Preview of the Final Four
Only four teams remain out of a field of 65. Those 4 teams had to play their best ball to get to where they are at and must play even better in order to come away with the national championship. The toughest road to the Final 4 was ventured by the Patriots of George Mason. GMU had to get by Michigan State, UNC, Wichita State, and UConn. George Mason will face off with the Florida Gators who defeated Villanova in order to advance to the Final 4. On the other side, LSU pulled off 2 big upsets by beating Duke and then Texas. LSU’s will play UCLA in order to get to the national championship. Here’s a look at the 2 matchups.
LSU vs. UCLA – Both teams have considerable talent but LSU’s big play ability is in their frontcourt while UCLA has a solid backcourt. LSU is powered by Glen “Big Baby” Davis and freshmen Tyrus Thomas. Davis looks like he could plow over a brick wall while Thomas blocks every shot he sees down on the block. On the other hand, UCLA is led by guards Jordan Farmar and Aaron Afflalo. In order to beat UCLA, LSU must control the action by scoring consistently in the paint by getting the ball to Davis and Thomas. They also need guard Darrell Mitchell to hit clutch 3 pointers when Davis or Thomas is double teamed on the inside. For UCLA to advance, they must keep their big men out of foul trouble and in the game. As long as that happens, UCLA should be able to keep pace with LSU and they have more potential from the outside. In my opinion, I’d give the advantage to LSU since I think they are the better team right now and they have beaten 2 solid teams in Duke and Texas, while UCLA needed a miracle to beat Gonzaga at the end of the game.
George Mason vs. Florida – The cinderella story of George Mason has been through quite the ride getting to this point. GMU has a squad of seniors who don’t go down without a fight while Florida has a young group that has been unintimated by its opponents. Florida has been led by Joakim Noah who has arguably been the best player in the tournament so far. The sophomore forward could choose to enter the draft and be in the top 5 picks due to what he has shown during this tournament according to some draft analysts. George Mason has less notable players but their team is filled with seniors that have played alongside one another for 4 years. As Billy Donovan (Coach of Florida) said, George Mason has succeeded since their team has stayed together while teams such as UNC are losing young freshmen and sophomores to the NBA Draft. For George Mason to move on, they must use all their pieces including center Jai Lewis, guard Lamar Butler, and guard Tony Skinn. Those 3 players are the core of the team and they can carry this team to a victory if they play their best and outplay the Gators just like they did against UConn. As for Florida, in order to head to the national championship they must get the ball into the hands of Joakim Noah who has great passing abilities and can score 20 plus points. The Gators have to play fundamental basketball and box out the George Mason big men and outrebound them in order to win. Personally, I think this game is a tough one to predict because it’s hard to say if George Mason’s run will finally end but I think Florida is determined to play in the national championship game.
- Kyle Garis
Let’s hear who you think will advance to play in Monday’s National Championship game
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Posted on April 1, 2006 by Kyle Garis | Filed Under Philadelphia
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I’m going with a Mason vs. UCLA final with UCLA winning it all. That way, I’d win almost all my brackets;-)
Well, I got UCLA right. With Mason I was just hoping for the upset.
If UCLA beats Florida, I will still win most of my brackets;-)