Tell me who to pull for

[gofurman]

all I care about is UNC not winning it all

- I would have rather DUke and UNC lost yesterday than both won. I may be a little sick...lol. Someone please beat UNC - GO Zags.

So my question is should I pull for Syracuse or Oklahoma? WHich has a better shot at beating UNC>

[Newton_14]

all I care about is UNC not winning it all

- I would have rather DUke and UNC lost yesterday than both won. I may be a little sick...lol. Someone please beat UNC - GO Zags.

So my question is should I pull for Syracuse or Oklahoma? WHich has a better shot at beating UNC>

Syracuse in my honest opinion. The Cuse presents way more challenges for the holes than Blake does....

[dukelifer]

all I care about is UNC not winning it all

- I would have rather DUke and UNC lost yesterday than both won. I may be a little sick...lol. Someone please beat UNC - GO Zags.

So my question is should I pull for Syracuse or Oklahoma? WHich has a better shot at beating UNC>

If Lawson is healthy- I do not see either beating UNC. But the Cuse may have a better chance since they play a defense that UNC does not see that often and Boeheim has been there before.

[Jarhead]

all i care about is unc not winning it all

- i would have rather duke and unc lost yesterday than both won. I may be a little sick...lol. Someone please beat unc - go zags.

So my question is should i pull for syracuse or oklahoma? Which has a better shot at beating unc>

O k l a h o m a !

[Indoor66]

O k l a h o m a !

...where the wind comes sweeping down the plains...

[miramar]

I think we have to pull for Capel no matter what. Plus he can get the team fired up by showing them the video of his shot at the buzzer (without mentioning how the game turned out).

[gofurman]

If Lawson is healthy- I do not see either beating UNC. But the Cuse may have a better chance since they play a defense that UNC does not see that often and Boeheim has been there before.

Do you not think anyone can beat them until FF?

[msdukie]

all I care about is UNC not winning it all

- I would have rather DUke and UNC lost yesterday than both won. I may be a little sick...lol. Someone please beat UNC - GO Zags.

So my question is should I pull for Syracuse or Oklahoma? WHich has a better shot at beating UNC>

Root for Duke..don't waste too much time on UNC.

[dukelifer]

Do you not think anyone can beat them until FF?
Sadly, no. Lawson makes them go. I don't see the Zags having the defense to stop them. They will need to outshoot them and that is very hard to do. But it is all about the toe.

[House G]

Root for Duke..don't waste too much time on UNC.
I agree. If you truly care about UNC "not winning it all", we must be the ones to stop them! Never send a boy to do a man's job! :D
By the way, I also believe the original poster may "be a little sick". Rather than both of us lose, I would rather both of us continue to win so that we can have another crack at them (can you imagine the ratings for that one!)

[brsett]

UNC would annihilate Oklahoma, but Oklahoma is unlikely to get past Syracuse, so no worries there. Without Ty Lawson, Syracuse is maybe favored in such a game.

[weezie]

Oh dear. I think Mr. Blake Griffin will enjoy pounding the living daylights out of t-bangs. Griffin is 100% stud, not a whiner, not a flopper, not a mouth-breathing log in sneakers.
Okeydoklahoma to laugh at the heel.

[rthomas]

all I care about is UNC not winning it all

- I would have rather DUke and UNC lost yesterday than both won. I may be a little sick...lol. Someone please beat UNC - GO Zags.

So my question is should I pull for Syracuse or Oklahoma? WHich has a better shot at beating UNC>

The one without Devendorf - I rather have Hansbrough win than Devendorf.

[msdukie]

I agree. If you truly care about UNC "not winning it all", we must be the ones to stop them! Never send a boy to do a man's job! :D
By the way, I also believe the original poster may "be a little sick". Rather than both of us lose, I would rather both of us continue to win so that we can have another crack at them (can you imagine the ratings for that one!)

Seriously, you want Armageddon?

Even K is on record saying this is the worst thing that could ever happen.

[DukieInKansas]

Oh dear. I think Mr. Blake Griffin will enjoy pounding the living daylights out of t-bangs. Griffin is 100% stud, not a whiner, not a flopper, not a mouth-breathing log in sneakers.
Okeydoklahoma to laugh at the heel.

I agree - I'd like to see that matchup.

[devildownunder]

Syracuse. I think I'm turning into their biggest booster or something. They just look great. Boeheim has all the elements he needs to make his system work: explosive lead guard, size at the guard and on the wings (for purposes of the 2-3), scoring and BEEF down low, experience and multiple shooters. I think SU beats the Oklahoma Griffins easily and I'd call a match between the Orange and the holes even, perhaps in Syracuse's favor if Lawson isn't 100%.

Do not be the least bit surprised if Syracuse comes comes out of the South and not UNC. I can't think of anybody playing better than them right now.

[House G]

Seriously, you want Armageddon?

Even K is on record saying this is the worst thing that could ever happen.
While the word "ambivalent" comes to mind when considering a possible Final Four matchup with UNC, it may be naive to think that it will not happen at some point. I would rather face them in the semis than the NC game and I would rather play them as an underdog. Worst case scenario, maybe they would be too "gassed" to win their next game! :D

[davekay1971]

Root for Duke, Gonzaga, and Oklahoma on Thursday.

Duke because, well, we're Duke
Gonzaga because, well, they're playing the Tarholes
Oklahoma because of Capel

If the 'Holes make it to the final eight, root for whoever's playing them.

But here's the rub: Kerlina can't win the national championship unless we lose at some point. Duke is the only team that we can depend on to prevent the Tarholes from winning a fifth (or, if you wear pastel blue, sixth) national championship. They can't win it unless we lose.

So go Duke. If someone else knocks off the 'Holes, great. But as long as Duke keeps winning, they can't.

[pamtar]

The one without Devendorf - I rather have Hansbrough win than Devendorf.

Agreed. The old adage of "I'll pull for Russia" does not apply here. If Hansbrough is everything right about college basketball (see Congrats thread), than Devendorf is what's wrong.

He's a walking technical foul.

[rthomas]

Agreed. The old adage of "I'll pull for Russia" does not apply here. If Hansbrough is everything right about college basketball (see Congrats thread), than Devendorf is what's wrong.

He's a walking technical foul.

A walking talking technical foul.

[DukiesPA]

Oh dear. I think Mr. Blake Griffin will enjoy pounding the living daylights out of t-bangs. Griffin is 100% stud, not a whiner, not a flopper, not a mouth-breathing log in sneakers.
Okeydoklahoma to laugh at the heel.

While I'll agree Griffin is "100% stud", they don't match-up with UNC well at all. I can't recall many good big men OK went up against this year and UNC will have four big men to throw at them (if for no other reason than just to foul Griffin, who's a sub-60% FT shooter). If they can work the ball down low and get Griffin into any sort of foul trouble the game tuns to Willie Warren trying to outscore Carolina. Then can keep going down low without having to worry about BGriffin, Lawson will be able to penetrate, and they should be in good shape.

If they have to match-up against SU's 2-3 zone they could have a tough go of it. They don't see much of it and, though their big men pass decently and will be able to play at the foul line to accept a pass and pass out, if they don't get a lot of fast break points the effect of Lawson's speed will be minimized and it's going to fall to Ellington and Green to hit shots to win the game. While Ellington's been hot, Green has been about as far from hot as you can imagine.

IMHO Syracuse is a much tougher matchup for UNC, especially if Flynn and Devendorf stay hot.

[Hancock 4 Duke]

I saw what one person posted earlier, saying that Blake Griffin is not a whiner; etc. He is 100% right. You saw how he got flipped over someones shoulders and didn't even go towards him. I think Oklahoma has the strength to get past UNC.

[slower]

Syracuse. I think I'm turning into their biggest booster or something. They just look great. Boeheim has all the elements he needs to make his system work: explosive lead guard, size at the guard and on the wings (for purposes of the 2-3), scoring and BEEF down low, experience and multiple shooters. I think SU beats the Oklahoma Griffins easily and I'd call a match between the Orange and the holes even, perhaps in Syracuse's favor if Lawson isn't 100%.

Do not be the least bit surprised if Syracuse comes comes out of the South and not UNC. I can't think of anybody playing better than them right now.

Flynn and Harris are MEN!! I think that they can at least give the Holes a good working over, even if they do lose.

[dukemsu]

I saw what one person posted earlier, saying that Blake Griffin is not a whiner; etc. He is 100% right. You saw how he got flipped over someones shoulders and didn't even go towards him. I think Oklahoma has the strength to get past UNC.

I agree with you on the first part. Griffin dishes out punishment as well, but it's been awhile since I saw a guy absorb as many hits, slaps, and outright cheap shots as Griffin does. At some point he is going to show some frustration with it. The guy just gets killed out there and continues to produce.


Not so much on the second part. The only matchup Oklahoma wins with UNC is Griffin vs. Hans. They also are pretty thin on the bench. I think UNC will have a harder time with Gonzaga than with Oklahoma (and Oklahoma will have a tough time getting by a red-hot Syracuse club).

dukemsu

[fan345678]

He's a walking technical foul.

and Hansbrough is technically a walking violation

[Ian]

Out of Gonzaga, OU, and Syracuse, Gonzaga has the best chance to taking down the Heels.

[Chitowndevil]

Syracuse, and it's not even close. If you look at Carolina's four losses this season, the common denominator was a red hot opposing PG:

1/4: Tyrese Rice, 7-13, 25 pts, 5 reb, 8 ast
1/11: Jeff Teague, 9-17, 34 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast
2/21: Greivis Vasquez, 13-24, 35 pts, 11 reb, 10 ast
3/14: Toney Douglas, 10-18, 27 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast

Lawson's A:T ratio was below 1 in the first 3 losses; he is much less effective in my opinion when forced to play defense. Heck, go back to UNC's FF loss to Kansas last season--Lawson went 2-8 for 9 points, 2 ast, 2 TO against KU's backcourt.

Bottom line, and this might be the most obvious statement I'll make all month, you want to beat Carolina, you better have a backcourt that can match up with Ty Lawson. And at least in terms of one-on-one matchups Jonny Flynn is as good as anybody in the tournament. Objectively, the only reason I could justify not picking Carolina when the brackets came out is I thought it highly likely Lawson would end up facing at least two of Flynn, A. J. Price, Tyreke Evans, and Levance Fields.