Hey guys been a crazy 2 weeks for me put in 65 hr weeks and finally got to relax tonight. I have got to stop betting fckn hockey!!!!
The Rebels come into the tourney opener playing their best basketball of the year according to coach Kruger. The main reason is that Willis the Rebel senior and captain has finally got his swagger back after dealing with adversity for most of the year. He has returned to score 18 pts per game and has hit 65% from 3 in his past 5 games.
The Rebels also re-committed to extra shooting practice, after a horrible shooting slump in Jan and Feb where they were shooting around 30% from the 3 point line!!
The only concern is that Illinois has the length to be disruptive like the Aztecs but at a much less talent level. The Illini have a solid player in McCamey who avgs 14.8 per and 6 assists, along with a glossy 45% from 3 point land. The problem is most games he is the only one who shows up!! The team is only 6-10 over the second half of the season and struggled in the big 10 tourney.
The Rebels will be the quicker team and if they hit open shots I see no problem with them covering the -2. If ILL comes to play and focuses on perimeter defense for which they were 2nd in the Big 10 then I can see an upset. Which team will show up and be hungrier?? The loss last year to N. Iowa in the opener for the Rebels was very painful according to Willis. Look for him to be the difference maker on both ends of the floor, add the fact that Bellfield the floor general has improved on his wrist injury!! UNLV ML
I think that McConnell is a better team player and does not have to hog the ball as much to be effective. Although Jimmer gets the points he is prone to playing out of control and gets caught in the air, only to get bailed out by the refs!! Any thoughts or opinions??
OK we have seen what Jim boy Fredette is capable of and have to admit he has beaten me twice so far this week.......
On to the next Rebel challenge. This is indeed a challenge facing a undefeated 6 ranked San Diego team at home. The Aztecs have beaten the Rebels the last couple of years, 5 out of the last 6 to be exact. There is talk that Aztecs have not really been tested. The 3 teams that they beat with some name value include Gonazga, St, Mary and Wichita St. Here is what the local SD news is saying....
This is the same Runnin' Rebels team -- with perhaps more depth
-- that SDSU defeated in the Mountain West tournament championship
game last March. And it's a squad that has been ranked as high as
20th in the nation this season while eliciting praise from one of
the sport's elite coaches.
"Early in the season, (Louisville coach) Rick Pitino made the
comment that other than Duke, (UNLV) is the best team in the
country," SDSU coach Steve Fisher said. "This is a veteran team
with a lot of players, that's deep and well coached and lost a home
game (last week) that they felt they should have won. We'll get
their best shot."
UNLV routed Texas Christian on Saturday, three days after
dropping its conference opener to No. 11 Brigham Young. The Rebels
(13-3, 1-1) opened the season with nine straight victories, beating
No. 20 Wisconsin and Virginia Tech before losing at No. 18
Louisville on Dec. 11. They then dropped a home game against UC
Santa Barbara four days later.
While the Aztecs (17-0, 2-0) could have played better in their
first two conference games, Fisher knows the value of a road
victory in conference play. His team is one of five NCAA Division I
undefeated squads and its 17-game winning streak is second only to
top-ranked Duke.
The Aztecs are led by Leonard, Thomas and White up front which make like a 3 headed beast. They are ferocious on the boards and Leonard is considered NBA cant miss prospect!! DJ Gay does an excellent job running the point. This team is very talented, all Fisher has to do on most days is roll out the balls and let them go.
If the Rebels show up and play their A game, which they are fully capable of, they can keep it close. A close game is not good for Aztecs cause they tend to miss a few free throws and make bone head decisions in close games (Fisher). Rebels have to be able to make shots and hit the boards. It is hard to make shots against SDST because they are so long and agile.
Willis and Stanback along with Jaspar will have to man up in order for Rebels to stay close. Bellfield will have to step up offensively and the Big guys will have to act like they want to stay in the game. This is my play guys, like it or not. I do not trust UNLV enough right now to cover the spread. This will be a defensive game!!!
SDST ML and the Under 132-33 parlay!!!
Hey Covers!!! Where is your NCAAB section there is a lot of great games going on with no Blogs?? WTF!!