Chuck Landon: Danny and I make our Final Four picks – Huntington Herald Dispatch
It’s the NCAA Final Four challenge.
Coach vs. columnist.
Who can pick the three winners in the Final Four with the most accuracy between me and Marshall coach Danny D’Antoni?
>> Villanova vs. Oklahoma at 6:09 p.m. Saturday.
“I favor Villanova because they fashion their team like I like to fashion mine,” said D’Antoni. “They shoot a lot of threes. They have some great outside shooters. And, then, they run smaller, but more mobile, bigs that can push and spread the floor.
“I tend to favor that team because of style, although ours is quicker. We play at a faster pace, but we are very similar in the way we are trying to win games.”
Then, there are the Sooners.
“Oklahoma has a phenomenal player,” said D’Antoni. “What’s his name – Head or Heard or Hide? I can’t get that one. But he has a great step-back. He gets his own shot. And he has a good solid team behind him. They ride him when he’s hot and they’ve got support when he’s not. So, they have a good ball club. It should be a great game.”
I’m picking Villanova because of how well the Wildcats run their offense, their team-first attitude and Ryan Arcidiacono.
“I’m pitching my tent with Villanova,” said D’Antoni.
>> Syracuse vs. North Carolina at 8:49 p.m. Saturday.
“North Carolina is probably the most talented team and the biggest team in the tournament,” said D’Antoni. “They are really, really good when their little guard is making his 3-pointers. They get a little stiff if that’s not happening, offensively.
“But when they’re making the outside shot, their three bigs inside are some of the most talented players in the NCAA. They’re probably the favorite of the Final Four.”
Much like the Orangemen are the Final Four’s sleepers.
“Syracuse has that zone you don’t see every day,” said D’Antoni, “so it’s always a different look every time that you have to play against it. Sometimes I think it’s beneficial and, then, sometimes you wonder – because they have talented, long athletes – that if they picked the pace up and pressed out a little bit more defensively would they be an even better team?
“I don’t know. But Syracuse certainly has been awfully effective with it. It would be hard to question Jim Boeheim. He is a super coach. He has been a super coach forever. But Syracuse is probably the underdog.”
And then some. I never expected Syracuse to make the Sweet 16, much less the Final Four. I believe this could be a blowout.
>> National championship game at 9 p.m. Monday.
“I’m going to say Villanova vs. North Carolina, that’s my guess,” said D’Antoni. “I think the whole game will ride on who is hitting the outside shot. It is absolutely a necessity for Villanova to do it. North Carolina will win it, if Villanova isn’t making the 3-point shot.
“But if Villanova can spread the bigs out and make the 3-point shot at, I’d say, about a 42 percent clip, then I think they’ll win the NCAA tournament probably to the surprise of 99.9 percent of the people who either had Kansas or North Carolina.”
My heart says Villanova, but my brain says to pick North Carolina. D’Antoni feels the same. In fact, we agreed across the board.
So, I guess it’s true.
Great minds do think alike.