Final Four Preview

#11 NC State vs. #1 Purdue NC State has gone from a 17-14 team at the close of the season that was threatened by a terrible Louisville team and needed a free throw and a buzzer beater to get by Virginia. Without their five wins in the ACC Tournament, they wouldn’t have been in the…

Team Needs – Pacific Division

Los Angeles Lakers Needs: Keep their young free agents, move D’Angelo Russell, Ensure LeBron Happiness Picks: 17, 47 The Lakers made a strong run in the playoffs, but it sort of masked the fact that their regular season was actually quite disappointing, and they finished as the 7th best team in the conference. Now, they…

Team Needs – Northwest

Portland Trailblazers Needs: Rebounding, ball movers, defense Picks: 3, 23, 43 Portland was a big winner in the draft lottery process, jumping up to #3, allowing them to get one of or should they choose to keep the pick, or move the right to draft one of those two players if the right deal comes…

Team Needs – Southeast Division

Charlotte Hornets Needs: Efficient scoring Picks: 2, 27, 34, 39, 41 This past season, the Hornets were a mess. LaMelo Ball was injured, and never looked like himself in the 36 games he played. You have to believe him coming back healthy will help alleviate some of the issues with the Hornets’ league worst offense.…

Team Needs – Atlantic Division

Toronto Raptors Needs: Fred VanVleet to return or a long term direction Picks: 13 Toronto underachieved last season. Pascal Siakam was again very good, but the team struggled offensively compared to preseason expectations. Fred VanVleet took a noticeable step back this season, shooting the worst percentage from three of his career on 8.8 attempts per…

NCAA Final Four Preview

#5 Miami Hurricanes vs #4 UCONN Huskies As a general rule of thumb, guard play is one of the top predictors of success in the NCAA Tournament. Not only is it important to have guards that can control the game and get a team into their offense, but possibly more importantly, it’s more difficult as…

Sweet 16 Preview: East Region

#4 Tennessee versus #9 Florida Atlantic Despite the loss of Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee hasn’t missed a beat in the tournament. They are a physical team that beats the opponent into submission. Duke learned that first hand, as the Volunteers won their second round contest against the Blue Devils 65-52. Olivier Nkamhoua was the hero on…