Syracuse-Oklahoma: Blake Griffin Takes On Syracuse's Vaunted Zone Defense

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61 points and 30 rebounds. That’s what Oklahoma’s man-child, Blake Griffin, has done in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

That’s not withstanding the fact that he has only missed seven shots in two games.

Griffin has done what everyone expected him to do, and carried Oklahoma into the Sweet 16.

Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel has piled more pressure onto the already lofty expectations of Griffin, telling him that he may need to “wrap his arms around his teammates and bring them with him."

Seems like a lot of pressure for a sophomore, doesn’t it?

Sooner fans are already expecting Griffin to lead the team to their first 30-win season since 2002, and their first regional final since 2003.

If you want another example of poetic justice in this tournament, all you have to do is look back to 2003.

Syracuse defeated Oklahoma on the way to coach Jim Boeheim’s only National Title. The Orange rode on the shoulders of a superstar stud of their own in Carmelo Anthony.

It has seemingly become prophetic for these superstar athletes to lead their teams to the Final Four.

Whether or not Griffin fulfills his destiny and takes Oklahoma to the Final Four will be contingent on whether or not the Sooners can crack Syracuse’s 2-3 zone.

111 points is all that Syracuse has yielded through the first two rounds.

The Orange stymied the Stephen F. Austin attack, holding them to 44 points, and smothered the Arizona State Sun Devils offensive onslaught, holding ASU to 67 points.

Neither team, however, had Blake Griffin.

Johnny Flynn and Eric Devendorf have been nothing short of spectacular for Syracuse. Between the two of them, they have played all but three minutes of the first two rounds.

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