Mar
9
Hoops 4 the Soul Sweet Sixteen East Regional Breakdown
by Chris Maynard, chris@hoops4thesoul.com
#2 1999 UCONN vs. #3 2005
(remember to click on the pictures)
Point Guard:
UCONN Khalid El-Amin (13.8 ppg, 140 assists) vs. UNC Raymond Felton (12.9 ppg, 249 assists)
El-Amin’s body may resemble that of the Pillsbury Doughboy, but this excitable sophomore is hardly soft. El-Amin is deceptively quick and hard to contain from turning the corner, getting into the lane and setting up his teammates for easy hoops. El-Amin loves to take the big shot – especially the soft floater in the lane – and is annoying on defense. Everybody loves Raymond Felton in
Shooting Guard:
UCONN Ricky Moore (6.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg) vs. UNC Rashad McCants (16.0 ppg, 3 rpg)
Small Forward:
UCONN Richard Hamilton (21.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg) vs. UNC Jackie Manuel (5.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg)
Perpetual motion on offense,
Power Forward:
UCONN Kevin Freeman (12.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg) vs. UNC Jawad Williams (13.1 ppg, 4 rpg)
A 6’7” junior, Freeman may be a bit undersized for the power forward position, but he makes the most out of his ability with fearless tenaciousness on the glass and getting shots up quickly. Freeman is an efficient scorer and strong presence on the defensive end of the court. All in all, Freeman is a really underrated and underappreciated player on this Huskies team. Williams (one of many on this UNC squad) is a steadying senior who does a lot of little things well. At 6’9”, Williams can go inside or outside. His length often causes problems for opposing players on both ends of the floor. Freeman and Williams will be a battle between two aggressive competitors. Advantage: Even
Center:
UCONN Jake Voskul (5.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg) vs. UNC Sean May (17.5 ppg, 10.4 rpg)
Voskul is a very limited offensive player who uses his 6’11’’ frame best on the defensive end of the court. Voskul can block some shots and will need to keep his arms high and go-straight up when dealing with the imposing May, who plays down low like a bull in a china shop. May is a combination of brute strength and a soft shooting touch; he’ll lower his shoulder to create space and then throw up a deft floater to get the hoop. May works opposing defenders into foul trouble and then converts at a 75 percent clip from the free throw line; not bad for a big man. Advantage: UNC
The Bench:
UCONN’s bench features no superstars; just a bunch of solid players who are great at their roles. Big men Edmund Saunders (6.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and Souleymane Wane (2.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg) will help go at May. Wingmen Albert Mouring (7.1 ppg, 2.5 apg) and Rashamel Jones (3.5 ppg, 1.7 rpg) are also contributors off the UCONN bench. UNC brings fantastic freshman and surefire lottery pick Marvin Williams (11.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg) off the bench. Williams is a fantastic leaper and scorer around the basket who separates UNC’s bench from UCONN’s subs. The Tar Heels often send out Melvin Scott (5.1 ppg, 1.4 rpg), David Noel (3.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg) and occasionally Reyshawn Terry (2.3 pgg, 0.7 rpg) to spell its starters.
Coaching:
UCONN Jim Calhoun vs. UNC Roy Williams
Both of these coaches are fiery personalities on the sidelines who do not accept less-than-exemplary efforts and are always prepared. Calhoun and this 1999 UCONN team have a swagger on the court; Williams needs to be on his 2005 UNC team as it may drift in and out at times in terms of intensity and vision. Advantage: Even
Prediction:
UNC may be more talented on paper; however, it does not have the killer instinct of players like Hamilton and El-Amin. UCONN should take this game in the final 10 minutes of the second half.
Tournament Starts Tomorrow Evening
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1999 was a fun tournament with lots of upsets and in the end, a very good final 4. A quick wiki look shows that every 9 and 10 seed won their first round game along with a pair of 12’s, a 13 and a 14 (Weber St over UNC.) 5 double digit seeds made the Sweet 16 (SW Mo St, Purdue, Oklahoma, Miami-Ohio and Gonzaga. The Zags were the only team to win that game and played UConn real well in the elite 8. This was the year Auburn was strangely great and got a 1 seed. Of course, they were dispatched easily by Michael Redd and Ohio State in the Sweet 16. And look who made the elite 8 again…Temple! This time as a 6 seed. Chaney never made a final 4, but his runs with lesser teams to the elite 8 are incredible. Too bad they always seemed to have a stud 1 seed waiting for them. All 3 Final 4 games were close, but both Big 10 teams lost in the end. The final was excellent, with Calhoun badly outcoaching Krzyzewski. Trying to have Langdon create his own shot on the money play was extremely foolish.
2005 was nice as the 2 clear top teams in the nation were able to face each other in the final and the game did not disappoint. Illinois was of course extremely fortunate to beat Arizona in the Elite 8, and UNC caught a lucky call to avoid a possible loss to Villanova in the Sweet 16. There were other exciting games too with Salim Stoudamire beating a very good Oklahoma State team at the buzzer, NC State bumping off UConn in the 2nd round, Bucknell shocking Kansas and Vermont’s amazing showing against Syracuse. The best game of the tourney was actually the 2-7 game between Chris Paul’s Wake Forest team and West Virginia. Both teams were on fire and Wake’s general defensive problems came up and WV upset them 111-105 in 2OT. WV then beat Texas Tech and lost to Louisville in OT to just miss the Final 4.
I watched the last 10 minutes or so of UNC-Illinois recently for the first time since the game happened. It has to be said, Illinois should have won. UNC, outside of Felton, looked lethargic and disinterested down the stretch. Jack Ingram may have been setting illegal screens (he was), but guys like McCants, the Williamses and Melvin Scott had no interest in busting the screen and seemed content to let Illinois get an open shot. UNC struggled to get open looks and Illinois got one on nearly every possession. In the end, the breaks went UNC’s way and Felton was key to all of them, and Illinois just couldn’t hit a big shot like in the Arizona game.