What we learned this week: Duke is good, some might even go as far as saying they are really good. We learned that when they beat down UConn in the Garden the day after Thanksgiving. But after watching the Blue Devils lose to a well-coached Wisconsin team, the Blue Devils are still a ways from being great. The biggest issue, believe it or not, seems to be their front line. The last two games, Duke has struggled against good, mobile big men. Jon Leuer had 17 points and 7 boards for Wisconsin, while Sean Evans went for 17 and 6 in the win over St. John's. At the Villanova-Maryland game yesterday, I was talking about Duke and an interesting point was brought up. At the end of games, Coach K is still going with his small line-up - the three guards, Singler, and Thomas. I understand that he may have needed shooters against Wisconsin and ball-handlers against St. John's, but it seems that this group is the five he is most comfortable with.
When John Wall and Patrick Patterson are playing like they did in the first half against UNC, the Wildcats are going to be very, very hard to beat. Remember, this is a UNC team that ran over Michigan State on Tuesday, and the Heels looked utterly and completely outclassed in the first half. John Wall is just about impossible to stop when he has a head of steam in transition. And if you do manage to slow him down, he is a good enough, and more importantly willing enough, passer to find an open shooter. Even with the excellent play of Daniel Orton in the early going, UK won't be at full strength until DeMarcus Cousins finds the maturity necessary to play at this level (he had a melt down on the bench after picking up his fourth foul on Saturday) and Eric Bledsoe gets better at protecting the ball, but it may not matter.
Notre Dame has a real shot at making the tournament this season, and a big reason for that is the play of forward Tim Abromaitis. The 6'8" forward, who had been coming off the bench, started again Central Florida on Saturday and went for 31 points. He is shooting an absurd 49% from three while taking almost 5 per game. Their may not be a more potent scoring duo in the front court that Abro and Luke Harangody.
Washington was supposed to be the flag bearer for the Pac-10 this season, but they have been struggling mightily of late. They struggled through early season wins agaist Wright State, Belmont, Montana, and Cal St. Northridge, and lost on the road to Texas Tech. A big reason has been the sub-par play of Abdul Gaddy. It is almost unfair to judge a freshman critically, but a huge reason that Washington had such high expectations in the pre-season was that Gaddy was expected to be play an integral role in the Huskies uptempo offense. The Pac-10 seems destined to get at most three, and more likely just two, teams into the tournament simply because the league's RPI will be so low as a result of the overall struggles early in the season.
It seems to be a pretty safe bet that the Big Ten, Big XII, and Big East will compete all season long for the right to call themselves the nation's best conference.
CO-GAMES OF THE WEEK: Texas Tech 99, Washington 92 OT
Texas Tech jumped all over Washington in the first half, taking advantage of lackadaisical defense from the Huskies for open jumpers and easy run outs. But in the second half, Washington tightened up, using a 10-2 run to tie the game at 60 with 13 minutes left. The two teams went back and forth until Isaiah Thomas hit a three to give Washington an 80-78 lead with 1:36 left. On the ensuing possession, Tech's Mike Singletary hit a jumper to tie the game. After both teams missed a shot, Thomas threw a difficult pass to Quincy Pondexter that was deflected. It ended up in Elston Turner's hands, who threw a pump fake to get Brad Reese in the air and draw a foul with 4.8 seconds left. Turner would end up missing both free throws, and Mike Singletary would take the rebound, dribble the length of the court, and throw up an 18 foot runner from the wing. He would hit the shot and the Tech students would storm the floor, but after replay review by the refs, the shot was called off.
Mike Singletary's runner at the buzzer was waived off.
(photo credit: Bleacher Report)
The overtime was just as exciting. The two teams would trade the lead a couple times before a Nick Okorie lay-up with just over a minute left gave the Red Raiders a 91-89 lead. On the ensuing possession, John Roberson would make a steal and go in for an uncontested lay-up for a four point lead. After Isaiah Thomas air-balled a three the next time down the floor for U-Dub, the game was all but over.
Illinois 76, Clemson 74:
With 8:09 left in the first half, Demetri McCamey picked up his third foul pinning him on the bench for the rest of the half. Clemson would take advantage of freshmen DJ Richardson and Brandon Paul, using their press to make a 23-6 run to end the half. The Tigers would go up as much as 23 points early in the second half before Illinois started making their comeback. The Illini trimmed the lead to 61-46 before scoring 17 straight points, taking a 63-61 lead with 8:55 left in the half. Clemson would get the lead back with three minutes left on lay-up from Brian Narcisse.
Mike Tisdale scored on a lay-up to take the lead back before a three pointer from Tanner Smith put Clemson up 74-72. After a DJ Richardson free throw cut the lead to one, Tisdale scored on a short jumper with 41 seconds left to give Illinois the lead for good. Tisdale would pick up a block on the defensive end, and after Brandon Paul hit one of two free throws, Demontez Stitt would miss a tough, but makeable, lay-up as time expired, giving Illinois the win.
Also good this week:
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Corey Raji, Boston College
Corey Raji was BC's best player in the Eagles 2-0 week. In their win at Michigan in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday night, Raji scored 17 first half points to help BC build a lead that the Wolverines were never able to overcome. On the night, Raji finished with 24 points and 9 boards. Raji was just as important as the Eagles handed the Hurricanes their first loss of the season in the ACC opener for both teams. Raji finished with 17 points a 9 boards, with 7 of those rebounds coming on the offensive end. Remember, both of these wins, both of which will prove to be valuable come Selection Sunday if the Eagles are are on the bubble, came without the Eagles best player Rakim Sanders, who is sidelined with an ankle injury.
Corey Raji led the Eagles to wins over Michigan and Miami.
(photo credit: Bleacher Report)
For the week, Raji averaged 20.5 ppg and 9.0 rpg (with 11 of those 18 boards coming on the offensive end) while shooting 18 for 27 (66.7%) from the floor.
Also good this week:
TEAM OF THE WEEK: Wisconsin Badgers
The Badgers went 2-0 on the week, but their big win was their upset win over Duke in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The final was 73-69, but Wisconsin never trailed in the game. Up by as much as 11 in the second half, Wisconsin was able to respond every time Duke made a run. Duke cut the lead to 40-38 early in the second half, and Wisconsin responded with a 9-2 run to open up a 49-40 lead. After two Kyle Singler free throws made it 53-52 with 10:47 left in the game, Wisconsin's defense ratcheted up, holding Duke to just two points over the next six minutes as they opened up a 65-54 lead with just over four minutes left. Then when Andre Dawkins hit three straight threes down the stretch, Wisconsin hit their free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Trevon Hughes celebrates during the Badger's win over Duke.
(photo credit: Scout.com)
This win was more significant than just upsetting Duke. For the first time, the Blue Devils lost in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The win also sealed the first time the Big Ten would win the challenge.
Also good this week:
MATCH-UPS OF THE WEEK:
Monday, December 7, 2009
12/7 - College Hoops Week in Review |
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment