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When it comes to college basketball, ESPN analyst Jay Bilas is a walking encyclopedia. Recruited among one of Duke’s most heralded classes, Bilas helped the Blue Devils reach the Final Four and the Championship Game during his time with the program.
Now the former Blue Devil is a mainstay on all of ESPN’s college basketball shows including in-game play-by-play as well as offering analyses on an array of shows.
Bilas was a top 50 recruit out of high school and a man by the name of Mike Krzyzewski, who was just getting warmed up as head coach at Duke, reeled him in. In his first season, Bilas helped Krzyzewski reach his first winning season at Duke and the second round of the tournament. They reached the second round again, Sweet Sixteen and Championship Game in his three other seasons.
In 1986, the Blue Devils won a record 37 games, which set the highest total for a single season.
We caught up with him at the Rockin’ Refuel (RockinRefuel.com) dunk competition in New York recently, and we picked his brain before filling out our upcoming March Madness brackets.
Q1:
AskMen.com : Syracuse is 7-0 against the top 25 teams this season -- safe to say that they put that Lemoyne loss behind them. What makes them so good and how realistic is another Championship for Jim Boeheim and the Orange?
Jay Bilas :
I think it’s very realistic that Syracuse can win a National Championship. They have really good balance. Two guys they brought off the bench, Chris Joseph and Scoop Jardine, are as talented as the starters they have. Joseph is the highest scoring sub -- one of the five highest-scoring subs in the country -- and Scoop Jardine is one of the best assist men coming off the bench in the country, so Boeheim has it all. He has a star in Wes Johnson, he has a greater shooter and playmaker in Andy Rautins, and he has two really big guys in Rick Jackson and Arinze Onuaku. He has the full package and they guard with that 2-3 zone.
Q2:
AM : How about the fact that they started the year unranked and climbed all the way to the No. 1 seed in the nation?
JB :
It’s probably more of a reflection that it is harder to predict than it is a reflection of them. Jim [Boeheim] was telling anyone who would listen that Wes Johnson was the real deal. When he was sitting out, he was saying that he would be our best player this year back when they had Jonny Flynn, so this is a really good
basketball team.
Q3:
AM : John Calipari has revitalized the Kentucky program, to say the least, but is free throw shooting and a half-court game still going to be the shortcomings of another one of his extremely talented squads - kind of like his Memphis teams?
JB :
It’s not a great shooting team and I think the free throw struggles are fair criticism, and it could bite them in a one-game scenario. It did in the 2009 Championship Game, but the truth is they had a nine-point with two minutes to go and they let it go.
This team is good enough to win it. I don’t think it’s the favorite because they are so young and that’s really the biggest problem. They have not been through this before. I don’t care how mature you are as a freshman; you’re going to go through some things you haven’t seen. We don’t know how they are going to react, and they don’t know how they are going to react.
Can they do it? Yes. Will they do it? The odds are probably more against them than for them.
Q4:
AM : Kansas has a dominant big man inside in Cole Aldrich, they have the experience and quality in guard Sherron Collins, and they have a special freshman in Xavier Henry. Also, the last time they lost in Stillwater (in 2008) they went on to win a National Championship. Do they have the constituents to be not only a top overall seed but a champion as well?
JB :
It’s not only realistic -- I think Kansas is the favorite. Kansas is, I think, the best team. The best team doesn’t always win in college basketball.
They have really good, big guys; they have good guards; they have good depth; they’re the most efficient team on both offense and defense in the country, so I wouldn’t put it past them at all to win the national championship. Similar to what I said about Syracuse, I think Kansas is a really, really good team. I don’t think they aren't quite at "great" yet, but they are one of the two teams that I think can reach "great" on a given night. I really respect that team and the way they play.
Q5:
AM : Duke's senior class finished at sixth place as freshmen, but this class has grown up quite a bit -- 13 conference wins, 30-win territory and undefeated at home. Along with an inside presence with Brian Zoubek -- something they have lacked in previous years -- have they grown enough to be a Championship team?
JB :
Yeah -- they have to get the right matchups. If they run into a team like Villanova in the Elite Eight or something, that’s a team that could really hurt them.
Duke is very, very good. They’ve defended very well. They’ve guarded the three-point line better than they have in years. Their scoring defense is only allowing 62 points per game, which is the lowest they’ve allowed since they joined the ACC in 1953.
It’s a really solid basketball team built around three solid scorers in [Kyle] Singler, [Jon] Scheyer and [Nolan] Smith. Whatever they get from their big guys is a bonus. If they rebound, set screens and run the floor, their big guys can really be helpful to them, and so far they have been.
Q6:
AM : The Duke-North Carolina matchup has lost some luster because of how the Tar Heels have fallen off -- have you seen this before with the nationals Champs falling so far so quickly?
JB :
Yeah -- now, whether it has been quite this far, I can’t remember. It’s happened a bunch of times when a team has won the National Championship and missed the NCAA Tournament the next year, so, it’s not unprecedented.
Q7:
AM : Is Purdue ripe for the picking in the early rounds without star forward Robbie Hummel, who is out for the year?
JB :
Without Hummel, it’s diminished. Can they be good? Yes. Can they be
really good -- good enough to get the Final Four? I don’t think so.
I think Hummel was too big of a part of what they do. I would call him -- even though it has become
cliche -- their heart and soul. He’s the motor on that team. They are good without him, but they aren’t good enough without him.
Q8:
AM : Maryland turned it on late in the season pulling an upset over Duke, could you see a long Tournament run for them?
JB :
Maryland is good enough to get to the second weekend. Do I think they are a Final Four team? No.
They can really score. They are the best scoring team -- both from a two-point and three-point range in the ACC -- and that’s not an accident. They have good players. Eric Hayes is a good player. Landon Milbourne is a good player. Sean Mosley is a good player. Greivis Vasquez is a great college player, and it’s worthy of having his number retired in Maryland.
That team can play and I’m not surprised that they are in the position they are in.
Q9:
AM : How about West Virginia -- how dangerous is a team like that who have had close losses against quality opponents and is somewhat under the radar in that second cusp of teams?
JB :
West Virginia is really good defensively and really good on the glass. They are all about the same size and they have a lot of length, so they can switch just about every screen on defense. They play a little bit of 1-3-1, but really what sets them apart is their ability to guard and get offensive rebounds. This is the best offensive rebounding team in the Big East -- if you keep them off of the offensive glass, you have a chance to beat them. They don’t have great guards, but they are pretty darn good.
Q10:
AM : Your Final Four picks are?
JB :
Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, and Villanova.
Q11:
AM : Your National Champion is who - and why?
JB :
I've got Syracuse just because I think in a tournament setting, Syracuse will be hard to beat. They are very experienced.
I really like their team. Does that mean they are going to win? Of course not, because Kansas is a shade better in a non-tournament setting. And right now, I think Kansas is the best team. In a
tournament, when you have short preparation time, I like Syracuse.
Q12:
AM : There is talk of expanding the tournament -- it seems almost as regular as the talks of the NFL expanding its regular season. Is this a good idea or is this a case of the public hunger to go to the well too much and potentially rub some luster off?
JB :
I think it would be a mistake. I don’t see any reason to expand. If you want to let a couple of extra teams in because you feel they are getting the short end of the stick, that’s fine. But there’s no reason to let 32 more teams into the tournament -- that would be a colossal waste of time.
Q13:
AM : Is it oversaturation? We like what we have now, let’s have more of it?
JB :
It’s not just that, if what you’re proposing is better, you should always strive to make it better. I don’t think this is better. I think this is just going to diminish the accomplishment to make it into the tournament.
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Reader Comments: 4 Posts
The name of the college that beat Syracuse is "Le Moyne" not "Lemoyne". It is a Jesuit college located in Syracuse, NY.
hg
Yes
if I drink the chocolate milk, will it help me make better picks for my march maddness bracket?
What do you think?
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