First off, thank you to Nick_Bennett for this idea. I'd figure I would pitch in and do my part to make Wooden D1 even more enjoyable than it already is. I'll try to do 3-4 reports a season, 1 preseason and 1 before the postseason for sure.
I'll try to focus on the top crust of D1 (title contenders) for the preseason and pre-postseason issues, but I'll make sure to focus on mid-majors and other up-and-coming schools in in-season issues.
Wooden Report Season 119 Preseason
Power Rankings
1. Oklahoma
Summary
After an impressive home exhibition victory over Illinois, Oklahoma looks poised to make a run at matthew_wong's first title at the school. Lacking clear star scorers and a primary ballhandler, Oklahoma would generally not be a preseason title favorite, but with the extreme parity in Wooden this year and the upperclassman-laden flex/press squad, the Sooners are my preseason pick to win the title. Oklahoma will win this year through a strong OFG%, high TO forced, and balanced scoring. Oklahoma is an especially bad matchup for traditionally heavy-handed double teamers such as cubcub at Illinois and mrslam at Minnesota. Impact players include
Leo Hern,
James Maze, and
Steven Tollett.
Reason for Downfall
Oklahoma could struggle in the NT against slowdown teams with great top talent. Illinois and Duke could be especially hard matchups.
2. Syracuse
Summary
Coming off of an upset S16 victory over title favorites Illinois and a F4 run, coach ronm returned all but one impact player and is hungry for more. Syracuse boasts the best frontcourt in the country, with 4 elite bigs including
Michael Graham and
Matthew Marlin along with a premier PG in
Robert Lucky and two decent shooters to keep defenses honest. A lack of a secondary ballhandler behind Lucky will hurt Syracuse, but the rebounding and interior defense will keep Syracuse competitive with any team in the nation.
Reason for Downfall
Syracuse only has 8 top tier players and 2 of then have 65 and 68 stamina. Despite Syracuse's talent, it's hard to see them winning 6 games in a row this March running slowdown consistently.
3. Illinois
Summary
Illinois is coming off a string of 3 pain S16 losses in a row, the last 2 as heavy favorites. Illinois only has 3 upperclassmen, 3 big men, and suffered a 72-62 exhibition loss to Oklahoma; in a normal year Illinois would be a solid team but not a title favorite. Their title chances rest upon their three upperclassmen:
Robert Halverson,
Frank Harmon, and
Christopher Heil. Sources close to cubcub say he expects double-digit stamina growth from each of them they will all be able to play over 30 minutes per game in the NT. Illinois lacks solid 4th and 5th starters but will have a strong second line to pair with their top three. Illinois will be the best shooting team in the country and top five defensively but lack post options outside of Halverson. This may not be the year for Illinois, but with a loss of only Halverson and Harmon, the Illini will be heavy favorites heading into next year.
Reason for Downfall
Illinois is young, lacks big depth, and is extremely inflexible. They will have to throw out roughly the same lineup with the same primary scorers every game. However, if one of their sophomores could emerge as a star to complement their top 3, Illinois could be dangerous.
4
. Texas
Summary
Texas has the second-best frontcourt in the country paired with elite PG
Chad Froneberger and two way star
Roger Williams. Texas is 8 deep with elite ath/de but doesn't return any shooters besides defensive liability
Jason Sweet.
Lebna Masudi is coming off of a 20 and 6 season and will lead the low post attack, but despite the 6 Top 50 frontcourt recruits, Texas will only be an average rebounding team late in the NT. Texas will also struggle with a lack of distributors beyond Froneberger and Williams. Although cracks emerge with closer inspection, the sheer talent Texas carries this year will likely carry them deep into the NT
Reason for Downfall
Texas not only lacks shooting and quality guards behind Froneberger but is in the middle of a defense change: no players have B+ or better man IQ.
(more coming later)
6/21/2020 6:54 PM (edited)