14 point spread tonight
This is really an interesting game for us to start off with. They're young and inexperienced in the big east (like us) but they have a lot more talent. I hope our frosh don't see this as a challenge to beat their frosh but rather do the things we need them to do to win. Justin needs to grab 10 boards today, we need him to get back to rolling in double figure rebounding. With the rebounding we NEED Mase to grab some too. In my opinion the best thing about Mase boarding is that when he gets one, he's instantly out and running the break and causing havoc. We need to get as many easy baskets as possible and grabbing and going is probably our best way. DJ similar to Mase with grabbing the board and running out but kid needs to slow down a second and let the game come to him. If we grab a rebound and outlet to Geno its the same old wait wait, chuck a bad shot approach we all hate. Harris is a monster on the boards and we need to make sure we block him out at all times (Mase thats you man) and hopefully get him some cheap fouls with his overaggressive style.
Tonight is a nice matchup for Larry as Scoop isn't that good on offense and won't try to take over like Vasallo did. We need Larry to come out shooting (and i suspect he'll be starting with this matchup) and to keep shooting to end that zone and get the crowd silent.
Geno has to work hard on D and it should be a matter of pride for him to not let a stud freshman show him up. Just from knowing Geno, I think he's excited for this match up and relishing in the task to defend him. On the same hand, if he lets him constantly blow by, Norm HAS to go to Malik.
Tomas and Dele need to work hard Onuaku and foul him real hard anytime he has an easy chance for a hoop. He's only shooting 46% from the line so when those 2 get on their foul binges it shouldnt be as harmful as usual. I'm usually all for playing small but I think these 2 will be allright with Evans at playing the 5 tonight.
Bottom line for me is this to win this game (and i really like our chances as they are putrid on defense and we need all the help we can get) we need Mase to play like the star upperclassman he expects to be. He needs to dominate the ball, want the ball and make good aggressive decisions. This team will feed off of him exploding like he is capable of. Assuming they're zoning us, I don't want him standing on the outside chucking 3's but flashing to the high post, flying in the air for a sweet 15 footer or dishing it down to Justin for a jam. If Mase gets rolling Justin won't be swarmed in guys and if Greene is marking him maybe he'll even get him in foul trouble. If Mase has an off night all around we're dead and likely to get blown out but I've got a nice feeling he's gonna bring that A game to the dome like last year and shut em up.