Syracuse Orange vs North Carolina Tar Heels
It'll be interesting to see how Johnson and Ginyard/Henson/Graves matchup. As well as Jackson and Onuaku with Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller. Syracuse has a decent backcourt, with Scoop Jardine and Triche, and UNC should be able to keep up with them with Larry Drew III and Strickland. I did like what I saw from Scoop Jardine though against Cal, Jerome Randle could not keep him out of the lane.
I think the poll people thought that they would build on their surprise season...they do have talented offensive players, but they did a terrible, terrible job defensively last night. They seem like what Ole Miss was in college football at the beginning of the year, a team ranked too high after they return alot of starters from a surprising team from the year before.
In the waning moments of the Ohio St.- Cal game, Bobby Knight said he would be surprised if Syracuse lost this game, citing the quickness and length of Cuse zone, which has been the best he's seen in a while. Hoping for an exciting game!
In case you're missing it, Syracuse has run out to a 20 point lead in the middle of the second half. Syracuse defense has been nothing short of superb, and the overall athleticism combined with excellent coaching makes this team look seriously impressive, and capable of going as deep in the tourney as last year, with the potential for more.
On the North Carolina side, the unbelievable depth of team is on full display, with 11 possible rotation players, 5 of them standing 6'9" or taller. Thats insane for a college team. North Carolina has as much potential as anyone in the country, but they need to find some consistent guard play.
As a Syracuse alum, I'm crazy excited for this game because of the ranking implications for my Orange, a win tonight could vault the squad in the top ten. A 20 point blowout of the 12th ranked team and a win over 4 would be all the non conference wins you could ask for.
From an NBA standpoint, theres a ton of prospects to tack a look at, namely Wes Johnson and Ed Davis. Johnson's length and quickness were on full display against a small Cal team, but can he replicate that kind of performance against the length of North Carolina. he'll be matched up with Henson at some point, so I'm interested in see how he attacks him offensively. And Ed Davis will face some big guys too. Arinze is a load at 260 and Jackson has a very good frame. How will he respond to the physicality of SU's ferontline will be intriguing.