ESPN pundits pick big flop for Big East

[Hoopfan]

Whoever gets slu has a. Rey solid chance of winning. They've had a few days off to rest since they were bounced so early so that could be good or bad.

[LeMoyne00]

When your conference wins the National Championship -- its hard to call it a FLOP!

[Bill Marsh]

Was watching the round table bracketology last night on ESPN2. They have nova winning a game and the other three teams being bounced in the first game! Creighton going down to LA Lafayette!

Creighton going down to UL Lafayette??? Wow!

I actually think that Providence has a very favorable matchup against North Carolina and that they can take Iowa state as well. With Villanova in the same sub regional, I think that one of them gets to the Elite 8.

[stever20]

Was watching the round table bracketology last night on ESPN2. They have nova winning a game and the other three teams being bounced in the first game! Creighton going down to LA Lafayette!

Creighton going down to UL Lafayette??? Wow!

I actually think that Providence has a very favorable matchup against North Carolina and that they can take Iowa state as well. With Villanova in the same sub regional, I think that one of them gets to the Elite 8.

I like Iowa St in that portion of the bracket actually. They are playing at a really high level right now- probably underseeded quite frankly.

[Bill Marsh]

Was watching the round table bracketology last night on ESPN2. They have nova winning a game and the other three teams being bounced in the first game! Creighton going down to LA Lafayette!

Creighton going down to UL Lafayette??? Wow!

I actually think that Providence has a very favorable matchup against North Carolina and that they can take Iowa state as well. With Villanova in the same sub regional, I think that one of them gets to the Elite 8.

I like Iowa St in that portion of the bracket actually. They are playing at a really high level right now- probably underseeded quite frankly.

It's a little premature for me to talk about a Providence matchup with Iowa State because they have to get by North Carolina first. But assuming they do, I like them against ISU a lot. Combine the 2-3 zone with their outstanding rebounding and shot blocking and they could give the Cyclones fits. Providence showed that they can slow down a high powered offense. Iowa State needs to score to win. In their last 20 games, they're 3-5 in games in which they score less than 80 points. I don't see them putting up a lot of points against Providence.

[stever20]

Yes they allowed Creighton(in 3rd game in 3 nights) to score only 58. But in last 10 games(to include that 58 point game), they've given up 75 per game. 5 times giving up at least 80. Even if you take out the 4 OT in those 10 games, still 71 per game in regulation. PC's defense rating is 96th. It's not like they're Georgetown back in the day.

[Bill Marsh]

Yes they allowed Creighton(in 3rd game in 3 nights) to score only 58. But in last 10 games(to include that 58 point game), they've given up 75 per game. 5 times giving up at least 80. Even if you take out the 4 OT in those 10 games, still 71 per game in regulation. PC's defense rating is 96th. It's not like they're Georgetown back in the day.

Who said anything about their defense? I was talking about their ability to control tempo. They are an outstanding rebounding team. Iowa State obviously wants to push the ball and they can't do that if they can't get rebounds. Providence went to the 2-3 zone a lot late in the season. It seems to be working for them. That's what they used to control tempo against Creighton. I expect we'll see more of the 2-3 in the NCAA tournament. Providence also used a lot of clock in their possessions against Creighton to shorten the game. Keep it close and they have a lot better shot at winning. In a close game, Iowa State's relatively poor FT shooting (69%) comes into play. Providence shoots 78% from the line, 2nd best in the country. That too was a big factor in the Creighton game as they hit 14 consecutive FT's in the 2nd half. Basketball is a rhythm sport. Throw off tempo and you throw off a team's rhythm. We saw that in the Creighton game as they started forcing shots and were unable to get into their normal sets. It's PC's ability to control temp that I like, not their defense in particular.

You find significance in PC giving up 80 points 5 times in the past 10 games? I don't. That's happened only once in regulation in the last 6 games, which is when they started using a lot of 2-3 zone and when they went on their late season winning streak. Except for the game at Creighton, they've held the opposition to 69 ppg in regulation in those 5 wins. That tells me more about where their team is right now than what happened at Georgetown 5+ weeks ago.

The thing I like about this team is that they're mature and seasoned, the kind of team with 4th and 5th year players that does well in the tournament. They've been through adversity and have come together. I think that's why they won the Big East tournament, why they won 6 of their last 7, and why they won 7 of their last 9. Of the 6 players in their regular rotation, they have no freshmen and only one true sophomore that they use. The other 5 are all upper clansmen once we include Harris, who is a red shirt sophomore. and Batts is a 5th year player as a red shirt senior. Contrast that with Iowa State who depend on 4 underclassmen, 2 freshmen and 2 sophomores in their 7 man rotation. Physically, that's a big advantage for Providence as well as in maturity.

[stever20]

Providence still has to get by UNC- no small thing..

Against UNC-
UNC is the 18th best offensive rebounding team in the country- getting nearly 38% of their missed shots.

I think one big thing will be when PC is on offense. UNC turns folks over pretty good- 19.4% of the time. Will PC be able to handle this will be a huge part of the answer.

Another thing- UNC gets to the line quite a bit- 69th best in the country. While they suck at shooting free throws- 62.5% 344th, Just getting to the line a lot would hurt PC in that they aren't deep obviously.

PC has to get off to a good start I think. If they don't I think they're in a lot of trouble.

I think one major thing is NCAA experience. Yes, PC has a lot of upperclassmen, but how many NCAA tourney appearances? UNC has 6 of their top 8 players with NCAA tourney experience- with some with at least 6 games. That makes a difference.

[FriarJ]

Stever, you obviously are not a fan of the Friars no biggie but I do agree, that if UNC races out to a decent lead PC is in trouble.

[adoraz11]

I don't think it matters PC has no tournament experience. They've already proven over the past week they're very capable of handling pressure in must win games, unlike a team such as St. John's.

That said it'll be a tough game. Hope PC can pull it off.