Oceanboy
2
Well coming off a very nice win with Portland university last night and on to todays pick wich is a very live dog......
NCAA BB
Georgetown +7.5 -109
The georgetown Hoyas come into this season full of expectations and looking to land in the Top 25 very soon. The Hoyas return all 5 starters from last year surprise team who made it unexpectedly to the post season NIT tournament. Sophomore phenom Jeff Green who was a big surprise last season returns after earning rookie of the year honors in the Big East Conference by avg. 13.1ppg and leading all freshman with 6.6rpg and 50.2 FG%. Green is now in his second year and the sky is the limit for his athletic ability. Along with Green the Hoyas will be sporting STUD F Brandon Bowman who returns to the Hoyas after withdrawing his name from the NBA draft. Bowman, a senior and 4 year starter was the Hoyas leading scorer last year avg.15.1ppg and 6.1rpg. At center the Hoyas will rely on 7ft tall Roy Hibbert who is a massive post player that still a work in progress but who avg. 5.1ppg and 3.5rpg. As We can all see the Hoyas are BIG, STRONG, and PHYSICAL on the frontcourt. The backcourt will be anchored by senior G Ashanti Cook, who is a reliable scorer and perimeter shooter, he has experience and should be able to avoid turnovers this season. Joining Cook will be sophomore G Johnattan Wallace, who provided a decent spark on his freshman year playing sigmnificant minutes and avg.6.5ppg. The Hoyas also have depth at the guard position as freshmen G Marc Egerson is very highly recruited and a very muti-talented kid who will provide the Hoyas with excellent offensive capabilities off the bench. The Hoyas are extremely sound defensively as they led the Big East conference last season on scoring defense and with one more year of experience under their belt this team will be ferocious on the defensive ends causing many teams to rely on outside shooting and 3 pointers.
On the other side of this match up we have the Illinois Fighting illini who is coming off an NCAA Championship runner up season. The problem is that gone are Deron Williams, Roger powell, and Luther Head. This trio was phenomenal for the illini's success last seson as they accounted for 40.9ppg or 53% of this teams offense. Also they accounted for 204 of the 344 3pt shots made last season or 59% of them, so as you can see this team has its work cut out for them. They do return 2 starter, Standout G Dee Brown who avg. 13.3ppg and 4.5apg but who has never been know for his ball handling skills an area which he lacked last year. In addition of Brown, senior F James augustine returns after avg. 10.1ppg and 7.6rpg and should increase his productivity this season with the loss of all that fire power due to NBA and graduations. Joining Brown on the backcourt will be Junior G Rich Mcbride who avg. 2.6ppg but who will not be able to fit the shoes of Luther Head or deron williams as his abilities are just not there. The other F position will be commanded by F Brian randle who is coming off an injury plague season and the jury still out on him and at the center position sophomore Shaun Pruitt and freshman Charles Jackson will both see playing time early in the season until Bruce webber decides on his line up. As we can see illinois will be growing and learning as the season goes on. This is a very young and inexperience team and it will take time to gel and establish a new identity for coach Webber. IMO this is the biggest edge in this matchup as georgetown will be able to contain Augustine in the paint all night and the illini will become one dimensional as dee brown will have to beat the Hoyas by himself a feat that I don't think he will be able to accomplish...So I will back up the better defensive team, who returns all 5 starters from a nice post season NIT appearance, getting points vs a young and inexperience squad that is still trying to figure out their rotation.....Hoyas should cruise to a straight up victory......
Georgetown 68 Illinois 62
glta as always...........OB
NCAA BB
Georgetown +7.5 -109
The georgetown Hoyas come into this season full of expectations and looking to land in the Top 25 very soon. The Hoyas return all 5 starters from last year surprise team who made it unexpectedly to the post season NIT tournament. Sophomore phenom Jeff Green who was a big surprise last season returns after earning rookie of the year honors in the Big East Conference by avg. 13.1ppg and leading all freshman with 6.6rpg and 50.2 FG%. Green is now in his second year and the sky is the limit for his athletic ability. Along with Green the Hoyas will be sporting STUD F Brandon Bowman who returns to the Hoyas after withdrawing his name from the NBA draft. Bowman, a senior and 4 year starter was the Hoyas leading scorer last year avg.15.1ppg and 6.1rpg. At center the Hoyas will rely on 7ft tall Roy Hibbert who is a massive post player that still a work in progress but who avg. 5.1ppg and 3.5rpg. As We can all see the Hoyas are BIG, STRONG, and PHYSICAL on the frontcourt. The backcourt will be anchored by senior G Ashanti Cook, who is a reliable scorer and perimeter shooter, he has experience and should be able to avoid turnovers this season. Joining Cook will be sophomore G Johnattan Wallace, who provided a decent spark on his freshman year playing sigmnificant minutes and avg.6.5ppg. The Hoyas also have depth at the guard position as freshmen G Marc Egerson is very highly recruited and a very muti-talented kid who will provide the Hoyas with excellent offensive capabilities off the bench. The Hoyas are extremely sound defensively as they led the Big East conference last season on scoring defense and with one more year of experience under their belt this team will be ferocious on the defensive ends causing many teams to rely on outside shooting and 3 pointers.
On the other side of this match up we have the Illinois Fighting illini who is coming off an NCAA Championship runner up season. The problem is that gone are Deron Williams, Roger powell, and Luther Head. This trio was phenomenal for the illini's success last seson as they accounted for 40.9ppg or 53% of this teams offense. Also they accounted for 204 of the 344 3pt shots made last season or 59% of them, so as you can see this team has its work cut out for them. They do return 2 starter, Standout G Dee Brown who avg. 13.3ppg and 4.5apg but who has never been know for his ball handling skills an area which he lacked last year. In addition of Brown, senior F James augustine returns after avg. 10.1ppg and 7.6rpg and should increase his productivity this season with the loss of all that fire power due to NBA and graduations. Joining Brown on the backcourt will be Junior G Rich Mcbride who avg. 2.6ppg but who will not be able to fit the shoes of Luther Head or deron williams as his abilities are just not there. The other F position will be commanded by F Brian randle who is coming off an injury plague season and the jury still out on him and at the center position sophomore Shaun Pruitt and freshman Charles Jackson will both see playing time early in the season until Bruce webber decides on his line up. As we can see illinois will be growing and learning as the season goes on. This is a very young and inexperience team and it will take time to gel and establish a new identity for coach Webber. IMO this is the biggest edge in this matchup as georgetown will be able to contain Augustine in the paint all night and the illini will become one dimensional as dee brown will have to beat the Hoyas by himself a feat that I don't think he will be able to accomplish...So I will back up the better defensive team, who returns all 5 starters from a nice post season NIT appearance, getting points vs a young and inexperience squad that is still trying to figure out their rotation.....Hoyas should cruise to a straight up victory......
Georgetown 68 Illinois 62
glta as always...........OB
