can stroke it from the perimeter and also get to the basket to cause havoc. Jeff Adrien offers muscle in the middle and is averaging a double-double on the season.

Michigan State
Goran Suton is another bigman who has helped lead his team to the 2009 Final Four. The 6-foot-10 center has averaged 19.5 points and 9.5 rebounds over his last two games. The team’s leading scorer this season has been Kalin Lucas, a silky smooth guard who can also distribute the rock. The wildcard on the team has been Raymar Morgan. When he’s on, the Spartans are tough to beat.

Villanova
Dante Cunningham has led the Wildcats all season long in scoring and rebounding. At 6-foot-8, Cunningham is strong enough to control the paint for Villanova. Scottie Reynolds is a streaky outside shooter but he has hit a number of big shots this year. Corey Fisher has been quiet as of late but he’s the third double-digit scorer on the team.

Here is a Tyler Hansbrough Highlight Mix Video:

Post from: EveryJoe

Best Players in the 2009 Final Four

Best Story

Forget about Villanova’s impressive run to The Motor City—featuring a ‘why the heck did people pick this team to go to Detroit’ (when they were trailing American by double digits) and ‘this Scottie Reynolds is stinking up the joint’ comments from yours truly—Michigan State takes the cake here. Me hailing from Michigan, what a surprise, huh? Well, Tom Izzo and Co. deserve it. MSU is far from dominant, but they’re a fun team. Fun to watch interact with each other, fun to see plead with an irate Izzo, fun to watch on a fast break, fun to analyze which big man (there’s 5) Izzo will usher into the game, and extremely fun to witness pound a ‘powerful’ Big East team into the ground.  Jump on the MSU bandwagon now national media, yeah, own up.

Spartan Fever (Image:Newscom)

Player Most Instrumental To Team’s Success

Villanova- One guy has been playing way over his head. Senior guard/forward Dwayne Anderson. He’s scoring and rebounding over his season average. He does not want to play his last collegiate game.  Give me more Dwayne says.

North Carolina- Tywon Lawson is a top 5, top 10 draft pick?  Probably working himself into the former based on this three game tear where he’s shooting above 50% from inside and outside the long line, feeding and turning over the rock at a 10/1 ratio, and out potty mouthing Ari Gold. If I didn’t know any better I’d say Ty is healthy.

Connecticut- Lanky 6′9 Stanley Robinson sans the opening round game when he scored 24, has just been pretty good, nothing legendary, but he hasn’t needed to be. When Jerome Dyson went down with season ending injury, UConn needed someone to step up, play more minutes and be a threat to consistently score in double figures, and Craig Austrie sure wasn’t going to be that guy. Stanley Robinson is that X-factor guy.

Michigan State- The 6′10 Bosnian senior Goran Suton has been PUURRRE! the last two games, totaling 39 points (5-10 from deep), 19 rebounds, and 6 steals. Don’t know if he’ll be able to be so PUURRRE! against Mr. Thabeet, but if he is, MSU will be playing on Monday for the title.

Prediction For The Final Four

Ford Field will be a Green and White madplace for the Saturday 6:07 tip v. UConn and then for the Monday rematch with UNC.

Prepare.

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Round 3 & 4 Wrap

It was fantastic to watch Villanova beat Duke into a bloody pulp Thursday evening. I, and millions of other sane people, hope that the constant coddling of Duke will finally begin to wane. But it won’t. ESPN works for Duke, nothing will change.  I need a tissue.

Hate the sin not the sinner (Image: Newscom)

In my estimation the Duke Blue Devils are the Yankees of college hoops. The media talks them up every year but the product is less than impressive, always failing due to a obscenely large hole in their armor somewhere.

What has Duke done since 01, the season they won the title?

One final four berth and a whole lot of defeats at the hands of  lower seeds.

Why?

First of all, Coach K put the good of USA basketball before the good of Duke. The last several years of Duke ineptitude speaks for itself. Second, he’s recruiting the wrong types of players: too many nice guys, too many one dimensional skill sets, little size (the size they do have is offensively retarded and defensively, uh, retarded), and little penetration capabilities.

If I can come to this simple conclusion, why can’t the Duke coaching staff do it?

Duke has plenty of talented players, but they all seem to be of the same mold, and with the exception of Henderson and Williams, all of them are less than stellar athletes. And what about down low? Where are the Carlos Boozers, or for god sakes, the Shelden Williams? When you depend on the three ball so much, the defense must have an interior enforcer who can dictate the opponent’s shot selection, so at least they have to beat you at your own game (hurling threes).  If Duke does anything, they need to get back to finding some hard ass big men to cover people and/or score some points.

The Duke Blue Devils are quickly becoming the Phoenix Suns of college hoops, just less exciting and with more build up.

Don’t get me wrong though, Duke is still a very good program, but the media’s injustice of the program throughout the years really upsets people, and quite frankly, is it not now evident more than ever that the constant Duke ass slapping must stop?

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Another Early Duke Bow Out

But of course there are dozens of non DI teams playing the role of automatic victims tonight.

For example,

Middle Tennessee State will be hosting Trevecca Nazarene.

I wonder if Trevecca’s fans travel well.

Anyways,

here are some vital preview tidbits of a few Friday evening games.

St. Johns (H) vs. Long Island (LIU) preview from East Coast Bias

“This Friday, all of the offseason training, speculation, and worrying takes a back seat to the opening game of the 2008-2009 season, in the refurbished on-campus Carnesecca Arena.  For a St. John’s team that went 11-19 with a team filled with freshmen, the new season cannot come soon enough.  The Red Storm have been counted out in preseason polls; many fans anticipate a long year.  But anything can happen when the ball hits the hardwood and the numbers on the scoreboard are entered into the NCAA records.”

Villanova (H) vs. Albany preview from Villanova by the Numbers

“The Great Danes should offer an interesting test for the Wildcat’s front court rotation. Nova’s forwards (and centers) will face off against a mix of upper classmen and power conference transfers.”

Oklahoma (H) vs. American preview from rivals.com

“But OU could have its hands full, too. Eagles guards Garrison Carr (5-11) and Derrick Mercer (5-9) are quicker than hummingbird wings. Jones runs Carr off more screens than Toshiba produces.”

Wake Forest (H) vs. North Carolina Central preview from Matt Beardmore on msnbc

“When the No. 21 Demon Deacons open a season of raised expectations on Friday at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum against North Carolina Central, they’ll start as a ranked team for the first time in three years.”

Texas (H) vs. Stetson preview from Dan Pieringer on journalgazette

“Texas begins its latest retooling against a Stetson team that went 16-16 last season and lost in the opening round of the Atlantic Sun tournament. The Hatters are returning their top two scorers in Garfield Blair and A.J. Smith, a dynamic backcourt duo that combined to score 27.5 points per game in 2007-08.”

Penn St. (H) vs. William & Mary preview from crispinandcream

“Prediction: To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if PSU loses tomorrow.  William and Mary is not a scrub mid-major team, and PSU rarely plays well in November. But I can’t pick the Lions to lose. The line I saw is PSU -11.5.  So I’ll take W&M against that spread and say PSU wins 69-59….Battle takes over late.”

Purdue (H) vs. Detroit preview from offthetracks

“Ray McCallum may be familiar to some Boilermaker fans as the former head coach of Ball State. He is now in his first year of a massive rebuilding project at Detroit. Detroit is far from the salad days of a decade ago when they made the NCAA tournament as an at large team before losing to the Boilermakers in round 2 80-65. This year’s edition of the Titans graduated last year’s leading scorer, but the next top four in scoring return. Their lineup presents some very interesting challenges that could provide a good opening test of our improved rebounding skills.”
—-

Briefly,

Not much can be said about Thursday’s two games. Though Miami (Ohio) did put up a helluva fight against the UCLA Bruins.

STAT of the DAY

UCLA managed only 5 assists in their 64-59 victory over the Redhawks.

Post from: EveryJoe

607 games on today’s slate

The 15th annual John Wooden Classic at the Honda Center (formally the Pond, a much cooler name) in Anaheim, CA, Dec. 13, will feature UCLA facing off against DePaul, and in a sleeper, San Diego State will play St. Mary’s in the doubleheader.

I could never figure out why the organizers just make this a two-day tournament, or even an 8-team tournament. The Wooden Classic has attracted top teams in the past and turning it into a tournament would give it bigger prestige as the only top preseason tournament out here on the west coast.

Now if you want to talk about prestige and top teams, West Virginia, Texas, Villanova and last year’s NCAA tournament darlings Davidson will play in the Jimmy V Classic Dec. 9 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Villanova reached the Sweet 16 losing to eventual champion Kansas. Davidson, which came within a basketball of reaching the Final Four also lost to Kansas in the Elite Eight. Texas reached the Elite Eight and lost to runner-up Memphis, and West Virginia, the only team not to lose to Kansas or Memphis, reached the Sweet 16 losing to Xavier.

Post from: EveryJoe

John Wooden and Jimmy V Classics Announcements

- Even though the game is far from over, I want to extend my congratulations to the Michigan State Spartans for laying the biggest egg of the tournament thus far. Extremely disappointing effort by the Spartans.

- Very convincing win by Texas over a pretty good Stanford team. DJ Augustin is as good as advertised.

- Note to the rest of the teams in the tournament – Don’t let Stephen Curry touch the ball. Period. End of story. Deny him the ball constantly or he will destroy you.

- There is still 14 minutes left in the Kansas/Villanova game, but Villanova hasn’t impressed me that much tonight. For some reason, their guards are convinced that they can beat the Kansas guards off the dribble, which just isn’t happening. Why they don’t work on passing the ball around the perimeter and move without the ball is beyond me. Far too much one-on-one play from Villanova.

Post from: EveryJoe

Sweet 16 – Day 2 notes

Now, on to the early thoughts from Day 4 of the NCAA tournament.

- Anybody who doesn’t think that Texas is vulnerable should think again. Yes, they are a #2 seed, but they are definitely beatable. Same goes for #2 seed Tennessee, and their game with Butler isn’t even over yet. Both “UT” schools have some deficiencies that you can’t overlook.

- While I’m hammering the #2 seeds, I might as well hammer Georgetown as well. Davidson is giving the Hoyas all they want right now. When the Hoyas are on, they are good. When they are not on, they are average at best, and average at best will not get you far in the tourney.

- Villanova may very well be the best #12 seed in the history of the NCAA tournament. Having gone through the Big East wars, the Wildcats are for real.

- I wish that both Western Kentucky and San Diego could advance to the Sweet 16. It is a shame that one of them is going home today.

More thoughts coming later tonight…

Post from: EveryJoe

NCAA tourney Day 4 – early thoughts

Thursday January 3rd: #5 UCLA at #20 Stanford – the Pac-10 conference wars start up as Stanford’s Twin Towers (Brook and Robin Lopez) host freshman phenom Kevin Love and the UCLA Bruins. This matchup will give the winner an early leg up in the battle for the Pac-10 crown.

Saturday January 5th: Oregon at #21 Arizona - Oregon is slumping a bit after two consecutive road losses (at Nebraska, at Oakland) and a narrow home victory over Mount St. Marys. If the Ducks are to re-establish themselves as a contender in the Pac-10, they need a good game against the Wildcats, which is easier said than done. The McKale Center is never an easy place to play.

Sunday January 6th: #1 North Carolina at #19 Clemson – Tyler Hansbrough and the Tar Heels face a stiff ACC test when they travel to Littlejohn Coliseum to face K.C. Rivers and the Clemson Tigers. Clemson looked absolutely awesome in dismantling Alabama 87-61 on New Year’s Day, and they definitely have the firepower to hang with Carolina. Can anybody stop the Tar Heels on their quest for a national title?

#13 Pittsburgh at #16 Villanova – a top notch Big East battle is on tap as the Pitt Panthers travel to The Pavilion in Villanova to face the Wildcats on Sunday. The Panthers have been decimated by injuries to starting guard Levance Fields (broken foot) and Mike Cook (torn ACL), and they only have 9 scholarship players on the roster. Can head coach Jamie Dixon rally his team and keep them from falling apart during the tough Big East conference battles? Don’t expect the Wildcats to take it easy on the Panthers, as every win in the Big East is critical.

Post from: EveryJoe

Games to watch this week – 1/2

The first ESPN/USA Today Top 25 rankings have been released.

And the winner is…

1. North Carolina (10 first place votes) – 739 points
2 UCLA (12 first place votes) – 734 points
3. Memphis (8 first place votes) – 731 points
4. Kansas (1 first place vote) – 669 points
5. Georgetown – 625 points
6. Louisville – 620 points
7. Tennessee – 598 points
8. Michigan State – 503 points
9. Indiana – 479 points
10. Washington State – 464 points
11. Duke – 390 points
12. Marquette – 381 points
13. Oregon – 360 points
t-14. Gonzaga – 252 points
t-14. Texas A&M – 252 points
16. Texas – 216 points
17. Arizona – 205 points
18. USC – 189 points
19. Arkansas – 173 points
20. Pittsburgh – 160 points
21. Stanford – 158 points
22. Kentucky – 155 points
23. Southern Illinois – 137 points
24. North Carolina State – 119 points
25. Villanova – 111 points

Other schools receiving votes: Kansas State 94, Syracuse 69, Ohio State 65, Clemson 56, Connecticut 55, Butler 42, Davidson 39, Xavier 38, Alabama 31, Mississippi State 30, Florida 26, Wisconsin 21, Illinois 16, Washington 12, Brigham Young 12, Nevada 8, Bradley 7, Virginia 7, Virginia Commonwealth 5, Utah 4, Baylor 3, Old Dominion 3, Saint Joseph’s 3, Fresno State 2, George Mason 2, Utah State 2, Notre Dame 1, California 1, Maryland 1.

Post from: EveryJoe

Top 25 rankings – ESPN/USA today poll – 10/26