In a show of true sportsmanship, The Chronicle and The Arizona Daily Wildcat swapped stories highlighting the strengths of their institutions' respective teams. Below, Kevin Zimmerman, who has served stints as the paper's editor-in-chief and sports editor, gives three reasons why Arizona could beat Duke tonight in their Sweet Sixteen matchup (by the way, here's what I wrote for the Daily Wildcat on Duke's advantages).
Three reasons Arizona will beat Duke
By Kevin Zimmerman
Home court advantage: Five of Arizona's players hail from the Golden State, and after last Sunday's game against Texas, some of those players were plotting to collect any leftover tickets they could from their East Coast pals' respective allotments.
When the Wildcats played at USC and UCLA a month back, forward Derrick Williams said he was expecting 100 to 200 friends and family members to show up. If he can somehow pull that off Thursday against Duke, it'll make a difference.
What about the fans from UConn and San Diego State? The Aztecs will likely have a solid following coming up the interstate. Just a guess here, but there's a good chance both schools from the other half of the bracket will be rooting for the underdog Wildcats. That's not even considering the whole, "Everyone's tired of Duke winning all the time," reasoning.
And obviously, Durham, N.C., is five times as far away from the Honda Center as is Tucson, Ariz. -- 2,512 miles compared to 469 miles, to be exact. Arizona will likely have the crowd on its side, and if it's anywhere close to simulating McKale Center, where the Wildcats went undefeated this year, that's a definite advantage.
Versatility and depth: Sure, Duke has the length and height advantage in the paint, but the Wildcats will be able to negate that with a more skillful front court. With Derrick Williams starting at center, the Duke bigs will be forced to cover him and his 58 percent 3-point percentage on the perimeter.
Even if Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski elects to go with Kyle Singler on Williams, UA starting power forward Jesse Perry will also have a skill and quickness advantage against either of the Plumlee brothers.
And with the Blue Devil big men forced give chase on the perimeter, their aggressive defense becomes vulnerable if Arizona's wing players or guards break down their defender.
In addition, UA center Kyryl Natyazhko has come into his own on the defensive end of late. Though he's been shy to shoot, the 6-foot-11, 275 pounder can play alongside Williams, and like Duke's Ryan Kelly, can step out and hit a jumper or two.
Natyazhko is just one of Arizona's often 10-deep rotation, which some might say can be even deeper with the versatility, giving head coach Sean Miller a number of options as far as match-ups are concerned.
Superman: Forward Solomon Hill swears that Derrick Williams leaves the game with 10 seconds to go and puts on his Superman jersey (not cape, apparently), ready to save the day.
Three times now he's done it, having two potentially game-saving blocks on the season. Last Sunday against Texas, Williams scored on an and-1 bucket and hit the ensuing free throw to give the Wildcats the go-ahead point.
So against the Blue Devils, Williams will once again be the focal point on the offense. Even if he's not scoring, Williams commands enough attention for an otherwise average shooting team to get hot from beyond the 3-point arc.
In essence, his statistics don't tell the whole story. If Duke is forced to change up their usual defense, that hand goes to Arizona. If Duke stays with a strict man-to-man without a hefty double, it runs the risk of Williams torching them himself -- early this season Kansas did just that, and Williams put 11 combined fouls on the Jayhawks' best three big men while scoring 27.
And of course, he's a good weapon to have in a close game down the stretch.
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