The Hoops Junkie

 
Last week I previewed the Midwest and made my predictions, which turned out to be terrible. This region has gone from being the toughest to the weakest pretty quickly due to the upsets of Kansas and Georgetwon, and the injury to Kalin Lucas. It seems like anything is possible in the Midwest now, but here’s what I look for.

 
(5) Michigan State vs. (9) Northern iowa

• Current Line - Michigan State minus 1
• KenPom Ratings – #24 Northern Iowa (53 on O, 14 on D) vs #26 Michigan St (35 on O, 30 on D)
• Probable Future NBA Players - Kalin Lucas (Michigan St) – out with injury
• Fringe NBA Players - Durrell Summers (Michigan St)
• The Pick- I honestly didn’t get to see enough of this Northern Iowa team yet to give very good analysis on this one, but I’ve liked what I have seen from them. While Kansas was the better team, and the game was an upset, it didn’t really appear to be fluky. UNI controlled the tempo, played solid defense, and they have shooters on the perimeter in bangers inside who did a great job on the boards. So as much as I like Tom Izzo, and as hard as it is to pick his teams to lose, I don’t think they’ll have enough in this one without Kalin Lucas, and with a hobbled Chris Allen. Maybe backup point guard Korie Lucious will come through big the absence of Lucas, and maybe Darrell Summers will have another huge game to put MSU over the top, but I think Northern Iowa is probably the better team here with the personnel that will be on the floor. Winner – Northern Iowa continue reading »

Since ESPN is calling this ”rivalry week,” and the conference races are starting to shape up, I thought I’d do a preview of what to watch this week in college hoops. The weekdays are loaded with good games, but the weekend doesn’t have quite as many matchups that jump out as me as some of the past few have. It’s NBA All Star Weekend though… and Valentine’s Day on Sunday, so maybe that’s a good thing.

• Villanova at West Virginia (Monday, 7PM ET on ESPN) – This should be a great matchup of two of the best teams in the Big East with contrasting styles. West Virginia will probably try to utilize their size advantage on the wings with Da’Sean Butler, Devin Ebanks, and Kevin Jones. Villanova, on the other hand, will try to use their speed and quickness by having guys like Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher, and Maalik Wayns constantly putting pressure on the defense with their dribble penetration. This game will be important for both teams in terms of seeding for the NCAA tournament. Both are in the mix for potential #1 seeds.
• Kansas at Texas (Monday, 9PM ET on ESPN) – Texas has really struggled lately dropping 4 of their last 6 games since starting out 17-0 and being ranked #1 in the nation. I still think there’s too much talent on this team to completely freak out and bail on them, but this is definitely a big game for them at home. They need to play with confidence, and each player needs to buy into their role. Kansas is undefeated in Big 12 play but needed overtime in 2 of their last 3. Like Texas, they also have so much talent that it can be difficult to get each individual player playing within themself and doing what they need to do to win games. There is loads up NBA talent on both sides here with probably a minimum if 4 future NBA players on each team. continue reading »