- 10,056
- 10
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2006
The best tournament of them all...here we go..
[table][tr][td]Wed., Mar. 12[/td] [td]Thurs., Mar 13[/td] [td]Fri., Mar 14[/td] [td]Sat.,Mar 15[/td] [/tr][tr][td]1. #8 vs.#9, 12 pm (Villanova-Syr.) [/td] [td]Winner vs. #1
(Georgetown), 12 pm[/td] [td]Semifinals, 7pm[/td] [td]Finals, 9pm[/td] [/tr][tr][td]2. #5 vs.#12, 2 pm (W.Virginia-PC)[/td] [td]Winner vs. #4
(UConn), 2pm[/td] [/tr][tr][td]3. #7 vs. #10, 7 pm
(Pitt-Cincinnati)[/td] [td]Winner vs. #2
(Louisville), 7pm[/td] [td]Semifinals, 9pm[/td] [/tr][tr][td]4. #6 vs. #11, 9pm
(Marquette-S. Hall)[/td] [td]Winner vs. #3
(Notre Dame), 9 pm[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Not Qualifying: DePaul, St. John's, South Florida, Rutgers.[/td] [/tr][/table]
My thoughts..
1. Georgetown - They play good enough to defense to will them to the Title game. Matchups are important, being on theCuse/Uconn side of the bracket is not ideal. How they handle the Cuse zone or Nova pressure is the key with moving forward. This is the most experienced teamof all, they won it last year. JT3 is also coaching the best he has all season long. Chris Wright will be playing, which adds another dimension. It's funnyhow the #1 seed is supposed to have the easier road, as a Hoya fan I can tell you I'd rather play Notre Dame or West Virginia on Thursday rather than Novaor Cuse. But that's how things go.
2. Louisville - Even after losing to Georgetown, they arguably are playing the best out of anybody. They defend likecrazy, officiating can become important with how closely the game is called, they get after it. Padgett is the guy on offense, he pretty much plays PG from thehigh post or on the block. How well he can hold up for 2 or 3 days maybe something to watch. Edgar Sosa is a wild card, back at home..who knows if he canfigure it out for more than a few stretches at a time.
3. Notre Dame - They're slow, nonathletic, and soft on the inside. However they can shoot, they can score. TorreyJackson had a great showing in the BET last year, it's a fairly experienced group, which bolds well. Harangody supposedly is a beast nowadays, how so whenyou're a liability on defense? Kyle McAlarney looks like he just rolls out of bed and goes to play. He and the other shooters are streaky, when hot, theycan beat anyone. However if they were to make to the title game against teams that defend, no chance. Personally, I think Marquette puts them out on Thursday.
4. Uconn - Tough to figure out at this point, I have a hard time thinking they can't put together 3 consistent goodgames to win it. But if Thabeet and Stanley Robinson play well, they can do so. One consistent player is Jeff Adrien. The rest seem to be streaky at this pointin the season. Thabeet is a huge force on the inside, AJ needs to play well and get everyone involved. Interesting thing with this group, they have really noexperience here. Just barely making it last year, and being outed quickly. Potential is there to win it, consistency is the issue. They probably will berooting for the 5 seed and not the 12, as Providence is there after beating them twice already.
5. West Virginia - They beat up on the bottom of the conference to get this seed. Providence can take them out firstround, if not, Uconn surely will. They did get to play in the Garden this past Saturday, which can be a nice learning experience. They just aren'timpressive away from Morgantown. Alexander will have to play very well and carry them to get anywhere. Hopefully the most annoying Big East hicks dressed asfans stay out of NYC.
6. Marquette - Dangerous team. I think they handle Seton Hall easily, and then they get the chance to play ND..who theygave them all they wanted in South Bend and smacked them at home. James, McNeal and Matthews get out and pressure, and they rotate bigs. If the guards are on,they can get to Thursday and beyond. Experienced group with a bunch of juniors.
7. Pitt- Always good in NYC. A lot of city kids to begin with, apparently they enjoy coming back home. They'retough, and will not go away easily. They should handle Cinci to start, and it should be a fight with Louisville, if that's the matchup it's going to bea slug fest. Again, here is another experienced group, with a coach who has had success in this tournament.
8. Villanova - You never know what you'll get with them. Sometimes Jay Wright looks like a great young coach, othertimes, not so much. How well the young guys play Malcolm Grant, Corey Fisher and Stokes will determine if they can beat Syracuse. They throw a lot of junkdefenses out at times to switch things up. If Scottie Reynolds wants to live in his own world, and throw up awful shots, they don't stand a chance. IF heplays off the ball and takes smart shots and defers to others, they do have a chance.
9. Syracuse - I'll get the negatives out of the way first. They have no depth, at all. If they make it past Day 1,how much more will they have left, if things broke their way and win 2 games, they'd be exhausted for Friday. The other thing, I hear how Cuse always playsgreat in the BET...well, has THIS group. Flynn is a freshman, Harris is a freshman, Scoop is a freshman KO is first year, Arinze hasn't been a factor init. Now, having said that, they will have the most fans in there, and they are a dangerous team. Their side of the bracket is favorable for them. If DonteGreene continues where he left off against Marquette, he might be working with something and they can be a wild card in this tournament. Onuako staying out offoul trouble is a key, which teams should try to exploit with the depth issues.
10. Cincinnati - How they won 8 Big East games, I'll never know. Vaugh and Williamson are decent, but really..thisis not a good team. That has never been here, nor has their coach. And going up against Pitt first round...things don't appear to be in their favor.They'll compete tho, especially after the %%@ whooping they took in Storrs.
11. Seton Hall - Harvey has lost all his confidence, they are a bunch of chuckers now, no Gause off the bench toprovide a spark. However Bobby Gonzalez is going to get the most out of them playing in the Garden, or least tries his damn hardest to do so. They have no postgame, will live and die on the perimeter. This team is not experienced here either....they like to extended pressure, but as you see with their matchup,Marquette has very good guards and shouldn't phase them.
12. Providence - I think they can steal a game. They showed life against Uconn.....Efejuku is extremely talented andwhen on, puts on a show, McDermott when playing with his head on straight is a difference maker with the different things he brings whether handling the ball,being in the post, his passing. Tim Welsh, might be done already, but he'll be fighting for his job. If Xavier, Efejuku are making perimeter shots andHanke provides at least a presence on the inside, they can give WVU trouble. But nothing more than a possible upset then quickly gone the next day.
...
I won't make any picks, beacuse that's not a good omen. But I like Gtown's, Louisville, and Uconn's chances more than the rest. With Marquette,Cuse and Pitt being the more dangerous lower seeds.
But all things aside, a Louisville vs Georgetown title game would be great after the matchup this past Saturday....that was good, old, phyiscal Big EastBasketball, and good enough to want to see another.
I think I speak for all fans of the above when I say there is NOTHING like the Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden. It should be a great 4 days. It istoo bad St John's wont be there for it.
This tournament gets even crazier next season when all 16 teams play...and
1st Round (Tuesday): Teams 9-16 play
2nd Round (Wednesday): TUES winners play Teams 5-8
Quarters (Thursday): WED winners play Teams 1-4
