Monday, March 14, 2005
NCAA to the NBA: first round continued
On to the next bracket:
Over in the Mark Macon bracket:
This blog's two favorite college teams (OK, second and third - I don't think we should really count my alma mater). could meet in the quarterfinals.
4 UConn vs. 13 Iowa State
UConn: Ben Gordon, Ray Allen, Rip Hamilton, Cliff Robinson, Emeka Okafor
Bench: Caron Butler, Donyell Marshall, Kevin Ollie, Jake Voskuhl
Iowa St.: Jamal Tinsley, Fred Hoiberg, Marcus Fizer, Jackson Vroman, Kelvin Cato
Bench: Paul Shirley
If Iowa State had any forwards at all, they could be a real sleeper in this tourney. Tinsley is probably among the better true point guards that make it here, and Hoiberg is one of the best shooters out there. Cato is passable as a big man, but those forwards are atrocious. UConn would blow this team out of the building, as it really has a better player at every position. They could sub in Butler and Marshall, and still have the best player at every position. If you did a Dr. Jack breakdown, it would be completely one-sided.
In case that starting 5 and Butler don't score enough, Marshall is still a weapon at his advanced age. He knocked down a record-tying 12 three pointers yesterday. Wow.
5 UNC vs. 12 Michigan:
UNC: Jeff McInnis, Vince Carter, Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace, Brendan Haywood
Bench: Antawn Jamison, Scott Williams, George Lynch
Michigan: Jamal Crawford, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Maurice Taylor, Chris Webber
Bench: Bernard Robinson
This is an interesting matchup. For sheer star power, UNC is going to be difficult to top. We'll see if their lack of a great point or center will hurt them in the long run. But Haywood is serviceable taking up space, and against a team (Michigan) with no true center, would do alright. If you could bring back 2002 Chris Webber for this game, it would be a great matchup. But Michigan has too many head cases (why is that?), even when Rasheed is on the other team. Crawford occasionally goes off for about 35, but even in those cases, his team generally doesn't win. I just don't think they can outscore UNC's team, especially with Jamison coming off of the bench for the Tar Heels. Too bad, because I imagine they could have beaten a lot of the other teams out there.
UNC rolls. The UConn matchup should be fun. If this were a real tournament, all the pundits would be lamenting that the Mark Macon bracket is too difficult. Kind of like they are right now with the Syracuse bracket, which coincidentally includes UConn and UNC.
Over in the Mark Macon bracket:
This blog's two favorite college teams (OK, second and third - I don't think we should really count my alma mater). could meet in the quarterfinals.
4 UConn vs. 13 Iowa State
UConn: Ben Gordon, Ray Allen, Rip Hamilton, Cliff Robinson, Emeka Okafor
Bench: Caron Butler, Donyell Marshall, Kevin Ollie, Jake Voskuhl
Iowa St.: Jamal Tinsley, Fred Hoiberg, Marcus Fizer, Jackson Vroman, Kelvin Cato
Bench: Paul Shirley
If Iowa State had any forwards at all, they could be a real sleeper in this tourney. Tinsley is probably among the better true point guards that make it here, and Hoiberg is one of the best shooters out there. Cato is passable as a big man, but those forwards are atrocious. UConn would blow this team out of the building, as it really has a better player at every position. They could sub in Butler and Marshall, and still have the best player at every position. If you did a Dr. Jack breakdown, it would be completely one-sided.
In case that starting 5 and Butler don't score enough, Marshall is still a weapon at his advanced age. He knocked down a record-tying 12 three pointers yesterday. Wow.
5 UNC vs. 12 Michigan:
UNC: Jeff McInnis, Vince Carter, Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace, Brendan Haywood
Bench: Antawn Jamison, Scott Williams, George Lynch
Michigan: Jamal Crawford, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Maurice Taylor, Chris Webber
Bench: Bernard Robinson
This is an interesting matchup. For sheer star power, UNC is going to be difficult to top. We'll see if their lack of a great point or center will hurt them in the long run. But Haywood is serviceable taking up space, and against a team (Michigan) with no true center, would do alright. If you could bring back 2002 Chris Webber for this game, it would be a great matchup. But Michigan has too many head cases (why is that?), even when Rasheed is on the other team. Crawford occasionally goes off for about 35, but even in those cases, his team generally doesn't win. I just don't think they can outscore UNC's team, especially with Jamison coming off of the bench for the Tar Heels. Too bad, because I imagine they could have beaten a lot of the other teams out there.
UNC rolls. The UConn matchup should be fun. If this were a real tournament, all the pundits would be lamenting that the Mark Macon bracket is too difficult. Kind of like they are right now with the Syracuse bracket, which coincidentally includes UConn and UNC.
# posted by Darlucky @ 3:53 PM 
