March 28, 2005

A Few More Thoughts

No, the Big 10 still isn't better than the ACC.

This is a gross oversimplification, but if I had to give one word descriptions of the ACC and the Big 10, they would be offense and defense, respectively. Roy Williams said as much before the game when he said he preferred an up and down style, but if he had time, he'd like to spend time with Bo Ryan and learn to coach like he does, i.e., defense first. Thus far, defense seems to have the upper hand. We'll see how that plays out when UNC plays MSU on Saturday, and perhaps again if UNC plays Illinois on Monday.

Arizona should have won the game. Arizona hit 10 of 12 free throws after their last bucket in regulation but couldn't hold on to the ball or burn enough time on its possessions. But even with their mistakes, how many teams could have come back from being down 15 with 4 minutes left, or down 8 with 1 minute left. Illinois was lucky... and good.

Posted by Charles Austin at March 28, 2005 09:40 PM
Comments

I would say that is a pretty good read on the trend between the two conferences. Duke may be an exception, as they work hard executing their team defense, and rely on Redick and Williams for their offense. If one of them is off, then it makes it much more difficult for them to win against a solid team like MSU.

The only thing I can see with Arizona is a depth problem, where at the end of the Illini game they just did not have enough left in the tank to take care of the ball near the end of regulation. Their sloppy play did them in, yet Arizona still had a chance at the end of OT.

The Illini are going to have their hands full of a deep Cardinal's team Saturday.

Posted by: MarcV at 12:47 PM

As a Louisville fan, I certainly hope that the Illini will have their hands full, and I think they will, but it won't be because UofL is deep. Pitino uses what amounts to a 7-man rotation, bringing in Otis George and Brandon Jenkins to supplement Garcia, Dean, O'Bannon, Palacios and Myles. Lorrenzo Wade sometimes gets a few minutes, primarily because he rebounds well for a guard). Pitino put in the 2-3 zone that's worked so well primarily because he doesn't have the bench to press and run.

Now if the Cardinals hadn't lost Sebastian Telfair and Donta Smith to the NBA and Brian Johnson to injury, it would be a different matter.

Posted by: Fred at 05:11 PM

Louisville is so talented it just seems like they are deep.

With the TV timeouts, depth is not so much of an issue. It does become an issue if you had an intense game on a Friday night, and then you have to play again on a Sunday against a talented team. Since both teams should be well rested by Saturday, then it may come down to a mental edge and who is hungrier at the end.

Posted by: MarcV at 01:20 PM