rdewald's Journal: 2006 Bracketology

Bracket here.

Atlanta - Sw16 - Duke v. Syracuse, West Virgina v. Texas.

• SIU v. WV will be a first-round game worth making a special effort to watch.
• Syracuse has a real chance to beat A&M, so their cindarella story may well continue.

Oakland - Sw16 - Bucknell v. Pitt, Gonzaga v. Marquette.

• Memphis is over-rated. No way are they a #1 seed, I'm calling evil Bullshit (tm).
• Kansas may ruin my reputation as a prognosticator.
• UCLA may handle Marquette, but I don't think so.

Washington - Sw16 - UConn v. Washington, UNC v. Seton Hall

• UAB has the skills to upset UConn, but beyond that, this bracket is a gift to them.
• Illinois doesn't have it, they just have a schedule that makes them look tough.
• Seton Hall has been playing in the Big East all year, they're ready. As a TarHeel fan, I'm worried about Seton Hall, we'll be much better off if they don't advance.

Minneapolis - Sw16 - Villanova v. BC, Oklahoma v. Ohio State

• I'm pretty chaulky on this bracket, I just don't think Florida can get past Oklahoma's big men. They play a more pro-style game (read: inferior) in the SEC, they don't know what to do when they get blocked out of the paint, they haven't had any experience with that kind (read: BigEast/ACC) of team.
• Georgetown *can* beat Ohio State, I just don't think they will, but if it happens, that will definitely be a second-round game I will watch.

Ok, I'll keep this up as we progress. GO HEELS!

*sigh*

[Em Emalb]

I just don't see my boys making a run past the sweet 16 this year. Too little defense too little too late.

Now, don't get me wrong, any given night they can blow out any other team in the league (just like your boys a few miles over) but this is the time to shine. Peak or go home. Losing 2 games down the stretch hurt. Winning the ACC helps...how about BC? Great addition to the ACC I think.

I think this year UConn takes it all.

That makes me sad.

Re:*sigh*

[rdewald]

My overall pick, at this point, is Villanova. I think UConn has some great talent, Boone is a real asset, but they might have trouble with Villanova, they have a score to settle because of the *14 point* loss to UConn which marred an otherwise superior late season run. If that ends up being the semi-final (which it well may), that may be a better game than the final.

I had forgotten you were a Duke fan. Here's your problem--your team relies too much on Reddick getting 30/game. Both FSU and the tarheels b

Re:*sigh*

[Em Emalb]

re: JJ. He's the best pure shooter I've ever seen. He has difficulty sometimes shedding defenders off the dribble, causing him to put up some bad shots. Sheldon Williams is the key. If can stay out of foul trouble and can make some buckets early, teams will be forced to play JJ a little softer or completely cover him leaving the other guys open.

Look for Paulus or one of the other role players to have a huge game if they can keep JJ and Sheldon involved in the game plan.

This team is so shallow they get w

Re:*sigh*

[rdewald]

Well, that's just it with JJ, he has to work so hard to get a shot because you can't leave him alone past the half-court line. He will score from 15 feet behind the arc if you give him a good enough look. So the teams that figured out how to be sucessful against Duke (like UNC) run several people against him man-to-man and just don't let him get a look. You *have* to do that to beat this team. The zone is useless against Duke this year, JJ will just lay back and drain long 3's often enough to keep the (

Re:*sigh*

[Em Emalb]

Re: Sheldon:

You're absolutely right. He has a hard time keeping his head. I'm surprised Coach K hasn't run that out of him though.

He's got spirit, but he looses his head sometimes.

Well see.

I love me some march basketball...

Cincinnati

[FortKnox]

What is your opinion about the commitee leaving out Cincinnati? I call evil bullshit and conspiracy. Sure, they are a #11 seed, but just leaving them out because you can't hve too many from one conference is bullshit. Not to mention that McNamara travelled on that last second shot to beat them (and without that call being made, Syracuse makes it all the way to the tourney... and a #5 seed? Bullshit! This team lost to DePaul (non-tourney team) by over 30 points the week before!)

Re:Cincinnati

[rdewald]

Frankly, I thought they would make it in when they beat West Virginia, but I think Syracuse is really the reason they didn't go, plus you have to remember the tournament is at it's core a television entertainment event and they needed to bring in teams from other regional markets than the Big East's.

But, on the other hand, they did lose at least once to every top-25 team they played this year--Memphis, Louisville, UConn, Georgetown, Pitt, and Villanova--even though I admit they did split with Syracuse, Loui

Bradley Braves

[YTYTYTYTYTY]

My old friends from Peoria the Bradley Braves, nationally ranked back in the day before the shot clock. You've never seen a team slow down a game like the Bradley Braves. They could take a 4 point lead with six minutes and just sit on the ball, playing keep away against a far superior team and steal the game. Their opponenets would be forced to foul them just to get posession of the ball and of course this put Bradley into BONUS LAND at the charity stripe and those boys could make points from the line.