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Reflections on Atlantic City-NCAA Preview!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
3/15/2010
The Muskies continue to play .500 basketball in AC. Four trips, Four quarterfinal wins, Four semifinal losses despite high seeds. Let's relocate the tourney to Dayton or that new arena in Pittsburgh!! I guess the A-10 is committed to Atlantic City. Attendance was up so we're stuck with the long drive. Temple certainly has thrived in AC with 3 straight tourney titles. The Owls clearly are the best team in the league.
The NCAA did Temple no favors with a 5 seed. A 4 or even a 3 would have been justified. They killed Big 5 rival Villanova and the Wildcats got a "gift" 2 seed. TU plays 7 so depth is a problem on paper, but consider the way they play - very halfcourt, low fouls, low turnovers! They run off opponent's misses but they seldom have to defend a fastbreak. They give up just 56 PPG and will get plenty of rest thanks to the long NCAA Tournament TV time-outs.
Juan Fernandez their point guard is a true triple threat-long range shooter,driver and passer. His turnovers are ridiculously low and his level of play incredibly high since he recovered from that concussion. Guards Ryan Brooks and Luis Guzman also can handle the ball and distribute and score. All three have size. There are no midgets to beat up.
Lavoy Allen is the A-10's best power forward-big,mobile,a sure passer and sticky defender. Center Michael Eric has gotten better and better. Subs Ramone Moore and Rahlir Jefferson would start for almost anybody else in the country.
The Owls communicate so well. They know what veteran coach Fran Dunphy wants in every situation. They are scary cool and composed. TU's style and experience should play well in the NCAAs.
It's a "sexy" pick to go with Ivy darling Cornell to KO Temple. There's a 12-5 upset seemingly every year. Look somewhere else in the bracket like Utah St over Texas A&M or UTEP over Butler or New Mexico St over Michigan State.
I like Temple to make the second weekend. Then they might have to deal with Kentucky.
Richmond also got short changed with their 7 seed. The Spiders do struggle a bit with post presence but their guards are dynamite as XU knows firsthand. They could bounce Villanova in Round Two though.
Xavier played extremely hard against Richmond but could never get that double digit point separation to break their will. The games at Cintas and AC were so similar and played at such a high level. If only Dante had drilled those free throws!! But he made an incredible steal to set-up the opportunity!
XU did not shoot the "3" well in AC (just 10-45). The coaches went to the dribble drive almost exclusively and X shot an amazing 77 free throws. Speed kills (the opposition) forcing their hand-making them react-forcing them to foul. Chris Mack played Mark Lyons 50 minutes in AC frequently going with Terrell Holloway and Lyons together. Expect more of the same in the NCAA.
It's win and advance!! Style points are not awarded!! If stifling ball pressure on the enemies' guards and tons of free throws from Holloway, Jordan Crawford and Lyons are the way to wins, so be it! Pretty fall-away jumpers are a losers' formula in the NCAA. Time to attack and be physical and take no prisoners!!
Kenny Frease played well in last year's NCAA against Wisconsin's and Pitt's bigger bodies. He faired well this season against LSU and Florida. Expect good minutes again against Minnesota's tall trees (Sampson and Iverson).
Readers know I'm a huge supporter of the current coaching staff. I've known Chris Mack and Pat Kelsey since the early 1990's. The job they've done in their first year of full control against a super hard schedule and very high expectations is remarkable. 24-8 is excellent!! 14-2 in the best A-10 since UMass dominated in the mid-1990's is superb!!
XU went 15-0 at home. Prosser, Matta and Miller never went undefeated at Cintas thru a whole season.
Xavier is 16-4 in 2010 with an 8 game win streak and 2 four game win streaks. 7 losses are to NCAA teams (Marquette, Baylor, Kansas St, Butler, Wake Forest, Temple and Richmond). The other loss happened at Dayton.
I like the NCAA draw and location. I like the Friday-Sunday bracket. I like the way this group is focusing and playing. I'll have a more detailed preview of Xavier-Minnesota later in the week.
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