Few people correctly predicted this year's Final Four teams. Photo from web.
Co-workers bragging about their near-perfect brackets, local bars packed with lifelong, diehard, season-ticket holding fans, up-to-the-minute Facebook statuses arguing horrible calls and boasting misinformed predictions. Ah yes, Final Four basketball is upon us. The 2011 NCAA tournament has been quite the exciting ride. It quite aptly fits the term “March Madness.” For the first time in tournament history we have a Final Four that lacks any number one or number two seeds and also boasts the highest total combined seeding at a sum of twenty-six. This year’s remaining teams are the fourth seeded Kentucky Wildcats, the third seeded Connecticut Huskies, the eleventh seeded Virginia Commonwealth Rams, and the eighth seeded Butler Bulldogs. This foursome is especially interesting from a technical standpoint because each squad features a unique style of play that has helped them get to where they are today. Let’s take a look.
The Kentucky Wildcats rumbled to an SEC tournament title with a combination of balanced scoring and solid defense. Coach John Calipari’s squad is led primarily by three highflying freshmen: Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb. Though inexperienced, these kids have shown maturity and grit when it counts most. Guard Brandon Knight hit game-winning shots in an opening round win against Princeton and then again in the Sweet Sixteen upset over tournament favorite Ohio State. Cal’s Cats probably have the highest octane offense of any team left in the tourney at 76.4 points per game (twenty-sixth best in the country). Often overlooked though is the Wildcats’ great defense. They hold opponents to 39% from the floor (tenth best) and average 6.4 blocks per game (third best). This combination of great young guard play and severely underrated defense has gotten them to this point.
Kentucky will face off against the University of Connecticut Huskies. When you talk about UConn, you have to mention Kemba Walker. Walker willed the Huskies through the beyond-brutal Big East tournament, winning five games in five days including four straight against ranked opponents. Kemba’s bid for National Player of the Year has been strengthened this tournament by averaging a cool twenty-seven points, five rebounds and seven assists per contest. Walker works best when he moves off of the ball, and even when he’s not creating offense, Connecticut can rely on their own studly freshman, Jeremy Lamb. Lamb is shooting an impressive 59% for the tournament using an array of Kemba-esque moves and knocking down open threes. The hard-to-pronounce duo of Charles Okwandu and Alex Oriakhi hold down the painted area with their decent defense and great rebounding (tenth best in the nation.) Hard-nosed wins against an all-around quality San Diego State team and an offense-heavy Arizona squad prepare Jim Calhoun’s bunch well for their meeting with the Wildcats.
The other matchup pits the Butler Bulldogs against the Virginia Commonwealth Rams. Last season, Butler made a stunning tournament run before coming about sixth inches from a national championship. Lo and behold, they find themselves back in the Final Four playing for a bid to the championship game. Butler has won its four tournament games by a total of sixteen points, including a tip in at the buzzer against Old Dominion and a wacky, foul-filled final four seconds against number one seeded Pittsburgh. At first glance, the Bulldogs could seem like a “boring” team. They play in the below-average Horizon League, they don’t have any big-name highflyers and their offense isn’t designed for outside isolations. Nonetheless, this is a team that consistently wins with their defense, hustle and smarts. Young coach Brad Stevens has proven himself again and again come tournament time, boasting an incredible 9-1 record over the past two seasons. Gawky senior Matt Howard leads the team in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots, but more importantly, he sets the tone for his teammates, makes few mistakes and keeps his cool under pressure. As odd as it sounds, a lot of pundits have this David (vs. Goliath) eight seed as the favorite to win it all.
The lowest seeded and possibly most talked about team remaining in this group is the VCU Rams. The Rams began their journey in the NCAA’s newly inserted “First Four” game where they beat USC to earn their spot in the round of sixty-four. Unexpectedly, Coach Shaka Smart’s club pounded sixth seeded Georgetown and third seeded Purdue by eighteen points apiece before winning an overtime thriller against Florida State and stunning top seeded Kansas. VCU’s style of play is fun to watch. The Rams have taken 121 three pointers this tournament which account for about 45% of their total shots. They live and die by the three and have no intention of steering away from that goal as they’ve shot twenty-one or more long-balls in each game so far. What they lack on the boards, they have made up for with timely defense, holding their normally high-scoring opponents to an average of 61 points per game this tournament. If the threes keep falling and the D keeps pace, look for VCU’s improbable run to continue.
Butler and VCU squared off at 6:09 PM on Saturday, April 2 followed by Kentucky and UConn at 8:49 PM. The winners will do battle April 4 in Houston, and I can assure you that my eyes will be glued to the screen from start to finish. •
