I actually thought the Syracuse Orange would be the best team heading to the NCAA tournament, now I'm confused when I'm getting ready to fill out my tournament bracket on Sunday.
In the last two games, the Orange have looked not like the team I remember when they beat the Villanova Wildcats a couple of weeks ago. I can understand losing to Louisville in Cardinals last game at Freedom Hall, but now you lose your first game in the quarterfinals of the 2010 Big East tournament, are you kidding me right now.
I don't like the tournament committee allowing an injury to decide where a team is seeded in the tournament, but in this case, I may not blame them. With 5:07 left in the game, the Orange big man Arinze Onuaku went for a block on Greg Monroe and landed on the floor in pain. Onuaku was holding his knee in pain and was carried off the court by trainers as he head to the locker room. They only play with seven guys and losing him would be a huge blow to their season.
Get ready for every college team in the country to watch game film on how the Georgetown Hoyas were able to get inside and get some easy and some tough baskets in the Orange zone defense. I was very impressed at how the Hoyas share the ball and found an open man in the paint for an easy two points or send their man to the free throw line. 6-11 center Greg Monroe lead the team with seven of the Hoyas 22 assists. Sure he had 15 points and 10 rebounds, but when your big man can find an open man and give his teammate to get points, you have a chance to be a major player in the tournament. Now I see why Greg Monroe is a lottery pick in this year's NBA draft, the man can do it all.
When the Hoyas played Duke, President Barack Obama mention how much he loves the guards on this team. I have to agree with the president on this one. Chris Wright and Austin Freeman are one of my top five best backcourts in the nation. I just love how both guards love to go inside and don't mind any contact. Chris is one of my favorite players in the country I don''t hear much about thanks to John Wall and Evan Turner. This is the third time the Hoyas saw the Orange this year and he studied the game film very well because he was all over this team. When he saw two defenders he went right through them for a lay in or head to the line. He shined at Madison Square Garden with 27 points on 10 of 16 from the field, six rebounds, and six assists. Austin Freeman was diagnosed with diabetes last week and he's playing very well. He played 37 minutes of the game, which is good for his health, and scored 18 points on seven of 14 from the field. If there is an X-factor for this team I would go with Jason Clark. He shots 43% from the three-point line this season and that will be big for the Hoyas in the tournament.
I don't know how the brackets will unfold but I think this Hoyas team can make some noise in this tournament. With a 6-ll center and a backcourt with no fear, who knows what will happen. Let's just see what happens when the brackets are out on Sunday.
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