TARRRRRRRRRRRR....HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELS!
First I'd like to start off with a recap of the Gonzaga game. I said that they wouldn't be able to hang with us for the whole game and wouldn't be surprised if we won big by double digits. Turned out to be true. We just had too much offensive firepower and too much for them to handle. All players were on all cylinders and it was amazing to watch.
Today against Oklahoma the same story. I was thinking that we could let Blake Griffin get his usual numbers around 25 and 15 rebounds and we would still win because we are stronger at every position than they were. They don't have another person besides Blake that could take over a game. It proved true. For the first 12 or so minutes we completely shut down Blake and I was impressed. We've been hounded by media and critics the whole season for not playing defense and pretty much this entire tournament, we've been playing awesome defense. Forcing turnovers, not allowing easy baskets and getting points in transition. Blake and the Sooners looked very timid today and I was surprised. We jumped out to a 13-2 lead and didn't look back from there. We didn't put many points on the board but the most important part is we didn't let Oklahoma put a lot of points up either. It also didn't help that they only made 2-19 three pointers the entire game. With this, we probably should have won by about 25. Same with the Gonzaga game, with out our little lapses, we could have won by 30 or so.
Next up we have Villanova. A very good team with a very good coach. I just think it's another test to see how we respond on defense. A team full of quick and talented guards that we have struggled against all season long. Jeff Teague, Tony Douglass, Tyrese Rice, Grevis Vasquez to name a few. Something in those games though, Lawson wasn't really in full swing, not to mention Ellingtons roller coaster season. Both of our guys are on top of their game now so it will be interesting. We should be able to exploit their weakness down low though as they aren't too heavy in the post. They are probably just as deep as we are off the bench, just not down low so I think that's where Hansbrough comes into play. He'll respond to the off game against Oklahoma and his off game against Kansas last year. I look to see Ed get a lot of minutes as well, with Nova executing a lot of dribble penetration, it will be a block party. Also, Nova likes to run a similar offense as we do. High octane, high paced, run and gun and I think that favors us a lot. We're just the best when it comes to playing that type of style in turning defense into offense in a very short amount of time.
Who would I rather play in the finals (assuming we take care of business against Nova) ? Probably Michigan State. If we can make it a repeat of the game earlier in the season when we won by 35, we definitely stand a good chance of winning. Our fast pace against their slowed pace. The thing about UConn is I think they match up with us pretty well. They have size down low and pretty good guards. They also have the depth. Thabeet, Adrien, Robinson, Price, Austrie, Walker, Gavin Edwards. Though if we play them and win it would be a much greater accomplishment.
We will see.
Go Heels! Another final four!
Today against Oklahoma the same story. I was thinking that we could let Blake Griffin get his usual numbers around 25 and 15 rebounds and we would still win because we are stronger at every position than they were. They don't have another person besides Blake that could take over a game. It proved true. For the first 12 or so minutes we completely shut down Blake and I was impressed. We've been hounded by media and critics the whole season for not playing defense and pretty much this entire tournament, we've been playing awesome defense. Forcing turnovers, not allowing easy baskets and getting points in transition. Blake and the Sooners looked very timid today and I was surprised. We jumped out to a 13-2 lead and didn't look back from there. We didn't put many points on the board but the most important part is we didn't let Oklahoma put a lot of points up either. It also didn't help that they only made 2-19 three pointers the entire game. With this, we probably should have won by about 25. Same with the Gonzaga game, with out our little lapses, we could have won by 30 or so.
Next up we have Villanova. A very good team with a very good coach. I just think it's another test to see how we respond on defense. A team full of quick and talented guards that we have struggled against all season long. Jeff Teague, Tony Douglass, Tyrese Rice, Grevis Vasquez to name a few. Something in those games though, Lawson wasn't really in full swing, not to mention Ellingtons roller coaster season. Both of our guys are on top of their game now so it will be interesting. We should be able to exploit their weakness down low though as they aren't too heavy in the post. They are probably just as deep as we are off the bench, just not down low so I think that's where Hansbrough comes into play. He'll respond to the off game against Oklahoma and his off game against Kansas last year. I look to see Ed get a lot of minutes as well, with Nova executing a lot of dribble penetration, it will be a block party. Also, Nova likes to run a similar offense as we do. High octane, high paced, run and gun and I think that favors us a lot. We're just the best when it comes to playing that type of style in turning defense into offense in a very short amount of time.
Who would I rather play in the finals (assuming we take care of business against Nova) ? Probably Michigan State. If we can make it a repeat of the game earlier in the season when we won by 35, we definitely stand a good chance of winning. Our fast pace against their slowed pace. The thing about UConn is I think they match up with us pretty well. They have size down low and pretty good guards. They also have the depth. Thabeet, Adrien, Robinson, Price, Austrie, Walker, Gavin Edwards. Though if we play them and win it would be a much greater accomplishment.
We will see.
Go Heels! Another final four!