Clash of the titans in Memphis
Published: 3/29/2009 12:38 PM
Last Modified: 3/29/2009 12:38 PM
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- While Blake Griffin and Tyler Hansbrough were busy downplaying their matchup Saturday, we town criers in the media were busy trying to figure out when something like this has happened.
Here's what Kevin Blackistone of the Dallas Morning News came up with for fanhouse.com:
"(It is) the biggest meeting of big men in the NCAA tournament since the 1984 Final Four. That was when Georgetown's Patrick Ewing took on and slayed Kentucky's two-headed dragon of Sam Bowie and Melvin Turpin before knocking out Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon.
"Griffin and Hansbrough aren't as polished yet as I recall Bowie and Turpin being in college, and certainly not as good as Ewing and Olajuwon. Those big men were smooth; neither Griffin nor Hansbrough conjures that adjective, though Hansbrough's jumper is more likely to splash while Griffin's, should he attempt one, is most likely to crash.
It can't be overlooked that neither is sized like a center, either, but like a power forward. Bowie, Turpin, Ewing and Olajuwon were seven-footers, or played like them.
But I'll take Griffin and Hansbrough as the best big men we've seen square off in a critical college game in some time and enjoy it."
It shouldn't be hard to do.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
