The Meeting Of The Big Boys

A lot of the talk this week has been in regards to the fact that two mid-majors have made it to the Final Four, little Butler has made it to its second straight, and VCU has laughed at all the naysayers in defeating five of the six power conferences. Then there has been a little talk of Kentucky and Connecticut meeting in the night cap. The two met back in Maui, or as it should now be known as the Kemba Walker coming-out-party invitational (KWCOPI if you will), when Connecticut was up 21 at the half, and won by double-digits. The game that day in Hawaii was not close, but both of these teams are not even close to where they were then, they have grown by leaps and bounds the both of them. The only thing that is the same, well still better, is Walker and his play.

For Kentucky to win this game they need a few things to happen, first off they need Brandon Knight to not necessarily cancel out Kemba, but hold his own. That does not mean he has to score a lot of points, but he has to make Kemba work on defense, not give him open looks when Connecticut is on offense, and he has to knock down a few shots. They need to make a decision, whether they are going to let Kemba get his and try and shut everyone else down, or if they are going to take Kemba away, or at least try to. If they decide to shut down Jeremy Lamb this might be their best bet, because when talking Lamb away then you are taking away easily the second best player the second half of this year. Lamb is killing teams this post season, and if he is taken away then Connecticut will be relying on less proven commodities. They need Terrence Jones to really step up and demand that basketball. He is a force to reckon with, and can score from anywhere, they need to get him aggressive and looking to win this game. If Jones gets going then Kentucky becomes an extremely tough team to stop.

Connecticut has to make sure they do one thing, keep Kemba and Lamb going. If the two of them continue on their pace then they should be just fine, because those two can put up 50 points between them easily. Their team defense has to be strong, but not foul. They can have great team defense, but then towards the end of a shot clock they will foul, or they will foul in the middle of team slides, and it ruins their depth and aggressiveness. They need to make sure they rebound the ball, because they should be able to control the boards with their athletes and the type of active players that they have, including Kemba being one of the better rebounding guards in the nation. They should win the boards, and that should go a long way in this game.

This game should be great, with both Knight and Kemba able to go back and forth at one another. Lamb should be able to control the baseline on offense, and give a guy like DeAndre Liggins fits with the constant movement and screens. Jones has to demand the ball, but the Wildcats also have to realize they need to give him the ball. It should be tight throughout, with Kentucky able to take control midway through the second half with some hot shooting from the perimeter. Kemba is just too much though, and he refuses to lose. He comes up huge in a late run and the Huskies continue their romp through the end of the season, and make a date for Monday night with perhaps Cinderella.

Connecticut 79 Kentucky 74