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Day at a Glance
It should be an absolutely dynamite Final Four
Posted: Sunday March 25, 2001 8:38 PM
By Albert Lin, CNNSI.com
So now the stage is set for the season's ultimate challenge. Who has what it takes to survive the Final Four and emerge as national champions?
The field headed to Minneapolis includes the two most popular preseason choices for No. 1 (Arizona, Duke), the defending champs (Michigan State), and a talented but previously enigmatic newcomer (Maryland).
The Glance, as all good prognosticators do, can claim any number of these four as "our" team.
We labeled Duke No. 1 the day after last season's title game and stuck with the Blue Devils in November. (Forget that we long ago jumped off the bandwagon, disturbed by their lack of depth and inside play.)
We acknowledged that Arizona had the most talented starting five in college basketball and as good as at least a few NBA clubs. (Forget that we reveled in the Wildcats' early struggles and refused to believe that their bench is as good as it is.)
We've always loved this Michigan State team. And if you knew where the Glance went to school, you'd understand how hard that last statement was to type. (Forget that we thought the Spartans weren't playing their best basketball over the last four weeks, and that we believed Temple had a very good chance to beat them.)
We picked Maryland as a dark horse entering last season's NCAA tournament and slotted them No. 3 on our preseason list. Then we chose them again as a dark horse two weeks ago. (Forget that we've also called the Terps the runner-up for Most Talented Team to Do Nothing, behind only Tennessee.)
The fact is, every one of these teams is playing at or near its top level, if what we saw this past weekend is any indicator. Every coach has dealt with some sort of adversity this season and made the proper adjustments to get his team to this point.
What this means for fans is an absolutely dynamite Final Four. What it means for the schools is that any one could be the last club standing next Monday, and none would be a surprise champion. All are among the half dozen most talented teams in the country, and each is capable of beating the other three in the field.
We'll expound more at the end of the week, but right now we see Maryland beating Arizona for the national title. (Both of our finalists are out -- surprise?!? -- so we're entitled to make an entirely new pick.)
Are you ready in College Park?
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| No. 3 Arizona 87, No. 1 Illinois 81 |
| The Illini made things interesting by knocking down a slew of 3s late in the game, but it was too little, too late. Arizona took every punch Illinois threw inside and delivered some of its own, remarkably fouling out all six members of the Illini's frontcourt rotation. The Wildcats led the entire game save for some back-and-forth midway through the second half, and proved that a balanced attack beats an inside-only offense. The biggest strength of this Arizona team: No matter how much any member of the starting five is struggling, each has the ability at any point in time to deliver a big play. |
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| David Thomas, senior, guard, Michigan State |
| When Thomas subbed at the point two years ago for an injured Mateen Cleaves, we laughed at his lack of poise; the Canadian has come a long way. Early in the season we called for Spartans coach Tom Izzo to insert freshmen Zach Randolph and Marcus Taylor into the starting lineup, but we acknowledge that he made the right choice to reinstate Thomas and Al Anagonye. As he proved Sunday, the 6-7 Thomas is Michigan State's most versatile performer, able to knock down the open jumper, bring the ball up, help inside, pressure the ball. He scored a career-high 19 points (8-10 FG) against Temple, grabbed seven rebounds, handed out two assists and made two steals. |
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| The Peoria Connection |
| Woe is the Glance for putting so much faith in these three. In retrospect. Marcus Griffin has never shown the skills in college that he did in high school; Sergio McClain is a warrior with limited athleticism; and Frank Williams is still just a sophomore. Yet we thought they had the right stuff to carry Illinois to the title. Instead, they were largely responsible for the Illini's downfall. Griffin got into foul trouble and exited with one point (0-6 FG, 1-3 FT). McClain played valiantly most of the game (six rebounds, six assists) but frequently got stuck under the basket (two points, 1-5 FG). Williams' meltdown was unexpected, especially coming off a career-best game Friday against Kansas; he finished 3-for-15 for nine points, but that included a couple of late buckets. When the game was still in doubt, he was 1-for-13 for four points. The strange thing is, Illinois might be a better team next season, with only Griffin and McClain departing. Perhaps, like Maryland, the Illini will need a year before they realize their potential (this means you, Brian Cook, who fouled out in 10 minutes). |
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| That Temple lost its shooting touch so suddenly. |
| OK, Michigan State's defense obviously had a lot to do with it. But after stroking the ball beautifully through the first three rounds, the Owls hit the skids. Top guns Lynn Greer (7-21 FG) and Quincy Wadley (2-12) combined to make just nine of 33 shots, 2-for-14 from beyond the arc. Center Kevin Lyde tried to pick up the team as best he could, but the entire country knows that when Greer and Wadley struggle, so does Temple. David Hawkins didn't help matters by going 1-for-7 from the field. |
Come back starting Thursday for daily reports from Minneapolis.
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