Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory gives the obvious favorite label to Kentucky in the South region, which begins play Friday night at the Georgia Dome. But he gives a slight opening for the top-seeded but youthful Wildcats to be beaten.
"The only question mark is their consistency," Gregory said. "Will those young guys be able to do it for four more games?"
Gregory offered his three-prong recipe to Indiana, which faces Kentucky in the region semifinal, and Xavier and Baylor, who play in the other semi -- great defensive effort and perimeter shooting and hope Kentucky has an off offensive night.
Gregory noted fourth-seeded Indiana's win over VCU on Saturday, in which he said the Hoosiers made defensive stops on 14 of the last 16 possessions to secure their sweet 16 berth.
"Now, you can't duplicate that over 40 minutes, but that is the type of effort they're going to need over 40 minutes," he said.
Gregory likes 10th-seeded Xavier's guard play with Tu Holloway and Mark Lyons and the fact that they've seen zone defenses in the Atlantic 10, so Baylor's zone won't be unfamiliar. As for the third-seeded Bears, they're a hot-shooting team and, said Gregory, "their length and athletic ability is as good as anybody in the country."
About the Author
