UConn is the best team in the country, and San Diego State isn’t half bad. The dirty little secret—that both FAU and SDSU were better than Miami coming into the weekend, even if Miami had played a great four-game stretch to get there—played out in front of everyone’s eyes. It was a good Final Four. Other thoughts on last night:
- Three-point shooting was not an issue for anyone. Even Miami shot 35% from deep (better than UConn by 0.4%). Scoring inside the arc ended up being more difficult. What happened, that shooting wasn’t so bad in the dome? I’m not sure. One theory is luck. Another theory is that teams are getting better at adjusting for the different environment, instead of treating it like it isn’t a concern. There are other theories, but those are the two which seem most plausible right now.
- UConn won, and won handily, but I wasn’t sure they played their best game. They turned the ball over a lot and struggled on the defensive glass. They were certainly the better team, and it showed, but if you subscribe to the theory of teams heating up and cooling off, it’s something to watch. (I don’t particularly subscribe to that theory, if it matters. I think teams are more game-to-game inconsistent.)
- The first 25 minutes of FAU/SDSU were electric and so were the last two, and that was great. In between, the refereeing was such a disaster that it took away from the game. This is not uncommon in college basketball. Officiating is a problem. That doesn’t mean the refs are bad people or anything, and I’m not sure the NCAA has the resources for a massive overhaul, but I do think individual schools have the resources, in at least the power conferences, to invest in officiating and try to figure this out. You don’t need every college ref to be outstanding, but having sixteen crews we could all trust would thoroughly change the sport.
- San Diego State was like a battering ram to FAU. Eventually, they broke through, and all those offensive rebounds followed, and the game changed, changed just enough to give the Aztecs the chance to win, which they then took.
- Tomorrow will hopefully be a lot of fun. It might be a bit of a slugfest, and not in the high-scoring way, but it’s not a bad national championship. We could have gotten worse.
