The title of NCAA Basketball Champion moved eight miles down the road from Chapel Hill to Durham, NC. Since I was watching "Battle on Tobacco Road" on HBO last week, it got me thinking ... which of these championship teams was better?
Back when this happened before (Duke won in '91 and '92; UNC won in '93), it was obvious who the better team was. Those Duke title teams are among the best of the last 40 years. But what about this time?
We saw these two play each other twice in 2009. UNC was, obviously, at their championship form. Duke was a year off but had mostly the same personnel that they had this year.
POINT GUARD: TY LAWSON (UNC) VS JON SCHEYER (DUKE): This is an interesting battle. Lawson is the better player, but the two play such different styles. Scheyer figured out how to use his height against smaller defenders. Neither turns the ball over and both have complete control over their teams. I just can't get out of my head those two matchups in 2009 when Lawson routinely went around Scheyer for layups. Advantage: UNC
SHOOTING GUARD: WAYNE ELLINGTON (UNC) VS NOLAN SMITH (DUKE): This is probably the most even matchup and hardest to use the past to help determine the outcome. Nolan Smith vaulted his game this season with a Ellington-esque kind of game. Ellington was the better shooter but Smith brings more to the table. It's hard to go against Ellington, who was as hot as you could get in the second half of '09, but Smith brings a little more to the table with his defense, athleticism and ball handling skills. Advantage: Duke
SMALL FORWARD: DANNY GREEN (UNC) VS KYLE SINGLER (DUKE): Great matchup. Both guys do a variety of things for his team. But Singler is much better. Green was a glue guy; Singler is a go-to guy. Advantage: Duke
POWER FORWARD: TYLER HANSBROUGH (UNC) VS LANCE THOMAS (DUKE): This one isn't close for me. For three years, Hansbrough roughed up Thomas. Yeah, Thomas stepped it up this year (part of that was a move to power forward), but he's no where in Psycho T's league. Advantage: UNC
CENTER: DEON THOMPSON (UNC) VS BRIAN ZOUBEK (DUKE): This is the weakest of the matchups. Thompson is a big man who like turn around jumpers. Zoubek is basically a big road block in the lane. Thompson was more of a part of the Carolina offense (Zoubek's offensive contributions are setting picks and getting offensive boards). In a close one, I'm taking Thompson. Advantage: UNC
BENCH: ED DAVIS, BOBBY FRASOR, LARRY DREW (UNC) VS MASON PLUMLEE, MILES PLUMLEE, ANDRE DAWKINS (DUKE): I like what North Carolina offers here. Both have two freshmen in the mix. Ed Davis was a man-child in the 2009 Final Four and the senior Frasor offered experience and poise. The Plumlees offered aggressiveness, but lacked a bit on the scoring side of things. Both Drew and Dawkins were a bit over their heads in their frosh seasons. I'm giving this to Carolina. Advantage: UNC
COACH: ROY WILLIAMS (UNC) VS MIKE KRZYZEWSKI (DUKE): Both Hall of Famers and you don't lose with either of them. But Coach K does have the same amount of championships (four) as Williams and Dean Smith do ... combined. Advantage: Duke.
OUTCOME: This game would be great. The Tar Heels' offensive superiority could be slowed a bit by Duke's defense. Duke's offense could cause trouble for UNC's sometimes-there-sometimes-not defense. But UNC has the star power and four guys who can kill you. All four are now in the NBA (of Duke's roster right now, only Singler looks like a NBAer). I'll pick North Carolina over Duke, 79-73
Back when this happened before (Duke won in '91 and '92; UNC won in '93), it was obvious who the better team was. Those Duke title teams are among the best of the last 40 years. But what about this time?
We saw these two play each other twice in 2009. UNC was, obviously, at their championship form. Duke was a year off but had mostly the same personnel that they had this year.
POINT GUARD: TY LAWSON (UNC) VS JON SCHEYER (DUKE): This is an interesting battle. Lawson is the better player, but the two play such different styles. Scheyer figured out how to use his height against smaller defenders. Neither turns the ball over and both have complete control over their teams. I just can't get out of my head those two matchups in 2009 when Lawson routinely went around Scheyer for layups. Advantage: UNC
SHOOTING GUARD: WAYNE ELLINGTON (UNC) VS NOLAN SMITH (DUKE): This is probably the most even matchup and hardest to use the past to help determine the outcome. Nolan Smith vaulted his game this season with a Ellington-esque kind of game. Ellington was the better shooter but Smith brings more to the table. It's hard to go against Ellington, who was as hot as you could get in the second half of '09, but Smith brings a little more to the table with his defense, athleticism and ball handling skills. Advantage: Duke
SMALL FORWARD: DANNY GREEN (UNC) VS KYLE SINGLER (DUKE): Great matchup. Both guys do a variety of things for his team. But Singler is much better. Green was a glue guy; Singler is a go-to guy. Advantage: Duke
POWER FORWARD: TYLER HANSBROUGH (UNC) VS LANCE THOMAS (DUKE): This one isn't close for me. For three years, Hansbrough roughed up Thomas. Yeah, Thomas stepped it up this year (part of that was a move to power forward), but he's no where in Psycho T's league. Advantage: UNC
CENTER: DEON THOMPSON (UNC) VS BRIAN ZOUBEK (DUKE): This is the weakest of the matchups. Thompson is a big man who like turn around jumpers. Zoubek is basically a big road block in the lane. Thompson was more of a part of the Carolina offense (Zoubek's offensive contributions are setting picks and getting offensive boards). In a close one, I'm taking Thompson. Advantage: UNC
BENCH: ED DAVIS, BOBBY FRASOR, LARRY DREW (UNC) VS MASON PLUMLEE, MILES PLUMLEE, ANDRE DAWKINS (DUKE): I like what North Carolina offers here. Both have two freshmen in the mix. Ed Davis was a man-child in the 2009 Final Four and the senior Frasor offered experience and poise. The Plumlees offered aggressiveness, but lacked a bit on the scoring side of things. Both Drew and Dawkins were a bit over their heads in their frosh seasons. I'm giving this to Carolina. Advantage: UNC
COACH: ROY WILLIAMS (UNC) VS MIKE KRZYZEWSKI (DUKE): Both Hall of Famers and you don't lose with either of them. But Coach K does have the same amount of championships (four) as Williams and Dean Smith do ... combined. Advantage: Duke.
OUTCOME: This game would be great. The Tar Heels' offensive superiority could be slowed a bit by Duke's defense. Duke's offense could cause trouble for UNC's sometimes-there-sometimes-not defense. But UNC has the star power and four guys who can kill you. All four are now in the NBA (of Duke's roster right now, only Singler looks like a NBAer). I'll pick North Carolina over Duke, 79-73
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