Quick question: What do the top four teams in the latest Associated Press men’s college basketball poll have in common?
The all have seven-footers to control the middle.
No. 2 Gonzaga has the 7-0 freshman phenom Chet Holmgren, who just might be the overall No. 1 pick in this summer’s NBA Draft.
No. 3 Purdue has the mammoth 7-4, 295-pound Canadian Zach Edey to protect the rim.
And then there’s No. 4 Arizona with 7-foot Oumar Ballo.
For all the talk of the college game going to “position-less basketball,” which basically means putting five guys on the floor who can shoot, pass, dribble and defend without a true post player, it sure seems as if size matters when it comes to winning big in 2022.
Nor does it stop with the top four.
No. 7 Duke has 7-foot Mark Williams and his 7-7 wingspan to control the paint.
No. 13 Illinois has 7-foot, 285-pound Kofi Cockburn to dominate inside.
No. 14 Wisconsin actually has two 7-footers in superb sophomore Steven Crowl and serviceable senior Chris Vogt.
Finally, there’s No. 19 Tennessee and 7-footer Uros Plavsic, who once played at Chattanooga’s Hamilton Heights Christian Academy.
So what gives here? How has the game changed so much in a single season after watching Baylor roll to last season’s NCAA title with a lineup that sometimes featured no one taller than 6-5 post player Mark Vital?
“This shows the evolution of coaching,” said former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach Mack McCarthy on Monday. “There’s been so much emphasis on the 3-point shot of late. But there are so many ways to get it done. Good coaches will explore and experiment with different styles of play until they find what works.”
Gonzaga center Chet Holmgren (34) controls the ball while being defended by San Diego Toreros guard Marcellus Earlington (10)of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Derrick Tuskan)McCarthy, who now does television work throughout the Atlantic Coast Conference region of the country, has seen it all during his life. During his youth he saw 7-2 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – then known as Lew Alcindor – win three NCAA titles in a row at UCLA, his dominance so profound as to have the NCAA outlaw the dunk during his time there as a way to attempt to neutralize his incredible talent.
He saw Louisville coach Denny Crum claim NCAA titles in 1980 and 1986 with early versions of position-less basketball and suffocating pressure defense, often stretching full-court. He saw Georgetown’s run of “Hoya Paranoia” defense reach three NCAA title games and claim the 1984 title with 7-foot Patrick Ewing blocking every shot in sight. He also saw Arkansas win in 1994 with a barrage of 3-pointers and “Forty Minutes of Hell” defensive pressure and UConn win four titles with quick, smallish guards who no one could defend.
So when McCarthy says there are so many ways to get it done, he knows of what he speaks.
So how does he see this season shaking out as we enter the second week of February, with Selection Sunday (March 13) a little more than four weeks away?
“In the SEC, Auburn and Kentucky are both great, and Auburn certainly has a lot of different ways to beat you, but I think Kentucky’s a little more consistent defensively,” McCarthy said. “Gonzaga is so good offensively. With Duke, they’re not only getting better defensively, but AJ Griffin is proving he can score from all three levels and Paolo Banchero might be the best mismatch guy in the country. If you try to guard him with a snaller defender, he overpowers them or shoots over them. If you try to guard him with a bigger guy, he’s too quick for them.”
As for Purdue, he says of Boilermakers boss Matt Painter: “He might be the best unknown coach in the country.”
And for all the obvious problems all these 7-footers seem to be posing at the moment, McCarthy delivered a word of caution to the fans of Auburn, Gonzaga, Purdue, Arizona and Duke regarding their paths to the Final Four.
“The fact of the matter is,” he said, pointing to both foul trouble and collapsing defenses, “it’s still easier to take a big man out of the game than a guard or wing.”
In other words, size may matter, but speed and quickness can still kill, which is why fans of Kentucky, Baylor, UCLA, Texas Tech and Michigan State shouldn’t give up on their Final Four dreams just yet.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.