2011 NCAA Tournament Picks:
Sweet 16 Redo | East | West | Southwest | Southeast | Final Four | Winning Tips | 2011 NCAA Tournament Home
2011 NCAA Tournament Bracket Breakdowns:
West | East | Southwest | Southeast | Final Four | Schedule
2011 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Breakdowns:
West | Southeast |
2011 NCAA Tournament Preview:
ACC | Atlantic 10 | Big 12 | Big East | Big Ten | Mid-Majors | Mountain West | Pac 10 | SEC
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Richmond (26-8)
WHY TO LOVE: Great guard play. Junior Kevin Anderson (17.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.7 apg) and senior David Gonzalvez (14.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg) are both terrific.
Along with Anderson and Gonzalvez, Richmond’s five leading scorers are upperclassmen.
The Spiders take care of the ball well and play good defense; they average only 11.4 turnovers per contest and limit opponents to 61 points per game.
WHY TO HATE: Richmond is 7-6 on the road, but only one of those victories is impressive (Rhode Island). The other wins were against non-NCAA Tournament foes.
This team hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 1998.
THE VERDICT: Richmond is a solid team that could make a Sweet 16 run. I’ll probably have them losing in the second round.
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Temple (29-5)
WHY TO LOVE: Temple has very good guard play with Ryan Brooks (14.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg) and Juan Fernandez (12.2 ppg, 3.5 apg, 44.7 3PT). Big man Lavoy Allen (11.7 ppg, 10.8 rpg) complements them well.
The Owls take very good care of the basketball; they turn it over only 10.7 times per contest.
Temple has a suffocating defense that yields only 56.8 points per game. Their three-point defense is spectacular.
WHY TO HATE: Temple doesn’t shoot the ball well. The team as a whole hits just 43.3 percent of its field goals. And aside from Fernandez, no regular drills better than 32.6 percent from long distance.
In addition to shooting poorly, the Owls have a sluggish offense in general, as they score just 65.4 points per contest. This means that they violate Rule No. 5 of my NCAA Tournament Credo.
THE VERDICT: Poor-shooting, sloppy offensive teams generally don’t fare well in the NCAA Tournament. Temple could win a game, but the team probably won’t make it to the second weekend.
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Xavier (24-8)
WHY TO LOVE: Sophomore guard Jordan Crawford is one of the top scorers in the country. Crawford (19.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.0 apg), an Indiana transfer, nails 39.9 percent of his threes.
Two other X-Men average double digits: senior center Jason Love (11.9 ppg, 8.6 rpg) and sophomore point guard Terrell Holloway (11.4 ppg, 4.0 apg).
Xavier shoots the ball very well, hitting 47 percent of its field goals and 37.7 percent of its threes. Four X-Men drill better than 36 percent of their threes: Crawford, Mark Lyons (36.2), Dante Jackson (39.7) and Brad Redford (42.7).
Xavier’s just 7-5 on the road, but one of those victories came at Florida. The Musketeers lost at Butler by only one point. They lost at Wake Forest in double overtime.
WHY TO HATE: Five of Xavier’s eight rotation players are underclassmen.
The Musketeers may rebound well, but they don’t play good defense. They allow 68.3 points per game, though.
THE VERDICT: Xavier will once again be a threat to knock off overrated higher seeded teams. Depending on the matchup, they could advance to the Sweet 16 again. Anything more is a stretch considering their youth.
2011 NCAA Tournament Picks:
Sweet 16 Redo | East | West | Southwest | Southeast | Final Four | Winning Tips | 2011 NCAA Tournament Home
2011 NCAA Tournament Bracket Breakdowns:
West | East | Southwest | Southeast | Final Four | Schedule
2011 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Breakdowns:
West | Southeast |
2011 NCAA Tournament Preview:
ACC | Atlantic 10 | Big 12 | Big East | Big Ten | Mid-Majors | Mountain West | Pac 10 | SEC
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