One Thing Clear About 2015 Final Four: Talent Abounds in College Basketball

One Thing Clear About 2015 Final Four: Talent Abounds in College Basketball Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis, IN There is a lot of talk going around the world

One Thing Clear About 2015 Final Four: Talent Abounds in College Basketball

Lucas Oil Stadium

Indianapolis, IN

There is a lot of talk going around the world of sports about this year’s Final Four. Many are calling it a Mount Rushmore of coaches. Of course it takes a special leader to get a team here, but one thing not lost is the depth of talent.

There is a ton of it here in Indy and the event is crawling with scouts for NBA teams coveting the talent on site. It makes it unique. A chance to see great players going against great players would seem like a no brainer, but in today’s version of college basketball where teams schedule easy, it isn’t.

Not everyone schedules easy, including the four teams here. Perhaps other schools could learn from their habits.

Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski praised the level of talent that will be on display here in Indy this week. “This Final Four has a lot of talent. I think its coordinated talent. It's talent that makes other talent better. It's a piano player and the guitar player and the singer who are making each other better, not just a great piano player. That coordinated talent is why you see four outstanding teams, because they're not playing against each other, they're playing with one another against somebody. This is a great Final Four. We have four really outstanding teams here.”

Tom Izzo is famous for saying, “Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard.” He is sold on the level of talent on hand, but is more interested in talking about team. “Talent is a funny thing. Talent doesn't always win games. Talent doesn't always make you great. It gives you maybe a better opportunity if you utilize your talent, if you are coachable, a good teammate. This isn't boxing. It's not tennis. It's not golf. You got to be talented. And I think Mike alluded to it with Kentucky this year, guys are willing to take on different roles, not play as many minutes, not score as many points. I think the more talent you have, the better it is, as long as its talent that's coachable and talent that has a team concept in mind.”

Despite his reputation, Bo Ryan is prone to bring humor and levity to anything. He didn’t when asked about the talent on hand here. “Well, we played Michigan State and we played Duke. We played Kentucky our last game last year. What I can say about the talent is there's shooters, there's ball handlers, there's bigs. I mean, you can go from every aspect of the game of basketball and look at these four teams, there are guys that are just blue-collar guys that are there to rebound and play defense, there are guys that are there to score, there are guys that are there to kill you in the post, there's guys defensively that can lock you down. I would say in this Final Four, having played all the teams within the past year, there's a little bit of everything. It's at a very high level.”

Much maligned Kentucky head coach John Calipari has the most talent on hand. It is great individual talent, but despite the criticism of his past (two vacated Final Fours) he has done a great job getting a group of highly talented players to embrace the team concept Izzo loves.

The Wildcat leader said of the level of talent here, “I think, you know, that because the talent level is what it is, I think we're all just worried about our own teams playing well. I just want my team -- we're not going to control what Wisconsin does. They're going to play the way they play. I just hope my team plays well. I think if you talk to all four coaches, when you say, we’re stopping Wisconsin. We're not stopping Wisconsin. I just hope my team plays well and then we'll see how it plays out.”

It’s here, but you expect that. It is the Final Four. Talent should be on the game’s biggest stage, but Izzo is right. Hard work does beat talent when talent doesn’t work hard. So if you are Duke, Wisconsin or Kentucky and at some point this week the Spartans end up on your dance card, you better get your talent to work hard. Nobody outworks the Spartans.

Vegas would have them as underdogs in any game they play here. That isn’t disrespectful because they have the least talent, but they are the hardest working team. That in and of itself makes this week a problem for teams facing the Spartans.