Pittsburgh-(26-9, 10-8) The Pittsburgh bandwagon has grown and grown over the past week. It has even gone so far that Bob Knight chose Pitt to win it all during ESPN Bracketology. Well I have been a Pitt fan since Brandin Knight and was very happy to see this squad win a Big East championship that has so eluded them for the past 4 years. Jamie Dixon took over for Ben Howland five years ago and this could be his best chance for tourney success yet (3-4) so far.
The Good: This team has leadership. Ronald Ramon, Keith Benjamin, Sam Young and Levance Fields are all leaders. This team has guys that can hit the big shot with the game on the line (Fields did it against Duke and Ramon did it against West Virginia). Up front they only are 6’6 and 6’7 but Sam Young and DeJuan Blair are as physical as anyone and will outbruise and outwill other bigs. Sam Young was their leading scorer this year and scored a quiet 18 ppg to me. He willed them through the Big East tournament almost singlehandedly at some points. Also with Levance Fields healthy they are a much better and different team than with him on the sidelines. With the 10th best offense in the country they know their points will come. And with their bruising Big East style that they are famous for they will outpower Oral Roberts easily. The key to them advancing far will rest heavily on freshman DeJuan Blair’s shoulders. Blair is the first player on Pitt from Pittsburgh in nearly 20 years and has exceeded any expectations out of him. When Pitt outrebounded their competition in regular season play they were 19-1. When they were outrebounded they were a mere 2-8. If Pitt is to advance they must outrebound their opponents.
The Bad: They are not playing at Madison Square Garden. At MSG this year they are 5-0 with wins over Duke, Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette and Georgetown. You take away those five wins and they are a bubble team with hardly any good wins. Yes you have to give this team credit for clicking at the right time but playing in Denver and Houston is quite different then playing with something to prove in front of their friends from home.
The Verdict: As a fan of this team I think they can make the Elite 8. As a skeptic I see many flaws. They will waltz into their clash with Michigan St. and depending on which State team shows up will determine who wins that game.
Wisconsin-(29-4,16-2) Bo Ryan must’ve thought he missed his chance. He had National POY candidate Alando Tucker and All Big 10 player Kam Taylor as his senior leaders with a great group of role players and yet the squad couldn’t make it far in the tourney. They were upset early on and everyone forgot about their swing offense and the great story of Alando. Well Ryan is back and the faces change but the game remains the same (small tribute to The Wire). Led by Brian Butch, (the only McDonald’s All-American to redshirt his freshman year) a fifth year senior they have a great post presence. Trevon Hughes has replaced Taylor very nicely running the point and hasn’t had many speed bumps along the way. Michael Flowers, Marcus Landry, Joe Krabbenhoft, and Jason Bohannon fill up the guard and forward spots and have combined to replace Tucker and maybe surpass him as a unit.
The Good: Defense. Defense. Defense. This is the best defensive team in the country. They have Michael Flowers who could be the best defender in the country, (Kramer was not more deserving Big 10) Joe Krabbenhoft who would be a defensive stopper on most any squad, and Marcus Landry their defensive stopper from last year’s squad (who now is the third best defender of their starters). Anyone aside from Stiemsma (who is trying to challenge Lorenzo Mata for ugliest backup center in America) and Krabbenhoft is a legitimate three point threat including Brian Butch. Also within the swing offense that Bo Ryan employs everyone is as important as the next guy so the defense can’t cue in on one guy. They also are better than a three seed would indicate. They were by far the best team in the Big 10 and won 29 games this season. They had won their last ten entering big dance but I guess having the name Duke means something in that tourney selection room.
The Bad: Depth. They only go seven deep and no one else outside of those seven can contribute. Also they must dictate pace. If they get into a shootout they will be eliminated.
The Verdict: I am taking this team to the final four. They play the defense that will drive any team insane. What worries me is that in the second round they play either K-St. or USC. If it is K-St. Beasley will be a tough cover for whoever is chosen to guard him (Krabbenhoft or Landry likely). If they make it to the sweet sixteen to play Georgetown I think their style matches perfectly with Georgetown for the upset.
Georgetown-(27-5, 15-3) Georgetown is the other Big East team I am a fan of. I have Hoya hoops club t-shirts and have been on the JT3 bandwagon ever since he left Princeton. This year’s squad is the last hurrah for Roy Hibbert, Jonathan Wallace and latecomer Patrick Ewing Jr. They had their success last year in making it to the Final Four but this year they want to get back there again. It will be much more difficult without superstar Jeff Green. They still have the talent to beat anyone and in their semifinal of the Big East tournament against West Virginia they looked like that final four team.
The Good: Wallace is the senior leader at point and Hibbert knows how to play the center position. They go 8 deep with guys who are all great role players and they can all play defense. Sapp, Freeman and Wallace can all knock down threeballs and in Ewing Jr. they have someone that can awake them with a wakeup call in the form of a electric dunk. They are experienced play great defense and play a very methodical half court game in which they are as good as anyone in the country at. Also they have 5 guys that can take on the challenge of guarding an opponent’s best wing as they all took turns in wreaking havoc on Joe Alexander. With all this going for them why can’t they make it to the final four again?
The Bad: One word: Wisconsin. In the sweet sixteen they would meet up with Wisconsin who plays a very-very similar game only I believe plays better defense and thus a better overall game.
The Verdict: If they get by Wisconsin (which I don’t think they will) they have a tough test in Kansas. But knowing Bill Self’s ability to implode when it comes to a big game I would give JT3 and Georgetown the advantage.
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