I was rooting for Wisconsin
 

but I'm kinda glad they lost.

The uber-slow style of basketball drives me crazy.

Even when they have an advantage, they don't push the ball. I hate that.

And for that reason, they deserved to lose. Got so tired of watching their point guard dance around pounding the ball. Ugly, ugly, ugly.

Without Kaminsky in that game the Badgers would have lost by 25.

Well, Wisconsin did rank #346 in tempo this year. Only 59 possessions per game. That's even slow by Rick Majerus standards.

http://kenpom.com/

BYU, as you would guess is very much on the opposite end of that, and while I hope they can play some better defense next year, they are more fun to watch.

Allen, I guess, was that Duke player who scored a bunch in the 2nd half? Someone ought to take some notes--he likes to drive with his right hand. How about forcing him left?

I play ball at work, and there is this student, tall, long arms. Rangy. For this crowd, he is a superior athlete. But he has no left hand. And these morons guarding him let him constantly go to his right hand. Old man me demanded to guard him, and completely shut him down by forcing him left.

Given my superior defensive talent and IQ, maybe I should apply to be Rose's assistant. :)

In college basketball there is a reason that almost all teams that are really good on defense play slow on offense. Offense is when they rest. Rose's offensive style makes it harder to not let some of the fundamentals slide through the cracks. It's not impossible, but it's harder to play good defense when you're tired. I do think they played better defense down the stretch and it made a difference. Unfortunately they let it go in the WCC championship game and couldn't get it back for Mississippi. Or it could have had a lot to do with the level of competition at that point, although they played great defense in the Gonzaga game at Spokane.

You're right, there's only so much energy available to expend.

You can increase the energy you spend by utilizing depth. More players splitting the energy demands.

You can use your energy running on offense, or you can rest on offense and use it for stifling defense. Or you can split it between the two. And every other combination in between.

But it all depends on how efficient you are on both ends. Doesn't matter if you emphasize defense and you aren't good at it.

By far the more successful teams in college BB have a slower pace. And that's bad in terms of entertainment.