Does Size Matter?

Two teams that we have believe are final four teams Pitt and Gonzaga are drastically different. Somehow Pitt's rotation doesn't have a guy over 6'8 and they only have 3 guys taller than 6'7 on the roster and only one gets any playing time. On the other hand Gonzaga's top three leading scorers are all above 6'7 and 4 out of the eight guys in their rotation are above 6'7. Just a minute isn't Pitt the bruising big bodied team and Gonzaga the more guard oriented finesse team-Yes. Each team is led by a gutsy inner city senior point guard in Levance Fields (NYC) and Jeremy Pargo (CHI) respectively.

Pitt still bruises though just height wise they are undersized. Sam Young is only 6'6 yet is one of the top forwards in the country. Dajuan Blair, the first Pitt player from Pittsburgh in thirty years is a beast downlow. He is only 6'7 but with his wide body, array of post moves and his 7'1 wingspan he is the best big man in the Big East (not named Gody). Along with Fields the big three for Pitt put up 50 a game with regularity. Then add solid role players in Gilbert Brown Tyrell Biggs and impact freshman Jermaine Dixon (from Baltimore) and you have one of the toughest most physical teams in the country.

Gonzaga on the otherhand is poised to finally crack the final four as well but with a different style. The most physical player on the team is probably Pargo or lockdown defender (and sudden 3 point god) Stephen Gray. Problem is Pargo is 6'2 and Gray is 6'4 both guards. They have 6 guys that can be in double figures on any given night including 6'5 Matt Bouldin (everyone forgets he led them in scoring last year), 6'10 Austin Daye who prefers to be a perimeter player, and 6'8 Micah Downs. Downlow they have 6'11 Josh Heytvelt who finally seems to have regained his pre-shrooms prowess (we still remember him outplaying Tyler at the Preseason NIT that year). Off the bench they have Demetri Goodson a freshman point guard out of Pargo's mold and Sacre a 7ft sophomore who will try to replace Kuso. The thing about the Zags is that Daye, Downs and Heytvelt would rather spot up than post up. Yet its effective.

Both these teams we feel will make the final four but using size as an arguement for why a team is inherently better than another doesn't neccessarily work. Just look at these teams one is a rugged tough Big East school while the other is a UMPNW (Unamed Major Program from the Northwest) that relies on drilling threebombs and midrange jumpers over postups. Both ways are successful and this year both teams we think will make the tournament. Style just is very different.