Michigan State, North Carolina Advance to National Championship Game
By Chris Marakovitz
Saturday’s semi-final round from Detroit was full of strategic maneuvering by Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Villanova’s Jay Wright.
Wright has been criticized by some for his decision to run with Carolina. Results notwithstanding, however, the decision is defensible. Facing the prospect of having his unimposing interior decimated by Tyler Hansbrough in a half-court game, Wright decided to roll the dice and play to his strengths by letting his guards push tempo and create in the open court.
It might have worked, or at least kept things closer, had his team not shot a woeful 5 of 27 from three-point land. Had Nova shot shot anywhere near their season average of 36.8 percent, they would have nailed four more three-pointers, adding 12 points to their total. Something to think about, considering that they lost by 14.
Depth was a factor here, as the fast pace of the game left Nova’s shooters with tired shooting legs down the stretch. Still, Wright’s strategy was a sound one. Overmatched as he was, he needed some luck in the form of a hot shooting night to spring the upset. He didn’t get it, but he gave his team their best possible chance to win.
Luck had very little to do with Michigan State’s win over Connecticut. Michigan State is deeper, more balanced and even more athletic than Wright’s Nova Bunch. And State’s Tom Izzo had the advantage of facing a UConn team that had a couple of weaknesses, namely transition defense and free-throw shooting, that left them vulnerable to the right team with the right plan.
Izzo had that perfect plan, and the roster to carry it out. Coming into the game, the assumption was that State, an excellent half-court team, would slow things down and run their sets against the speedy Huskies. Considering that UConn was felt by many to be one of the best half-court defensive teams in the nation, there was some concern as to whether the Spartans would be able to avoid some debilitating scoring droughts. Most predicted a low-scoring, defensive struggle (Vegas set the over/under at a relatively low 134, envisioning the teams to score in the 60’s).
Here’s where Izzo confounded conventional wisdom. Evidently sharing the concern that his team would struggle to score in a half court game, Izzo pushed the pace, enabling his team to create in the open floor and generate some easy buckets in transition.
The decision to take their chances against UConn’s transition defense as opposed to their half-court set proved brilliant, as the Huskies big men- so menacing in the half court- struggled to keep up with the Spartan fast break.
On the defensive side of the ball, Izzo opted to put UConn, 67.8 percent free throw shooters as a team, on the line. He zeroed in on Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrien, and they responded by shooting a combined 8 of 14 from the charity stripe. Kemba Walker, normally a 71.5 percent free throw shooter, obliged Izzo as well by going 3 for 9. Hard to win when three of your key players are clanking 12 of 23 free throws.
Also notice that Izzo used his deep bench early to send UConn to the line without saddling any of his key players with foul trouble. Ten of Sparty’s 25 team fouls were committed by reserves who played minimally, including Idong Ibok, who committed three fouls in six minutes of play, and Draymond Green, who fouled out in 12.
In short, UConn was a flawed team. And Izzo exploited them to perfection. North Carolina, on the other hand, exhibits no such discernable flaws. Even if Izzo does come up with the best possible game plan, it may not be enough.
Just ask Jay Wright.
