Point Guard U?

The University of Arizona has produced some talented and top point guards the last decade or so, with some of them moving onto the NBA and some just looking to get their careers started.

It is pretty unbelievable how many great point guards have come through this program. It all started in 1991 with Khalid Reeves who went on to play 6 successful seasons in the NBA for the Heat, Hornets, Nets, Mavs, Pistons, and Bulls.

The very next season in 1992, Damon Stoudamire came along. Every one knows about the short lefty who's been playing in the NBA forever. He helped take the Blazers to numerous playoff runs and a few Western Conference Final Runs. Stoudamire is still in the NBA to this day, playing for the Grizzlies.

Jason Terry and Mike Bibby, both current NBA stars for the Mavs and Kings, have had great careers. They both helped Arizona win the 1997 National Championship.

Gilbert Arenas lead the Wildcats for two solid seasons, his team lost in the national championship to Duke in 2001. Arenas is now one of the top players in the league and may just be the best PG's in the league as well.

Jason Gardner was the last great PG to play for the Wildcats. He may not have had any type of NBA season, but Gardner was solid throughout his year for the U of A.

Nowdays, Jerrid Bayless is poised to follow in the foot steps of the great U of A point guards. Bayless is only a freshman and is not only one of the top freshman PGs, but one of the top PG's in the country.

And the trend is still going, the nations current top high school poing guard, has signed a LOI to Arizona for next season. Some experts compare him to Sam Cassell. Jennings and Bayless are poised to lead Arizona to atop the country once again as the will both continue the great point guard legacy at the University of Arizona.

Who's In, Who's out?

The Madness is almost here. Which bubble teams are in and which are out? There are many teams out there trying to solidify their spot in the tourney. Which is why conference tourney time is so crucial for teams vying for a bid.

IN OR OUT?

ACC:
Georgia Tech- In
The Yellow Jackets have one of the easier in-conference schedules in the ACC, but have some key wins. Early season wins over Memphis, Duke, FSU (2), Clemson, and NC State help; But the main one was Thursday nights upset over UNC. I believe if G-Tech lost that game they would of had to get 2 or 3 wins in the ACC Tourney to get a bid; but now with the win over the Tar-Heels, G-Tech is probably dancing.

Clemson- Out
Clemson was on fire at the start of the season. But have recently dropped 9 out of the last 12. The Tigers do not have many wins that will catch the eye of the NCAA Tournament Committee and still don't have a win over a ranked opponent.

FSU- Out
A week or two ago I probably would have had this team in. But after some tough losses they're quickly dropping. FSU has some key wins but have only one significant win on the road, which was at Duke. In order to get into the tourney they need a strong showing at the ACC Tournament next week and need to get a win over one of the top 4 in the league.

Big 12:
Kansas State- Out
KSU has been too inconsistent and have not played particularly well on the road. The Wildcats are 62nd in the RPI and are 1-5 against the top 50, and in hope of a tournament berth need to at least make it to the Big 12 tournament championship.

Texas Tech- In
T-Tech has one of the toughest schedules in the country and have vital wins over top ranked opponents. Which include: Kansas & Texas A&M twice. Even if the Red Raiders get knocked out of the conference tourney right away, the big wins will be enough.

Oklahoma State- Out
Even with a tough schedule, OK St. is just out of the tournament. Only one good road win against Syracuse is not good enough to get you in the dance.

Big East:
Syracuse- In
The Cuse has been playing well lately and just got a much needed win over Georgetown. Maybe one or two conference tourney wins would help though.

West Virginia- In
The 2 recent road losses don't help but some big wins along the way do. A 55 RPI isn't much to brag about, but the Mountaineers also deserve credit for beating the teams they should've beaten.

Villanova- In
Nova is no doubt in, 7th SOS in the country and their RPI is 19th. They don't have many big road wins, but they came up big by beating plenty of ranked teams at home.

Pac 10:
USC- In
I don't know if I can consider them a bubble team or not, but they are indeed in. USC may not have the greatest RPI and SOS but playing in the toughest conference in the country is hard enough.

Arizona- In
Besides struggling throughout the season, the Wildcats have enough wins to get in. Playing one of the toughest schedules in the country helps and some recent road conference wins will get them in.

Stanford- In
Standford has strong enough wins and a decent enough RPI to get them in. Also, the big upset over UCLA is the main ingredient for a bid.

SEC:
Vanderbilt- In
The Commodores have a tough schedule and got some some clutch wins down the stretch. The consistency from this team is huge and they will be dancing.

Alabama- In
Bama is one of those teams that are hard to call right now. I think that they will make it. I think they will be the only team to make it out of the SEC West Division. Their inconsistency has really been what put them on the bubble. They haven't beat too many good teams. They did beat Kentucky, but they lost big to Notre Dame and Auburn. For them to solidify a spot, they will have to win at least one game in the SEC Tournament.

North Carolina vs. Arizona Post-game Analysis

North Carolina dominated from the beginning of the game. I made a mistake in picking Arizona, but I think it's mainly because of how much hatred I have for UNC. Like I said before, the team that can make stops and force turnovers on defense would be the one that came out on top. The young guns for UNC took charge right away and proved themselves even more. These freshmen are not playing like typical freshmen.

North Carolina broke it open just about right away. Lawson scored the first 8 points and looked very smooth in transition. Hansbrough wasn't much of a factor as I thought he would of been. Especially with Brandan Wright's game-time decision to sit out due to illness.

UNC's only weakness is their perimeter defense. They gave up quite a bit of wide open, outside shots. Luckily for the Tar-Heels, few went in. Arizona struggled on the outside and continued to throw up shots as the game went on. I also thought UNC did a great job of containing Mustafa Shakur in the transition game. That's where he is best. They made him force things that wasn't there and made him look a little uncomfortable in his game.

It also didn't help that Marcus Williams injured his ankle in the 1st half and Chase Budinger sat out nearly the whole 1st half with 2 quick fouls. This forced Lute Olson to go deep into his bench, which is something he doesn't normally like to do.

I can only imagine how much worse it could of been if Wright had played. This North Carolina team I believe now, is the second best team in the country only behind Florida. These freshmen know their roles and fit in well. Roy Williams really knows how to utilize them with his offense. Lawson is not only the best PG in the ACC, but is starting to show he is one of the best in the country.

As for Arizona, overall, they took a step backwards after this game. Last week they almost came out and topped #2 UCLA. And today they struggled against a superior UNC team. I truly do believe this Wildcats team has the potential to be a Final Four threat. They have the experience, coaching, and the personal to do so. They just need to find another way to win when they have an off-shooting night and Lute Olson will make sure these things happen by NCAA Tournament time.


Leaders: UNC Arizona
Points: Lawson 18 Budinger 16
Rebounds: 4 tied with 6 Hill 10
Assists: Lawson 8 Shakur 4

College Hoops Weekend Preview

There are some intriguing and big games coming up this weekend. Just about the majority of them will have a heavy impact on the conference standings.

Analysis and Predictions
There's one non-conference game that sticks out most to me and I have been anticipating this game from the beginning of the season. UNC-Arizona will square off this Saturday in which will have Final Four implications. The deep and experienced Wildcats will get their shot at the young and highly touted Tar-Heels.

This is a great matchup as both teams love to get up and down the floor. I love the point guard matchup between Tywon Lawson and Mustafa Shakur. But this is where Arizona has the advantage with Shakur, as UNC's Lawson hasn't played in a hostile environment or an experienced team quite like this away from home. The other matchups will be interesting as well with Wayne Ellington guarding Jewann McClellan, Reyshawn Terry on Marcus Williams, and the freshmen on freshmen matchup of Brandan Wright on Chase Buddinger. But the matchup of Tyler Hansbrough and Ivan Radenovic will be very intriguing. Radenovic is a very good defender, but Hansbrough should be able to out physical him inside.

The Tar-Heels weakness will be their perimeter defense. They've had some lapses at times and they definitely showed that they can give up the long ball vs V-Tech. But if Arizona has a terrific shooting night, Zona will walk all over UNC and will win by atleast double digits. But this matchup will be won on the defensive side, both teams are very potent on the offensive side but whoever can come up with stops and force turnovers will come out on top.
The Pick: Arizona 82 UNC 77- Arizona will win because they're playing at home and UNC's young guns haven't played in this big of a game all year outside of Chapel Hill.

Another matchup which will have a big impact on the SEC East race is Tennessee vs Kentucky. Tennessee is a very good shooting team but not having the SEC's leading scorer Chris Lofton will hurt, very badly. Kentucky is improving but they have stuggled at times. The Wildcats have a very balanced attack with Randolph Morris leading the way and with Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley on his side. Kentucky needs to be more consistent on both sides of the court if they want a chance to win the SEC. This will be a big game for them to be able to get things going in the right direction. Meanwhile, Tennessee will need to pick up it's game without their main man and they can't always rely on the long ball. Tennessee will struggle but can easily stay in this game with their strong defense.
The Pick: Kentucky 70 Tennessee 63

The late Sunday matchup between Boston College and Duke will tell us which team is ready to step up as the ACC team that will challenge UNC. Boston College has had some on and off the court problems all year long that's been effecting their game drastically. They just can't seem to get things going as expected. BC has been way too inconsistent. Although they do matchup very well with Duke, playing at Cameron Indoor Stadium will not be an easy task. I like the matchups with first of all Jarred Dudley going at it against Josh McRoberts. Dudley should be able to handle McRoberts well but needs a lot of help from his teammates. I also like the Tyrese Rice-Greg Paulus square off. Paulus has not been his normal self but it's pretty much been the same with Rice.

With the recent departure of Sean Williams, Duke has an edge in the front court. Also depth will factor into this game as Coach K will continue to sub as the game goes on to tire and wear down the Eagles. It's hard to pick Duke in this but BC just can't seem too play well, especially on the road.
The pick: Duke 74 BC 67

Other Predictions:
Wisconsin 75 Iowa 60
UCLA 79 Stanford 71