The Art of the Upset

It’s that time of year again! 12-5 upset, one shining moment, all that good stuff. I’ve watched college basketball for many years now, and also played it, and I’ve noticed some common things that seem to happen each time there is an “upset.” For example: Three-point shooting, good point guard play, and a formidable post player on the block. So check me out:
Three point shooting

Usually, the higher seed is a bigger team so the lower seed will have to have ways to score that neutralizes the size difference. Take a look back; good three-point shooting is always a common theme. They get hot from three, get their confidence going, then with the clock winding down and nerves setting in, all the sudden the playing field is level. Take for instance when Duke was recently upset by Lehigh (3-14 matchup). LeHigh Played very well and CJ McCollum led them to victory by shooting very well from the outside. He eventually went on to get drafted into the NBA so with him, the matchup wasn’t that much of a difference. Also another instance, remember George Mason who went on a Cinderella run and beat UConn? They went 9-18 from 3 (50%) and edged them by 2 points.
Good Point Guard play

In college, point guards are VERY important. Its not like the NBA where you can have a wing player that’s so good you can just give it to them and tell everyone to get outta the way. Now every now and then that happens, but not much. Not to keep picking on Duke, but not only CJ McCollum was a guard who got at them, but also Eric Maynor led VCU past duke. At that time Duke had Greg Paulus, who couldn’t guard a chair in my opinion. Maynor light him up, as well as DeMarcus Nelson.
Formidable Post Player

Going back to George Mason, Jai Lewis was 6-7 275, and built like a Defensive lineman. He gave taller post players fits, especially Josh Boone and Hilton Armstrong. Both of whom are usually two dominant big men who had their way for the majority of the year, but in that game they combined for 14 points and Jai Lewis had 20 points.
Now, usually the post players aren’t that great, that’s why I used the term “Formidable.” For lower seeds the post player just needs to have size, not get punked down low and have some length to affect some shots or have a big enough body to where they can create some space.

Alright, lesson over...Peace