Thursday, November 27, 2008

Today In The Valley (Nov. 27)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wichita State (2-1) vs. #21 Georgetown (2-0)
1:30 p.m.
The Milk House; Lake Buena Vista, Florida
ESPN2

What is a Milk House? Where is Lake Buena Vista? These are important questions to ask oneself on a beautiful Thanksgiving morning. But a more burning question would be: which one of the following does not belong?

Tennessee; Siena; Gonzaga; Michigan State; Maryland; Oklahoma State; Georgetown; Wichita State.

you guessed the Shox, you’d be right. The Milk House is a 5,000-seat arena at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex. Lake Buena Vista is home to Disney, just south of Orlando. Greggggggg Marshall’s WSU team joins those other college hoops powerhouses (well, Siena’s not really a powerhouse, but they did make the NCAA tournament last season and beat Vanderbilt in the first round). Disney is hosting the Old Spice Classic, a tournament that begins today and pits some of the most intriguing college basketball programs against one.

Wichita State takes on a Hoyas team in the first round that features 5 players in double-figure scoring averages. Among them is blue chip freshman Greg Monroe (6-11, 250 lbs.), who leads GU in points (17 ppg), rebounds (8 rpg), and blocked shots (3 bpg). He is the heir apparent to Roy Hibbert and the rest of the NBA-bound big men produced near the nation’s capitol in the past couple of decades.

The Shox counter with their own freshman center, Garrett Stutz (7-0, 240 lbs.). He’s only playing 20 minutes per game so far, but he leads the team in scoring (13 ppg). He’s only grabbing 3 boards a game, but that’s probably because his teammate Ramon Clemente is pulling down 12 caroms per contest.

Stutz, Clemente, and the rest of the Shox will need to control the basketball and get some amazing defensive pressure if they want to defeat a more talented, better coached Georgetown team.

The winner takes on either Tennessee or Siena Friday, with the loser getting the other team tomorrow.

~ Creighton Otter

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