By: Marques Eversoll
All season long, the three best teams in the country were Wisconsin, Duke and Kentucky. Mix and match in whichever order, but it’s no surprise that by the time Duke knocked out Michigan State in the Final Four, the three remaining teams were who they were.
Now, Wisconsin gets another shot at the Blue Devils – who came into the Kohl Center on December 3 and handed the Badgers a 10-point loss. Duke shot 65 percent from the floor that night, and likely would have beaten anybody in the country.
But that game is a distant memory. Traevon Jackson scored 25 points. It’s highly doubtful he’ll even play 25 minutes tonight. Duke’s Rasheed Sulaimon chipped in 14 points off the bench; he’s since been dismissed from the team.
Whether Bo Ryan wins his first National Championship at the Division I level or Coach K gets a ring for the thumb (No. 5), tonight’s National Title game will likely come down to a combination of games within the game:
1. Kaminsky vs. Okafor: Who wins the All-American battle?
Forty percent of the first-team All-America team will be playing in the National Championship. Kaminsky and Okafor set the stage for a talented and long – 167 inches to be exact – showdown on the big stage.
Kaminsky is the first Wisconsin player to win the Naismith Award. He’s also the AP Player of the Year and won the Oscar Robertson trophy. The only award that has yet to be given to him is the Wooden Award – which will likely be Kaminsky or Okafor.
The numbers are similar: Kaminsky averages 18.7 points and 8.1 rebounds a night, while Okafor checks in at 17.5 points, 8.6 rebounds. Okafor is shooting an incredible 66.7 percent from the field.
In order to win a championship, your best players typically have to be at their best. This is the biggest game within The Game.
2. Wisconsin’s offensive execution vs. Duke’s defense
In the tournament, Wisconsin is averaging nearly 80 points per game. That’s really good. Duke, in the tournament, is allowing just 55 points per game. That may be even more impressive.
If there’s one weakness to Okafor’s game, it’s defense. But you could argue he’s been more consistent on the defensive end than the offensive end during Duke’s impressive tournament run. With an elite 6-foot-11 rim protector in Okafor, it’ll be a challenge for Kaminsky, Dekker and Hayes to do what they do best and get to the bucket.
On the flip side, the Badgers have fared well against top-end defenses this tournament. Arizona and Kentucky are two of the best – if not the two-best – defenses in the country, and Wisconsin posted 85 and 71 against each team, respectively.
3. Bronson Koenig vs. Tyus Jones
When the two teams met Dec. 3, Jones was the best player on the court for the Blue Devils. The game was being billed as a battle of the bigs between Kaminsky and Dekker – and rightfully so – but it was the freshman point guard (Jones) that outshined the freshman center (Okafor). Jones was 7-of-11 from the field and scored a team-high 22 points.
The point guard for the Badgers in that game was Traevon Jackson, who poured in a career-high 25 points. Of course, Jackson missed 19 games this season after suffering a broken foot at Rutgers. But while Jackson’s absence put a cloud over Wisconsin’s depth, their point guard situation was addition by subtraction.
Koenig has been a stud for Wisconsin, leading the offense, handling the ball and hitting big shots when the Badgers most needed them. Koenig boasts an assist-to-turnover ratio of 94-to-33 – which equates to 2.84 assists to every one turnover. To put that in perspective, Jackson’s ratio sits at 52-31 – or 1.67.
With Koenig in the starting lineup and Jackson coming off the bench, the Badgers are better equipped to make the point guard battle interesting.
4. Bench production
Neither bench is particularly deep. Beyond Wisconsin’s starting five, the Badgers rely on Duje Dukan, Traevon Jackson and Zak Showalter. Three deep. That’s really about it.
Duke’s situation is very similar – beyond their freshman-heavy, star-studded starting five, the Blue Devils bank on another freshman in Grayson Allen, and a pair of reserve bigs in Amile Jefferson and Marshall Plumlee.
Whoever wins this battle has a good shot at winning the war and being crowned National Champions.
Marques Eversoll is on-air on SportsLine every weekday afternoon from 4:00-6:00 PM on The Fan, and he hosts the Saturday Morning Showcase every weekend 8:00-10:00 AM. Follow him on Twitter @MarquesEversoll.
