Tuesday's Pregame Beat

Sorry for the late post. Real life got in the way. On to the CvC's second day of round robin second round action.

7 pm: Robert Morris @ Syracuse: The Orange's defense looked overwhelming in their 75-43 rout of Albany. The athleticism of Wes Johnson and Kris Joseph along the back line of their 2-3 zone is devastating. Forcing 32 turnovers, regardless of your opponent, is impressive. Where Syracuse needs to improve is offensively. They had 21 turnovers of their own, with way too many coming on fast breaks. Boeheim needs to get his point guard play ironed out as Brandon Triche looked unimpressive, while Scoop Jardine played well (if Jonny Flynn was still in upstate New York, the Cuse would be top five). Andy Rautins, who played an excellent floor game but couldn't find his jumper, is in uniform and stretching as we speak. Will he suit up (he rolled an ankle)?

9 pm: North Carolina Central @ UNC: The Tar Heels looked relatively unimpressive in their first game against Sun Belt cellar dweller FIU. While we got what we expected from Ed Davis and Deon Thompson, and Larry Drew looked better than expected, the Tar Heels looked out of sync on the offensive end. The touted freshman crop looked nervous, particularly Dexter Strickland, who had five turnovers and four fouls in 11 minutes. He's their back up PG? The two other question marks - perimeter shooting and the John-Henson-at-the-three experiment - looked, well, questionable as well.

11 pm: Detroit @ Cal: The Cal Bears looked almost disinterested playing their season opener against Murray State. Hyped as a potential Pac 10 champion, the Bears struggled to put the Racers away late in the game. Cal needs to figure out how to play as a favorite. As underdogs last season, they were playing with house money while winning games. As a favorite, could they get lackadaisical, buying into their own hype? The biggest question that needs to be answered is how Jerome Randle and Patrick Christopher will play as the focus of opposing defenses. MSU did a pretty good job hedging the high ball screen Cal likes to run, slowing down Randle in the process. Hopefully the little guy will get on track, as he is one of the most fun players to watch.