Final Four

It All Comes Down To These Four

The Final Four is set and the participants are Duke West Virginia, Butler and Michigan St. I'll go into detail on these teams and who I think will win later. But these team have a lot in common and they all have benefited from the same thing. First, when you look at these teams all four play defense, and are smart, very poised and rebound the basketball at a very high level. Butler doesn't even have anyone over 6'3 and they are a rebounding machine. Tom Izzo always has his Spartans in the top of country in rebounding and this year is no different. The one thing that all these teams have benefited from is the one and done rule that the NBA has in place. The schools that are in the Final Four are all junior and senior led teams with no distinguishable star or NBA superstar on their roster. That rule has simple changed college basketball and now you will see coaches who can recruit the player or players who will stay four years and try to become better basketball players. The guys who recruit the one and done players although they will get far in the tournament, they will have a tough time winning because players and teams will not have a chance to grow together and learn each other. I was thinking about all the great teams of the past and how I could rattle off their starting lineups. In recent years of college basketball, the back to back Florida teams are the closest that I can come to naming their starting five off the top off my head. This is when you can tell that the game has changed.

Final Four Teams

Here is my analysis and who I think will win this weekend:

Duke: I had a post that I did not finish stating on why I thought that this Duke team was way overrated. They have a lot of wins but when they have played top notch competition they have gotten blown out in road and neutral site games. But when Zoubek came back and solidified the middle this team has taken off. Zoubek and Thomas crash the boards and throw the ball out to their three guards who can straight up shoot. Is this the best Duke team, absolutely not, and I think Coach K would agree. However when you have two seniors and junior who can light it up from the outside and the fact that the committee gave you the easiest bracket to come out of you have a chance to win it all. However, I believe their run ends this weekend when they run into...

West Virginia: You win the supposed toughest conference in America tournament by winning the Big East. Then the selection committee puts an ACC school in front of you on the one line and make you a two seed. Next you are playing in one of your rivals gym for the Regional semi's and finals. Next, your point guard breaks his foot three days before you are supposed to take on not one but two guard oriented teams. After all that the whole world has you losing to Washington and if you do get by them there is no way you can beat Kentucky. When its all said and done, the Mountaineers heard all the noise and won the East region handily. This team is long, athletic, defensive-minded, and well coached. I think they can bully Duke into losing. Even though Huggins likes to play zone and Duke can shoot it well, the Blue Devils will have to shoot over guys taller than them, and that will be a problem.

Michigan St: See West Virginia because the same applies with the exception of the point guard tore his Achilles and he is your best player. Tom Izzo is the best college basketball coach in America. His teams never have any real stars, but the commit to defense and rebounding the basketball. He recruits the state of Michigan well and the amazing part about his run is that every senior that plays basketball at Michigan St. has been to at least one Final Four. Only John Wooden and Dean Smith have similar results.Izzo is in rarefied air and people don't really talk about him. Its ashame too because I don;t think we will witness another run as great as this.

Butler: The hometown team makes it to the Final Four. The only other time this has happened is when UCLA did it back in the late 60's. The Bulldogs are tough and should not be characterized as a Cinderella. This was a top ten team all year, it wasn't like they were hiding in the weeds. The score a little over 60 points and game and hold teams to under 60 points. Their coach looks like one of their players. As I stated before, Butler is small but they play with lots of heart. It would be a magical end to their season if they won the championship, but I don't think they can make it past Michigan St. I think the Spartans have a little more talent but the home crowd will give these kids a little boost, but it won't be enough.

West Virginia should win the National Championship. Were they the best team this year? No, but they have been the steadiest and they are starting to peak at the right time. And in March its not how you start, its when you peak that always determines the winner.