7:00 pm: No. 14 Memphis vs. No. 4 Kansas: Jimmy V. Week concludes tonight with the Jimmy V. Classic, which has as loaded of a field as we have seen this season. The opener pits a young Memphis team against a Kansas team that is still 11 days away from adding Josh Selby to the mix. (Ironically, Kansas missing Selby might be a bad thing for Memphis. If they win, it will have an asterisk. If they lose, then people will note they lost to Kansas without Selby on the roster.) Memphis has as much talent as anyone in the country on their roster, but they are young. More importantly, however, this seems to be an immature team. They've played down to the level of their opponent on more than one occasion -- most notably when they were taken to overtime by Arkansas State after blowing a 25-7 lead.
As for Kansas, this club has been a bit of an enigma early in the season. They are undefeated and have had a couple of impressive performances this year, but they have looked less than dominant against the second tier of the Pac-10.
The Tiger's biggest weakness is on the glass, where they have issues with discipline when it comes to boxing out. Will Coleman is not a great rebounder despite his size and strength, and the players that usually play the four (Angel Garcia, Wesley Witherspoon at times) are generally finesse players. That said, Kansas is not a great rebounding team this year. The Morris twins are more combo-forwards than post players, and the rest of the Kansas front line has not been that impressive this season.
9:30 pm: No. 7 Syracuse vs. No. 8 Michigan State: As good as the first game is, the nightcap may end up being the better basketball game. Syracuse comes in undefeated, but they have looked nothing like the No. 7 team in the country early in the season. Fab Melo is not the Fab Melo we expected to see while he deals with an achilles injury, Kris Joseph has not blossomed like many predicted he would, and the Orange really lack outside shooting.
The Spartans, on the other hand, have lost two games this season, but both losses were really a result of their own mistakes. Against UConn, Michigan State looked rattled down the stretch, missing free throws and turning the ball over on key possessions. Against Duke, it was again turnovers that cost this team. Kalin Lucas may not be back to 100% yet, but he has looked pretty good early on, while Korie Lucious was awesome getting to the basket against the Blue Devils. I also like that MSU has a guy like Draymond Green, an excellent passing forward, to put at the high post against the Syracuse zone.
Other Notable Games:
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Tuesday's Pregame Beat: The Jimmy V, Classic happens tonight |
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