If this weekend’s NCAA Final Four can come close to the drama of last weekend’s regional championships games, we are in store for three exhilarating days of basketball in St. Louis.
Before I share my thoughts about this weekend’s games, here are my top five individual performances from those historical regional finals.
#1) Deron Williams (Illinois): Williams had 22 points and 10 assists in the Fighting Illini’s dramatic win over Arizona in Chicago. Williams held Arizona’s star guard Salim Stoudamire to two of 13 shooting from the field. He also hit the 3-pointer that put the game into overtime.
#2) Sean May (North Carolina): May had 29 points and 12 rebounds while making 13 of his 19 shots from the field in the Tar Heels’ 88-82 victory over Wisconsin in the Syracuse Regional final.
#3) Larry O’Bannon (Louisville): After going scoreless in the first half, O’Bannon scored 24 points in the second half and overtime as the Cardinals rallied from a 20-point deficit to defeat West Virginia in the Albuquerque Regional. O’Bannon put the game into overtime with a driving layup in the closing seconds of regulation.
#4) Shannon Brown (Michigan State): Brown scored 24 points in the Spartans’ double-overtime victory over Kentucky in the Austin Regional. Brown hit eight of his 10 shots, including five of six from 3-point range. Brown entered the game shooting just 28 percent from beyond the 3-point line.
#5) Kevin Pittsnogle (West Virginia): The pride of West Virginia scored 25 points, including six of nine from 3-point range, in the Mountaineers’ 93-85 overtime loss to Louisville. Pittsnogle led a WVU ariel assault on the NCAA record books with a tournament record 18 of 27 3-pointers, good for 66 percent shooting from long distance.
On to the Final Four
This is where each team has a distinctive advantage over the other three teams.
Illinois: The three-headed guard monster of Williams, Dee Brown and Luther Head. All three can shoot, pass, beat defenders off the dribble and defend the perimeter as if their lives depended on it. They also have great basketball IQ’s, which makes them even tougher to deal with. It is rare for a team to have three capable point guards. Illinois does.
Louisville: The 3-point shot. The Cardinals are Rick Pitino’s latest edition of “Pitino’s Bombinos” who shoot the 3-pointer early and often. The Cardinals have attempted 886 3-pointers this season while making 40 percent. Guards Taquan Dean (45 percent), Larry O’Bannon (42 percent) and Francisco Garcia (37 percent) can get it done on the perimeter. This bears watching, especially in a dome stadium where shooting can be difficult. If the Cards get on a roll, watch out.
North Carolina: Sean May. The 6’9″ 260-pound junior forward is the single most dominant player left in the tournament. May represents the single biggest advantage that one team has over the other three. He has been a monster. In four tournament games, May has averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 67 percent from the field. If you wish to double-team him, then you have to deal with the Tar Heels’ other vast array of weapons. Good Luck.
Michigan State: Depth and experience. The Spartans have ridden a 10-man rotation and a solid group of veterans to St. Louis. Seniors Alan Anderson, Kevin Tolbert and Chris Hill have been outstanding leaders. Their depth enables coach Tom Izzo to employ his bump-and-grind Big Ten Conference defense that can wear on opponents over the course of a 40-minute game with beef and extraordinary athleticism.
Unsung heroes
Each team also has an unsung hero that has been valuable in the team’s success without getting a lot of recognition.
Illinois: Roger Powell. The 6’6″ senior has been an undersized power forward for most of his career in Champaign. Powell has been a tough defender and a great offensive rebounder. His strength and leaping ability have enabled him to play much bigger than his actual size.
Louisville: Ellis Myles. Having a healthy Myles is the difference between going to the Final Four and the past two early exits in 2003 and 2004. Myles has been the heart and soul of the Cardinals for his entire career, but injuries forced him to miss the past two NCAA tournaments. In 2005, the 6’7″ 240-pound Myles is averaging 9.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.3 blocks while provided the muscle inside.
North Carolina: Jawad Williams. A former McDonald’s All-American, the 6’9″ senior has settled into the role of a fine role player in support of the talented junior trio of Sean May, Rashard McCants and Raymond Felton. In his career, Williams has experienced the low of a 20-loss season in Chapel Hill to the high of a Final Four. He is also productive at 13.4 points, four rebounds and 53 percent shooting.
Michigan State: Drew Neitzel. While the other three are seniors, Neitzel is a freshman point guard who has modest statistics of five points and three assists a game. When he was inserted into the lineup as the point guard, the Spartans took off as the other top players were able to move back into their normal positions and flourish.
Final Four tidbits
Illinois guard Dee Brown and Michigan State guard Shannon Brown were teammates in the same backcourt at Proviso East High School in Maywood, Ill. They are not related.
UNC freshman Marvin Williams is a projected top five NBA draft pick despite not being a starter for the Tar Heels. If you recall, Corey Maggette (Duke) and Zach Randolph (Michigan State) were first-round draft picks after one year of college. Both players also came off the bench as freshmen for Final Four teams.
Rick Pitino became the second coach in NCAA history to lead three different schools into the Final Four. The first was C. Vivian Stringer, who led Cheyney State, Iowa and Rutgers to the Final Four of the NCAA Women’s Tournament.
Louisville made it to the Final Four despite not having the services of its top three recruits. Point guard Sebastian Telfar was a first round pick of the Portland Trailblazers, junior college All-American Donta Smith was a second-round pick of the Atlanta Hawks while 6’9″ forward Brian Johnson is redshirting after having knee surgery.
North Carolina would have had guards J.R. Smith and JamesOn Curry on the team this year, but Smith went to the NBA as a first-round pick of the New Orleans Hornets. Curry had his scholarship revoked after being arrested on a drug charge last summer. Curry ended up at Oklahoma State, where he was one of the top freshman guards in the nation.
Illinois coach Bruce Webber spent 18 seasons as an assistant at Purdue under Gene Keady and four seasons as the head coach at Southern Illinois. Webber has spent a lot of time recruiting St. Louis during that span. He successfully recruited players such as Cuonzo Martin (East St. Louis Lincoln) and Ian Stanback (East St. Louis) to Purdue and Darren Brooks (Jennings) and Stetson Hairston (Belleville East) to Southern Illinois.