First Round: Moving on...
Second Round: There are almost always underachieving teams that land in the 8-9 showdown that get the talking heads worked up. If you are a top seed, it is just odd to see names Kentucky or Arizona in the second round. Those duels are usually reserved for the later rounds, but both have been in this spot in recent years. This year, looks like UConn and Louisville might get a chance to be hyped up, only to let everybody down. Personally, I don't want to tempt fate by playing two of the best coaches in the game for rematches of closely contested games from earlier this season. Both teams seem to be playing their best ball of the season of late, and both are sporting upsets against Top Five competition. We should be able to handle either team again if it comes to pass, but I'd much rather not tempt fate and avoid these hype-fests during the first weekend.
Sweet Sixteen: In the sweet sixteen, you are normally going to be worried about the 4 & 5 seeded teams, and I will get to a couple of them, but first I want to talk about one potential 12 seed who could give us a tough game. Mark Coury is a force to be reckoned with, and his Cornell team could be the sleeper that really won't be much of a sleeper. Lunardi has them as a 12 seed right now, and you can believe that they would be a trendy pick to advance. Again, we still probably beat them, but I don't want to have to mess with the Coury Flurry, and honestly would like to see them have a nice run come March.
As for the 4 & 5 seeds, I'd prefer to dodge Wisconsin, Gonzaga, and Texas. There are several dangerous teams that could be waiting in the Sweet 16. I still think we can be a little bit susceptible against teams that have big guys that can shoot from the perimeter, as well as teams that slow down the pace and try to grind out the game. Honestly, Wisconsin probably fits the bill there. Not sure that the Zags or Texas could hang with our physicality, but both are among the most talented teams in the country.
By the time the Elite 8 rolls around, we are going to be facing a quality and tested opponent. The two teams that I think pose the biggest threat to spoiling our run this round are Kansas St and Ohio State. Both teams have a player capable of taking over on offense like we saw against the Gamecocks and Devan Downey, and both are comfortable grinding it out at a slower pace. Neither are simply one player teams either, although they might not have the depth to hang with UK over 40 minutes. Knowing the selection committee as I do though, they are almost certainly going to put Duke in our bracket. I am going to go ahead and say that I don't want to play Duke strictly for jinxing purposes.
Ultimately, the team we need to worry about the most is the young Cats themselves. If we play with poise and make a couple shots we can control our own destiny and take care of business. Anyway, are there any teams that I didn't mention that you would rather not meet up with on the Road to the Final Four, or are you the bring on all comer's type? Let us know in the comments section.
I know this is nearly impossible but i have been saying all year that i would rather see us matched up against Kansas than Syracuse so if Cuse drops a few games in the deadly Big East and ends up as a 2 seed then that would be an absolute nightmare of an elite 8 game.Im pretty sure they will get a 1 but since we are playin what if.. that would be terrible.
ReplyDeleteIm not necessarily saying Cuse is better than Kansas but i think we match up better against KU than Cuse. Cuse would play that tough zone and use their frontcourt length to force alot of turnovers (a weak point with our young guards so far) and they would force us to beat them with tough jumpshots from long range (not as much of a weakness as we thought comin into the year but still probably the weakest part of our offense).
As for Kansas, they may be the best team besides the Cats but we have the best chance of neutralizing their talent. Big men, Cuz vs Aldrich... advantage UK. Marcus Morris vs. Pat... advantage UK. Xavier Henry at small forward vs. Liggins or Dodson or Miller... advantage KU. Tyshawn Taylor vs. Eric Bledsoe... advantage UK. Sheron Collins vs. John Wall... lets call it a draw just because of Collins' intangibles and leadership even tho Wall is a little more athletic
So going by Golf's Ryder Cup scoring system we win the matchup on paper 3.5 to 1.5 and that is why I would rather see KU than the CUSE.
What do you guys think? Do i make a valid point or am i completely off on this?
I think we have more talent than KU, but it is a little closer than I originally thought. Morris comes close to matching up with Patterson. Morris has stepped up his game big time lately. Also, Bledsoe is more physically gifted than Taylor, but I am not sure exactly how big an advantage we would have there considering Bledsoe's play lately. That one is still up in the air, but you also have to consider that KU has more backcourt depth coming off their bench than we do.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the game comes down to depth, and which stars can impose there will. Kansas has the experience edge, and we have slightly more raw talent. Who gets in foul trouble? I haven't worried with Kansas much all year, but they seem to be peaking at the right time. I think the championship goes through them, but I think we have a good chance to win that game.
What will suck is having to play Syracuse AND Kansas in the Final Four. We would have to play our two best games of the year to beat them. I am just hoping that one of them gets upset so we don't have to beat both.