March Madness is finally upon us, and we here at RTC are here to make everything a little bit easier for you. From the First Four until One Shining Moment, we’ll be dropping daily tidbits of knowledge regarding the teams in each region.
Kentucky
- Duke handled Michigan State in November’s Champions Classic, but a “true” champions classic would see the Blue Devils face undefeated Kentucky for the National Championship game on Monday night. Luckily for college basketball fans, that potential matchup is just one spectacular round away.
- Big Blue Nation is notorious for traveling to games, but John Calipari isn’t so sure that the Wildcats will have a boost from the crowd in Indianapolis. “My hope is our [fans] have figured out how to get the tickets more than the other people, but you just don’t know,” he said.
- Despite having a historic level of amateur talent, Kentucky has benefited from keeping that talent grounded off the court. Sports psychologist Bob Rotella visits Lexington every so often to keep the Wildcats loose and motivated. “The challenge, ultimately, is to get really talented people to go after it that intensely, with that much energy,” he said.
- Kentucky walk-ons Sam Malone and Brian Long may not be heading to the NBA, but after this season, they’ll have played with possibly 21 future and current NBA players.
- When it comes to getting his players to the professional ranks, John Calipari goes above and beyond the call of duty. Not only does he showcase each of his 10 (nine after junior Alex Poythress’ midseason injury) rotation players, but he even set up a pseudo Pro Day for his players before the season.
Wisconsin
- In Bo Ryan, Wisconsin has a coach that maintains the complete opposite philosophy of his Final Four counterpart John Calipari. Ryan has a long and proven history of developing less-heralded players to work within the framework of his very effective system.
- Senior Frank Kaminsky was unanimously named a First Team All-American be the Associated Press this week. This comes as no surprise, as Kaminsky has averaged 18 points and eight rebounds per game in his storybook senior season.
- It was Kaminsky who made his name last year, but it is junior Sam Dekker who is stepping up big in the NCAA Tournament for Wisconsin this year. Dekker set a career high in the Sweet Sixteen with 23 points against North Carolina and bested that mark when he poured in 27 points against Arizona in the Elite Eight.
- If Bo Ryan is the least accomplished coach in the Final Four, you know it must be a strong cast.
- In All-American Frank Kaminsky and talented small forward Sam Dekker, Wisconsin is one of the few teams with the size and talent in the frontcourt to hang with Kentucky.
Michigan State
- Even though UConn was a #7 seed when it won the National Championship last season, most pundits aren’t giving the Spartans a chance. With a tough Duke team and a historically good Kentucky team likely awaiting them in the title game, that probably makes sense.
- Travis Trice can shoot and score in bunches, but it has been his poise that has made him so valuable. According to senior Branden Dawson, Trice calmed the Spartans down by saying things like, “Hey, this is our eighth overtime game this season. We’ve got this. We’re going to win.”
- Having overcome a life-threatening brain parasite, Travis Trice truly appreciates how lucky he is to be playing basketball. Even though he got benched earlier in the season, Trice overcame it and now has the Spartans in the Final Four.
- Michigan State fans had a bizarre celebration for making the Final Four this year as students tossed countless bagels in the air. The wackiness of the celebration even drew the attention of the Michigan State Police and the Attorney General.
- Is Tom Izzo the greatest head coach of all-time? Maybe not, but there’s certainly an argument for the GOAT of the postseason.
Duke
- Branden Dawson gives up five inches to 6’11” diaper dandy Jahlil Okafor. Dawson may have great hops but the Spartans are going to need to do something special to contain the freshman. “I’d just say playing solid, just throwing different looks at him,” Dawson said. “Kind of how we played [Frank] Kaminsky and [Montrezl] Harrell, just throwing different guys at them on defense and just trying to distract him a little bit. I think that would help us out a lot.”
- Though every coach left is outstanding, there’s no doubt that Coach K is the favorite.
- Okafor and point guard Tyus Jones have been huge for Duke this season, but fellow freshman Justise Winslow was huge in the Blue Devils’ Elite Eight victory over Gonzaga. Winslow poured in 16 points to go along with five rebounds.
- Duke may have scored a trip to the Final Four on Sunday, but that didn’t excuse the Blue Devils from their schoolwork. Three Dukies celebrated their victory by taking tests on the plane home.
- Matt Jones is known as a defensive specialist for Duke, but his offense can help carry the load going forward. In addition to his defense, Jones went 4-of-7 from three against Gonzaga. “He is so good on defense that he gets caught into the glue guy perception, just a defensive specialist,” Cook said. “But that’s what he came to Duke for, to be a shooter and just play his butt off.”