#1 Albuquerque Chickenhawks vs. #3 Boeheim’s Army
Well, obviously I strongly favor AC to give BA their marching orders here. AC is the NCAA equivalent of the MML’s Maize and Blue Bloods, or, vice versa if you please. For the most part they receive consistently good performances from their players and they have a little something for everybody. Need a stud? Try Broome. How about freshman? Wooley gets it done at a high level. Boringly solid? Schieffelin, thank you very much. Players who can hit the high notes and seldom a sour one? Timberlake & Fleming. Players of a similar ability who are maybe just a touch below-which means just about as good? Try the legal firm of Bailey & Solomon. They just don’t have a hole in the lineup. Want me to nitpick? I can. Schieffelin, because of the way Clemson plays and the way they run offense sometimes doesn’t get the touches he should but his spread is remarkable. So, on those dark days when he gets 4-6 fga’s and his fantasy total for the game is maybe 18 or so, his spread is usually 10+ (+10.6 on the season) and it doesn’t change that much when he gets the fga’s he should. Bailey’s lows can be in the teens as he is not a prolific “spreader,” so, he’s capable of a 12-15 but his season average is 23 so you won’t see many of those and they are usually buttressed by a 25-30 game coming around the corner. Fleming didn’t see the ball for awhile but that problem appears to have been solved, plus his seasonal spread is 10 so he can make do with less when that happens. Solomon plays with the most gun-happy player in America (I kid you not) and sometimes struggles to get shots/and, often struggles to get any kind of rhythm but is an efficient, high percentage player (+7 seasonal spread).
That’s all the nitpicking I can do. As you can see it’s not much. In fact, looking at their season spreads they are probably a surer bet than MBB to be at or near their maximum averages.
Boeheim’s Army on the other hand, while obviously doing something right to get to the final doesn’t have that luxury. I don’t know if Nelly Junior Joseph is injured/ill, or, just has one game or something but they will be playing Kyrese Mullen in his place. I’ve watched Mullen since he was a freshman of great promise and that is all there has been. Looking at his game log, he has recently had a good game followed by a real stinker and/or vice versa. Playing Mullen is the biggest gamble of the entire playoffs and it reeks of desperation. Their guards, frosh Harper & Braden Smith match up well with AC’s guards. Ognacevic & Brzovic actually match up well with AC’s forwards. But AC has a commanding edge at center (Broome over Mostafa), 6th man (Solomon over Mullen) and the frosh slot (Wooley over Edgecombe). They really needed to at least neutralize Solomon and have failed to so, IMHO, and it will cost them dearly.
In my 20+ years experience in fantasy college basketball it is rare to see a team “run the table,” basically be the best team all year long and continue that through the playoffs but AC is that team and they will be spraying the “Vernors,” (non-alcoholic) all over in celebration when they cop the title.
Congrats to both. Impressive!
Tribe