What a bunch of great stories this year for all 4 teams. Butler gets to play at home and they're on a 24 game winning streak and a mid major in the Final 4. You have Tom Izzo making it for I think the 6th time in 12 years and doing it the last 2 games without the best player on the team Kalin Lucas. Then you have West Virginia making it for the first time since 1959 and Duke is finally back after being beaten for the last couple years in some very undukelike games(Nova destroying them last year, WVU a #7 in 08 beating them as a #2).
We have 2 very intriguing games tomorrow. Michigan St vs. Butler will be a very close game and should come down to the wire. These 2 teams know how to win these types of games but you have to give the edge to Michigan State and its solely based on the coaching of Tom Izzo. Butler is an odd opponent, they make you play their type of basketball with the great D they play. They force a lot of turnovers and that's something Michigan has to avoid or they will lose. That's how they beat Syracuse, Kansas State and Murray State along with rebounding. I think Tom Izzo can formulate some type of offense that can counter that amazing Butler D and beat it. That's what he does best, he makes his team play whatever style is necessary and it works. Butler is home and had an amazing run but I just don't think they can do it again. The Spartans have to handle that ball carefully and avoid the turnovers or they WILL lose. If they do that they win but it won't be by that much. My early lean is Mich St. wins 59-57.
Now for the big game of the night. Duke vs. West Virginia. Coach K vs. Bob Huggins. WVU won the last game they played against each other in the tourny but that was 2 years ago and both teams are very different. WVU will play their type of ball and try to own the boards and dish it to the cutting Kevin Jones or Desean Butler who is probably the best all around player in the final 4. Duke has the potential to be really good or just a disaster area. If they cant hit outside shots or come down with some o boards West Virginia clearly has the upper hand. But the great thing about Duke is they have 3 of the best shooters in the country in Scheyer, Singler, and Smith. If Zoubek, Plumlee and Thomas can out-rebound Butler, Jones and Ebanks and dish the ball out to those 3 shooters and if they can hit their shots Duke wins this game. If they don't hit shots and can't get those rebounds they're in trouble and the game will go the other way. This will be a high scoring game. In my heart(and in my bracket) I want to see the Mountaineers go on to face Michigan State but those Duke shooters scare the piss outta me. If they miss, WVU wins, but my early lean is Duke wins 77-69 and Richard O'Malley wins the Bracket contest :(
National Championship Michigan State-Duke.
This might sound repetetive but Duke will win if they hit their shots. If Butler somehow beats Mich State that would make it more interesting. But Duke will be the National Champs.
I just have to mention if I see a team lose a game on missed foul shots that player(s) deserve to get their hands cut off. Nothing pisses me off more then missing foul shots. There is NO EXCUSE for missing them in the final minutes and I cannot imagine how a coach feels if he loses that kind of game. Uncontrollable nausea and diarrhea? That's how I felt after Memphis choked, f****** CDR.
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