Ol' Carnac is going to step out that shaky limb once again with another prediction. In another post, I predicted that
ECU would not bust 50 today.
I had that!!. Let's go with
UConn 78 - South Carolina 59.
My thoughts for Monday's game -
I Look for the starters to play the bulk of the minutes like they did last year. They know that going in. They'll all be ready to play 40 minutes if needed. Geno probably won't go with more than 8 players in this one. The rest of the bench will be relegated to spectating and cheerleading.
I don't think the Gamecocks can be successful against the tight "in your face" defense they'll encounter for 40 minutes. At some point, they're going to crack. A tipped pass here, a bad pass there, another steal and lay-up, and BOOM!; you're down 10-12 points, and the seats are not even warm yet.
Note: Defense wins games and championships.
Did you notice that ECU's center picked up 2 quick fouls in the first 3 minutes of the 1st quarter? I wonder if the same thing might happen Monday to Coates and/or Wilson?
Pounding the ball into the post (Stewie and Tuck) the first quarter just might pay off. That might be a ploy Geno could try. Coates and Wilson work well in tandem. Remove one of them and the other one becomes less lethal. What would the
Lone Ranger be without Tonto?, or the
Batman without Robin?;
Starsky without Hutch?
You get my drift.
It's a lot easier to run your offense against 1 big, instead of 2. I also look for Jefferson to guard Mitchell from tip to buzzer. Mitchell did not do well last year after Geno re-assigned Jefferson to guard her (she disappeared in the 2nd half).
Of course this game will not crown this year's national champion, we know that. But it will make the winner feel real good about themselves, and walk out of the arena with their chests out. I just got the turban and cape back from the cleaners yesterday. We'll see if having them cleaned did any good.
