College Hoops: Best Pac 12 Teams
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| Jim Feist - 2/19/2012 4:18 PM |
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by Jim Feist
There's the Big 5 in Pac 12 in basketball with a string of teams battling for the top spot. Here's a look at the strengths and weaknesses of some of college basketball's best teams in the Pacific 12. Cal: The Golden Bears have been a well rounded offensive machine, tops in the Pac 12 in field goal shooting, three-point shooting and free throw percentage. 6-6 sophomore Allen Crabbe (16 ppg), senior Jorge Gutierrez (13.7 ppg) and Justin Cobbs run the backcourt and lead the team in scoring with this three-guard attack. They haven't been very good in the role of underdog until a nice 73-63 win at UCLA last week. The Bears shot 52 percent from the floor in completing their first season sweep of the Bruins since 1993-94. The only concern is they haven't played well against top competition, getting blown out by Missouri (92-53) and UNLV (85-68). Arizona: While Cal prefers to run, the Wildcats are getting it done with defense and rebounding behind 6-6 junior Solomon Hill (12.5 ppg, 8 rpg) and 6-7 senior Jason Perry (12 ppg, 7.6 rpg). They are tops in the Pac 12 in three-point shooting defense and fourth in rebounding. Senior guard Keith Fogg (12.8 ppg) leads in scoring and runs the backcourt, an outstanding three point shooter. This team took Florida to overtime before losing, 78-72, in December. Arizona pulled off a Bay Area sweep two weeks ago by beating California and Stanford, and followed that with a decisive win over Colorado to move within a game of the conference lead. When Pac 12 play started the Cats went on an 8-5 run under the total with that defense. They host the LA schools this weekend, with a road trip to Arizona State to win up the regular season. Washington: The Huskies run a wide-open attack, second in the conference in scoring (75 ppg), No. 38 in the nation. They have a dynamite one-two punch with 6-5 freshman Tony Wroten (16.4 ppg) and 6-foot-6 sophomore Terrance Ross (15 ppg, 7 rpg). Throw in 7-foot, 260-lb junior Aziz N'Diaye (7.7 rpg) and Washington has excellent balance at both ends of the floor, tops in the Pac 12 in rebounding. Washington stumbled the first five weeks of the season, but has really caught fire at the right time. They won at Arizona and at Oregon State as a dog each time. Despite the reputation last year as one of the best offensive teams in the nation, the defense (41.8% shooting allowing in Pac 12 play) has been impressive and explains a 12-2 run under the total. Washington has a key three-game road trip to end the regular season, at Washington State, USC and UCLA. Oregon: The Ducks are in the Pac 12 hunt despite being in the middle of the pack in overall stats. Oregon gets it done behind the one-two punch of 6-4 senior Devoe Joseph (15.7 ppg) and 6-6 junior E.J. Singler (13.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg). Singler was named Basketball Player of the Week last week after leading Oregon to a home sweep of the Washington schools, in which he averaged team highs of 18.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. That was part of a 7-2 ATS run that included 5 straight up wins as a dog! Colorado: The Buffaloes won 24 games last season while making the NIT. They have their sites set higher this season. Colorado is one of the top rebounding teams in the Pac 12, led by 6-7 sophomore Andre Roberson (11 ppg, 11 rpg), reliable from the charity stripe and a tough defensive squad, tops in the Pac 12 allowing 39.7% shooting by opponents. Early-season defeats in nonconference play kept Colorado out of the NCAA Tournament last year, and the Buffs began slowly again this season with losses to Wichita State, Maryland, Colorado State and Wyoming before Dec. 10. To be strongly considered for an at-large bid, the Buffs need to top 22 wins and reach the championship game of the Pac-12 Tournament, March 7-10 in Los Angeles. This is a big week for Colorado hosting Stanford and Cal, both revenge games. |
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