Greenberg's Michigan vs UConn Scout

Seth Greenberg walks Rich through the full scouting report on UConn and Michigan a few hours before tip, and the conversation circles back to one question over and over. How do you stop Aday Mgbako from being a distributor?

Greenberg opens by tipping his cap to Cori Close and the UCLA women's program. He shares a Coach Wooden story, running into Wooden at the airport and watching him remember his wife Karen's name years after meeting her during community service at UCLA. It is the little things.

On the men's side, the Illinois-UConn grind was what he expected. Dan Hurley's team did enough to take care of the ball and survive. Michigan, he says, has treated the NCAA tournament like a bunch of guaranteed games. They have dominated with size, length, and what Greenberg calls the air space, both lob finishes to Tomorrow and rim protection.

The UConn path to cutting down the nets starts with Mgbako. Greenberg is emphatic. Make him a scorer. Take the assist out of his hands. Because if you over-help, you get killed on the lob, the kick-out three, or the offensive glass.

The second piece is Yaxel Lendeborg's health. If he is 80 to 100 percent, UConn has no matchup. Greenberg expects Jaden Ross and Jaylin Stewart early to defend with size. The third is shot volume. UConn needs to make nine threes, play the game in the 60s, and invert Michigan's defense by pulling the bigs away from the rim and posting Paris Reed inside.

Greenberg says Wisconsin already showed the blueprint by hitting fifteen. Nine is the floor for UConn.

On Dusty May's side, Greenberg wants Michigan to impose identity. Force UConn into contested shots, limit them to one attempt, play ahead on defense. Make Paris Reed guard early. Dictate the shot, do not let UConn dictate it.

The wrinkle Greenberg is most curious about is matchup-driven defense. May game-plans by personnel. Against Iowa and Michigan State, Michigan decided which players could catch the ball and which could not. Against UConn, he has to guard Alex Karaban, Solo Ball, and Liam McNeeley, three shot makers who will punish a soft rotation.

Rich pivots to May scouting the Illinois-UConn game in person. Greenberg would have been there too. He says May was not eyeballing the players. He was eyeballing Hurley. Reading the chess game. Looking for what situations force a sub, what Hurley overreacts to.

On Hurley himself, Greenberg gets personal. He calls Hurley misunderstood. The intensity and the wars are the approach in the moment. Off the court, he is the guy working with Children's Hospital and running a genuine operation. Then the ball goes up and he loses it, which is what happens in heat.

Greenberg's pick is Michigan, with a caveat on Alex Karaban. If UConn wins, Karaban becomes the first player since UCLA to win three national championships at the same school without transferring. The last of the last.

Michigan at their best is just too much.