Sunday Final 4 Ramblings

Let's start with the nightcap. That was an interesting game. While it ended close, it never felt close. The Ducks never got the star contributions they needed from Brooks and Dorsey and yet...

It wasn't a good game. Close finishes don't equal good games. Oregon played the first half turning the ball over too much and played the second half missing and taking too many challenged 3's. Carolina seemingly played ahead 7-9 points the entire second half. 

The player of the game was Kennedy Meeks who picked up the scoring heft in absence of Isaiah Hicks who was a non-factor. He was a man last night. 

The end of the game was ridiculous. The Ducks going for the quick two was fine. Failing to box out on 4 missed free throws was not. Carolina didn't make a bucket in the final five minutes or so. It was typical of this tournament. A game that finished with tension caused not by great play but by folly. 

Jordan Bell will take a lot of grief, but he was the Ducks best player last night. And he was arguably their best player in March. Sports can be painfully cruel.

The early game was much better. The first 16 minutes were really well played. The Zags made a run after Karnowski went out. How he nearly loses an eye and there's no foul, I'll never know. The Zags picked up the pace without him and Carolina looked gassed heading into halftime.

After being nearly invisible in the first half, the refs made their presence felt in the second half. The Zags built a 14-point lead that was erased in the blink of an eye as they appeared to slow down on offense and Sindarious Thornwell drew a terrible charge call. To the Zags credit, they didn't flinch. They regained the lead and held off a tough Gamecocks team.

The problem in the second half were the whistle happy zebras. What was a great paced game got bogged down by a ref show. Both teams played well through it. Gonzaga executed as well as any team this month in the final moments. The foul to deny a potential tying three, the sure handed rebound and a freshman calmly drilling the two FTs to ice it. It was a pleasure seeing a team execute late.

Freshman Zach Collins was the player of the game. He provided rebounding, timely scoring (his dead ball three was a thing of beauty for Zags fans) and a toughness inside I don't think South Carolina anticipated. His name had popped up in 2018 draft talk. His name now is popping up in 2017 draft talk. So, we may have a one-and-done.

There's still a lot of chatter about the "easy path" the Zags have had to the title game. It's silly. After watching South Carolina embarrass Duke, humble Baylor and beat Florida, that was a grown-ass team. The Zags played like champions and reacted like champions after SC blitzed them to take a brief lead. If you don't think this is a worthy team, you're an idiot. Forget the analytics which love them, watch this team. If you don't see a great team, you simply have a bias. Win or lose Monday, Gonzaga was a great team this year and is one of the best college basketball programs in the nation.