Kansas: The biggest problem facing the Jayhawks over the past week has been the fact that they've had one reliable scorer, and that's Sherron Collins. Xavier Henry's shooting percentage and scoring is down and appears to be rushing shots. Cole Aldrich is not the offensive weapon he was last year, and neither is Tyshawn Taylor. When on, Kansas spreads the ball well and consistently gets good shots, and that hasn't happened of late. Is this a trend? Maybe. Kansas is still strong defensively and more athletic than almost anyone they play, so they can deal with offensive struggles for small stretches. If they want to compete for a title, though, someone other than Collins needs to make big shots down the stretch.
Verdict: Legit
Purdue: My Boilers gave up a 17-4 run to Wisconsin at the beginning of the 2nd half and never recovered. Wisconsin is a very good team, especially at the Kohl Center, so the loss itself doesn't give too much cause for concern. I don't feel like Purdue played poorly, either, so in one sense there aren't any new problems. The way to beat Purdue is probably the same way I always thought you beat Purdue: quickness on the perimeter. Trevon Hughes, Jason Bohannon (who can actually drive to the basket now!) and Jordan Taylor killed us off the dribble drive. Oh, and hopefully JaJuan won't go 1-7 from the line again. Our help defense is still the best in the Big Ten, though, and it will take an extremely good offensive effort for 40 minutes to beat us.
Verdict: Legit
Duke: Duke's strength is supposed to be in the post, where they have a lot of bodies to throw at people. The problem is, when they face teams with size, they don't seem to play well offensively. The same was true with UConn (although UConn is a pretty good defensive team). Duke shoots over 40% from three normally, but they couldn't create decent shots consistently against the Georgia Tech defense. Duke's lack of depth in the backcourt and skill in the frontcourt means that they're probably not that much better than the rest of their conference. They'll get their wins, but there are a number of ACC teams I'd probably pick to win at home vs. Duke. In my opinion, that's not the sign of a top 10 team.
Verdict: Not Legit
West Virginia: I was sold on this team earlier, but after their loss to Purdue and loss at Notre Dame, I'm not so sure. They're still pretty big, and strong defensively, but they really don't have a lot of speed in the backcourt and they don't get to the line very often, meaning the offense can stall for stretches. The fact that they shot 37 threes and only 4 free throws is not a good sign for the offense. Of course, it's also not safe to assume Da'Sean Butler is going to go 4-20 from the floor again like he did @ ND. Overall, West Virginia is very good, but probably not in the same class as Villanova and Syracuse. And maybe even Georgetown.
Verdict: Not Legit
North Carolina: They were top 10 at the beginning of the week but will not be this week after losing to College of Charleston.
Verdict: Not Legit
So where does that leave us for a top 10? I'd probably put these 10 teams there for now: Texas, Kentucky, Syracuse, Kansas, Purdue, Villanova, Michigan State, Georgetown, Wisconsin, and Tennessee.
Okay, on to Monday. Not a ton of good games on the schedule. As usual, a Big East matchup headlines the day:
Game of the Night:
Villanova @ Louisville: I've decided over the past few days I need to take a closer look at the Cardinals as a tournament team. Samardo Samuels and Edgar Sosa have taken on bigger roles in the offense and have thrived as a result. Defensively, they've been strong recently, although they have had their struggles at points this season. Their resume suggests to me they're right on the bubble. Which leads me into tonight's game... a win over a clear top 10 team would probably put the Cardinals on the right side of the bubble right now. Problem is, Louisville likes to speed up teams with pressure, and Nova's comfortable playing like that. Villanova gets the big road win tonight.
Pick: Villanova 87, Louisville 81
Others:
Oklahoma State @ Oklahoma: The Bedlam game holds important tournament implications for both teams. For the Cowboys, it's some much needed respect. They kicked the stuffing out of Texas Tech to start Big 12 play and look to pick up a good road conference win tonight. Oklahoma, meanwhile, lost badly at Baylor and really, really need some big wins.
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