Youth was served.

I was very impressed with Duke’s win over Wisconsin in last week’s national championship game that had great stretches throughout by each team, but ultimately had an anticlimactic ending. The game will be mostly remembered for the outstanding performances by Duke’s freshmen not named Jahlil Okafor as Justise Winslow, Tyus Jones and Grayson Allen all stepped up big time to lead the Blue Devils and give Coach K his 5th national title. I picked Wisconsin to win the game and I felt very reassured in that prediction until Grayson Allen came into the game and put on a one man show to bring Duke out of a 9 point hole.

All season long I had been thinking in my head “why doesn’t Coach K give Allen more playing time?”. For those of you that don’t follow college basketball very closely, Grayson Allen was a McDonald’s All-American and top 25 recruit entering the season. Yet, he was completely overshadowed by his fellow freshmen teammates. I had discovered him on YouTube and fell in love with his shooting touch and athletic dunks. The combo of Cook and Jones prevented Allen from getting minutes, but towards the end of the season Coach K relied on him more and more and it paid of big time during the game. He was on a run that symbolized everything fans love about March Madness and college basketball. Allen made 3’s, tough finishes in traffic and got steals by shear hustle. It was a momentum shift that ultimately swung the game to Duke’s favour and put Wisconsin in a deficit that they couldn’t recover from. Frank Kaminsky put up a great fight, but his partner in crime Sam Dekker was held in check and the team’s offensive execution faltered down the stretch. I was surprised at Wisconsin’s inability to get good quality looks as Duke’s defense came up big when they needed to.

One negative that really stood out in this game was the officiating. There were very questionable calls for both teams, but the one missed call on Winslow tipping the ball out of bounds was inexcusable. Video replay clearly showed that Winslow touched the ball last and Wisconsin should have had possession. I can’t believe that in 2015 with the exuberant amount of HD cameras and zoom angles available in the arena that a call so simple can still be blown. I know that the NCAA isn’t a professional sports league, but with the kind of money and attention March Madness generates it definitely should try to at least have professional quality.

Both Duke and Wisconsin will most likely take a step back next year as there will be a major loss of talent due to end of eligibility and to the NBA.