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Only Gonzaga Stands Between Duke And The 2015 NCAA Final Four

But Gonzaga is no pushover. Far from it.

By JD King
Mar 27, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Quinn Cook (2) and forward Justise Winslow (12) celebrate as they leave the court after defeating the Utah Utes in the semifinals of the south regional of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at NRG Stadium.
Mar 27, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Quinn Cook (2) and forward Justise Winslow (12) celebrate as they leave the court after defeating the Utah Utes in the semifinals of the south regional of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at NRG Stadium.
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Duke's going to have a lot of big things to deal with in Gonzaga, but that's nothing unusual considering what's left in the field: Gonzaga, Wisconsin and Kentucky are all huge. Duke, Louisville and Michigan State are relatively normal-sized. Well, unless they're standing next to you, that is.

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Still, Gonzaga is as big as anyone, if not as athletic as Kentucky.

Start at center, where Polish native Przemek Karnowski is just...huge.

Karnowski is 7-1 and 288, or approaching Shaq size (collegiate, not pro). He doesn't have Shaq's talent, but we'll bet you a ton of money that you never saw Shaq do this. Or this.

In both cases he's passing to freshman Domantas Sabonis, son of legendary Lithuanian big man Arvydas, a guy who was big like Karnowski with even better passing skills and skills overall.

The guy was a phenomenal talent. If he could have played earlier in the NBA we'd be talking about him with Russell, Chamberlain, Jabbar, O' Neal and Bird, because his skill set was closer to Bird's than the other big men. And he was 7-3!

His son is plenty big - he's 17 and 6-10/230+. Needless to say he could still grow some more. He's what you expect of a European big man, very versatile, ambidextrous and with a full set of skills.

Then there's Kyle Wiltjer, the only guy in the field we know of who has a ring (although there may be someone at Louisville).

He got his at Kentucky of course, where he was in the same class as Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marquis Teague.

Lost in the shuffle, he left Kentucky, spent his year off bulking up, and it's paid off. Wiltjer is averaging 16.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg.

Karnowski is getting 11.1 ppg and 5.8 rpg. Sabonis, who comes off the bench, is getting 9.7 ppg and 7.1 rpg.

Byron Wesley is starting and getting 10.6 ppg and 4.7 rpg.

Just to total that foursome up, that's 48.2 ppg and 23.8 rpg.

Guard Kevin Pangos, 6-2, is averaging 11.8 ppg and 4.9 apg.

Gary Bell, Jr. is averaging 8.3 ppg and 2.7 apg.

Both guys are 6-2 and both are seniors.

For the most part the Zags go eight deep although a few other guys play a reasonable amount.

Duke is not as big or experienced as Gonzaga but probably more athletic. Jahlil Okafor will be challenged by Karnowski's strength, but Karnowski will be challenged by Okafor's agility and collection of moves.

Justise Winslow will probably draw Wiltjer, which could be an interesting matchup. Matt Jones and Wesley should be a fairly straightforward matchup.

There is this notion out West of an East Coast bias. There is something to it but it cuts both ways.

ESPN sees that the majority of the country lives east of the Mississippi and caters to it. What would you do?

On the other hand though it also works to the advantage of the Western schools. How often was Utah in prime time? Gonzaga?

Those schools get to pass under the radar to an extent. There is less attention and less pressure. Gonzaga gets the annual rap of not advancing far, until this year, but not so much criticism because of it.

But still, it's there. Gonzaga looks to be Duke's equal and certainly bigger.

It's going to be a donnybrook, and if Duke plays nervous as it did in the first half against Utah it could be a long afternoon.

On the other hand, we said before Notre Dame's remarkable effort against Kentucky that we'd rather have Duke's game against Utah than Kentucky's game against West Virginia, and the reason is simple: you're not going to get two games in a row like what Kentucky did against the Mountaineers.

You have a much better chance of a much better game against Gonzaga.

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