Greatest Basketball Programs of all time tournament, round 1: Michigan State v Arizona, Louisville v. Kansas

What do ya say we wrap up this first round of action.  This group is pretty diverse.  We have a Big 10, PAC 12 matchup featuring some rich history, and a Big 12 future ACC match up that should be a dog fight.  Spartans vs Wildcats, Cardinals vs Jayhawks, here we go!  Let's meet the starting lineups for the teams...

Michigan State: Magic Johnson, Shawn Respert, Draymond Green, Steve Smith, Drew Naymick

The issue I ran into when picking this team is an issue I also see running into with Arizona:  too many great point guards.  On almost any other team, Mateen Cleaves, Scott Skiles, and maybe even Eric Snow make their way into the line up.  What kept them off?  Magic Johnson.  Even though these guys are the big snubs, I feel like I will get no argument for picking Magic over them.  

Michigan State has a rich history of great guard play and great shooters.  Respert (who's 2,531 points are a school record, as are the 331 three-pointers he hit, and his career percentage of .455 from long range is 17th in Division I history among qualifying players) and Smith (147 three-pointers, and 2,263 points overall—a school record when he graduated and still good for second place all-time) are two of the best shooters, so they give you scoring.  

Where they lack us a lot of notoriety in the post.  Green makes it after he lead the Spartans to a share of the Big Ten title as a senior, earning All-America honors with 16.2 points and 10.6 boards per game.  He is second in school history to Magic in triple-doubles.  Naymick may be a lesser known name, but he is 6'10" and leads the school with a record 134 blocks in his career.  This team needs someone inside, scoring will take care of itself.

Arizona: Damon Stoudamire, Sean Elliot, Richard Jefferson, Bob Elliot, Channing Frye

Again, a school nick-named Point Guard U had a lot of snubs at the PG position.  Mike Bibby, Jason Terry, Gilbert Arenas, and Jason Gardner (who was the first man left off the team) all got consideration.  Stoudamire gets the nod because he stayed 4 years, and averaged 22.8 ppg., 4.3 rpg. and 7.3 apg as a senior, not bad for a 5'10" guy.

While PG U had some outstanding guards, the best guard has to be Sean Elliot.  Elliott is still the U of A's all-time leading scorer with 2,555 points (career average: 19.2 ppg). He was selected twice as the Pac 10 Player of the Year and was a consensus all-American during his junior and senior years.  Elliot led the Wildcats to their first Final Four (during his junior year) and won the John Wooden Award (National Player of the Year) following his senior season.  WOW.

Jefferson makes the team as possibly the best athlete at Arizona, who could jump out of the gym and guard anyone on the floor.  His defense gives him the nod over Steve Kerr.  Bob Elliot (lesser known Wildcat) averaged a double-double (even before they were calling it that) as a freshman (16.5 ppg; 10.7 rpg) and as a junior (18 ppg; 10.3 rpg).  He shot a combined 53.4 percent from the floor over his four-year career and was a two-time (1976, 1977) All American selection.

Frye is here to give a strong front court, as he is No.2 in blocked shots in U of A history with 253.  He scored 1,789 points (13.5 ppg) and grabbed 975 rebounds (7.3 rpg) over his four-year career.

Louisville: Darrell Griffith, Wes Unseld, Pervis Ellison, Dejuan Wheat, Reece Gaines

Don't recognize these names?  You should!  Gaines could do it all, pass, handle, shoot, and rebound.  Wheat  finished his NCAA career as the only player to surpass these career totals: 2,000 points, 450 assists, 300 three-point field goals and 200 steals.  Griffith aka Dr. Dunkenstein, was a 6'4" guard with a 48" vertical.  He ended his career as the leading scorer in Cardinals history with 2,333 points. Not to mention, his 825 points in his senior season is still the best scoring season of any player in Louisville history.  Also, he closed out with a National Championship, a two-time All-American, the all-time steal leader, and 1980 Wooden Award winner.

That was Griffith in college, he did this in the pros

As for Unseld and Ellison, They make up one of the more dangerous front lines in this tournament.  For Unseld, his 20.6 scoring average, and 18.9 rebounding average ranks No. 1 for any Louisville player.  Unseld had an amazing career as a Cardinal, all three years he was nabbed as an All-American.  Not to mention his 45-point effort is still the best single game performance from any Louisville player.  Ellison may not be known as the best player in Louisville history, but he can be labeled as the best freshman to ever play at Louisville.  He finished his years at Louisville with 2,143 points, 1,149 rebounds, and 374 blocks, and was taken as the first player in the draft in 1989.

Kansas: Wilt Chamberlain, Paul Pierce, Danny Manning, Aaron Miles, Keith Langford

I was tempted to put Andrew Wiggins on here...NOT!  If he would stay longer than 1 year at KU maybe, but doubtful.  Anyway, here is the team.  Manning and Chamberlain were no brainers.  What a front court!  This makes for a great match up with Louisville.  

Langford was a stretch, but there has not been much history with SG at KU (mainly because they leave early).  He topped 14 points per game in three of his four seasons in Lawrence, finishing with 1,812 career points (seventh-most in Kansas history), so he gets the start.  Miles edged Chalmers and Heinrich for the PG spot, and his 264 steals are third-most at Kansas all-time, and his school-record 954 career assists rank eighth in Division I history.

Pierce has turned into a great pro and averaged over 20 points a game as a junior.  Need scoring, Pierce gets it done.   

Let the games begin!

Michigan State v Arizona

These teams match up pretty well against each other.  Green and Fyre cancel each other out on the offensive side of the ball.  Jefferson ends up matching up against Magic because Magic is too versatile.  That causes a match up problem for Smith with Stoudamire on him, and he explodes.  Smith goes for 24 points, and despite his best effort, Sean Elliot can not match it, dropping 18 himself.  

The difference in this game?  Defense.  Magic keeps Stoudamire from getting his shot off with any success, Naymick neutralizes Elliot inside, and Sean Elliot cannot fill it up with the length of Respert.

Final Score: MSU 68, Arizona 58

Louisville v Kansas

Great interior match up here.  Chaimberlain and Manning against Unseld and Ellison.  While the Louisville duo is much larger in size and build, the Jayhawks are much more skilled.  Kansas wins the match up inside, mainly because of Wilt.

The difference maker: Paul Pierce.  Griffith is a superb athlete, as are most of the guys for Louisville, but they all lack shooting.  Aside from Gaines, they cannot really fill it up.  Langford is a good defender and keeps Gaines at bay while Pierce drops 18 points en route to a Jayhawk victory.  Rock Chalk ladies and gentlemen!

KU 70, Lousiville 56

-Matt