A Bad Year For College Basketball Ends on a High Note With EPIC National Title Game
A Bad Year For College Basketball Ends on a High Note With EPIC National Title Game
Nearly every civil minded fan of any team or pundit from any media outlet can at least agree that the game of college basketball is in trouble. Any agreeing ends there as people start to argue the reasons. The country is divided between those that want freedom of movement, those that don’t, those that want a faster pace, a slower pace, more physical…you get the point.
So on a year that not only saw the NCAA organization (those reasons are for another article) get bashed from start to finish and in a year that saw one of the most popular sports gets trashed the Duke vs Wisconsin national championship lived up to its billing when Duke won the title 68-63.
Wisconsin is the team that is normally lauded for the defense, but they shot 41% against the underrated Blue Devils D and the Devils shot 47%. In the end the Duke youngsters made big shots at big moments and the Badgers ran out of gas.
Badger head coach Bo Ryan was gracious in defeat and said, “What a fantastic job these guys did all year. They just came together to do all the things that they accomplished. Highest offensive efficiency. A team that committed the least number of fouls during the year. A team that got to the free-throw line. So these guys played 30-some games that way. It's just unfortunate that this one had to be played out that way.â€
For those that hate the officiating you saw instantly across social media the buzz about the officials finding a way to help Duke. As preposterous as it sounds (and it is) one thing is clear. With the emphasis against contact and freedom of motion that they NCAA is preaching, the Duke squad in the second half went back to what worked against Michigan State, they drove to the basketball creating contact while Wisconsin took numerous contact avoiding jump shots. You can't blame refs for calling a game the way they are told, but you can for being inconsistent from one game to another, from one half to another and at times from one possession to another. It’s ruining the game of basketball
Bo Ryan wasn't going to remain silent though. He was not pleased with the way was called and you can't blame him. "Have you ever watched me during a game? I don't think this was any different. No, we have these things that we practice, okay? We practice in our practices where if an offensive player jumps into you, we always call it on the offensive player. It's just what we do. So there were some situations where obviously our guys felt they were in position. I'm sure they felt they were in the rights. Both teams are always going to feel that there's a question or two. So it's just the way the game's played. But I've been with these guys a long time, and I've watched a lot of basketball. Sometimes games are played differently, and you have to go with the flow."
If Coach Krzyzewski is anything he isn’t stupid. He knows where the game is going and he has adapted his style to it. It isn’t that Duke is favored by the NCAA and gets calls. If that were true Kentucky would have won as an undefeated team like UK and Duke would have been a much bigger final. It is because Duke was smart within the context of the game.
The Blue Devils did not come out attacking the Badgers like they did the Spartans on Saturday, but in the second half they went right at them driving the ball and getting to the free throw line. Senior Badger guard Josh Gasser had zero points, but said of the Duke effort, “Got to the free-throw line a lot. Drove into us. You know, you saw it. We just didn't get it done offensively. We fouled too much the second half. They were just driving it hard. You know, that's what happened.â€
The Badgers had the Blue Devils down as many as nine points in the second half, but when Coach Krzyzewski needed a momentum shift he found it.
Coach Krzyzewski said, “It was a heck of a game. When we got nine points down, we were in foul trouble and a little bit disjointed. Grayson put us on his back. We went to him kind of exclusively because of his ability to drive and penetrate. And he did, he finished. He got 16 points. Hit his free throws. Got a steal. It won't show up in the stats, except for his rebounding and blocks. But Amile Jefferson was a huge, huge factor in this game. His defense and how he battled everybody, he battled everybody, put us in a great position. Then the ball screen stuff with Tyus just worked out well. My team had great grit and determination. Our defense down the stretch was magnificent. We scored. I mean, we were fabulous down the stretch. I mean, I don't know how you can be any better than we were down the stretch, except Tyus going in for that layup when he should have taken it to the side, and I wanted to break his neck (smiling). Other than that, yeah, great, great stuff. I'm proud of my team.â€
Freshman Grayson Allen was the catalyst the Blue Devils needs for their coach to get his fifth national title. A little known player on a team of stars shined at the right moment, “Coach has told me all year to stay ready and practice. These other seven guys have really given me confidence. They've been supporting me all year. You know, to be in the position where you're coming off the bench, and these guys still support me and put confidence in me, I knew I was capable of doing it just because of what they've been telling me all year.â€
In last year’s tournament the Michigan State Spartans were kicked out of the NCAA’s big dance by eventual champion Connecticut. This year the same occurred with the Duke Blue Devils. In football the two final teams were the only two losses for Mark Dantonio. As the Spartans edge ever closer to national title games in college sports two biggest areas of competition truly Michigan State is the team people have to go through.
Tonight reinforced what Izzo said after his loss that he had to change his offense and he will. For tonight the big trophy went to the team that did change. Quicker, and that is Duke.
Add us as a preferred source on Google