Obstacles Are Clear and Present
Programming note: The dreamy prospect of Duke versus Kentucky on Sunday can happen only if the teams settle the critical matter of first-things-first.
Duke can’t play Kentucky in a reprise of everything that’s montage and music in college basketball unless it maneuvers past spike-strip Michigan State in tonight’s first Austin regional semifinal game at the Frank Erwin Center.
And Kentucky can’t play Duke unless it can go up and under against Utah, led by 7-foot Australian showstopper Andrew Bogut.
If things go completely haywire, we get Michigan State-Utah.
Not a bad regional anyway you bounce-pass it, really, boasting three schools that have combined for 12 national titles and Utah, which lost to Kentucky in the 1998 championship game.
Duke versus Michigan State matches programs that have all but established permanent residency in the NCAA tournament.
Michigan State has advanced to three Final Fours since 1999, winning it all in 2000. Duke has the same number of appearances with a national title in 2001.
Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s record of 66-17 in the tournament has earned him a credit card commercial. Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, who is 21-6 in the tournament, also deserves some credit.
Granted, this is not a Grant Hill-vintage edition of Duke, and Michigan State boasts no 6-foot-9 point guard named Earvin.
Duke, though, was good enough to win the nation’s toughest conference tournament, the Atlantic Coast, in what most would concede was one of Krzyzewski’s best coaching accomplishments, given the Blue Devils’ injury problems and lack of depth.
Duke has a short bench and the shooting woes of guard J.J. Redick, who was one for seven against Delaware State and six for 17 against Mississippi State.
“I never feel like I have a slump,” Redick said Thursday. “I go into every game with confidence and feeling good about how I’m going to play, and feeling good about our team’s chances of winning.”
Michigan State has played erratically, but Izzo’s teams are hardly strangers to championship settings.
As for Game 2, it was noted in Salt Lake City this week that Utah had beaten Kentucky in postseason play -- whipping Adolph Rupp’s Wildcats in the finals of the 1947 National Invitation Tournament.
The NCAA tournament has been another story, with Kentucky scoring five wins over Utah in the last 13 seasons.
Those Utah teams never boasted a center the likes of Bogut, talented enough to score 30 points if needed but smart enough to adjust his game when multiple defenders converge. Bogut had only 10 points in Utah’s upset of Oklahoma last weekend, yet dominated the game with his post presence and ball distribution.
“You try to work as hard as you can to make him work,” Kentucky Coach Tubby Smith said. “You have to change it up to make him take more time to find people open.”
