Three Key Takeaways.
- Who needs Kentucky? This isn’t meant to play down what the Wildcats accomplished, which was spectacular, but coming into the final there seemed to be a feeling that the story of the Final Four would be about Kentucky not going undefeated. It is hard to judge these type of things in the moment, but after tonight’s incredible final we doubt that will be the case. The overnight CBS ratings might argue otherwise in the morning, but we cannot imagine how this game could have been any better with the Wildcats in it. You can argue all you want about the historical significance of having an undefeated season on the line, but at the end of the day tonight would have been about a national championship game. What these two teams delivered tonight was the sport played at its highest level. Now if we could only find a way to fix this sport.
- Duke’s freshmen came up huge tonight just not the ones you expected. Most of the season the media lavished its praises on Jahlil Okafor and Justice Winslow, but it was a pair of freshmen who got them to the finish line. Okay, maybe we could have seen Tyus Jones doing this, but there is no way anybody could have foreseen Grayson Allen dominating stretches of a national title game. Plenty of people will point out that he was a McDonald’s All-American, but there are different forms of McDonald’s All-American–those that are going to be immediate stars and those that take a while to develop–and Allen was definitely the latter. Okafor (10 points) and Winslow (11 points and 9 rebounds) both contributed, but were limited by foul trouble. Instead Jones (23 points and 5 rebounds) and Allen (16 points in 21 minutes) led the way. Overall the freshmen scored 60 of the team’s 68 points including all 37 points in the second half.
- Wisconsin was a phenomenal team. Let’s be clear about one thing: Its win over Kentucky on Saturday night was no fluke. This was a phenomenal team that outside of two losses to Duke only lost two games all season (one a loss at Rutgers that we are going to write off as an aberration with Kaminsky out since we can’t comprehend it otherwise) and had an incredible run nearly being the first team to beat 16-8-4-2-1-1 seeds (the toughest possible route for a #1 seed) en route to a title. It was a remarkable team with Frank Kaminsky being absolutely deserving of his multiple player of the year awards and Sam Dekker finally putting together the complete game we all had been waiting for since he set foot on the Wisconsin campus.
Star of the Game. Tyus Jones, Duke. As much as we would love to give this to Allen, this has to go to Jones. Allen saved Duke by scoring 8 straight points after Mike Krzyzewski called a timeout with the Blue Devils down by 9 with 13:17 left, but it was Jones who got Krzyzewski his fifth title with timely 3s and driving layups. Jones was overshadowed by Okafor and Winslow this season particularly with respect their NBA potential, but anybody who followed the team knew that Jones was the heart of this team and if anybody was going to take the big shot it was going to be him. Fortunately for Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils he did and he made them.
Quotable. “I dreamed about it ever since 8th grade” – Grayson Allen talking about when he started thinking about playing in a Final Four. Yes, that all the way back in 2010, which was the last time Duke won a title (also in Indianapolis). Outside of making us feel really old, it reminds us of how young these freshmen are.
Sights & Sounds. Outside of the game, the most remarkable thing about the game was just how loud it was. This was mostly Wisconsin fans who apparently bought up every Kentucky ticket making this feel like a game at Kohl.
What’s Next? Other than seven months of emptiness? For Duke, after a night of celebrating and a trip back to Durham they will have some hard choices to make. Okafor and Winslow are widely expected to declare for this year’s Draft as they are both projected to be top 5 picks. The big question is what Jones will do. He is a borderline lottery pick and nobody could fault him for leaving. If he comes back, Duke would have a loaded back court with him and Allen returning. With at least two elite recruits coming in, Duke would be set up to contend again next year. For Wisconsin, they will need to adjust to life without Kaminsky, Josh Gasser, Traevon Jackson, and Duje Dukan as well as potentially Sam Dekker, who made himself a lot of money in the past few weeks. It will be a rough adjustment, but we don’t doubt that Bo Ryan will have them competitive very soon.