Monday, March 29, 1999
Brand is title game's biggest man
Key is how Voskuhl plays Duke center
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Center Jake Voskuhl scored two points in Connecticut's win Saturday and needed that basket to give him more in five games of the NCAA Tournament than Duke's Elton Brand scored his last time out.
This statistical nugget does not begin to hint what a mismatch Voskuhl vs. Brand might be in tonight's NCAA Tournament championship game between UConn and Duke.
At the center of the Huskies' offense, the 6-11, 240-pound Voskuhl accumulated at least as many fouls as points in eight games this season, 39 times in his career. Brand, at 6-8, 260, shoots 62 percent from the floor.
“No matter how hard you try to push him,” said Duke forward Shane Battier, “no matter how many elbows you give him, he just absorbs it. If you try to bang with him, he'll just overpower you, and if you try to play a finesse game with him, you find out he'll out-quick you.”
There is discussion about whether UConn can run with Duke, but that misses the point the Huskies can control the pace of the game by handing the ball to guard Khalid El-Amin and having him run down the shot clock. The pace should be less a factor than whether UConn can finish breaks against the Devils' transition defense.
There is discussion about whether UConn guard Ricky Moore will defend William Avery or Trajan Langon, but that matters less than whether El-Amin does an adequate job on the player who is not stuck in Moore's company.
The aspect of the game that is most crucial to the game is the same as in every game Duke plays: Will Brand rule?
Voskuhl does not have the physical strength to prevent Brand from moving wherever he wishes. Voskuhl's legs are long and lean and do not provide the stable base necessary to keep a player as powerful as Brand in place.
The one chance Voskuhl might have is not to limit Brand's movement, but to match it. He is not as strong, but Voskuhl is nearly as quick, and he's got more than three inches on Brand. As long as Voskuhl stays between his man and the goal, Brand will have to shoot high in order to get the ball to the goal.
There've been few times when Brand was matched against a significantly taller player. Georgia Tech's 6-11 Alvin Jones became his victim in two Duke wins that yielded 17-of-26 shooting for Brand. North Carolina's 7-1 Brendan Hay wood held him to 9-of-23 in two games, but gave up a 9-of-11 outburst in another.
“A lot of times I've played against very tall players,” Brand said. “Those guys got me prepared. It's tougher when they're that big. I use my quickness, my dribbling a little bit to go around them a little more, use the rim as protection. I don't really change up the game plan too much.”
Voskuhl's footwork sometimes gets him into trouble against players with the burst of quickness to get by for a layup or dunk. Trying to block shots from behind when he is beaten in this fashion is one way he picks up unnecessary fouls.
“I've just got to play smarter,” Voskuhl said. “He's proven he can score on anybody in the country. Just to foul him is not going to be the most intelligent thing to do.”
Brand admits he will begin the game by trying to back Voskuhl toward the basket, and Voskuhl fully expects that treatment. “If you can take that way,” Brand said, “then I'll try something else.”
Having seen Michigan State's 260-pound Antonio Smith abused in such a manner, Voskuhl understands he's likely to spend part of the evening on his heels.
“It's hard to defend something like that,” Voskuhl said. “You could try to take a charge, but with his footwork and his control of his body, you can't really do that. If you fall down, he stops and shoots a layup.”
UConn spoke extensively about using players in addition to Voskuhl to help defend Brand, but each team that faces Duke knows how dangerous it can be to leave one of his teammates open. Even the sharpest defensive rotations can be exposed by the Devils' athleticism and instinct for finding open teammates.'
Power forward Kevin Freeman could leave Duke's Shane Battier to double-team Brand, but Brand showed against the Spartans he will find Battier when he's open in the lane.
There also is the possibility of dropping El-Amin into the lane to slap at the ball. It worked a few times for Mateen Cleaves.
Mostly, it will be up to Voskuhl.
“I think that with a player like him, you can't really say you're going to stop him and he's not going to do anything,” Voskuhl said. “I think no matter who Duke's played this year, Elton Brand's been considered an advantage.”
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