If you are wondering if there is a
Friday night Sweet 16 semifinal that will attract the attention of NBA scouting
personnel more than any of the other three being played, wonder no
longer.
The game in the Verizon Center
between the Washington, D.C.’s No.’s 1 and 5 seeds – Connecticut and Washington
– will have at least two matchups at all times that will draw focus from general
managers, personnel directors and scouts from 30 NBA franchises, either within
the arena or via the telecast.
And you can be sure that video of
those matchups will also be studied time and again as the June 28 NBA Draft
approaches.
*The Pacific 10 Conference’s Player
of the Year, Brandon Roy, is also one of three best man-to-man defenders
in the conference, and will probably be guarding either the player most
important to Connecticut’s offense success, junior point guard Marcus Williams, or sophomore forward Rudy Gay, Coach Jim Calhoun’s
most “talented” player. Williams is playing better than any player at his
position still in the tournament and Gay is projected by many NBA talent
evaluators as a top five selection in the draft.
*Whichever of those two that Roy
isn’t checking for Coach Lorenzo Romar will be defended by 6-7 senior
forward Bobby Jones, who did a solid job against Illinois guard Dee Brown during a second-round game in San Diego Saturday.
The other game in that region pits
7 (Wichita State) and 11 (George Mason) seeds, the first Sweet 16 game involving
those caliber of seeds since Missouri (12) beat UCLA (8) in San Jose in
2002.
The Minneapolis Region is made up
of two Big East (Villanova and Georgetown) clubs and one former Big East and
now-Atlantic Coast team (Boston College), as well as the winner of the
Southeastern Conference Tournament (Florida).
A closer look at Friday’s
semifinals:
WASHINGTON, D.C.
REGION
Scout.com All-Americas: Rudy
Gay (Connecticut, second team); Brandon Roy (Washington, first
team).
Projected 2006 NBA Draft
first-round selections: (if underclassmen enter draft pool) Rudy Gay,
Marcus Williams, Hilton Armstrong and Josh Boone (all Connecticut);
Brandon Roy (Washington).
Scout.com preseason ratings:
Connecticut (2); Washington (23); Wichita State (unrated); George Mason
(unrated).
Records vs. NCAA Tournament
field: Connecticut (14-3); Washington (8-2); Wichita State (6-7); George
Mason (4-1).
The
games:
All times
Eastern
No. 7 Wichita State (26-8) vs.
No. 11 George Mason (25-7), 7:27
p.m.
Things to consider: It’s a
rematch of a game played in Wichita on Feb. 18 and won by the visiting Patriots,
70-67, on a 3-pointer by Tony Skinn with 11 seconds remaining. George
Mason hit 52 percent of it shots, including 11 of 23 pointers. The Shockers were
at 41 percent from the field, including 10 of 27 behind the arc. Wichita State
has lost just once (to the other Sweet 16 Missouri Valley Conference
participant, Bradley) since. The Patriots have played some of the best defense
in the tournament, holding Michigan State and North Carolina to a cumulative
shooting percentage of .395.
Frank’s Spin: Coach Jim
Larranaga’s team won on the Shockers’ home floor five week ago and is
playing this one virtually in its backyard. Also, the Patriots beat two tougher
opponents than did Wichita State to get here. Do you see where this is going?
George Mason survives this “Cinderella’s Ball”.
No. 1 Connecticut (29-3) vs. No. 5
Washington (26-6), 9:57 p.m. (est.)
Things to consider:
Connecticut will probably run a multitude of defenders, from Marcus
Williams to Rudy Gay to Denham Brown to Rashad Anderson, at Brandon Roy, who, more often than not, initiates
Washington’s half-court offense while also being his team’s top scorer. When
Hilton Armstrong and Josh Boone are in the lineup, Connecticut
will have a two-to-three inch height advantage over Washington’s post players
(6-7 Jon Brockman, 6-8 Mike Jensen and 6-6 Jamaal Williams). Other than Villanova, Washington will have best transition
offense Connecticut has faced this season. And the Pac 10 Huskies will apply
every bit the defensive pressure that the Big East Huskies saw against
Villanova, as well.
Frank’s Spin: Assuming
Connecticut tightens its transition defense and Washington can’t keep Marcus
Williams from getting into the lane and making plays, the Huskies – the ones
coached by Jim Calhoun – will be just one more win away from the Final
Four.
MINNEAPOLIS
REGION
Scout.com All-Americas: Randy Foye (Villanova, first team); Allan Ray (Villanova, fourth team);
Craig Smith (Boston College, fourth team).
Projected 2006 NBA Draft
first-round selections: (if underclassmen enter draft pool) Randy Foye
(Villanova); Joakim Noah and Al Horford (Florida); Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green (Georgetown).
Scout.com preseason ratings:
Boston College (11); Villanova (15); Georgetown (20); Florida
(unrated).
Records vs. NCAA Tournament
field: Villanova (11-4); Boston College (5-4); Florida (9-4); Georgetown
(6-7).
The
games:
All times
Eastern
No. 1 Villanova (27-4) vs. No. 4
Boston College (28-7), 7:10 pm.
Things to consider: The
Eagles face the same dilemma as every team that has hooked up with Villanova
this season has agonized over – what to do about the best set of guards in
college basketball? But the Wildcats must cope with the same thing that Atlantic
Coast Conference teams found so difficult – keeping Boston College forward
Craig Smith and Jared Dudley from ruling the roost from 15-feet
and in away from the basket. The Eagles should be able to exploit Villanova’s
defense along the baseline and inside the paint much more readily than could
Arizona Sunday in Philadelphia.
Frank’s Spin: A year after
leaving the conference, Boston College picks up another “Big East”
victory.
No. 3 Florida (29-6) vs. No. 7
Georgetown (23-9), 9:40 p.m. (est.)
Things to consider: Both
teams played extremely well in their first two games, although the Hoyas (in
Northern Iowa and Big Ten Conference regular-season champion Ohio State) faced
the more formidable competition. All of Billy Donovan’s sophomores, most
notably Joakim Noah, have had exceptional seasons. But, if the Gators are
to beat the Hoyas, they are going to have to do a much better job – and then
some – defending Georgetown’s half-court (“Princeton-style”) offense than did
Ohio State. Some of the Buckeyes may still have whiplash from getting beat
backdoor so often. By the way, when will Hoyas’ sophomore forward Jeff
Green starting getting the national attention that is due
him?
Frank’s Spin: Georgetown
advances to the Elite Eight – and Green gets some of that credit he
deserves.
Inducted into the USBWA Hall of
Fame last April, Frank Burlison is Scout.com’s national basketball expert and is
also a columnist for the Long Beach (Calif.) Press-Telegram. He can be reached
at frank.burlison@presstelegram.com. Read more of Burlison’s pieces at
www.frankhoops.com