Floor Burns: Finding the Go-To Guy

↵↵Sometimes, it’s about having the right guy at the right moment.↵

↵↵Ask San Francisco. The Dons needed Dior Lowhorn’s threes to help upset Gonzaga on Saturday. Or ask South Carolina: Their upset of Kentucky proved Devan Downey’s worth.↵

↵↵Those go-to scorers who come up big more often than not in the close ones are huge asset for a team trying to scrape together an NCAA Tournament resume. But they’re even bigger for a team that has dreams of an NCAA title. Syracuse has Wes Johnson; Michigan State, Kalin Lucas. Georgia Tech’s looking for their guy. So is Texas. Which of those teams would you bet on to make a Final Four run?↵

↵↵Even better than having a go-to player? Having a proven one. ↵

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↵↵The difference between a proven guy and a promising one is why Kansas and Sherron Collins are going to be favored to take the NCAA Tournament, not John Wall and Kentucky. Both teams have depth and NBA talent, but Collins is the guy we’ve seen do things in the clutch before, and the guy who Bill Self and the pundit class will trust to win games above all others; Wall’s just the crown jewel of the 2010 draft class, a guy whose buzzer-beater brilliance is limited to one early-season shot.↵

↵↵It’s impossible to make this argument without noting that moments are fickle things, the past is only an imperfect predictor, and “clutch” is more or less a myth built by those flickers of greatness. The difference between Collins or an equivalent player coming through and Wall doing so would only be that the latter is a surprise.↵

↵↵But I’d be more surprised if the team that’s cutting down nets in April doesn’t have a go-to guy of any vintage. Collins and Wall will both draw the other side’s best defender, and that will create open looks for everyone. Breakdowns that don’t happen when teams are playing typical defensive schemes multiply when keying on one player.↵

↵↵Chances are, the team that wins six straight is going to need one late shot to do so, and having a go-to guy increases the chances of that shot being easier.↵

↵↵Spreading the Floor. At The Dagger, Matt Norlander wonders if USC’s Kevin O’Neill is losing his edge. Bill Plaschke writes about late Loyola Marymount star Hank Gathers. Eamonn Brennan writes about DePaul finding its way under interim head coach Tracy Webster at ESPN’s College Basketball Nation.↵

↵↵The Northwestern Note. Two road losses this week for the Wildcats, but neither all that bad: Minnesota and Michigan State are quality teams. The better news for Northwestern is that the rest of the schedule is light on rugged teams: Except for a road date at Wisconsin, every team left for the ‘Cats is currently under .500 in the Big Ten.↵

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