Best in big college games? It’s Green for the win
The Warriors have a player with an NCAA championship, one who put up numbers achieved by only the most versatile to ever play, and one whose remarkable underdog run demanded national acclaim.
All told, the Warriors’ roster includes 11 players with NCAA Tournament experience, and head coach Steve Kerr played seven tournament games over a fouryear span. Using tournament games played as the method for seeding those 12, and giving firstround byes to the top four seeds, an intriguing bracket developed to decide which Warrior had the best NCAA Tournament career.
Draymond Green, Eric Paschall, Jordan Poole and Brad Wanamaker got firstround byes because of their respective games played in the NCAA Tournament. The arguments didn’t really start until the second round, when Green was matched against Kevon Looney,
Paschall faced Stephen Curry, Poole played Kelly Oubre Jr. and Wanamaker was pitted against Kerr.
Second round
No. 1 Green vs. No. 9 Looney: Looney probably deserves more credit for averaging 8.3 points and 9.7 rebounds in three tournament games for UCLA, especially because he did so with a torn labrum in his right hip. But
Green’s 15 games of tournament play with Michigan State — during which he averaged 11.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.2 steals — win this round.
No. 4 Wanamaker vs. No. 5 Kerr: Wanamaker had a sneaky good career at Pittsburgh, but Kerr averaged 10.4 points, 3.6 assists and 3.4 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament for Arizona.
No. 3 Poole vs. No. 11 Oubre: All of Oubre’s averages were better at Kansas, but Poole made a gamewinner against Houston to help Michigan to the NCAA Tournament final in 2018.
No. 2 Paschall vs. No. 7 Curry:
Paschall was a big part of Villanova’s 2018 title run, but he got into foul trouble in the championship game and had only six points and eight rebounds. Curry did not score fewer than 25 points in his five NCAA Tournament games with Davidson.
Final Four
No. 1 Green vs. No. 5 Kerr: Green went to the championship game once, the Final Four twice and the Sweet 16 three times, and he inevitably performed. After two firstround outs, Kerr went to the Final Four and had perhaps his worst game. In a 1988 loss to Oklahoma, amid a season during which he set a record for shooting 57.3% from 3point range, Kerr went 2for13 for six points.
No. 3 Poole vs. No. 7 Curry: Sheer talent and production win this one. Curry averaged 31.6 points during his five NCAA Tournament games and was special during 2008. He led Davidson on an Elite Eight run that helped him receive an ESPY nomination for “Breakthrough Athlete” of the year.
Championship
No. 1 Green vs. No. 7 Curry: Only Green, Cole Aldrich (Kansas, 2009), Ja Morant (Murray State, 2019) and Dwyane Wade (Marquette, 2003) had a tournament tripledouble in the 2000s. Green did it in 2011 and ’12, joining Magic Johnson (Michigan State, 1979) and Oscar Robertson (Cincinnati 1959, ’60) as the only players to accomplish the feat twice in the history of the tournament.