by Paul Jordan
GAME 37 – 3/25/2010
10:00 PM TV – CBS
CARRIER DOME- SYRACUSE, NY
CORNELL BIG RED (29-4)
CORNELL LEADS SERIES 1-0
We know the story by now. Cornell of the Ivy League is the reincarnate of the basketball team from “Hoosiers.” They have the heart of Rudy from “Rudy”. Name an underdog Disney sports movie of the last 30 years and we can use an analogy of Cornell being that team. Now Kentucky is being cast as the big , bad, evil Empire that has stumbled into a “no way they can win” situation with the Big Red. If UK blows them out, they are trampling on Bambi and being a bully … if they narrowly win, they are overrated and sure to choke their next game …. and if they lose, perish the thought. In the words of Bart Simpson, the Cats are “damned if they do and damned if they don’t” … so may as well go for the blowout. Let’s take a look at the Big Red that is causing so much consternation:
THE STARTERS:
G – CHRIS WROBLEWSKI – SO 6’0 180
9.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.2 apg
G – LOUIS DALE – SR 5’11 180
12.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 4.8 apg
F – RYAN WITTMAN – SR 6’7 215
17.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.8 apg
F – JON JACQUES – SR 6’7 220
7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 0.8 apg
C – JEFF FOOTE – SR 7’0 265
12.4 ppg, 8..1 rpg, 2.3 apg
BACKCOURT: Louis Dale is a big time threat in the mold of Devan Downey. He’s a natural leader, he has a better than 2 to 1 A/TO ratio, and is a deadly shot from beyond the 3-point line at 39.3% and he does not take many bad shots at 46.9% from the field. You could say that he is not as big a scoring threat as Downey if you look at his season averages, but he is averaging 19.8 over his last five games. Wroblewski is a huge three point threat, shooting a blistering 45.7% on his treys. Despite what you would think, he is not a mad bomber as he is averaging 3.5 shot trey attempts a game. He is a pretty good passer as well and is almost a sure thing from the line at 87.3%. Geoff Reeves is a 6’4 senior whose main purpose is to provide instant offense off the bench. He is a sharpshooter from beyond the 3-point line at 45.3% but he is just 0-1 from beyond the line in 41 minutes of tournament action this year. He is averaging 5.1 points a game and does not take many bad shots.
FRONTCOURT: Wittman is the Big Red’s best player. He has a a great outside shot and is hitting 43% of his 3-point shots. He is not afraid to put up the trey, with 7.5 three pointer attempts a game, most of those coming off of screens. He has picked up his scoring with 19.6 over his last five games and is capable of dropping big numbers on big name schools: 24 vs Kansas, 19 vs Syracuse. The one weakness of Wittman is that he is merely an average defender. Jacques is another big perimeter threat , hitting 47.2 of his treys, but is not much of a rebounder for being 6’7. He is a pretty one dimensional player and if his treys are not dropping, he is a liability. Foote is a big body under the basket with excellent shot selection, hitting 63.3% of his shot attempts. He is a banger under the boards and is averaging about two blocks a game. I doubt that he has ever faced a center with the footwork of DeMarcus Cousins so this will be a key battle to see if the Cornell big man can keep up with Boogie. Against Kansas, Foote did perform admirably with 12 points and 6 boards. Alex Tyler (6’7), Adam Wire (6’5) and Mark Coury (yes, him – 6’9) are three big bodies that Cornell can bring off the bench to bang bodies and uses some fouls but none of the three are a threat to get more than a handful of points.
OUTLOOK: On paper, this should be a rout. Kentucky has possibly five first round NBA picks going up against a team that does not even offer athletic scholarships. This Cornell team has excelled in the underrog role all season, taking Kansas to with five points at Kansas and dispatching Temple and Wisconsin in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Nice wins yes, but neither team was a serious threat to win the NCAA.
I think the biggest enemy of Kentucky is overlooking the Big Red, and if you overlook a team that hits 43% of their three’s you deserve to get beat. That said, Cornell is getting an awful lot of credit for dominating an very weak Ivy league. Say what you will, I hardly think that Cornell has faced the athleticism and speed of a Wall or Bledsoe. And we have to admit that Cornell has played at the top of their game for quite a while though, and when this team is not playing well … well, they have a 15 point loss to 6-22 Penn on their resume.
Look for Cornell to try to control the tempo in this game and try to create three point shots with screens. Cornell is not especially a quick or athletic team and in the end, that will be their downfall. Kentucky is actually the better defensive team statistically in this matchup and look for the speed and length of UK to create turnovers which will lead to points in transition. If Kentucky can get off to a quick start, this can turn into a blowout.
The first ten minutes will set the tone for this game. I look for Kentucky to use all this Cornell upset talk as extra motivation and when UK has been extra motivated for a game — the repeats of the South Carolina and Tennessee loss, they have dominated the game. The fact is, Kentucky has beaten several teams this year that are better than Cornell … and Cornell has not beaten anyone close to UK’s talent. Kentucky 81 Cornell 65
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