Kemba Walker might be the most indefensible player in college basketball. In the NCAA championship game Monday night, the Connecticut guard will face perhaps the ultimate challenge against the formidable backcourt defense of Butler.
This is one of the interesting subplots, according to George Mason coach Jim Larranaga.
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“One of the great qualities that [Butler coach] Brad Stevens has is his ability to analyze and evaluate the opponents’ strengths and weaknesses and then relay that information to his players,” Larranaga said. “He has prepared them to defend each of their opponents very well.”
Larranaga said the game plan will be very simple: limit Walker.
“If he has to shoot 25 times to get 20 points, that would be a great job and would make it very difficult on UConn,” Larranaga said.
Butler’s success against opposing guards in the tournament has been well-documented. The beat went on in the semifinals Saturday as Virginia Commonwealth’s guards hit just eight of 33 shots. The Bulldogs limited the penetration of Joey Rodriguez (1-for-8) and prevented the Rams from getting open shots beyond the arc, where they hit eight of 22.
“Something I give Brad Stevens a lot of credit for, it’s not the natural matchup, but they put Ronald Nored on Brandon Rozzell,” Larranaga said. “Instead they put a bigger guy on Joey so he couldn’t see his passing lanes so easily. Those are two very important decisions that led to the victory.”
Larranaga says don’t expect Stevens to stray from the expected matchup Monday night. He thinks defensive stopper Nored will be on Walker, who has averaged 25.0 points a game in the tournament and combined with freshman guard Jeremy Lamb (17.0 ppg) to score 60.9 percent of UConn’s points in the tournament.
Larranaga won’t make a prediction, but if anyone believes in a fellow mid-major, it’s the coach who delivered his 11th-seeded Patriots to the 2006 Final Four.
“They have two big-time players in Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard and probably the best defensive guard in the country in Ronald Nored,” Larranaga said. “They’re a very tough team mentally. They believe in themselves. They believe in the Butler way. Their coach is doing a fantastic job keeping them relaxed and focused at the task at hand.”
