Go East To the Final Four

The Tar Heel Road to the Final Four

The Beast of the East.  It has been proclaimed the most difficult Region of the four.  Again, I am confused because, if you are the number one overall seed, shouldn't you have the easiest path?  Nope. You have to go through the Tar Heels!

RESPECT

Tweet of the Day

KButter5 Kendall Marshall

Ok, new season. Let's get it.

 
Thats right.  Tar Heels are the number two seed in the hardest bracket.  New season.  Let's get it!

2nd Round
LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY - We will skip the 2nd Round analysis, i.e. our first game.  After watching the selection show last night, I had to look up the LIU initials this morning because I had forgotten who it was.  Bottom Line: We are playing in Charlotte.  Home field, we win.

3rd Round

WASHINGTON is an interesting team and match up for UNC.  The game plan and story lines of the season are unbelievably parallel.  The Huskies love to score and play at a Tar Heel pace.  They have also been encumbered by numerous off-field issues and persevered.  Most recently, Venoy Overton was suspended from the Pac-10 Tournament after the allegations of 16 year old girl for sexual assault revealed that he had provided alcohol to the minor and her friend.  No charges were filed for sexual assault and Overton will return for the Big Dance.

The Huskies are led by a diminutive and explosive Isiah Thomas.  As a result of Overton's suspension, Thomas was forced to play nearly every minute of the Pac-10 Tournament and hit a game winning 18-foot step back jumper in OT to beat Arizona in the Championship game.  It is an explosive front court that has Hubert Davis picking UW over the Heels.  I see what you are doing there Hubert.  Reverse mojo pick.

The Bottom Line - According to Pomeroy, this is as even a match up as you will find against high level teams (especially this early in the Tourney).  As a result, some experts are picking UW as the sexy pick.  FAIL!  Assuming the teams are even, Washington has to fly across the country to play essentially a Heel home game.  (1) The Huskies struggle on the road.  (2) The Huskies struggle against athletic teams and we are the most athletic they have faced since the Maui Tournament (where they lost to UK and MSU).  (3) When the Huskies can't get it going against more athletic teams, they have no discernible offensive system to fall back on.  Can't win if you can't score and we play better defense than anyone in the Pac-10.  As a result, I expect the Heels to win more comfortably than the Vegas line predicts (if the Heels are even favored).

The Sweet Sixteen
SYRACUSE does everything decently, but doesn't excel at any one thing except blocking shots.  However, it is the scariest team in the Region for us.  If you read this blog, you already watch enough Tar Heel basketball to know that we struggle against the zone.  Syracuse plays an aggressive 2-3 match up zone that will cause us significant problems if we don't shoot well from beyond the arc.  Below is a video that will layout the 'Cuse Zone.  It is a solid and informative video if you can get past the Boeheim montage tribute and awful soundtrack.  Just turn off the sound and start the video at the 30 second mark if you are interested in watching it.

Personally, I think that the Miami zone helped prepare us for the Syracuse.  Because of the Miami game, we know what personal groups can be effective to attack a zone and should be more willing to deploy it.  I like our ability to not only match up defensively, but increase the tempo to keep 'Cuse out of that zone more than they'd like.

Bottom Line - Some will argue Syracuse peaked late in the season.  I disagree.  After dropping two straight to Georgetown and Loisville, 'Cuse ripped off six straight, including wins over Georgetown and Nova.  Those wins are not impressive to me.  Georgetown was sans Chris Wright and struggled mightly without him while Nova lost ten of their last fifteen.  What worries me is the game's location in Newark.  While the Tar Heels travel well for basketball and have a strong presence in New York City and its surrounding areas, advantage 'Cuse.  The Orange is an incredibly efficient basketball team that will show us a defense that you can't imitate in practice.  This may be the end of the road, but I believe in this team.

The Elite Eight
OHIO STATE is the closest thing to a great college team there is in the country.  OSU has strong senior leadership in 5th year senior David Lighty and Jon Diebler.  They have a future pro and possible player of the year in Jared Sullinger.  They also have the second best freshman point guard in country in Aaron Craft.  From beyond the arc, Diebler, Lighty, Buford, and Craft can light you up.  From the interior, Sullinger, Thomas, and Lauderdale form a very good backcourt.  As a result, they have balanced scoring and good defense. 

Bottom Line - If we make it to the Elite Eight, I like how we match up with OSU.  Sullinger has a little Hansbrough in his game and plays below the rim, but I don't think he will have as much success against our NBA-in-waiting backline.  Additionally, our guards and perimeter forwards are more athletic than OSU's.  If we face OSU, I think we will play in the Final Four, because we will not loose to a team that willing participates and permits the release of something like this:



Yeah.  That is Miley Cyrus.  What the hell is going on in Columbus?