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.

Michigan State

Tom Izzo Is Loving This Team (USA Today Images)

• Of all people, Duke’s Coach K is perhaps least surprised to be facing Michigan State coach Tom Izzo in the Final Four. “Nothing surprises me that he and his program would do,” Krzyzewski said. “They don’t have a team; they have a program. As he develops each team, I don’t know what the time frame of it is until that group understands what the program is about, whether it be offense, defense or just character-wise, but they’re going to keep improving because it’s a program. It’s a program of excellence.”
• For Michigan State, the emergence of freshman LouRawls ‘Tum Tum’ Nairn Jr. has been paramount to the Spartans’ turnaround this season. He hasn’t scored much so far in the NCAA Tournament, but that’s not what makes him so valuable. “He does so much for our team that doesn’t show up in the stat sheet,” said senior guard Travis Trice. “He helps break the press, he gets other guys involved. Tum’s also that energy guy. There are times [before or after practice] where guys are kind of tired and Tum’s there with all the energy and boosts everybody up. Tum does a lot of things for us that people really don’t see.”
• Michigan State may not have as much individual talent as it usually does, but this bunch has played very well as a team. “This is some of the things that has separated this year’s team: from top to bottom there is a – I don’t know if you can use the word, but there is a true love for one another,” Izzo said, “and that is a powerful, powerful thing, so I’m appreciative of those upperclassmen.”
• Check out Tom Izzo‘s postgame speech to his team after the Spartans punched their ticket on Sunday to the Final Four.
• With a BCS Bowl victory and another Final Four appearance, it’s a good time to be a Michigan State fan.

Duke

• No matter the year, the moment, or the personnel on his team, Coach K is consistently great. “There’s not just one way,” [assistant coach Nate] James said. “Some coaches are stuck in their ways, like ‘I want to do it this way, the way I’ve always done it.’ No. If you do it that way, it may hurt this group. He adjusts.”
• Even though Duke is a mainstay at the top of college basketball, Krzyzewski insists that this team has worked its way to a “magical season,” just like everyone else. “It’s not a birthright; it’s earned each year,” he said.
• From losing Rasheed Sulaimon to hitting some midseason lulls back in January, this Duke team has learned to be resilient.
• Is Coach K the greatest college basketball head coach of all time? Chris Chase seems to think so.
• Duke may be in the Final Four, but Jahlil Okafor hasn’t exactly dominated in March. Is the freshman standout somewhat overrated?

Kentucky

Willie Cauley-Stein Looks to Cut More Nets (USA Today Images)

• With Kentucky knocking on the door of history, the 1976 Indiana basketball team should be getting nervous, right? I guess not. “These are young people who have a terrific opportunity to do something great,” said [Quinn] Buckner, an Olympic gold medalist, an NBA champion with the Boston Celtics, and now a TV analyst for the Indiana Pacers. “I think for me and my teammates, it’s hard to pull against young people.”
• After surviving a scare against Notre Dame, Aaron Harrison and Kentucky can’t afford to come out flat against arguably the second-best team in the nation, Wisconsin.
• Andrew and Aaron Harrison may not have fully lived up to their high school reputations, but there’s no doubt that the twins have been clutch over the past two seasons. Last year it was Aaron with his multiple buzzer-beaters, but it was Andrew who hit the game-winning free throws against Notre Dame last weekend. “The biggest thing is you cannot be afraid to miss the game-winning shot,” head coach John Calipari said. “It’s not that you want to make it. It’s that you’re not afraid to miss it. […] You have to have amnesia. You have to be willing to risk. Those two have it.”
• The play of Willie Cauley-Stein has drawn comparison to Clippers star DeAndre Jordan but former NBA All-Star and Michigan All-American Chris Webber begs to differ. “It’s really tough because he’s a college kid and I don’t want him to be privy to the type of dogging of athletes that we’re going to do at this level since he’s still in college,” Webber said. “But that’s where we get in trouble. There’s no way in the world that he’s a DeAndre Jordan. That’s one of the most ridiculous statements that I’ve ever heard.”
• Though he plays around 20 minutes per game, Kentucky big man Karl-Anthony Towns is drawing high praise from some former basketball greats. “I got a chance to see what he was able to do against Notre Dame down the stretch, where Kentucky was feeding him and Notre Dame had no answer for him and his talent,” former NBA star and college great Grant Hill said. “I think he’s got a wonderful future ahead of him. I don’t really like to project ahead too much […] but I think he’ll be fine.”

Wisconsin

• Although Wisconsin has played very well on the court, the focus in its most recent press conference was on all of its activities off the court. Don’t even get these guys started on their video games.
• While some believe that Kentucky may be facing more pressure because of its undefeated record, Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan disagrees. Ryan knows what it’s like, having coached two undefeated teams himself at Wisconsin-Plattevile. “So I think Kentucky is in a pretty good position from that standpoint of being able, even though they don’t have the same players as last year, what they’ve developed in the last four-and-a-half months is some pretty competitive drills, some pretty competitive practices and work, to where not only were they good in November, but they’re even better now.”
• Wisconsin continued its dominance behind the mic with Bo Ryan’s “humble brag” about his pinball wizardry.
• Despite his stardom, Aaron Rodgers has proved to be a down-to-earth friend to Wisconsin wing Sam Dekker. “When I see him on TV, watch him, see him on SportsCenter, I don’t see him as the guy I know, I look at him like a fanboy, like ‘oh my god, that’s Aaron,’ because you’re in awe of what he can do on the field. But then when you’re talking to him or hanging with him or texting him, it’s just a normal dude, you don’t think of the football aspect, you just think of a guy that’s cool with you,” Dekker said.
• CBSSports named Frank Kaminsky its National Player of the Year yesterday. Averaging 18/8 to go along with a second straight Final Four appearance, there’s little doubt that he’ll be receiving even more accolades over the next couple weeks.

Griffin Wong (51 Posts)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 1st, 2015 at 11:01 am by Griffin Wong and is filed under 2015 ncaa tournament, tidbits. Tagged: bo ryan, coach k, duke, feature, john calipari, kentucky, michigan st, tom izzo, wisconsin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.