Marquette vs. Tennessee, or: Is it fun to watch a game between two gimmicky ranked teams who aren’t going to go very far in the ncaa tournament because they are so gimmicky?
Marquette and Tennessee have one thing in common: all of their players on their given team seem the same. But it’s for different reasons.Jerel McNeal, Dominic James and Wesley Matthews have been playing forever. I remember looking at the ncaa west regional three, maybe four years ago and picking Marquette with Steve Novak and Dominic James(kicking himself daily for not leaving for the NBA after his freshman year) to get to the final four. This was when I thought the way to win a bracket was to pick one wild card in a region to distinguish yourself from the pack. Then they lost in the first round. Then I changed my philosophy. It seems like Marquette has 6-year scholarship guards with an interchangeable big man each season that isn’t very big.And this was my first time seeing Buzz Williams. The Buzz nickname of course makes sense, but strangely he’s sporting the bald look for sheer enjoyment. He has a full hair outline. Buzz Williams is either married or socially disinterested.
Tennessee has more turnover this year. They graduated Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith and lost Duke Crews and Ramar Smith(cutting down on Smiths). But they play that fast pressing game with so much player rotation no one really stands out. Tyler Smith is their best player, and his most memorable stat line this year is a barely-triple-double(12/10/10).
It’s honestly kind of annoying having to pay attention to them. Their uniforms are obnoxious, and it’s not like you can watch a Tennessee game with a buddy and say “oh, he’s the guy with the white headband”(soooooooo many headbands. I watched the whole game, and if not for mentioning names I would have had no idea Cameron Tatum or Tabb or whoever I’m not mentioning played because of the headbands). The only guys on this team that really stand out are Brian Williams (height and weight) and JP Prince because he has a unique game for a guy his size, he was at Arizona and he’s Tayshaun Prince’s cousin and.......no headband!
So -- back to the point -- my theory is because they seem the same, they are the same. Second round, at best Sweet 16 ncaa teams, and nothing in this game says otherwise. Sometimes teams get a favorable draw, but I don’t think even that can get either one to a regional final. Tennessee uses their size in their press, but top teams will break it, find their interior players and dominate the paint. Marquette is Marquette: perimeter shot, perimeter shot, slash and kick to perimeter shot. Great athletes on good teams can defend that pretty easily.
Tennessee wins by 12 thanks to 26 from Wayne Chism, a frontcourt player who presses and took advantage of a small Marquette front line. There you go! A few good performances, but my future UT and Marquette viewings are probably going to be mostly on the highlight reel.
Keywords: ncaa basketball
