Final Four Sleepers

[EBonz30]

Have two teams in mind, you might not think one is a sleeper because they are somewhat pronounce....

1st- California- love how they are playing, top 30 defense and very strong starting lineup. A mix of youth and experience (similar to our Huskies). Jaylen Brown has become one of my favorite players in the nation, he's a MAN amongst boys. Strong point play from Wallace and 2 shooters on the wings with Bird and Mathews. Down low you have a top 10 talent in Rabb and 2 defensive rim protectors in Rooks and Okoroh.

I could see them making a deep run in the tourney.

Jaylen Brown is a guaranteed top 3 pick, I welcome the opposition.


2nd- Wichita St.- Yes, we all know who they have. Really thought Grady would've been a better fit, he was really excellent at Cleveland St. With Baker and Fred in the backcourt and their defensive brilliance, can really see them making another deep run. They have some young athletic wings as well who are starting to come on. With Marshall a top 3 young coach (Smart, Ollie) in the nation watch out, they will be a tough out!!!

Your thoughts are welcomed!!

 

[Matrim55]

Have two teams in mind, you might not think one is a sleeper because they are somewhat pronounce....

1st- California- love how they are playing, top 30 defense and very strong starting lineup. A mix of youth and experience (similar to our Huskies). Jaylen Brown has become one of my favorite players in the nation, he's a MAN amongst boys. Strong point play from Wallace and 2 shooters on the wings with Bird and Mathews. Down low you have a top 10 talent in Rabb and 2 defensive rim protectors in Rooks and Okoroh.

I could see them making a deep run in the tourney.

Jaylen Brown is a guaranteed top 3 pick, I welcome the opposition.

I've seen Cal play a bunch, including a couple times in person - I live about a mile from campus.

You're higher on them than I am, particularly Wallace. He lost his starting job to Singer and Cal's generally been a better team since then, since Singer is more of a "get you the ball in rhythm" point guard while Wallace is a drive-draw-and-kick creator. Bird and Matthews are both fun, but both inconsistent, and Rooks & Okoroh are only okay.

Rabb is good, but not a dominant player - reminds me of Vonleh from Indiana a couple years back. The tools are there, but I'm not sure about the mentality.

Brown is their best overall talent, but his jump shot is entirely unreliable and he often has trouble scoring in half-court sets. Obviously he's murder in transition, and he has a knack for tough rebounds. He's more of a Jae Crowder type than a future superstar, but I certainly wouldn't scoff at the idea that he's a top 3 pick (as long as he works on that jumper).

Honestly, even with all this talent I'd be shocked if Cal made it to the Final 4. They take too many defensive naps during the run of play and Martin's not an especially good coach. It could happen, of course -- I'm not writing them off -- but it would be very, very surprising.

 

[amory]

UConn. Calling it!

If I'm wrong who cares and if I'm right I'll look like a genius.

 

[EBonz30]

Have two teams in mind, you might not think one is a sleeper because they are somewhat pronounce....

1st- California- love how they are playing, top 30 defense and very strong starting lineup. A mix of youth and experience (similar to our Huskies). Jaylen Brown has become one of my favorite players in the nation, he's a MAN amongst boys. Strong point play from Wallace and 2 shooters on the wings with Bird and Mathews. Down low you have a top 10 talent in Rabb and 2 defensive rim protectors in Rooks and Okoroh.

I could see them making a deep run in the tourney.

Jaylen Brown is a guaranteed top 3 pick, I welcome the opposition.


2nd- Wichita St.- Yes, we all know who they have. Really thought Grady would've been a better fit, he was really excellent at Cleveland St. With Baker and Fred in the backcourt and their defensive brilliance, can really see them making another deep run. They have some young athletic wings as well who are starting to come on. With Marshall a top 3 young coach (Smart, Ollie) in the nation watch out, they will be a tough out!!!

Your thoughts are welcomed!!

Not in love with Wallace either, should be much better than he is, has the skills, but doesn't demonstrate them well in the game, and your right they have been better ever since he got hurt, but I believe in partly because they are young and are developing.

Love your comparison to Vonleh for Rabb, your right on, Rabb might be a tab tougher and will also be a lottery pick.

Rooks is really starting to come on, don't be surprise if they win the PAC-12 tourney.

Their wings are inconsistent with their jumpers and is the main reason they are 15-0 at home and are awful on the road.

As far as Brown, he is a top 3 pick and is a future NBA all star. You have to remember the players jump shots get much better the first three years of the NBA because they started taking thousands of shots everyday and it is their actual job.

Ala James, Westbrook, George, Butler.

FYI- Brown has much better body control and handle than Crowder, that is a very poor comparison, selling Brown way short. He puts more pressure on a defense when he goes to the hoop than anyone in the nation including Simmons. He either gets fouled or finishes.

 

[JimHurley]

For me it's Texas. Elite PG in Taylor. Great outside shooters in Felix and Lammert. And a decent big man Ridley. Right now they're beating some pretty good teams without Ridley. I would not be surprised to see them in the Final Four even though I'm still going with Oklahoma, Kansas, Xavier, and West Virginia.

 

[EBonz30]

For me it's Texas. Elite PG in Taylor. Great outside shooters in Felix and Lammert. And a decent big man Ridley. Right now they're beating some pretty good teams without Ridley. I would not be surprised to see them in the Final Four even though I'm still going with Oklahoma, Kansas, Xavier, and West Virginia.

Like the Texas pick, another great coach in Shaka.

Texas gonna be scary next year, their three freshmen are really started to come on and they are all 3 to 4 year players.

Roach, Davis Jr., and Mack.

Really impressive.

Taylor should stay another year too.

Next year is their year, but they might be a year ahead of schedule.

 

[DSpice]

Is Ridley supposed to return at all this year? A foot injury on a big man is normally something to be pretty cautious about. Either way, that press is getting pretty scary once Shaka turned it up a little.

 

[EBonz30]

Is Ridley supposed to return at all this year? A foot injury on a big man is normally something to be pretty cautious about. Either way, that press is getting pretty scary once Shaka turned it up a little.

I don't believe so, and yes Shaka has them on the right track!!

 

[Gwynning]

I'm going to throw LSU in the mix. Although there is no guarantee they even get into the field, I would not be shocked if Ben Simmons leads this team on a run much like Dwayne Wade did with Marquette back in 2003.

 

[EBonz30]

I'm going to throw LSU in the mix. Although there is no guarantee they even get into the field, I would not be shocked if Ben Simmons leads this team on a run much like Dwayne Wade did with Marquette back in 2003.

Please don't compare Wade w Marquette to Ben Simmons with LSU.

LSU is one of the worst coached teams in the nation AND....

Ben Simmons has been one of the most disappointing players this year!

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Please don't compare Wade w Marquette to Ben Simmons with LSU.

LSU is one of the worst coached teams in the nation AND....

Ben Simmons has been one of the most disappointing players this year!

Pardon?

 

[traitor71]

Pardon?

Yeah, I can't get on board with that, although I guess you could argue that he was built up to a point (by some people) that maybe no freshman could reach.

 

[CL82]

UConn. Calling it!

If I'm wrong who cares and if I'm right I'll look like a genius.

UConn final four sleeper:

 

[BleedHuskyBlu]

Pardon?

Yea I wouldnt go that far. He is a little passive when it comes to taking over but he is the most talented player in the country no question about it with Brandon Ingram and Buddy Hields following him.

 

[tzznandrew]

Pardon?

19.4 ppg, 11.9 rpg, 5.0 apg, 1.8 spg, 56.1FG%

He's sixth in RPG among all NCAA players.

He's got a 29.7 PER.
He's 12th in the nation in Box +/-

That's disappointing?!

 

[sdhusky]

Pee Cee.

I'd like to see it except for a couple of message board dbags.

Having the best player on the floor makes you dangerous.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Surprised I'm not seeing more mentions of Baylor.

 

[methodology]

I'm going to throw LSU in the mix. Although there is no guarantee they even get into the field, I would not be shocked if Ben Simmons leads this team on a run much like Dwayne Wade did with Marquette back in 2003.

They just lost their 2nd leading scorer for the year I believe. Not sure they make the field with that loss.

 

[EBonz30]

Pee Cee.

I'd like to see it except for a couple of message board dbags.

Having the best player on the floor makes you dangerous.

Lol, 16-12 ain't even making the tourney.

Best player, Lol.

Explain to me how they have a worst record than last year and somehow they are going to make a final four run just because they have the best player in the nation even though they lose game after game in a mediocre conference.

No dice, ain't winning nothing, garbage LSU.

 

[tcf15]

Lol, 16-12 ain't even making the tourney.

Best player, Lol.

Explain to me how they have a worst record than last year and somehow they are going to make a final four run just because they have the best player in the nation even though they lose game after game in a mediocre conference.

No dice, ain't winning nothing, garbage LSU.

He's talking about Providence.

 

[EBonz30]

He's talking about Providence.

Oh sorry.

Actually like Providenxe, Kris Dunn is a top 5 pick.

Favorite player in college, him and Ulis.

 

[methodology]

West Virginia I think goes through to many scoring droughts. They don't have any true outside shooters and you need that to go far in the tourney. Also a strong backcourt that limits turnovers, like Texas, gives them problem cause they can't get easy buckets in transition.

Kentucky I think is somewhat of a sleeper they might be playing the best bball in the country right now

 

[EBonz30]

West Virginia I think goes through to many scoring droughts. They don't have any true outside shooters and you need that to go far in the tourney. Also a strong backcourt that limits turnovers, like Texas, gives them problem cause they can't get easy buckets in transition.

Kentucky I think is somewhat of a sleeper they might be playing the best bball in the country right now

Totally agree with Kentucky, it's all about their bigs and rebounding at this point, if their bigs can continue to get better and develop they have a good shot, can't see them as a sleeper though considering they are Kentucky.

The thing i worry about with WVU is the bad matchup, the matchup who has great guard play and efficient offense that will kill the press.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

There is one team right now that is not receiving any votes for the Top 25. That should meet the definition of sleeper. This team potentially has a projected NBA lottery pick for the 2016 draft. In addition to this guy they have 2 other starters that will both play in the NBA. One is projected just outside the 2016 draft lottery. The other player most likely will be drafted in the 1st round in 2017.

Then add another forward that is averaging almost double digits and 5 rbs per (he can be a real beast). Just for icing on the cake the last starter is hitting around 48% from downtown.

How is that for talent? Not sure about the team chemistry so they are very risky but could be dangerous.

 

[gtcam]

Pee Cee.

I'd like to see it except for a couple of message board dbags.

Having the best player on the floor makes you dangerous.

I may be a in your eyes but that I don't care
Really?
The best player you refer to has to be Bentil
PeeCee has no depth
Plus they are PeeCee so screw them