Elite 8 Predictions & Picks: Missouri vs Connecticut
Written March 28, 2009 by Jordan Haimowitz
The Missouri Tigers, my personal darling team of the tournament. They won the Big-12 tournament and have not stopped winning ever since. They rolled over Cornell in the first round, then came a tough task against Marquette who came back from a 16 point deficit to actually take a four point lead late, that was until Mizzu put the burners on and took care of business late. Then was my favorite game of the tournament to date. The victory over the wildly overrated Memphis Tigers. They dropped 102 points on the Conference-USA champs. Missouri is well balanced and play as well in transition as any team left besides UNC. The Tigers also play suffocating full court pressure defense. They will pick up full court and not stop throughout. J.T. Tiller is playing as well as any point guard left in this tournament. DeMarre Carroll can play with anybody in the nation and Leo Lyons is a legit big man who can defend and has a full arsenal of post moves. The depth Coach Anderson has on this team is very strong. Kim English, Justin Safford and Miguel Paul are all contributors for this team. Missouri will be able to score with Uconn and they can also play any style The Huskies will try to enforce. Leo Lyons will be the key. If he can neutralize Thabeet, you very well could see the first #1 seed knocked out of this tournament. You are looking at a very hungry and motivated Missouri team who believe they should beat anybody they face. They play together and understand not many people believe in them. I sure as heck do. This is a fantastic team. Connecticut is favored by 5.5 over Missouri and the total is set at 151.5 points.
The UConn Huskies are playing spectacularly. This is something I simply was not expecting to happen in this tournament. When Jerome Dyson went down I was close to writing this team off. I am glad I didn’t. Thabeet has been superb, Adrien is a brick house inside and AJ Price is among the top three to five point guards in the nation. They are athletic, a terrific defensive team and are well coached. The one weakness Uconn has is they are not a good outside shooting team. If Thabeet does not control the glass along with Adrien, Uconn may not put enough points on the board because you can take it to the bank that Missouri will score points. The Huskies picked apart Tennessee Chattanooga in the first round winning by 56 points. They then went on to steamroll Texas A&M 92-66 and then most recently defeated Purdue 72-60. Coach Calhoun is a master at keeping his teams focused on the task at hand. One game at a time. Now, this may be a very unusual match up for Uconn. The Huskies have the athlete’s to play an up tempo game with Missouri, as a matter of fact, most people believe that plays to their strength. Those people would be wrong. The area where they have the distinct advantage over Missouri is their size. If Missouri is able to execute their full court press, it will be interesting to see how the guards of The huskies with the exception of Price will handle that pressure. Stanley Robinson, Craig Austrie and Kemba Walker just do not give off that feeling of confidence in a late game situation. Uconn better watch out here, If it smells like an upset, looks like an upset, it just might very well, be an upset.
Point Guard: JT Tiller vs AJ Price (EDGE-EVEN) I am almost certain I will get heavy criticism for this decision. Ill stick to my guns though. AJ Price is playing at a NBA first round draft pick level. He is turning into the leader most people predicted he would. Tiller of Missouri is perhaps the one natural point guard that has the strength and intensity to match Price. JT is coming off a career game against Memphis dropping 23 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Both Players will have serious positive impacts for their team. EDGE, nobody.
Shooting Guard: Zaire Taylor vs Craig Austrie (EDGE-UCONN) Not a huge edge by any means at all. This will be a very close and intense match up between these two athletes. Austrie is a better spot shooter behind the arc. Taylor is a better defender. The reason i give Austrie the edge is due to his experience and shooting. His impact will be a bit more noticeable. Not much here though, slight Uconn advantage.
Small Forward: Matt Lawrence vs Stanley Robinson (EDGE-MISSOURI) This one is easy for me. I understand how impressive Robinson has been for the Huskies. he has been a breathe of fresh air filling in admirably for Dyson. His party ends today. Matt Lawrence is three point shooter if you’ve ever seen one. he has long range and is also an above average defender. Do not expect robinson to get into the paint as easily as he did against a average Purdue team. Lawrence will pull him away from the hoop and get him playing frantic basketball.
Power Forward: DeMarre Carroll vs Jeff Adrien (EDGE-MISSOURI) Carroll is the best player in the country that most people don’t know about. He has the length to disrupt Adrien and the fact Carroll can shoot the three ball and can create off the dribble will drive Jeff crazy as he’ll have to face guard him. That will me a major worry for Uconn. While Adrien is a monster inside and has tremendous skill, he will be outplayed this game.
Center: Hasheem Thabeet vs Leo Lyons (EDGE-UCONN) I do believe Lyons will play him well as he is a fantastic big man and another one of these guys nobody knows. However, Thabeet is one of college basketballs most dominant forces. he is a human eraser inside and has improved his foot work and offensive skills ten fold. I give Lyons credit for playing well and not being brutally beaten. Advantage to the All-American in Thabeet. But as stated, it will not be enough to prevent the upset from happening.
Betting Line: UConn -5.5
Jordan’s Pick: Take Missouri +5.5
Final Score Prediction: Missouri 75, UConn 73
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2 Responses to “Elite 8 Predictions & Picks: Missouri vs Connecticut”
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Well-jordan–Survived gutsy Missouri effort–Managed to cash both flat bet [substantial] and parley with over [HUGE]. Have lesser flat bet left today with Nova, as even though Pitt has struggled as of late offensively, I repect their defensive tenacity, which could allow them to prevail. So this is lesser play for me on that reason alone. have Nova + the 2 as you do, I believe. I have tomorrows picks already posted . Would be interested in seeing what you like for remainder of weekend.
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Jeff,
Ill have tomorrows up by midnight tonight roughly.
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