Loyalty to the system a common Final Four trait
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
Loyalty to a style, and a head coach, are reasons Michigan State,
Wisconsin, Florida and North Carolina have ended up in Indianapolis.
All could have balked at the demands of their
respective coaching staffs. At times, they did. But once they bought into the system and the
desires of their head coaches, the players started to believe they could
reach the Final Four.
|  | | Billy Donovan won his players over with his high-energy system. |
Wisconsin is the easiest to tackle. Dick Bennett put together a
methodical, disciplined style that fit the type of players the Badgers have
on the roster. Playing up-tempo wouldn't make sense for the Badgers. Andy Kowske was quoted as saying that he would have pulled a hamstring had
they played faster.
Bennett saw the limitations of his players and orchestrated a system
that demands structure, keen movement and set plays that play to the
strengths of each player offensively.
Effort was a key factor in this working. He didn't get enough of it
during the regular season. When the Badgers lost at Wake Forest during the
ACC/Big Ten Challenge, Bennett questioned the players' intensity. They
responded, but didn't really comprehend what Bennett wanted until losing to
Iowa at home Jan. 29.
After splitting games against Ohio State and Minnesota, Bennett put on the locker room board simple goals: defend, rebound and win four of their last six. The only games they couldn't pull off were two against Michigan State. The Badgers answered his challenges,
becoming a selfless team in rallying around a system that they saw was best
for them.
The system, which Bennett took plenty of flak for, is a sensitive
subject in the Bennett house. His wife Anne even spoke of it after beating
Purdue in the West Regional. She said she was proud of her husband, the team
and the system.
Following the game, the players backed Bennett for sticking with
them. Boring? Hardly, they claimed, especially when they were winning.
North Carolina was never billed as boring, but the Tar Heels were lax in
responding to Bill Guthridge's calls for more defensive intensity. They
didn't grab onto what he really wanted until Selection Sunday, when they saw that if they wanted a long tourney run, they would need to get past No. 1 Stanford in the South Region's second round.
Point guard Ed Cota was adamant that the players, not
Guthridge, were at fault during their 18-13 regular season. He said the players didn't
understand the need to defend, or really, how to defend until the
tournament. The Tar Heels finally bought into the concept during the
tournament, using switching man-to-man and zone defenses in shutting down
Missouri, Stanford, Tennessee and Tulsa.
Following the wins over the Volunteers and Golden Hurricane, each
player was passionate in his defense for Guthridge. None of them would even
dare say that he was at fault for their failures during the season. The
loyalty to Guthridge has allowed the Tar Heels to advance to the Final Four.
Florida's players didn't object to Billy Donovan's teachings but
they really didn't grasp the need for intense performances during the
regular season, let alone the SEC tournament. It wasn't until the NCAA
Tournament that the players finally saw that full-court pressure defense
can't be played by players who are lazy. If the Gators pressed, but did it
in a relaxed fashion, it opened up too many easy baskets.
The Gators gave away too many points and let Auburn get behind their
defense in the SEC tournament quarterfinal loss. But that didn't change their
mindset. No, the Gators had to wait until they nearly lost to Butler in the
first round before they understood the need to play their defense at a more
intense level. They did in wins over Illinois, Duke and Oklahoma State. The
Gators, only the second No. 5 seed to make it to the Final Four, have found that they
don't need to be stars to succeed.
Full-court pressure defense can't be a star system. It doesn't work
unless the players are working in concert. Shots will come for each of them,
as long as they create turnovers. Florida finally understands that, and North Carolina
could be next in line to see how much the Gators have learned.
But no team has taken on the personality of its coach and been as
loyal this season as Michigan State. The Spartans have developed the
personality of Tom Izzo by playing harder than their competition, especially
on the boards. Michigan State has to play tough and punish its opponents to win. The
Spartans had been slow to grasp that concept in the first halves against
Utah, Syracuse and Iowa State. But they've wised up at
halftime, crushing the competition in the second half.
Their intensity has been at a higher level in the second halves, and
as a result, the Spartans enter the Final Four as the only team that has
dominated its competition. Florida has had runs, but the Spartans have had
halves where they looked untouchable. Izzo demands execution and effort on
every possession. Once the Spartans responded in the second half, they reap
the benefits with a win.
Loyalty to Izzo has been understood among the Spartans. They want
nothing more than to deliver him a national title. But the admiration for
Donovan at Florida, Guthridge at North Carolina and Bennett at Wisconsin is
as equally strong in an age when transferring and players' misguided sense of entitlement are at all-time highs in college basketball.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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