| It’s time to sit back and enjoy the Final Four
After 11 days, only four teams remain.
Since we couldn’t quite squeeze our picks into last week’s column, let’s start by looking at who Charlie and I had in the Final Four. Besides the opening round, Charlie played his bracket conservatively, which paid off in this year’s tournament. His Final Four has Florida (1), Southern Illinois (4), Georgetown (2), and Ohio State (1). My bracket on the other hand is utterly awful: Florida (1), Kansas (1), Texas (4), and Texas A&M (3).
Furthermore, I had Long Beach State ousting Tennessee in the first round to fulfill Rule No. 1 (pick a 12-seed to upset a 5-seed). That turned out to be a brilliant pick as Tennessee ran LBS out the gym, 121-86. I’m mentioning this because last week’s column may have misled readers with the second headline, “Tennessee leads the bracket picks.” Neither Charlie nor I “picked” Tennessee. In fact, we both thought the Volunteers wouldn’t even advance past the first round.
I was merely rooting for Tennessee to win in order for my bracket to stay alive. Unfortunately, on Thursday night, the Volunteers were unable to maintain a 20-point lead as Ron Lewis and Mike Conley Jr. rallied an Ohio State comeback for the second straight game.
The Buckeyes marched on to the next round and completely dominated Memphis, 92-76, in a game in which Greg Oden actually showed up to play. His number weren’t that impressive (they usually aren’t), 17 points and nine rebounds, but the freshman controlled the second half with his defensive presence.
In addition, the big man totally shut down Memphis’ Joey Dorsey, a solid center in his own right, who ended up with a miserable zero points and four rebounds. Memphis shouldn’t have been playing against Ohio State, but it turns out that Texas A&M’s Acie Law can’t make right-handed lay-ups.
On the other side of the bracket, we witnessed superb coaching by Kansas’ Bill Self. The Jayhawks ran exclusively high ball-screens against UCLA, who is perhaps the best overall defensive team in the country.
Furthermore, Kansas has five players who have the ability to handle the ball and find open teammates. Yet Self felt like his team was offensively inept to run anything more complicated than pick and rolls.
Self has built a reputation and a resume of disappointing tournament runs. I should have regarded the wisdom provided by my friend Brandon who stated, “I don’t like Self’s track record.” On the premise of Kansas being so talented, I ignored that warning.
However, after the Kansas/Southern Illinois game, Brandon addressed Bill Self’s body language after Kansas squeaked by the Salukis. That’s when doubts about the Jayhawks winning the national championship crept into my mind. Self was in anguish, blowing heavy sighs of relief like, “Thank God we didn’t lose that game.” There wasn’t an ounce of confidence on his face. If his demeanor led me to question his ability to lead a team all the way, imagine how his players felt.
With Ohio State surviving Tennessee, Acie Law missing layups, and Bill Self doing his best Doc Rivers impression, Charlie is dominating our bracket challenge, 88-64. Regardless of what happens during the weekend, Charlie has locked up the challenge. It’s obvious I’m upset, so we’re moving on to the Final Four before I set fire to my bracket.
“Here’s to the worst NCAA tourney in recent memory (where are the buzzer-beaters, upsets, and Cinderellas?).”
This is from an e-mail I received from an old college roommate, and many who have followed this year’s tournament share his sentiments. This year has been “duller” in the sense of buzzer beater and upsets, but a more positive angle (and from the first half of this column you know I’m a positive person) was presented by my friend Mark.
His theory is when fewer upsets occur; the greater the matchups will be as the tournament advances. With this year’s Final Four, Mark was right.
Florida (1) vs. UCLA (2) — UCLA is the best defensive team in the nation. Granted Ohio State and Georgetown may have slightly better interior defense, but the Bruins own, without a doubt, the best perimeter defense.
Sophomore point guard Darren Collins is the most overlooked player of this year’s tournament. Not only does he control offensive tempo, but he dictates the game on the defensive end as well. This is a rare attribute for a point guard, but Collins has the stamina to put full-court pressure on the opposing team’s point guard for the entire game.
When teams penetrate UCLA’s perimeter defense, the Bruins are able to swarm the ball in the paint because Collins, Arron Afflalo, and Mbah a Moute possess the quickness to recover back to open players hanging out at the 3-point line. This will be the deciding attribute against Florida.
The Gators’ frontline of Corey Brewer, Al Horford, and Joakim Noah is big, athletic, and above all, they can pass. When Florida’s frontline is able to find Lee Humphrey and Taurean Green open for 3, the Gators’ offense is unstoppable as demonstrated by their 85-77 win over Oregon.
If UCLA recovers and contests the jump shots of Humphrey and Green, the Bruins win. If Humphrey and Green combine to make 11 3-pointers like in the Oregon game, Gators win.
Georgetown (2) vs. Ohio State (1) — With two 7-foot centers matching up against one another in Ohio State’s Greg Oden and Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert, the pregame hype will revolve around these two NBA-sized big men. However, the fate of the game lies in the hands of Ohio State point guard Mike Conley Jr.
Despite Georgetown opening up with a man-to-man defense against North Carolina, the Hoyas’ zone allowed them to crawl back in the game. The Hoyas are long and athletic. When they drop into zone coverage, it will affect Conley’s ability to see and penetrate.
Conley relies heavily on his ability to beat defenders off the dribble and create in the lane. If Georgetown’s zone can negate Conley’s speed and force him to pass over the long arms of Jeff Green and DaJuan Summers, Hoyas win. If Conley can penetrate the perimeter of the zone and find open teammates, Buckeyes win.
Two No. 1 seeds and two No. 2 seeds enter this year’s Final Four, making it the least upset-prone tournament in 14 years. To some that’s disappointing, but I feel no one will be complaining after these four teams compete for the title. Enjoy.
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