MFH Previews the Final Four

I was all set to write up a Final Four preview, but I have something on my mind that I just can’t shake. Throughout the first 26 ¼ years of my life I have had tremendous respect for my father. Well, that respect has fallen a notch. During a conversation between my sister and mother about American Idol, my father chimed in with his views on who should go now, who should go later, who should be the final two, who actually will be the final two, and who should win. MY FATHER! I don’t even know what’s real anymore. (Speaking of American Idol, make sure to vote for/against Carrie Underwood in the Subway Chatter Tournament of Hotties Foxy Four). And now enough American Idol talk, let’s get to something that actually matters…

This year marks the first time in history all four one-seeds made the Final Four in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. This sets the stage for possibly the most competitive Final Four in the shot clock era. I, like many of you, usually like to see a lot of upsets during the early rounds of the tournament; it makes those first two weekends much more exciting. However, Cinderellas generally don’t fare well once they leave their region, leading the Final Four games to be more disappointing than a Saturday night out in Wayne, New Jersey. This time around, we shouldn’t have to worry about that. This year’s Final Four competitors were the four best teams all season long, and all of them come in playing great basketball. We should be in for three extremely exciting, well-played games this Saturday and Monday - quite possibly the most exciting Final Four ever.

North Carolina comes into the Final Four looking damn near unstoppable. They are playing better than they have all season, and Ty Lawson’s presence (and health) has everything to do with it. Back in my Duke-Carolina round 1 review I mentioned that this is a completely different team when Ty is on the floor, and they have proven me right (we all should be used to it by now) during the ACC and NCAA tourneys. It doesn’t hurt that Tyler Hansbrough is solidifying his Player of the Year chances with the best play of his college career during this post season (even if he does look like the bastard child of Rodney Dangerfield).

Kansas is fresh off their win over tourney darling Stephen Curry and the Davidson Wildcats. Some people are down on the Jayhawks because of the way Davidson was able to keep that game close, but Kansas shot dreadfully from outside the paint in that game which is very uncharacteristic of them. I would not expect a repeat of that shooting performance in the Final Four, especially from Brandon Rush, who was 1 of 5 from three-point-land. Kansas is the best outside shooting team left, and are the most likely to catch fire from beyond the arch. If they do, nobody is going to beat them. Against Carolina they’re going to have to get good performances from Darrell Arthur, Darnell Jackson, and Sasha Kaun, the big goofy Russian, not the petite American figure skater (please don’t write to me that her name is Cohen, I know it is). If these three can handle the boards and defend Rodney Dangerfield Jr. with some success, Kansas should be able to pull out a victory over the Tar Heels.

Just like North Carolina, Memphis enters the Final Four looking nearly unbeatable, making Michigan St. and Texas look like mid-major teams. They are a big, athletic team, and suddenly they can also hit their free throws. It certainly doesn’t hurt them to have the best point guard in the country, Derrick Rose, handling the ball for them. Memphis has looked more and more impressive with each passing game, and if they keep up the trend, my pick of UCLA in the finals will most likely prove false. They will be up against a different type of team in UCLA, as the Bruins concentrate on playing really tough defense. It will be interesting to see how Memphis reacts to the toughest defense they’ve seen all year. I do think they can run on UCLA, but if they are forced to run their half court offense most of the game, that is a huge advantage to the Bruins.

UCLA was the pre-tournament plurality pick to win it all this year because of their talented offense, great defense, and All-American center Kevin Love. After surviving a scare from Texas A&M, the Bruins have looked like title contenders, taking care of, cinderella western style, Western Kentucky, and then thumping Xavier in the Western Region Final. Those who hadn’t seen Kevin Love play this year and thought he was just another overrated white kid have been shown the light in this tournament. Despite that stupid chin strap that makes me want to spit in my hand and then use said hand to slap Love across the face, the kid can flat out play – averaging a double, double this year. At 6-10, 270 he can battle with the bigs, but has a sweet stroke from the outside to complement point guard-like passing skills. He’s the modern day version of Christian Laettner (who you may recall led Duke to back-to-back NCAA titles), right down to the way I expect his NBA career to play out. I look forward to seeing how he handles Joey Dorsey, the big, athletic Memphis forward who will most likely be guarding Dr., I mean Mr. Love.

Pre-tourney I picked Kansas over UCLA in the finals so I have to stick with that now, however their two semifinals opponents are playing fantastic basketball right now. Regardless of the outcome, if this Final Four turns out to be as competitive as it’s shaping up to be on paper, perhaps my father will talk about college basketball again instead of the little fairy kid getting kicked off of American Idol. And ultimately, that is what I am rooting for.