NCAA Tournament 2012: Baylor Will Prove Contender Status with Win over Xavier
Baylor is getting little respect among the bigger programs left in the Sweet 16, but all that will change with a beatdown over Xavier.
It’s easy to overlook the Baylor Bears when they are in the same region as Kentucky, but it’s time to consider the bright colored team as solid contenders.
They take on Xavier in Sweet 16 action on Friday, and there is just one thing on their mind–a national championship.
It’s less about looking past a very good Musketeers team and more about sending a message and claiming a bigger piece of the hype and hoopla that follows teams deeper into March.
Bears’ star and big man Perry Jones III said as much on their way into the Sweet 16, via ESPN.
“Yes, we are. We’re playing for the national championship even though we’re not expected to win one. We weren’t expected to be here now.”
He picked the right tournament to make such claims, because anything can truly happen at this time of year, when one game can truly change your fortune.
They will have quite a battle on Friday against one of the best guards in the nation in Tu Holloway. If Xavier has a shot at moving on, it will rest all with what Holloway can do during this clash.
The senior is on fire on this tournament, averaging 23 points through the initial stages. Holloway will be relegated to outside shots in this game.
He can finish well at the rim, but one of the better defenders in the nation will be waiting for him in Perry Jones III.
Jones is hungry and is not about to let Holloway run the show. He craved this chance and has so far been off to a slow start. At some point, Jones is going to bust out of the funk he has been in on both sides of the court.
Not that the Bears have been ailing without him at his best. Baylor’s backcourt is deep enough to contain the Holloway to human efforts and provide a great deal of production themselves.
Baylor simply has a better and more balanced offense. Brady Heslip has emerged as a scorer, and there are a number of players that can hurt you.
Baylor is the clear winner in this mismatch, and will cruise into the Elite Eight. After that, we all know that anything can happen.
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NCAA Scores 2012: Chaotic Results Prove March Madness Rules Sports World
It’s called March Madness for a reason.
There are 9.2 quintillion different possibilities as to how the NCAA tournament field will finish.
While today’s action may have been a little bit on the “chalky” side, there was still a good dose of upsets and crazy finishes to remind us why this is the best month in sports.
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NCAA Tourament 2012: Big East Ready to Prove Conference Superiority on the Court
For a conference that is having a major down year, it would be hard to tell judging by the nine teams from the Big East that reached the NCAA Tournament.
But still, that is the perception that has been placed on the conference this season.
While they are certainly down, compared to last season, the conference is still as dominant as any other league in the country.
With four teams ranked the Top 15 of the RPI and all four seeded very high in the tournament. If this is a down year, then this conference has some serious talent.
The conference certainly has the talent up top that it has in years past, but after the top six or seven teams, there is a drop off that the league did not have last season.
With that being said, the Big East has a chance to prove itself, once again, in this year’s Big Dance.
Certainly the team with the best chance was the Syracuse Orange, but the recent suspension to Fab Melo leaves a lot of questions to be answered.
Marquette is an intriguing team that has the chance to make a run at the Final Four, if they can limit their turnovers.
South Florida has already shown how deep the Big East is as they were the ninth team from the conference selected and had their way in the first round against California—the best team from the Pac 12.
While we will not know for a few weeks whether or not the Big East warranted nine teams in the NCAA Tournament, it is almost a guarantee that they will be well prepared after a grueling 18 game conference schedule.
If the Big East wants to prove it is still the best conference in the nation, the time to do that starts this weekend.
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NBA Draft 2012: Duke’s Austin Rivers Must Prove His Value at the Big Dance
Despite the good season that he has had so far, Austin Rivers needs to perform well at the 2012 NCAA tournament in order to justify his NBA draft position.
Currently. Duke’s freshman guard is projected to be drafted as early as the top 10. But there are lots of factors that could change where he falls and Duke’s tournament run is definitely one of them.
After seeing their ACC title hopes disappear in their semifinal loss to Florida State, Duke’s remote chances of winning a one seed were extinguished and their best hope was now to get a favorable draw as a No. 2 seed.
That’s essentially what they got as the two seed in the south region. Yes, Kentucky is the best team in the tournament and beating them in the Elite Eight would likely be a very difficult task. But before they can even play Kentucky, Duke doesn’t have too difficult competition especially in the first two rounds of play.
This starts with the opening round game against Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks finished the year 26-7 and currently have an eight-game winning streak. But with most of those wins coming against unimpressive competition in the Patriot League, no one is really expecting Lehigh to beat Duke and many don’t even think it will be close.
If Duke beats Lehigh, Rivers should be a big part of the reason why. Having led the team with 15 points a game and a total of 508 on the season, he has been the unquestioned leader of Duke’s offense. Now that he gets to go against a Lehigh team that has struggled with defending shooting guards.
During the 2011 season, Rivers has clearly entrenched his reputation as being an isolation perimeter scoring threat. Perhaps among all of the nation’s point guards, there is no one else who has a better scorer-mentality than Rivers. Every time he has the ball, Duke expects something good to happen and it’s now at the point where he’s the guy that’s got to take that final shot with no time on the clock.
This talent should translate very well to the NBA, which is all about players that can make the game-winning shot. This trait will especially be desired among the teams that will be picking in the early rounds as many of these teams struggle with closing out games and don’t have that clutch player that can win games for them.
He’s certainly come a long way since where he was back at the beginning of this season. In his debut game against Belmont, Rivers turned the ball over five times while only shooting .333 percent from field goal range. Even two games later against Michigan State, Rivers still had bad numbers with only five points on an awful .143 percent from field goal range.
Ever since then, Rivers has played better. This included one stretch in February where he put up 16 or more points in four consecutive games. He’s also finally improved his free throw percentage, which was one of his earlier weaknesses by making six out of seven shots in the loss to Florida State.
All this regular season success is good but for Rivers and for Duke, it just isn’t enough. To be remembered as one of the all-time greats in Duke, you have to raise your performance in the tournament. That’s basically an expectation when playing for one of the greatest college basketball programs in the nation.
Since their only a two seed this season, it’s clear that this Duke team is not as strong as some of the more recent teams. Coach K knows this and he’s got to understand that Rivers is the key to their offense. Their game plan will have to involve getting the ball to him often—especially when the game is getting close to it’s end.
With this likely being Rivers’ only season in college basketball, he’ll also have the sense of urgency that comes with this being his only chance at a college basketball title.
Win a title, or at least make a deep tournament run, and he could become immortalized as a great player for a legendary program. Lose early in the tournament and he could be thought of as one of those over-hyped NBA prospects that wasn’t nearly as good as advertised.
The pressure is clearly on Rivers. Will he be up for the challenge? We’re only a few games away from finding out.
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Philadelphia 76ers: To Prove Legitimacy, Sixers Must Take Down Miami Heat
The Philadelphia 76ers have taken down a number of elite teams this season, many of whom reside in the Eastern Conference.
After jumping out to a fast start this January, critics were quick to point out that the Sixers impressive record was due mainly in part to a schedule front-loaded with inadequate competition.
But hey, you can only play who’s on the schedule.
So when February rolled around, the Sixers were ready to prove that they possessed the talent and cohesion necessary to compete in a dangerous Eastern Conference.
Lofty victories over the Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks were all followed up by a surprising home win over the Los Angeles Lakers, a squad that Sixers are notoriously poor against.
More recently, the Sixers have proven that they are the team to beat in the Atlantic division, notching wins over the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks by a combined 44 points.
Although all of these wins have been great for a young team always in search of a confidence boost, but they still have one more hurdle to clear.
The Sixers have matched up with the Miami Heat twice this season, losing both contests by a combined 41 points.
While the Sixers did show that they were capable of packing a punch last postseason, they only scored one victory in their opening round series with the Heat.
Thanks to Evan Turner, the Sixers have developed a newfound scoring ability, attacking the basket and crashing the boards far more aggressively than they had previously.
Turner has provided an immediate spark, averaging 22 points and 12 rebounds per game since entering the starting lineup a week ago.
With Turner now a mainstay in the starting lineup, the Sixers would appear to be much more capable of matching up with the Heat.
Jrue Holiday is more than capable of guarding Mario Chalmers, and while Elton Brand is outmatched by Chris Bosh‘s athleticism, Andre Iguodala can help neutralize MVP front-runner LeBron James to ease some of the pain.
Turner guarded Heat superstar Dwyane Wade several times last postseason, but he had his hands full. The hope is that given his recent streak of confidence Turner will prove capable of containing Wade, because stopping him altogether will be too difficult.
More than anything, Turner gives the Sixers a more playoff-ready lineup that possess another strong wing player, one who is capable of guarding elite shooting guards the way Jodie Meeks could not.
Another positive sign for this resurgent Sixers squad: Spencer Hawes is rumored to be targeting a return on Wednesday night against Indiana.
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Michigan Basketball: Wolverines Prove No Match for Ohio State in Big Ten Tourney
Ohio State 77, Michigan 55
Despite splitting its Big Ten Conference games with Ohio State, Michigan proved no match for the Buckeyes and were outplayed from the onset of Saturday’s Big Ten Tournament semifinal. The Wolverines may have been slightly fatigued from their hard-fought overtime battle against Minnesota, but whatever the case may have been, Michigan wasn’t at its best.
Michigan’s guards, on whom they rely for consistent offensive production, didn’t bring their best for the Wolverines. After scoring a combined 50 points the previous game against Minnesota, Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. put up a total 18 points, which left Michigan scrambling to put up points against a tough Ohio State defense.
The game’s key matchup—Jordan Morgan against Jared Sullinger—worked out in Ohio State’s favor, as Sullinger got to Morgan immediately and ended with a game-high 24 points with six rebounds. As for Morgan, the sophomore forward didn’t fare well offensively as well and ended the game with three points.
Unlike Michigan’s previous games against Ohio State this season, the Wolverines weren’t in the game for very long and found themselves down by double digits, 34-21, at the half. Michigan never had the lead and was down by 28 late in the game, which wasn’t quite the game the team had hoped for going into the NCAA Tournament next week.
“When I feel that, I understand that my teammates are going to come down to me,” Jared Sullinger said. “I started passing it out and (Michigan) didn’t know what to do. I think it’s awesome when you can keep a defense on its toes.”
As for Michigan’s response to the rough loss, coach John Beilein left all the credit to Ohio State.
“I’ve seen some really good teams that have played some really good games,” he said. “That’s as good of a game as I’ve ever seen a college team play.”
“We could not stop them, really,” Beilein added.
Ohio State will proceed to the Big Ten Tournament final Sunday against Michigan State.
The Numbers
| FG% | 3P% | REB | STL | TO | PF | |
| Michigan | 30.9 | 16.0 | 35 | 6 | 18 | 14 |
| Ohio State | 49.2 | 35.7 | 34 | 11 | 11 | 17 |
Top Performers
Michigan: Tim Hardaway Jr. (13 PTS, 4 REB)
Ohio State: Jared Sullinger (24 PTS, 6 REB, 2 BLK)
What’s Next?
While Michigan’s Big Ten Tournament hopes have vanished after Saturday afternoon’s rough loss, the Wolverines will now prepare for the NCAA Tournament. They will have a game next sometime next week, when and against who depends upon the selection committee’s deliberation on Sunday.
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March Madness 2012: NBA Prospects with Most to Prove in Big Dance
The NCAA Tournament could be the last time we see some of the best players in the country in a college uniform. After the Big Dance is all over, some of them will pack up and head for the greener pastures of the NBA.
The consensus is that the 2012 NBA draft class is going to be pretty stacked, especially when compared to 2011′s perilously thin draft class. There weren’t many future superstars to be found in last year’s draft. There are going to be a lot of potential superstars in the 2012 draft class.
A handful of potential NBA draftees don’t need a prove a thing in the Big Dance. It’s abundantly clear that they have the talent to cut it in the NBA, and that’s really all there is to it.
Other potential NBA draftees have work to do in the Big Dance. They have talent, but they need to prove to pro evaluators that they have star potential. Owning the NCAA Tournament will do the trick quite nicely.
There are four players who spring to mind.
4. Austin Rivers, Duke
It’s my personal opinion that Rivers should return to Duke for his sophomore season. His freshman season went very well, but he was not the superstar that many people expected him to be. Another year to hone his skills would do him some good, and would pay off in the long run.
But Rivers cannot be ruled out as a potential one-and-done candidate. If he has it in mind to leave for the NBA, though, he would be wise to boost his draft stock in the Big Dance.
Rivers does not have an excess of talent around him on the Blue Devils, but the team itself is at its best when he’s at his best. He’s only a freshman, but Rivers will have to put Duke on his shoulders in order for the team to make a run through the Big Dance.
We know Rivers can do this, and that’s when he looks like a future NBA star. There are times when he gets hot, and can be seen taking and making smart shots and knocking down shot after shot from distance. When Rivers is going good, he looks like a guy who could be an above-average scoring two-guard in the NBA.
This version of Rivers comes and goes. If Rivers isn’t at his best in the Big Dance, scouts will continue to nitpick his game, and the decision to go pro could easily come back to bite him.
If Rivers is at his best, he’ll be in the lottery discussion. Believe it.
3. Terrence Jones, Kentucky
Terrence Jones arrived at Kentucky amidst plenty of hype, and the next thing any of us knew he was off to a blazing start in his freshman season.
Ever since that blazing start, Jones has been largely hit-or-miss. Not unlike Rivers, Jones looks great when he gets hot. When he’s not hot, he may as well be invisible.
Jones’ biggest problem is that he’s surrounded by NBA talent, making it very, very hard for him to stand out. Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist are both viewed as lottery picks, and Doron Lamb has plenty of talent in his own right. When the three of them are at their best, Jones has a tendency to get lost in the shuffle.
I highly doubt Jones will be returning to Kentucky one way or the other, but the NCAA Tournament is his chance to shine like he hasn’t shined since early on in his freshman season. He’s not going to elevate his name about Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist on any big boards, but a great showing in the Big Dance will serve to remind scouts and front office people exactly why Jones was so hyped in the first place.
There’s no denying Jones has NBA-worthy talent. What he needs to show is that he has lottery-worthy talent.
2. Perry Jones III, Baylor
Perry Jones III is another player who was surrounded by plenty of hype when he began his college career. He proceeded to live up to it with a freshman season that saw him average 13.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.
Had Jones decided to go pro, he probably would have been a lottery pick, maybe even a top-10 pick. When he decided to return to Baylor, it was easy to think that another year of development would make him a potential top-five pick.
Instead, Jones’ stock has gone the other direction. The talent is still there, but it’s alarming that Jones did not show any improvement in his sophomore season. He didn’t necessarily regress in any big way, but he didn’t become the star that he should have become.
At least, not yet. The Bears are going dancing, and they have enough talent to make a deep run through the tournament.
Jones can do both his team and himself a big favor by spearheading Baylor’s NCAA Tournament journey. All too often during the regular season, he was just another guy, and he’s better than that. By all rights, he should be Baylor’s best player every night.
If he puts the team on his shoulders and carries it through the Big Dance, scouts will notice. There is still time for Jones to put his name in the top-five discussion.
1. Jared Sullinger, Ohio State
At the beginning of the season, Jared Sullinger was the top big man on most, if not all, NBA draft big boards.
That is no longer the case. Sullinger has been surpassed by Anthony Davis and other bigs, and there are legit questions about whether or not Sullinger truly is star material.
This is what happens when you go from averaging a double-double in your freshman season to averaging slightly less than a double-double in your sophomore season. There’s not a huge difference between Sullinger’s freshman and sophomore numbers, but what difference that does exist goes to show that Sullinger just wasn’t as dominant as a sophomore as he was as a freshman.
There’s really not much to it. Ohio State needs Sullinger to be dominant to have any chance of making a deep run in the tournament, and he needs to be dominant to rescue his sliding draft stock.
If Sullinger can do that, the questions about his athleticism are going to be outweighed by appreciation for his basketball IQ and his instincts around the basket. These are the things that make Sullinger special. All he has to do is show them off.
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UNC vs. Duke: Saturday’s Game Will Prove Tar Heels Are ACC’s Top Seed
Revenge is sweet, and that is exactly what the North Carolina Tar Heels will be looking to accomplish when they visit the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium this Sunday.
The last time these two teams played, the Blue Devils had the last laugh as they triumphed over the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, in what was an epic 85-84 game.
In that game, Duke was ranked No. 9 in the country, while the Tar Heels were sitting at No. 5. This game is the same situation, but just flipped.
The game will be on Duke’s floor, and this time UNC is No. 6 and Duke is No. 3. And while it is hard to imagine the Blue Devils losing on their home floor, they have lost there twice this season in games against Florida State and Miami. This game against UNC has a lot more riding behind it, but the Tar Heels are also a much stronger team than FSU and Miami.
The one thing that the Tar Heels have going in their direction most is experience, as forward Harrison Barnes trumps Duke’s freshman in Austin Rivers.
Both players have had solid seasons thus far, but Rivers is definitely still much more raw. In a game with this magnitude, such as the ACC being on the line, the Tar Heels stand at an advantage.
The Tar Heels also have been scoring much higher this season, as they currently stand in second in the entire NCAA with 82.1 points per game. The Blue Devils are not shabby averaging 79 points, but it is quite clear when one looks at the Tar Heels’ results that they can let it rain whenever they are on the floor.
Nothing will push this team more to win than the fact that they can avenge their home-court loss, and take back the respect that they lost at the hands of the Blue Devils in early February.
This game will likely be close every second of the game, as both teams are going to be looking to claim the ACC title and most likely a No. 1 seed in this year’s tournament.
While the Blue Devils won the first battle, the Tar Heels will walk away with this one. All anyone can ask for now is a rematch in the tournament, so once and for all we can decide who has won the war.
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Jeremy Lin: Rising Star Must Prove Himself Against Rajon Rondo and Celtics
In a game that could propel the New York Knicks into a true playoff contender, nobody-turned-sensation guard Jeremy Lin must prove himself in this critical matchup with the Boston Celtics.
Both teams currently sit in second and third place of the division, as .500 records keep them from taking a true step above the other.
The Celtics will be pitted against the New Jersey Nets on Friday night, who could give them a real run for their money given they now have Brook Lopez back. The game will ultimately decide where the Celtics stand in the division, as they will either move a game above or below the Knicks.
After Sunday’s game, the New York will have a chance to tie the series, which would be critical in their push to challenging the Philadelphia 76ers for the top spot in the division.
It will also be a huge test for Lin, as this will be his biggest challenge since he went up against LeBron James and the Miami Heat before the All-Star break.
In that game, Lin struggled mightily as he only scored eight points while recording three assists in 34 minutes.
It was certainly a shot back down to reality, as the new sensation finally had a game that proved to the world that he’s not immortal.
The fact of the matter is, every player is due to have a bad game every so often. Unfortunately for Lin, his came on his biggest floor yet, and now he must bounce back to prove that it was simply one bad outing.
That being said, Lin did bounce back in his most recent game. He had 19 points and 13 assists against the Cleveland Cavaliers this past Wednesday, but there is a major difference between them and the Celtics.
Like the Heat, Boston has a lot of veterans, and they are very good at playing defense. This season, despite their struggles on offense, the Celtics are holding their opponents to just 88.6 points per game—that’s third best in the entire league.
This is a major obstacle for Lin, as he may once again have a hard time getting around the Celtics, not to mention point guard Rajon Rondo.
Rondo is a strong and notoriously nagging defender, which could seriously throw Lin off from his current playing trends.
It will be a matchup like this in which Lin must prevail to prove to the sports world that he is truly a rising star in the NBA.
There is no doubt that he has already made an impact that nobody could have seen coming. However, in the final stretch run of the season, Lin has to continue to play as he did early on to be able to officially reach that level of stardom.
That won’t come without strong performances over teams that they could potentially see down the line during the critical parts of the season, as well as the playoffs.
Jeff Chase is a Featured Columnist for the Chicago Cubs and Arizona State football.
Follow @Real_Jeff_Chase
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Jeremy Lin: Signature Shoes Prove NBA Is Ready To Accept Newest Superstar
Jeremy Lin is going to go from an NBA star to a superstar very quickly and the recent news regarding Nike’s plans for the custom shoes he wore All-Star weekend is proof of that.
They are ready to take Lin to the top of the basketball world—a place that’s general only populated by the very best the sport has to offer.
Nivedita Bhattacharjee of Reuters.com reports that Nike is going to start selling Lin’s shoes to the general public:
Nike Inc will start selling Jeremy Lin-themed shoes this weekend, cashing in on the New York Knick point guard’s recent rise to worldwide fame.
Priced at $130, the shoes will be available on Nike’s website.
Nike said it will launch the Nike Zoom Hyperfuse Low basketball shoes, built especially for Lin, this weekend in Orlando, Florida, where the NBA is holding its All-Star festivities.
“It’s not a signature line but a version of the shoe that he’s been wearing this season,” the company told Reuters.
This is a huge hurdle for the popular New York Knicks point guard and it’s undoubtedly the next step in his rise to fame.
Nike doesn’t sell just anybody’s shoes. If that were the case, I would have my own pair branded for the whole world.
This is an honor that is usually only reserved for the best of the best and it’s just one step away from actually having a signature line of shoes.
If you thought Lin was a big deal before, imagine how hyped he would be if Nike came out with his own line of product.
What Does This Mean?
It’s very simple. The NBA is ready to accept Lin as a superstar, or at the very least brand him that way.
Don’t be so naive to think that the league doesn’t have their say with what players they promote and I wouldn’t be surprised if they work hand-in-hand with the big company’s and sponsors to achieve that promotion.
Lin has been a star so far—averaging 14.4 points, 5.8 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game while leading the Knicks back to relevancy—but the NBA and sponsors are hoping that he can take the next step.
In fact, they are pushing him to take the next step.
Lin being a superstar is great for everybody, but it’s especially beneficial for the league and sponsors themselves.
Add in the fact that he’s playing for the Knicks—a classic NBA franchise in the heart of the media world—and I can all but guarantee you that the powers that be are ready to brand him as a superstar.
Whether or not he is able to live up to the expectations still remains to be seen, but there is one thing for certain:
The NBA is ready to accept it’s newest superstar.
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