Most people saw Duke's dominant win over UConn, however there were a handful of lesser-seen big wins on a Thanksgiving-hangover Friday.
1. Florida - What a huge statement win over the #2 (in AP, we had them way lower...) Michigan State Spartans. It's wins like that they were lacking and what landed Billy D in the NIT the past few seasons.
2. Portland - They hammered UCLA, then handled a tough, well-coached Minnesota squad. Those are two great nuetral court wins for this up and coming WCC contender. A roadtrip to Washington later this month gives them a chance to break into the mid-teens in the polls.
3. Staying in the WCC, an under the radar nice win for San Diego against an improved Houston team. Add that to their win over Oklahoma and the Torreros (and the WCC) are building quite a profile.
4. St. Johns - The Johnnies got a nice win over quality mid-major darling Siena. The Red Storm are improved this year, but in the brutal Big East anything much better than 8-10, maybe 9-9 is asking a bit much. Wins like yesterday will help get them in the bubble discussion, if not over the hump.
5. Marquette - Similar to St. John's in that every non-conference feather in your cap is huge before the BEast guantlet, however after watching them handled X and Michigan it feels more like they'll be jostling for a seed rather than a dance card.
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UConn Deficiencies Exposed
UConn's glaring weakness was front and center last night at MSG and you can bet other Big East teams took notice. Defensively it is business as usual for the Huskies. They smother you with quick guards and block shots away with ease. They can score lightning quick in transition and switch sides of the court as quick as anyone.
The problem lies in when they don't turn the other team over.
Introducing John Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils. Despite the lack of a "true" point guard, Scheyer, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler handled the Husky pressure with a steady calm and forced UConn to defend them in the half court... Which they did well, bottling up Singler and forcing Duke into a FG% in the mid thirties.
The problem arose when they had to find a way to score themselves. Therein lies the flaw that prevents connecticut from being a serious Final Four threat. Gone is Jeff Adrian and AJ Price. They have no Ray Allen. No Rip Hamilton. No Ben Gordon. They have no one who is a dangerous threat to score from the perimeter and create shots. The eligibility of Mater Ajok in three weeks will give them even more formidibity inside; but the outside remains thin.
That leaves the Huskies on the outside looking in the April in Indianapolis.
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The problem lies in when they don't turn the other team over.
Introducing John Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils. Despite the lack of a "true" point guard, Scheyer, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler handled the Husky pressure with a steady calm and forced UConn to defend them in the half court... Which they did well, bottling up Singler and forcing Duke into a FG% in the mid thirties.
The problem arose when they had to find a way to score themselves. Therein lies the flaw that prevents connecticut from being a serious Final Four threat. Gone is Jeff Adrian and AJ Price. They have no Ray Allen. No Rip Hamilton. No Ben Gordon. They have no one who is a dangerous threat to score from the perimeter and create shots. The eligibility of Mater Ajok in three weeks will give them even more formidibity inside; but the outside remains thin.
That leaves the Huskies on the outside looking in the April in Indianapolis.
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Port of Call
Gonzaga may not be alone in the WCC. As great as the Zags looked in Maui and against Michigan State, there are several other clubs who can play out West.
Portland looked incredible handing UCLA their worst defeat in six years. You could chock that one up to UCLA being quite possibly awful. Like might miss the NIT bad. Tonight the Pilots stayed on course and held off a good Minnesota squad they led from early on. The Pilots have size, solid ball handling and deadly long range shooters. They are build a lot like the classic gonzaga clubs they will be chasing this season. (including a Raivio at point)
On Monday expect the WCC to have as many top 25 teams as the Pac10. And it isn't an abberation. The WCC is in lock step with the A10 for seventh best conference in the country (and the PAC 10 can hear their footsteps)
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Portland looked incredible handing UCLA their worst defeat in six years. You could chock that one up to UCLA being quite possibly awful. Like might miss the NIT bad. Tonight the Pilots stayed on course and held off a good Minnesota squad they led from early on. The Pilots have size, solid ball handling and deadly long range shooters. They are build a lot like the classic gonzaga clubs they will be chasing this season. (including a Raivio at point)
On Monday expect the WCC to have as many top 25 teams as the Pac10. And it isn't an abberation. The WCC is in lock step with the A10 for seventh best conference in the country (and the PAC 10 can hear their footsteps)
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Two worth TiVo'ing
Someone really needs to invent an action-verb form of a modern equivalent of the expression "taping it."
In the meantime the Maniac has two games on the DVR queue tonight.
First, a fantastic early season match up of perennial powers takes place at 5pm in the Garden when UConn meets Duke. It will be their first nuetral court meeting since "Chris Duhon's shot heard round the gambling world" in the 2004 Final Four. For those who don't recall this seminal moment in gambling history, Duhon banked in a buzzer beating three from center court to make Duke a one, as opposed to four, point loser. The line was 2.5. Tens of millions of dollars (literally) changed hands.
Tonight's game should be everybit as exciting. What style prevails? Duke's fundamental offense and precision shooting or UConn's in-your-face athleticism and relentless D?
Vegas has the Devils laying 3.5. The Maniac will take UConn straight up, but finds the added cushion impossible to ignore.
We get an interesting test of the #2 Spartans when they take on Billy Donovan's Baby Gators redux tonight at 8pm.
The SEC could use a marquee win to offset another year of early season slip ups. Even a close contest bodes well for the Gators. They dismantled an FSU squad considered an NCAA tourney team last week. There is no doubt the Spartans are a tourney team It will be a great gauge of how far back UF really is.
Worst case scenario - Tim Tebow (and Jesus) dismantle Bobby Bowden tomorrow and all is forgiven Dag' gum it...
Maniac's Pick: Mich St -4
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In the meantime the Maniac has two games on the DVR queue tonight.
First, a fantastic early season match up of perennial powers takes place at 5pm in the Garden when UConn meets Duke. It will be their first nuetral court meeting since "Chris Duhon's shot heard round the gambling world" in the 2004 Final Four. For those who don't recall this seminal moment in gambling history, Duhon banked in a buzzer beating three from center court to make Duke a one, as opposed to four, point loser. The line was 2.5. Tens of millions of dollars (literally) changed hands.
Tonight's game should be everybit as exciting. What style prevails? Duke's fundamental offense and precision shooting or UConn's in-your-face athleticism and relentless D?
Vegas has the Devils laying 3.5. The Maniac will take UConn straight up, but finds the added cushion impossible to ignore.
We get an interesting test of the #2 Spartans when they take on Billy Donovan's Baby Gators redux tonight at 8pm.
The SEC could use a marquee win to offset another year of early season slip ups. Even a close contest bodes well for the Gators. They dismantled an FSU squad considered an NCAA tourney team last week. There is no doubt the Spartans are a tourney team It will be a great gauge of how far back UF really is.
Worst case scenario - Tim Tebow (and Jesus) dismantle Bobby Bowden tomorrow and all is forgiven Dag' gum it...
Maniac's Pick: Mich St -4
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Off the Marq
The Maniac's firt thing to be thankful for? That he wasn't actually IN Vegas this holiday weekend. If you are scoring at home, yesterday's 0-fer brings the season record to a respectable, yet dissappointing 13-10-1.
While I may have been off the mark, the Marquette Warriors certainly were not. Yesterday they closed out Xavier down the stretch and today they handled Michigan and Manny Harris easily from opening to closing buzzer. Marquette is athletic and quick and a little bigger than they were last year. Their outstanding trio of guards are gone, but this team appears to be built a little more tourney ready than lay years highly touted squad.
With the early play of them, Cincinnati, Villanova and Syracuse it is becoming harder and harder to argue the Big East is not again the nation's premier conference.
While I may have been off the mark, the Marquette Warriors certainly were not. Yesterday they closed out Xavier down the stretch and today they handled Michigan and Manny Harris easily from opening to closing buzzer. Marquette is athletic and quick and a little bigger than they were last year. Their outstanding trio of guards are gone, but this team appears to be built a little more tourney ready than lay years highly touted squad.
With the early play of them, Cincinnati, Villanova and Syracuse it is becoming harder and harder to argue the Big East is not again the nation's premier conference.
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