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Analyze this
O'Neill breaks down the Sweet 16 showdowns
Posted: Friday March 24, 2000 02:57 AM
Northwestern coach Kevin O'Neill analyzes the NCAA Tournament for CNNSI.com. Here he breaks down all the Sweet 16 matchups.
Duke vs. Florida, Friday
The setup: These are two predominately young teams, and believe it or not, I
think Florida has more experience. Duke has two veterans who anchor them, Shane Battier
and Chris Carrawell, but a lot of Florida's young guys are sophomores who have been to
the Sweet 16. In fact, I think Duke has struggled in both of their NCAA games mainly
because of their youth. Any time you play that amount of freshmen, you're going to
struggle.
Key matchup: If you lump Battier and Carrawell together for Duke, Mike
Miller is a huge key for Florida.
Bottom line: Florida will try to out-tempo them, try to attack them inside, and
if Duke doesn't respond early, Florida will try to take them out of the game. When Florida
shoots well from outside and controls tempo, they're tough to beat.
Seton Hall vs. Oklahoma State, Friday
The setup: In my mind, Seton Hall will need Shaheen Holloway, who is
listed as questionable, to win the game. Ty Shine stepped up big time last weekend, but
that was in a game situation with the adrenaline pumping. Oklahoma State plays
tremendous defense. They're not going to give up easy shots, they won't get rattled.
Key matchup: Holloway or Shine against Doug Gottleib for the Cowboys,
who does a good job of finding the open guy but shoots terribly at the free throw line (45
percent) for a point guard
Bottom line: If Seton Hall is shooting the ball well from 3, they'll have a
great chance to win, but if Oklahoma State can control tempo and hold Seton Hall in the
35-38 percent field goal range, they'll be in great shape.
North Carolina vs. Tennessee, Friday
The setup: I think it will be an up and down game, When Tony Harris shoots
ball well, Tennessee plays well. Ed Cota is not as explosive as Harris but extremely
efficient, a guy that can make everybody better
Key matchup: There will be two: Cota vs. Harris, and in the frontcourt,
Tennessee's C.J. Black and UNC's Brendan Haywood.
Bottom line: Tennessee's front line, in particular Black, has to establish
themselves early, or Haywood will take up the lane like he did the last couple games and
make it impossible to score inside.
Miami vs. Tulsa, Friday
Bottom line: Tulsa's going to want to go up and down the floor. In the past,
Miami has been more of a half-court team, but now they're capable of going up and down
a little bit more.
Key matchup: Not so much a matchup, but they key players for each team
are Johnny Hemsley for Miami and Eric Coley for Tulsa. Coley needs to have a huge
game on the boards to be able to compete with those Miami guys.
Bottom line: Hemsley is a big-time scorer but a streaky player. If he's on,
Miami is in great shape; if he's not, he can shoot them out of the game.
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