{"id":287,"date":"2009-03-26T18:20:20","date_gmt":"2009-03-26T23:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=287"},"modified":"2009-03-26T18:23:54","modified_gmt":"2009-03-26T23:23:54","slug":"random-top-5-lists-for-the-sweet-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=287","title":{"rendered":"Random Top 5 Lists for the Sweet 16"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: <\/em>For Bry’s preview and picks of Thursday night’s games, scroll down.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Top 5 Freshmen in the Sweet 16:<\/strong><\/p>\n

5. Kemba Walker, <\/strong>UConn:\u00a0 This New York City native is poised to become the next great star at UConn.\u00a0 His lightning quickness gives the Huskies instant offense when he comes off the bench.<\/p>\n

4. Tyshawn Taylor, <\/strong>Kansas:\u00a0 Taylor originally committed to Marquette but he fell into Bill Self’s lap when Tom Crean took the Indiana job.\u00a0 The guard averaged just under 10 points this season and, very impressively, shot over 50% from the field.\u00a0 He has the makings of a superstar in Lawrence, but in this tournament they just need him to be a reliable third option after Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich.<\/p>\n

3. Willie Warren, <\/strong>Oklahoma:\u00a0 A year after snagging Blake Griffin, coach Jeff Capel showed that he is no one-hit recruiting wonder when he went into Texas and signed this sharp-shooting guard.\u00a0 Warren averaged 14.7 points, went over 30 in back-to-back games in December, and played best in some of Oklahoma’s biggest games.\u00a0 He shot 38% on 3’s, but he also has the size and quickness to get to the basket consistently.<\/p>\n

2. Samardo Samuels, <\/strong>Louisville:\u00a0 Compared to the last few couple years in college basketball, it’s surprising that Samuels is the only freshman starter for a #1 seed this year.\u00a0 Not only has he started, but this 6’9″ man-child has been one of the best players for this title-contending team, and he may go down as the greatest basketball player ever to come out of Jamaica.<\/p>\n

1. Tyreke Evans, <\/strong>Memphis:\u00a0 The best player to come out of Chester (and\u00a0probably the whole Philly area) since Jameer Nelson, Evans unfortunately did not decide to stay close to home.\u00a0 This guy just screams “NBA player”, as a 6’6″, long-armed, freak of nature that can score in any way possible, and get it done on the defensive end as well.\u00a0 He easily led Memphis in scoring (16.6) and steals (2.1), and flirted with triple-doubles on a couple occasions.<\/p>\n

Top 5 Point Guards Not From a #1 Seed:<\/strong><\/p>\n

5. Scottie Reynolds, <\/strong>Villanova:\u00a0 Reynolds used to be a gunner, but he’s made himself into a solid all-around PG, and has been more than willing to share the spotlight with Dante Cunningham.<\/p>\n

4. Jeremy Pargo, <\/strong>Gonzaga:\u00a0It’s a tough call to put Pargo ahead of Reynolds, but he is the reigning WCC Player of the Year, and while the WCC is not the Big East, it shows the amount of respect that Gonzaga’s opponents have for what Pargo can do.\u00a0 His points and assists are down from last year, but in tournament crunch time, you want the ball in this senior’s hands.<\/p>\n

3. Kalin Lucas, <\/strong>Michigan St.:\u00a0 Lucas took home the Big Ten Player of the Year award this year, but I still think he’s underrated.\u00a0 He is one of the quickest players in the nation and Michigan St. would be almost nowhere without him this season.<\/p>\n

2. Jonny Flynn, <\/strong>Syracuse:\u00a0 Between Cuse’s 6-overtime win a couple weeks ago, and now their run to the Sweet 16, Flynn has gotten a lot of much-deserved attention.\u00a0\u00a0The sophomore\u00a0averaged 17 points and 7 assists for the Orange, and he could be playing on the next level next season.<\/p>\n

1. Sherron Collins, <\/strong>Kansas:\u00a0 This junior out of Chicago is the only one on this list that has won a national championship, and that is no\u00a0accident.\u00a0 Collins won’t be intimidated by any situation in this tournament, and he’s already off to a flying start, racking up 57 points in the Jayhawks first two games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Top 5 Post Players Not From a #1 Seed:<\/strong><\/p>\n

5.\u00a0 Josh Heytvelt, <\/strong>Gonzaga:\u00a0 You know there are a lot of good ones on this list if Heytvelt is 5th.\u00a0 Heytvelt led the Zags in points and rebounds.<\/p>\n

4. Cole Aldrich, <\/strong>Kansas:\u00a0 The fact that Aldrich could barely get on the floor as a freshman last year shows just how good that team was.\u00a0 Aldrich certainly got on the floor this year, and he averaged a double-double, with 15 points and 11 rebounds.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Dante Cunningham, <\/strong>Villanova:\u00a0 The amount of improvement for Cunningham throughout his career at Nova is really impressive.\u00a0 He’s emerged as clearly the best player on this excellent team, and he can really torch teams with the mid-range jump shot he’s developed.<\/p>\n

2. Jordan Hill, <\/strong>Arizona:\u00a0 As I noted in a post earlier this season, Hill is another player that has improved a ton througout his career.\u00a0 His combination of size and athleticism may make him a Top 5 pick in the NBA draft in a couple of\u00a0months.<\/p>\n

1. Blake Griffin, <\/strong>Oklahoma:\u00a0 Bit of a no-brainer here.\u00a0 I’m really looking forward to watching him this week.\u00a0 As the consensus National Player of the Year, and soon-to-be 1st overall pick in the draft, it will be interesting to see if Griffin can put his team on his shoulders and carry them to the Final Four.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note: For Bry’s preview and picks of Thursday night’s games, scroll down.\u00a0 Top 5 Freshmen in the Sweet 16: 5. Kemba Walker, UConn:\u00a0 This New York City native is poised to become the next great star at UConn.\u00a0 His lightning … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[246,563,562,564,413,141,44,43,216,565,247,566,243],"class_list":["post-287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-blake-griffin","tag-cole-aldrich","tag-dante-cunningham","tag-delvon-roe","tag-jordan-hill","tag-kalin-lucas","tag-louisville","tag-michigan-st","tag-oklahoma","tag-samardo-samuels","tag-scottie-reynolds","tag-sherron-collins","tag-villanova"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}