Another day of The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is upon us. The Illinois region draws to a close as four teams look to move on to the championship series in Dayton, OH. The Golden Eagles look to be the first team since Overseas Elite to repeat as champions. Boeheim’s Army is finally trying to get over the hump and immortalize themselves in TBT history. Always a Brave has returned from hiatus and looking to put on a show in front of their home crowd. Autism Army is fighting for a great cause and trying to win it all in their first year. Let’s look at the TBT picks for Wednesday, July 28, matchups and see which teams will make it out.
(1) Golden Eagles -7.5 vs (5) Autism Army 7 pm EST
The Golden Eagles are one win away from returning to the championship series for the third year in a row. This team is the definition of consistency and seems to get better and better every year. Now they look to march on and defend their 2020 TBT championship.
Elgin Cook has been everything for this team as he is averaging 15.5 points and 5.5 rebounds. In their second-round win over Playing for Jimmy V, he finished the game a perfect 7-7 from the field. This team is deep, and they mesh so well after playing together for so long. There is a consistent flow to their offense that teams cannot keep up with.
Autism Army got out of the first round off of a strong performance from D’Angelo Harrison, but their second game was anything but. Harrison struggled shooting, however, Autism Army still produced three scorers of over 18 points to knock off Always Us.
Autism Army is going to try to play through their bigs. They are going to want to use size and back the Golden Eagles down. However, there are so many scoring options for the Golden Eagles and they are so consistent that I do not think it will matter much. Normally I would prefer not to lay so many points this deep in the tournament, however, I think the Marquette alumni are clicking on all cylinders and can cover in the first of the TBT picks for July 28.
The Pick: Golden Eagles -7.5
(3) Boeheim’s Army -7.5 vs (7) Always a Brave 9 pm EST
Even though they are knocking on the door of the quarterfinals, Boeheim’s Army has not looked like the stacked team as advertised. They have been careless at times with the basketball and allowed these games to be a tad bit too close for comfort. However, this team is still absolutely loaded from the top down and multiple players can take this game over and erupt for 20+ points easily.
Always a Brave, on the other hand, has had a rollercoaster of a tournament. From one of the largest comebacks in TBT history to win by 20 in the second round, the Bradley alumni are one game away with a date to the quarterfinals. They will need to lock in versus this Boeheim’s Army team. Darrell Brown Jr. has been shifty and has averaged 15.5 points and six rebounds in this tournament.
If Always a Brave is going to be in this game, then they are going to need a big game from their former NBA lottery pick, Patrick O’Bryant. He has the size, and he has the range where he can knock down big shots for this team. His ability to stretch the floor can open up more driving lanes and help produce enough offense to keep up with Boeheim’s Army. I think Boeheim’s Army wins this game, but the home crowd is going to help keep the Braves in a close one to end. This should be one of the better TBT games on July 28 and a tougher one to make picks for.
The Pick: Always a Brave +7.5
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