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By
Adi Joseph
NBADraft.net
4/5/08
I’m
glad it came down to this.
Maybe I am in
the minority, but I am happy Davidson didn’t beat Kansas.
I was rooting for UCLA to come back against Texas A&M.
Nothing pleases
me more than the guarantee that the best team in college basketball
will be selected from the four best teams in college basketball.
Cinderellas are great and all – for two weekends. After that,
it’s time to define a champion, and, in doing so, define a
season.
Now we have
the four best teams with the four best résumés competing
to figure out who is actually the best team. Doesn’t that
just make sense? In 10 years, you’ll realize that it would
have been a lot cooler to see the Patriots go undefeated than knowing
that the best team didn’t win the Super Bowl (Giants fans
excluded).
Each of these
four teams is special.
Each is unique.
And each, unquestionably,
would make a worthy champion.
Let’s
look a little deeper…
UCLA
BRUINS
Record:
35-3
Star:
Fr. C Kevin Love (17.1 ppg, 10.6 rpg,
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Kevin
Love
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Why
they will win: Based purely on roster analysis, it’s
tough not to fall in love with the Bruins. They have a great combination
of skill and athleticism, and their rotation is well-established
and deep.
It all starts with their outstanding starting backcourt of future
first-round picks Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook. Both players
combine tremendous athleticism with great efficiency and sturdy
defense. Westbrook, a sophomore, has blossomed into the best NBA
prospect on the team, and Collison is a proven leader who has been
here enough to know what to do on this stage.
Then you’ve got the load in the middle, Love. He’s being
called the next Wes Unseld for a reason: the guy is amazing. He’s
powerful with good post moves and great rebounding. And he’s
starting to learn to play defense, which is just scary.
The supporting
cast is strong too. Forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute has as much
Final Four experience as anyone left in college basketball these
days, and even though he hasn’t developed much offensively,
Mbah a Moute remains a lock-down defender. Josh Shipp also has valuable
experience and even though he has slumped, his smoothness on both
ends of the court could prove crucial. Lorenzo Mata, Alfred Aboya
and James Keefe provide good frontcourt depth.
The icing on the cake is that coach Ben Howland might be the best
in the business, and both he and most of the Bruins have Final Four
experience. And there’s the fact that I picked the Bruins
to win it all in the preseason – actually I’m not sure
what that means.
Why
they won’t win: The backcourt is thin. REALLY thin.
When Westbrook or Collison goes out, Howland has essentially no
choice but to slide Shipp up to a guard spot, which isn’t
a bad answer. But any sort of injury or foul trouble in the backcourt
could really hurt the Bruins.
It also hurts that Shipp’s slumping has left the Bruins with
only three (Westbrook, Collison and Love) legitimate offensive stars.
Still, those are three pretty good players to have.
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Chris
Douglas-Roberts
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MEMPHIS
TIGERS
Record:
37-1
Star:
Jr. G Chris Douglas-Roberts (17.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 54.5 fg%))
Why
they will win: No remaining team is more athletic or deeper
than the Tigers. No team plays with the kind of swagger that these
guys do. None are more fun to watch, and none seem to enjoy the
game quite like coach John Calipari’s squad.
Simply put, this is how basketball is supposed to be played.
Add in the incredible amount of talent on this squad, starting with
future top-2 pick freshman point guard Derrick Rose, hands-down
the best pro prospect remaining, and it’s tough to argue that
Memphis deserves their “underdog” status.
They may not be the classic example of what wins an NCAA Championship.
But their willingness to attack, especially off the dribble, and
the tough path they’ve burned through along the way, make
them an appealing choice.
Joey Dorsey, Robert Dozier and Shawn Taggart give them a hulking,
experienced set of big men, while Douglas-Roberts, Rose, Antonio
Anderson, Willie Kemp, Doneal Mack and Andre Allen provide seemingly
insurmountable depth. The only team they’ve lost to this season
is probably the only team with better depth in the nation this year,
Tennessee.
You can talk all you want about their weak schedule and how the
NCAA Champion has come from a power conference every single year
since 1990 UNLV. But all streaks eventually come to an end. And
at some point, logic will always be defied.
And it would be a great thing for basketball if the Tigers won the
Championship. The dribble-motion offense is a beautiful thing to
watch, and that system as well as the athletic defensive structure
that Calipari has formed would potentially spark some great trends
in the NCAA.
Why
they won’t win: The free throw argument is burnt
out and that’s all I’m going to say about that.
In the Tennessee loss, the Tigers were completely out-hustled by
the Volunteers. They also relied too heavily on their perimeter
shooting. Teams that are willing to give up jump shots to prevent
the drive will have success against Memphis. Only Mack is that strong
of a shooter.
Then there’s Calipari. Is John Calipari going to finally win
a really big game? Does his style of play work on the biggest stage
of all? Those questions still haven’t been answered.
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Tyler
Hansbrough
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NORTH
CAROLINA TAR HEELS
Record:
36-2
Star:
Jr. C Tyler Hansbrough (22.8 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 54.2 fg%)
Why
they will win: Rule No. 1: never, ever, ever, ever, ever
count out the team with the best player. Anyone that doesn’t
think Hansbrough is that guy has gone crazy. He’s been on
a season-long tear and deserves all of the accolades he’s
received. His strength and determination make him even better in
the big games than the little ones, too.
Roy Williams happens to be the only coach in the Final Four with
a Championship under his belt. While I believe it’s a stretch
to say that Williams is the best coach remaining (Howland deserves
that honor), it definitely helps matters to have “been there”
before.
The Tar Heels have a nice group of players behind Hansbrough, as
well. Wayne Ellington and Danny Green are streaky scorers, and Ty
Lawson is an intelligent, super-quick playmaking point guard. Marcus
Ginyard is an outstanding defender, as well.
But it really all comes back to Hansbrough. If the Tar Heels win
it all, it will be on the back of the big man from Missouri. And
if I had to choose anyone’s back to ride to an NCAA Championship,
it’d be Psycho T.
Why
they won’t win: Other than Hansbrough, none of the
players really jump of the paper.
One day, Ellington will look like the next great shooting guard,
the next he’s mediocre and overrated. Lawson can look like
Chris Paul or Speedy Claxton. Green is so inconsistent it’s
outrageous.
Simply put: the Tar Heels rarely get complete team efforts. And
while that might have been acceptable against lesser competition,
things have stiffened up now.
It’s also worth noting that the Tar Heels beat up on inferior
competition for much of the season. And defensively, they are prone
to sloppy play and occasional lapses in intensity.
Foul or injury trouble to Hansbrough would doom them. More than
anything, that has to be every Tar Heel fan’s greatest fear.
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Mario
Chalmers
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KANSAS
JAYHAWKS
Record:
36-3
Star:
Jr. G Mario Chalmers (12.7 ppg, 4.4 apg, 47.6 3pt%)
Why
they will win: The Jayhawks are the most balanced team
in the country. It was genuinely difficult to pick who would represent
them as the “star.” No less than five different players
could score 20 on any given night for Kansas, that’s how deep
they are.
And every one of those guys is fully committed to playing intense,
gritty defense. Russell Robinson, Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush
are as good a trio of starting guards defensively as anyone in the
country. Each displays great quickness and intensity, along with
a simple know-how of the defensive game.
In the front court, Darnel Jackson, Darrell Arthur and Sasha Kaun
provide great diversity for Kansas, and freshman center Cole Aldrich
is stepping up slowly as well. All four can, of course, defend,
as well as rebound and provide at least some offensive punch.
But perhaps the most crucial Jayhawk is Sherron Collins, the bumble
bee who buzzes through defenses like it’s nothing. Collins
is the Jayhawks’ sixth man, but he provides them with someone
who can penetrate in the clutch and has a penchant for big games.
Chalmers has also stepped into that role lately, albeit more with
his shooting.
Simply put, the Jayhawks are athletic, talented and extraordinarily
balanced. That reminds me of the previous two Florida Gator teams…hmm.
Why
they won’t win: Bill Self can’t win the big
one. Well, Self has finally made it to the Final Four for the first
time in his career. But Self has been seen as the coach that can’t
win the big one for years now, and Kansas is gaining that reputation
as a program.
The Jayhawks also lack that one player who can take over a game.
And at times, they can ride 3-point shooting more than they should.
All that combined with the classic Brandon Rush’s moment of
truth that has come to exist in so many big games over the junior’s
career, where he chokes in a big situation, and the Jayhawks don’t
have the look of a traditional Champion.
AND
IN THE END…?
I’m sticking
with UCLA.
My mind hasn’t
swayed since before the season started. The Bruins are the pick
to beat Kansas in a slow, grinding finale. Collison will win Most
Outstanding Player and Love will boast a double-double. Rush will
choke in his last game as a Jayhawk, and both teams will be looted
by the NBA
And I’m
looking forward to it.
I’m excited
for it.
That’s
just how it should end.
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