Derrick Rose (Photo courtesy Jordan Brand)

Starting tomorrow, the final four games of the annual Coaches vs. Cancer Classic will get underway at Madison Square Garden. Last year, the Dime crew was in the building for the CvC, where we got an early look at Kevin Durant before he really blew up. This year, there’s another superstar freshman coming to MSG, which we’ll get to in a minute:

Semifinal #1 — UConn vs. Gardner-Webb
7 p.m. EST Thursday

Players to watch: A.J. Price, CONN, 14.5 ppg, 6 apg; Jerome Dyson, CONN, 16 ppg, 2 spg; Aaron Linn, GW, 15.7 ppg, 3 spg; Thomas Sanders, GW, 18 ppg, 11.7 rpg; Jeff Adrien, CONN, 11.5 ppg, 9 rpg; Grayson Flittner, GW, 18 ppg.

Preview: This was supposed to be a war in the trenches between Kentucky’s young bigs (Patrick Patterson and Perry Stevenson) and UConn’s monstrous frontcourt of 7-foot-3 center Hasheem Thabeet, 6-7 PF Jeff Adrien and 6-9 PF Stanley Robinson. But things didn’t go according to plan, as UK imploded and was upset by Gardner-Webb.

Though it’s tough to imagine that the Gardner-Webb will force UConn into the same kind of anemic shooting performance they did to Kentucky, the structure of Jim Calhoun’s squad is strikingly similar to UK coach Billy Gillispie’s. Both feature volatile guards whose hype has historically exceeded their level of play. Point guard A.J. Price combated mitigating circumstances just to make it on the court (health issues + Laptop-Gate), and has yet to meet the expectations as a nationally-touted high school prospect out of Amityville, N.Y. Price’s two games this season have been a microcosm of his career: he scored 5 points in 35 minutes against Morgan State, followed by a strong 24-point night in 28 minutes against Buffalo. Coming out of Proctor Academy (Andover, N.H.) in 2006, guard Jerome Dyson was ranked ahead of Arkansas’ Patrick Beverley, Louisville’s Edgar Sosa and Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds on the national scene. Dyson had a solid freshman campaign, with 13.8 points per contest, but hasn’t developed into a reliable, go-to option.

If Connecticut is to avoid the same fate as Kentucky, they’ll need to keep the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ undersized but efficient attack under control. Watch out for numbers 3 and 4 for the Runnin’ Bulldogs — guards Aaron Linn and Grayson Flittner. They combined for 37 points against the Wildcats on 12-of-18 shooting. A less-accurate but incredibly important member of the squad, forward Thomas Sanders, has gone 17-of-44 from the field in three games, averaging 18 points per. However, Sanders has been the Runnin’ Bulldogs best rebounder despite measuring in at only 6-foot-3. Center Auryn McMillan, 6-foot-8, is second on the team with 7.7 boards per game (yes you read it correctly, he’s a 6-8 center).

Calhoun will try to punish the Bulldogs with overwhelming size in the post. The Huskies have posted 97 rebounds in two games (54 and 43, respectively) and promise to control the glass against Gardner-Webb.

Semifinal #2 — Oklahoma vs. Memphis
9 p.m. EST Thursday

Players to watch: Chris Douglas-Roberts, MEM, 23.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.5 spg; Derrick Rose, MEM, 19 ppg; Blake Griffin, OK, 16.3 ppg, 9 rpg; Robert Dozier, MEM, 9.5 ppg, 9 rpg.

Preview: Pinpointing the strength of Coach John Calipari’s squad is a daunting task. Memphis’ leader, junior guard Chris Douglas-Roberts, recently identified the Tigers’ strongest asset as their variety of options: “This is a real team – anybody can be ‘The Man’ on a given night,” CDR told reporters. While Douglas-Roberts is Memphis’ leading scorer at 23.5 points per game and their third-leading rebounder with 8.5 per night, “The Man” on Memphis’ campus right now is newcomer Derrick Rose. The freshman point guard is plastered on the cover of ESPN The Magazine’s College Hoops Preview issue and has looked at least half-step quicker than anyone who has tried to guard him yet. When the Sooners take the Garden floor, the biggest question Jeff Capel must address is who and how to stop Rose from getting to the tin.

Either 6-6 G Tony Crocker or 6-3 G Austin Johnson will be assigned to shoulder the thorny burden of guarding Rose. Crocker is an effective scoring guard who is averaging 12.7 points per night on a preposterous 73.7 percent from the field. But on the other side of the ball, he struggled at times to keep San Francisco’s Manny Quezada in front of him. It might make more sense for Capel to stick Johnson on Rose and leave Crocker to deal with Douglas-Roberts. Ultimately, it will be a group effort to contain Memphis’ backcourt.

However, the frontcourt battle will be a much more even fight – especially if Memphis’ 6-9 PF Joey Dorsey is stuck on the bench with a shoulder injury he sustained in a scrimmage. The “Glass Man” sat out the Tigers’ first two games, but 6-10 C Shawn Taggart and 6-9 PF Robert Dozier picked up the slack. If Dorsey is on the bench when the Tigers go up against the Sooners, Taggart and Dozier will have their hands full with OU’s monsters 7-0 C Longar Longar and freshman 6-10 PF Blake Griffin. Longar is a defensive juggernaut in the paint, contesting shots and grabbing boards. But Griffin is an all-around stud, averaging 16.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. Memphis’ big bodies will serve as a litmus test for the rookie.

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