Figured I’d start this up since the exhibition games are in full swing and the Top 25 came out with North Carolina at #1. Surprise suprise. It must be good times at Kansas too, since their football and basketball teams are in the top 5. Who do you think will cut down the nets in April? How do you think your favorite team will do?
This season will be interesting for my Maryland Terps. There’s only two players returning, Vasquez and Gist, with any real playing time, and SEVEN FRESHMEN! It looks like a good group of kids, so we’ll see what the town drunk will get out of them. lol… Hopefully they’ll at least be competitive and maybe catch a few of the better teams taking them lightly. I think they’ll squeak into the Big Dance, and an early exit. Nevertheless…
Fear the Turtle.
My Orangemen will have some struggles this year.
-The loss of 4 significant contributors will be felt early on. Losing Andy Rautins to a knee injury will certainly hurt as I felt he was poised to have a real breakout year after last year’s second half.
-One of the best incoming freshman classes will help a lot, but this is a real green team with only 1 scholarship senior, and he wasn’t even a top contributor last year.
-Free throws could be a big issue.
-I predict Arinze Onuaku will have a big year at C. He shattered the backboard on his first dunk during midnight madness.
-Eric Devendorf will struggle at times unless one of the new guys can consistently hit from 3pt land.
-Word is that Paul Harris worked hard on his mid-range jumper in the off-season. If he can be consistent from 10-15 ft, look out. I haven’t seen many players as physically gifted at his age in a long time. There may be 3-4 small forwards in the nation who can match his quickness.
I have no idea how good they will be, although the last time they had a team with so little experience, they won the NC. But, I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t hit 20 wins. A tourney bid looks like a longshot right now, especially coming from the Big East and the travesty of last year’s selection committee.
DB