March Hoops: Full Court Frenzy!

Friday, March 13, 2009
By Jim Feist

A factor to keep in mind during March tournament play is experience. Many lower seeded teams, like Vermont or Cornell, seemingly come out of nowhere and then the school disappears to mediocrity for a few seasons. Of course, they don't have a lot of experience year after year playing in the tournament, and experience can be an important asset.

Milwaukee-Wisconsin last season was a good example a few years ago, because that team was making its third straight postseason appearance in a row. The Panthers covered in a one-point loss to Notre Dame in the 2003 tourney, had made the NIT in 2004, then went on its nice run in 2005. The juniors and seniors who led the way were not wide-eyed about postseason play, having several big games under their belts.

Another interesting challenge is seeing large schools against mid-major teams. It's important to look carefully at the schedule of small and mid-major teams to see how they've fared when stepping up in competition. Take Radford of the Big South, for instance, a team with a 6-11 center in Artsiom Parakhouski (16.3 ppg, 11.2 rpg).

Look at their early schedule and you find a meeting against Virginia of the ACC, a 68-66 loss on the road. The Highlanders gave the Cavaliers a tougher game than they did in their last meeting -- a 95-47 rout in the 1996-97 season. It's important to note games like that where small schools stepped up in competition. Of course, Radford also lost badly at West Virginia (89-54) and at Wake Forest (83-61). It's important to note when they get smacked around, too!

A few years ago Nevada was impressive behind 6-foot-11 forward junior Nick Fazekas. Nevada played an early season road game at Kansas, winning 72-70 as a dog. A game like that shows more than if they went 10-0 at home against lesser-known schools or even conference competition.

Also remember that teams can get better as the season goes along. Two years ago Buffalo of the MAC stepped up in competition in the opening week of the season, and got flattened 92-63 at Boston College. That suggests they might have problems against bigger schools.

On the other hand, a good handicapper needs to examine the box score carefully of games like that. Ask yourself, since it was opening night, has that team improved since then, maybe even shuffling their lineup? Or was a key player missing because of injury? In March tournament play, the public may be caught off guard by surprises, but the astute handicapper anticipates them.