Final Four: Memphis vs UCLA

[UrbanLegendMD]

The Love/Hansbrough comparisons are basically apples and oranges. Love is far more skilled. Hansbrough is a flat out grunt, tougher and more athletic. A worker bee so to speak. Love is younger, a better passer, shooter, ball handler and has better post skills. They put up similar numbers and were just dominant. But in the end they are vastly different players.

I didn't compare their skills, but their draft position. Love has the skills of a point forward, but I don't think he has the athleticism or scoring ability to put the pressure on the defense at the next level. Basically, he will be relegated to the role player and as a result he will not be allowed to display creativity and his feel for the game. Hansborough on the other hand has everything you need from a hustle player, so you can make an argument he is a better prospect than Love considering the role the two will play at the next level.

[Polynice4Pippen]

The Love/Hansbrough comparisons are basically apples and oranges. Love is far more skilled. Hansbrough is a flat out grunt, tougher and more athletic. A worker bee so to speak. Love is younger, a better passer, shooter, ball handler and has better post skills. They put up similar numbers and were just dominant. But in the end they are vastly different players.

I didn't compare their skills, but their draft position. Love has the skills of a point forward, but I don't think he has the athleticism or scoring ability to put the pressure on the defense at the next level. Basically, he will be relegated to the role player and as a result he will not be allowed to display creativity and his feel for the game. Hansborough on the other hand has everything you need from a hustle player, so you can make an argument he is a better prospect than Love considering the role the two will play at the next level.

Good point. If I had a late lottery pick and both were on the board though I'd take Love. I think he can do a lot of the things guys like Scola and Oberto and Vlade Divac before them did. Hansbrough reminds me a lot of Paul Millsapp and Jason Maxiell, both pretty good players. Just a matter of taste really.

[evildallas]

Well, I'm sad because UCLA could have given me my pool, but Memphis dominated and deserved it. On draft stock, Joey Dorsey had to go up. I know he's 24, but Joey Dorsey should be a late first round pick and contribute minutes instantly as an NBA PF. So much for my hopes of Atlanta acquiring a 2nd rounder draft night and stealing him.

Kevin Love has some good skills, but I think his stock had to take a hit because today showed how athletic big men can affect his game. They're quite a few of those in the NBA.

[commadoor 64]

[UGA Hayes]

I don't know how you can blame Love for not doing anything in the second half. He basically got no touches (for once Billy Packer was right).

Its amazing how protected many college coaches are. If Doc Rivers ever made some of the coaching decisions Ben Howland made yesterday I would be screaming for his head. How hard was it to see that collison was completely overmatched on both ends. Was it really that hard to figure how much better UCLA was playing with Westbrook at the point. Could you got Love at least one touch? How about throwing in a zone every once in a while to mix things up against a team that was slashing the hell out of you. Sheesh.

[Doctor MJ]

I don't know how you can blame Love for not doing anything in the second half. He basically got no touches (for once Billy Packer was right).

Its amazing how protected many college coaches are. If Doc Rivers ever made some of the coaching decisions Ben Howland made yesterday I would be screaming for his head. How hard was it to see that collison was completely overmatched on both ends. Was it really that hard to figure how much better UCLA was playing with Westbrook at the point. Could you got Love at least one touch? How about throwing in a zone every once in a while to mix things up against a team that was slashing the hell out of you. Sheesh.

I could certainly be wrong, but my feeling was that Howland didn't see having a ton of choice. If Collison's in the game, he's going to be overmatched by whoever he faces, and if Collison's not in the game you either have to go big or have to put in somehow of much lower caliber. The former of course would play right in to the problems UCLA was having with the interior being too crowded for Love to operate in. The latter has obvious problems, you really going to put your season on the line with a player who scored 15 points all year over a guy who averages that in a game?

To me the lesson here one that's no surprise: If you've only got 3 perimeter players, you're incredibly vulnerable to a team that can mismatch you there.

[Lord Ashram]

Love will be just fine in the NBA. He has good vision and a nice touch.

I think Rose will be a STUD, after he wins a title of course.

And Tyler from UNC will be a perfectly acceptable NBA player. He might not be an all-star, but I think he'll be a 8 and 6 type, which every team needs.

[UGA Hayes]

-= original quote snipped =-



I could certainly be wrong, but my feeling was that Howland didn't see having a ton of choice. If Collison's in the game, he's going to be overmatched by whoever he faces, and if Collison's not in the game you either have to go big or have to put in somehow of much lower caliber. The former of course would play right in to the problems UCLA was having with the interior being too crowded for Love to operate in. The latter has obvious problems, you really going to put your season on the line with a player who scored 15 points all year over a guy who averages that in a game?

To me the lesson here one that's no surprise: If you've only got 3 perimeter players, you're incredibly vulnerable to a team that can mismatch you there.

I would have switched westbrook to the one, Ship 2, Moute 3, Keefe/aboye 4 , Love 5. Memphis had a huge size advantage on the perimeter otherwise. Plus Howland actually had to use such a lineup and did so with success for chunks of the regular season, so its not like it was a completely out of the blue lineup. Also the refusal to isolate all the Memphis guys with 3 fouls early really irked me.