Clayton -
Well sadly due to extenuating circumstances, we were unable to post last week and not talk about March Madness. We are now down to the Final 4. Let’s skip over the field of half the nation, past the 32 meh’s and even forget the Sweet 16.
Let’s talk Elite 8, Final 4 and who we got in the National Championship.
First off, Louisville lost because Terry Rozier has no clue on what a good shot is. On Twitter I said Rozier was shooting himself out of the late first round and right back into school with his shot selection.
6 for 23. Let that sink in a bit… got it good now? Yup… They lost by six points and he missed 17 shots… Quentin Snider was disgusting as well at 2 for 9, but it did not kill them like the “star” Rozier killing them.
Lucky for the Cardinals, the Spartans’ Travis Trice tried to give the game back with a 5 for 15 performance. But Rozier prevailed and said “NOT TODAY TRICE! I WANT TO BE THE WORST SHOOTER ON THE COURT!” He may or may not have actually said that, but I am confident he did.
Tom Izzo is a freaking wizard though. A team full on…. college role players just made the Final 4. Only two of their guys are even in ESPN’s Chad Ford’s Top 100. Just wow. I just wonder what Izzo could do with a good NBA team.
Up next, the vaunted Kentucky versus the record breaking Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
We both thought before the game that Notre Dame had no chance, but they gave Kentucky one hell of a scare. With only a few minutes left in the game ND actually held the lead.
Jerian Grant and Demetrius Jackson are going to be good NBA guards and they showed why both of them could be first round picks this year, despite poor shooting nights. Luckily enough for ND, Zach Auguste had 20 points in 27 minutes and Steve Vasturia had a very efficient 16 points.
Trey Lyles, Kentucky, who could be a mid to late first round draft pick was getting the ball too much (4-10 FG) and Aaron Harrison forgot he actually isn’t that good (2-7). No wonder the Wildcats were letting the Fighting Irish hold on. They were allowing those two to have too high of a usage rate… Come on Calipari...
Then it happened.
Karl Anthony Towns had enough and showed the nation why he should be the top pick in the NBA Draft.
Towns went 8 for 8 in the second half and had a career high of 25 points.
It seemed like it was over with the game tied and less than 35 seconds left, but then twin of Aaron, Andrew, screwed it up and drove the lane and nearly charged. Sadly for ND, Demetrius Jackson was moving his feet and got called for a block.
Harrison made the two free throws to seal the win.
Or did he? Jerian Grant raced up the floor and almost nailed a last second corner three. He was chased the whole way by the maniac WIllie Cauley-Stein, who proved he can literally guard all five positions. His speed, size and length made it too difficult for Grant to nail the game winning shot.
38-0.
Feel free to cry a bit Jeff with your beloved Gonzaga losing. I’ll let you talk about the Zags versus the Blue Devils and the Badgers prevailing over Zona.
Jeff-
Sunday was a battle of two very good teams in Gonzaga and Duke. It was a tough, hard fought game but in the end the better team won and I am feeling more confident than ever in my Zags to the title game prediction I made at the beginning of the tourney…. Wait.. What? What do you mean Gonzaga lost?!
This was a tough game for me. All year I have been boasting about how this was the best Zags team they have ever had, and even though they lost on Sunday, that doesn’t make it any less true.
Yes, ‘06 did have Basketball Jesus Adam Morrison, but outside of him the talent level of that squad doesn’t compare to this years team. This was Gonzaga’s first elite 8 appearance since 2009 and while they couldn’t pull out the win they lived up to expectations for the first time in a half a decade and for that I am proud.
The game started off with a strong performance from Duke and in what seemed like the blink of an eye the score 24-12 in favor of the Dukies.
With Gonzaga’s big man in the middle, Karnowski, quickly getting sent to the bench with 2 fouls for breathing on Jahlil Okafor it was time for Wiltjer to show why he is a threat at any spot on the court. Wiltjer had an obvious mismatch basically the entire game and quickly went to work in the post. It seemed like every time he touched the ball down low it resulted in a bucket. After a stretch of about 6 minutes of this we had a game on our hands.
There were a few things that ultimately killed Gonzaga in this game….
First thing was in the second half they completely abandoned going to Wiltjer in the post. What worked so well in the first half was completely forgotten in the 2nd half which disrupted the entire offense.
Second thing was the 3 point shooting. While Duke poured in 8 of 19, Gonzaga managed only 2 of 10 to fall. This is a particularly weird stat considering Gonzaga was the #1 shooting team in the nation all year.
Finally, was the turnover differential. Gonzaga had 13 to only 3 for Duke. That’s like a Russell Westbrook to everybody else on the floor turnover ratio. Side note: I was just looking at the box score and they credited Pangos with 0 assists… that can’t be right, I was watching that game and felt like I saw at least a few...
In the end it was a 14 point victory for the Blue Devils but anybody who watched the game knows it was much closer than the score indicated.
One final thought on this game is something Clayton and I were discussing back and forth in the second half. How big of an issue if Jahlil Okafor’s stamina? I mean 4 minutes into the 2nd half and he is air balling free throws because he is so tired and needs to be taken out. I mean, this kid couldn’t go more than 5 minutes at a time without needing a break.
If I am an NBA GM I’m a little scared by that. This isn’t week 1 of the season, this kid should be in the best condition of the year at this point. I mean if Pangos can play the entire 40 minutes at full speed this kid should be able to last longer than a Lynyrd Skynyrd outro without needing some oxygen.
Now on to Wisconsin and Zona. This truly was a heavyweight battle with both teams throwing haymakers, but in the end Wisconsin prevailed. On the Wisconsin side Frank “The Tank” Kaminsky and Sam Black & Dekker showed up in a big way.
They combined for 56 points on 17-31 shooting. Dekker was especially impressive going 5-6 from downtown.
Nigel Hayes didn’t have a great game, only scoring 8 points but he was in foul trouble and only played 24 minutes.
On the other side Stanley Johnson was pretty bad. He also was in foul trouble and only played 24 minutes but his team really needed him and he let them down. They would’ve been better off with Stanley Hudson from The Office over Stanley Johnson.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Brandon Ashley both showed up for the Wildcats.
In the end, the big difference was Wisconsin going 12-18 from behind the stripe with Arizona managing only 2-6. I wonder if this game is going to hurt Stanley Johnson’s draft stock more than this game helped Sam Dekker’s draft stock.
Next up we have the final 4 which has a great matchup in Kentucky vs Wisconsin and an interesting battle of #1 seed Duke vs #7 Michigan State and Mr. March Tom Izzo. Who you got making it the the title game?
Clayton -
That Zaga and Duke game was so close that later when I saw the final score again I thought it was a typo. It was truly a great game until the last minute and a half or so.
Our discussion is so true about Okafor being winded. We almost messaged each other at the same time and slightly after that I saw Jonathon Givony over at DraftExpress mention it too. This is the time of year that you have to be giving it your all and he seemed to be dogging it. Likely will not be mentioned sadly, but it would be a concern for me. He did face stout opponents in my boy Domantas Sabonis and Karnowski, as well as the previous game against Utah in Jakob Poeltl, but damn man, don’t look lazy or half ass it.
I am already seeing Stanley dropping in mocks and I think it is warranted. A guy this big and strong should be dominating fellow college guys, but he honestly is not. Looks like could go now between 6 and 12.
Dekker’s rainbow three by the way… his tourney may have raised him into the late lottery or mid first.
On to the Final Four.
In Wisconsin versus Kentucky, I have Kentucky winning. Put Willie Cauley-Stein on Kaminsky and call it a done day. No one on Wisconsin will be able to stop Towns. Kaminsky has improved as a pot defender, but not to this level.
Look for Booker and Dekker to go at it in a three point contest.
The one thing that could hurt the Wildcats is the Harrison Twins thinking they are superstars and shooting too much. They are late second round picks at best in my opinion and have so much trouble shooting the ball.
Also, Kentucky has had this odd new thing of giving the ball to Trey Lyles too much. He is possible mid-first round draft pick, so you know he has talent, but he jumped from the 6th in usage rate for Kentucky to 1st. With Towns being on the team, that has to stop.
Cut the crap and just give the ball to Towns and watch him score 20+ again.
Wisconsin has the better chance of the two underdogs (Wisconsin and Michigan State), to beat the favorites. It really would not be an upset, more of a surprise in my opinion.
In Duke vs. Michigan State, the Blue Devils get my vote.
BUT, and this is a huge one, but I have a crazy feeling about Izzo and the Spartans. It is clear they do not have the talent compared to Duke, but Izzo is a master at this time of year.
This to me may not come to talent on the court, which leans heavily towards Duke, it comes down to the coaches.
Coach K vs. Izzo.
With that said, I have Kentucky meeting Duke for the National Championship.
At least that is what all of us draft geeks and NBA personnel are hoping for. Towns vs. Okafor.
Kentucky to me has the better all around team and deeper bench, but that may not be true in terms of each of the team’s top three players.
For Kentucky, Towns. WCS and either Lyles or Booker, and for Duke, Okafor, Justice Winslow, and either Tyus or Matt Jones.
Will anyone on Kentucky be able to stop Winslow? Other than Dekker, he may be having the best tournament. Who on Kentucky guards him? I have no clue.
At the end of it all, when the crowd rushes the court and crap falls from the rafters, I believe Kentucky will be getting their ninth banner in the rafters at Rupp Arena. 40-0.
Jeff, with Gonzaga sadly gone, who do you have winning? Or are you boycotting now?
Jeff-
You mean they are continuing with the tourney even though Gonzaga is out? Why bother?
Anyways, the Kentucky vs Wisconsin game should be a very good matchup.
If Gonzaga was still alive I would be rooting for Wisconsin, but since they are out i’d like to see Kentucky hit that 40 win mark, and I think they will.
I feel like this matchup is the real title game. The winner of this game will cut down the nets when it’s all said and done. Kentucky is just too strong and too deep for Wisconsin to come out on top in this one. The first 30-34 minutes will be a close hard battle but I believe Kentucky will wear Wisconsin down and pull away late.
Now on the other side you have the Miracle Spartans vs the Dukies. I see a blowout on the horizon here. Izzo is a master in March but I don’t see Sparty being able to hang with Duke for more than a half. Okafor will take over early and Justice will lead them late. I could see this game being over minutes into the 2nd half.
Similar to you I have Kentucky taking it all. In this game Okafor will get the chance to either solidify his position at the top of the draft board or he will bring on doubt and give scouts a reason to dig a little deeper and rethink their rankings. I envision Okafor having a lackluster game and being the ultimate fall guy in this matchup.
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