A Zoubek sighting

I didn't have a lot of faith in Brian Zoubek earlier this season, but getting healthy and getting some game-time experience has turned this under-performing behemoth into a big-time player for Duke. Today he got to hone his skills against an eighth-seeded, weak-inside California team that couldn't handle the bigs that the Blue Devils rarely deploy for scoring purposes. (Duke's star trio of Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler, and Nolan Smith regularly account for most of the Blue Devils' points.) Zoubek led the team to its 15-point victory with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

At the beginning of the season, Coach Mike Krzyzewski and analysts were predicting that Duke's new presence inside would be the difference for the Blue Devils this year, and they weren't kidding. After some terribly premature exits in the tournament over the last half-decade, Duke no longer has to depend on its 3-point shooting, and, as it went tonight, can even coast through games on the back of some strong rebounding guys.

Next up: A weak Purdue team that can be called a Cinderella just for surviving this far in the tournament without Robbie Hummel. Yes, Duke has an easy bracket (especially with Villanova falling), but with these decisive victories so far, you can't say the Blue Devils are taking anything for granted. By getting all their players valuable tournament time, they'll be ready for Friday's Sweet 16 matchup.

My picks for Friday:
(6) Tennessee vs. (2) Ohio State: The Vols have skills, but the Buckeyes have Evan Turner and Jon Diebler. This region is completely Ohio State's now with Kansas gone, and only a major choke will derail their deep crew.
(10) St. Mary's vs. (3) Baylor: The Gaels are obviously good enough after two quality victories to get to the Sweet 16, and classic big man (meaning he takes care of business under the basket with strong fundamentals) Omar Samhan is just ridiculous. His 32 points the other night came on 13-of-16 shooting. 13-of-16. And I've never had confidence in this Baylor team, or their guard named Tweety.
(9) Northern Iowa vs. (5) Michigan State: I think Northern Iowa capitalized on a weak Kansas effort, yet I'm still wary about Michigan State after two hideous, turnover-laden games that managed to come out as wins for Tom Izzo. Still, the Spartans are tourney-tested (and were in the national championship game last year, if anyone remembers). So we'll give them another try, with the winner of this game going to a smooshing at the hands of Ohio State as the Buckeyes race to the Final Four in the next round. Disclaimer: Kalin Lucas suffered an injury in the Spartans' narrow victory over Maryland; without him, Michigan State can still win, but it will be difficult.
(4) Purdue vs. (1) Duke: The Blue Devils are serious this time around, and with a #1 seed, depth inside, and an easy regional, they will end the Boilermakers' improbably run without star Robbie Hummel.