Final Four Report- The Frontcourts
#1 Illinois, although known for their smalls, gets solid play from bigs James Augustine (Jr) and Roger Powell (Sr). Augustine has improved his regular season stats to average a double-double (12.3 pts, 10.3 boards) in the tournament, and the 6-6 Powell is versatile enough to post smaller defenders and take bigger forwards out on the perimeter. The Illini also bring 7-2 senior center Nick Smith and 6-10 senior forward Jack Ingram off the bench, however both are perimeter-oriented players.
#4 Louisville is boosted by the muscle and hustle of freshman Juan Diego Palacios (averaging 10 and 7) and senior Ellis Myles (10 and 9). Both are physical defenders who do the little things on D. Junior small forward Francisco Garcia is the most potent scorer for the Cardinals, averaging 21 pts in the tourney. He is an outstanding long-range shooter whom ESPN's Jay Bilas has likened to Reggie Miller.
#5 Michigan State does not start a true power forward, but the versatile senior Alan Anderson usually moves into the post to guard opponets' toughest players, as he did with Kentucky's Chuck Hayes in the Elite 8. Junior center Paul Davis has been a horse of late, going for 15 and 11 in the postseason. My only problem with him is, at 6-11, he has blocked only 1 shot in the tournament. He is a Luke Schenscher-type player with a bit more bull in him, yet not enough to handle a true post presence (we all saw what Emeka Okafor did to Schenscher in last year's finals).
Jay's Pick: For #1 UNC, versatile senior Jawad Williams, who can spot up for 3's, run the floor, and crash the boards, senior David Noel comes off the bench to do the dirty work, and talented freshman phenom Marvin Williams is a great athlete and excellent shooter with raw ability. The reason I picked UNC, however, is 6-9 junior F-C Sean May. He is the best big guy in the Final Four, averaging 21.5 and 11.8. In the last month of the season, May had 8 consecutive double-doubles, including a 26 point, 24 board clinic against Duke. I don't see any team coming close to containing him, period.
posted by Jay @ 11:29 AM
6 Comments
6 Comments:
We have to really look at the big picture here. May is the Shaq of the final four. It is basically going to take a miracle to contain him. I also think that UNC is the 03-04 Lakers of the final four. An upset is definetely possible, especially seeing how they almost choked before in this years tourney
Although, May has shown that he is easily the best forward in the country throughout the postseason, you have to look at what Michigan State's big man Paul Davis did to the only other comparable player to May in Shelden Williams of Duke. Davis went for 20 and 12 against Williams, who is a better defender than May, and also got him fouled out. Based on this you can assume that May won't dominate the paint like he has been doing.
First, theres no way you can compare Sean May to Shaq. Thats just direspectful to the Diesel. Secondly, the only thing the Lakers and UNC have in common is that they're both good teams. UNC has 3 "stars" and a solid contributing cast opposed to Shaq and Kobe (and who else???) for the '03-'04 Lake Show. UNC gets most of their offense off the fast break where the Lakers ran the triangle half-court offense led by the big two. I will agree with you in that MSU has a chance to upset UNC because UNC doesn't play a lick of defense and they let defensive-minded Wisconsin team score 82 on them in the regional finals.
Sorry I had to go off on you, but you just cant try to compare sean may and Shaq and not expect someone to get at you.
ok pal... If you will re-read my comment you will see that I have clearly stated "sean may is the shaq of the FINAL FOUR." THAT MEANS OF THE TEAMS THAT REMAIN,MAY CAN DOMINATE ALL THE OTHER BIG MEN IN THE WAY SHAQ DOMINATES THE NBA. Thank you and please re-read comments before you tear them apart. Also, the 03-04 Lakers consisted of 4 hall of famers. They were pretty much given as an automatic for an NBA championship. I feel UNC is receiving the same type of praise as the Lakers did last year. With Mccants, Williams, and Felton to back up May (the shaq of the FINAL FOUR) I dont think any team can be more confident. Therefore, I definitely see the Tar Heels choking before this tourney is over.
OK PAL, sorry it's been a couple days but here I go...
If you re-read my argument, I had the problem with you putting Shaq and Sean May in the same sentence...which is still wrong any way you look at it. Sean May cannot take over a game (no matter who UNC is playing) the way Shaq could take over the NBA any given night. Therefore, you cannot put them together in any far-fetched comparison you concoct.
Also, the '03-'04 Lakers were not an "automatic" for the championship because everyone that knows basketball knows it takes a "team" to win a championship...not a group of individuals. Especially when 2 of them just joined the team at tail-end of their careers. I.E. the 2004 USA Olympic team, comprised of a bunch of individuals.
Also, if you remember, LA did not receive as much hype as UNC because the Lakers had an underachieving regular season, which UNC did not, winning the ACC regular season and getting a #1 bid.
If I counted correctly, that would make you 0-3...
I really dont have enough time to look up stats, but again I will say that Shawn May is the Shaq of the teams left in the final four. It was said at the beginning of the playoffs (and I will put money on this) that the pistons were highly unlikely to come out with a win. They did, therefore an upset. I'm done with this arguement, cuz quite frankly, its baseball season. I guess we will have to see what happens tonight. Its been a pleasure.
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