Unstoppable Force vs Immovable Object

With the Final Four being complete chalk, we hopefully get to see two all-time matchups between the number one seeds. Given the dominant runs both teams have been on, the matchup that excites me the most is Houston vs. Duke.

Duke has boat-raced through teams and has looked unstoppable on the offensive side of the ball. Meanwhile, Houston has been unreal defensively, holding two-seed Tennessee to just fifteen first-half points. This game has a ton of backstory as well. For starters, it is a rematch of last year's tournament game, where Duke won by three but with some help, as Houston’s star LJ Cryer got injured. Another storyline to watch is whether Kelvin Sampson can finally get over the hump and win a national title. For the past half-decade, Houston has consistently been ranked among the top teams and has been a force, but they always seem to run out of steam in March. This year, however, Houston has looked unbeatable, winning both the regular season and Big 12 Conference Tournament titles. During March, they have not skipped a beat, with their only real scare coming against a pesky Purdue team (who as a four-seed, had the advantage of essentially playing a home game in the Indianapolis region against a one-seed).

On the other hand, Duke looks to return to glory for the first time since Coach K retired. This team has the talent and leadership to do it, and they are plenty hateable just look at Cooper Flagg's mom taunting like a moron in the crowd. The styles these teams play are what make this the best of the two Final Four games. Duke has looked unstoppable offensively, doing whatever they want in the pick-and-roll, especially with Maluach as the lob threat he is. Flagg has yet to be physically challenged, as Arizona lacked the size, and Alabama didn’t even attempt to play defense. The emergence of Tyrese Proctor’s three-point shooting all season has also added a major wrinkle to opposing teams’ game plans against Duke’s offense.

Houston, on the other hand, isn’t particularly threatening offensively they’re fairly average in that regard but their defense is where the "immovable object" phrase comes into play. Kelvin Sampson’s teams play with an unreal level of focus on pressuring the ball and making it almost impossible to get open shots. This year, they are also a very mature team, with Cryer and Roberts leading the way as graduate seniors. You rarely, if ever, see defensive miscues from this group. However, their lack of offensive firepower can hurt them at times. We saw that in the Purdue game, where they completely shut Purdue down but still needed a buzzer-beater to win because they struggled to score.

The Tennessee game is why they match up so well with Duke because the three-point shooting came alive. Cryer and Roberts are great, but Uzan and Sharp’s three-point shooting is what could win them a national title. Houston will never have an off day defensively Sampson simply won’t let that happen, but the question is whether their offense can come alive just long enough to put Duke away.

I think this game will be extremely tight. Even though Duke is far more talented, Houston has the better coach and brings an intensity that is almost impossible to match. I predict Uzan and Sharp will hit key three-pointers late to win a lower-scoring game, which would hopefully lead to Houston cashing my national championship future and sending the Dukies packing again.

In reality, there is a world where Houston struggles to muster up offense and falls in a game where they don’t have enough runs in them to win. No matter what, this clash of titans, one built on offense, the other on defense, should be fun and will hopefully make up for a tournament that has largely lacked great games.