Congratulations to Purdue and Michigan State for making the Sweet 16. They have represented the Big Ten with class and truly are the cream of the crop. Had Chester Frazier been healthy, Illinois might have joined them, but as we all saw Thursday, the Fighting Illini aren't much without him. Wisconsin also proved their mettle, showcasing what we already knew of them: rugged defense, poor offense. With that said, Purdue and Michigan State are "sweet" right now but both have monumental tasks ahead of them.
Purdue, the fifth seed in the West, is slated to grapple with top seed Connecticut. Now, the Boilermakers are no stranger to playing great teams this year (Davidson, Oklahoma, Duke, Michigan State twice) and are fortunate to be playing their best basketball right now, courtesy of a five game winning streak. Purdue could have real problems matching up with UConn, specifically in the paint, trying to guard behemoth center Hasheem Thabeet and bruising forwards Jeff Adrien and Stanley Robinson. I think E'Twaun Moore, Lewis Jackson, Keaton Grant and Chris Kramer can handle UConn's backcourt play, specifically A.J. Price (calling Chris Kramer), but the key to Purdue's victory is whether or not they can contain Thabeet. Robbie Hummel looked fatigued in Saturday's game against Washington and took some shots, but I find it hard to believe he will NOT play in this game. The Boilermakers can stay in this game if they are able to knock down their early three-point attempts and if they decide to run a more up-tempo style of play. UConn doesn't play the fastest and Purdue should really utilize the speed of Jackson and Moore to establish the tempo. If they can make UConn play at their pace, they've got a shot.
Keys To Victory: Contain Thabeet, make three-pointers and run.
Michigan State looked very sloppy in their second round victory over USC, but they found a way to win, which is what good teams need to do. Their biggest problem is that they need to find someone who can knock down shots. Travis Walton (18 points) came through for the Spartans, but he is not a consistent provider of offense. Chris Allen, Durrell Summers and Korie Lucious are primarily bench players but when they get into the game, they have to knock down shots if Michigan State is to advance. They play Kansas Friday night, a team they beat in East Lansing earlier this season. Now I'm not wild about re-matches in the Big Dance because they traditionally favor the losing team, but Michigan State has the tools to defeat Kansas again. They're playing in a very familiar spot (Indianapolis) and should bring a ton of fans. This is the time of year the Spartans need to play their best and if they can jump out on Kansas early, they've got a good chance at advancing to the Elite Eight.
Keys To Victory: Find a shot maker(s), run Kansas out of the gym, suffocate Aldrich.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I don't like Purdue's chances. UConn's been rolling so far in the Tournament. I think Thabeet and company hand the Boilers a 15-20 point loss. I don't believe Purdue will have an answer for Thabeet, Adrien and Robinson in the paint.
ReplyDeleteAs far Michigan State, I picked them in the final four, so obviously I think they'r going to win. It won't be easy though. This might be the Sweet 16 matchup I'm most looking forward to. It's time for the Spartans to really play up to their potential. A team like USC should not present that large a problem. I think, and I hope, Michigan State squeaks by on the strength of inside and outside balance.