<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> ATLANTA ? No, we don't have any Cinderellas this time. But you couldn't possibly have a better or more talented Final Four than this year's quartet of Florida, UCLA, Georgetown, and Ohio State. Unlike last year, when we had to witness Florida's disemboweling of overmatched George Mason, we should get two outstanding semifinals on Saturday. Today, I want to focus on the first half of the doubleheader ? Georgetown and Ohio State, who tip off at 6:07 p.m. What's so compelling about this matchup is that it pits the nation's two best pure centers, matching Buckeyes freshman sensation Greg Oden against Hoyas junior giant Roy Hibbert. "It's not too often you have two low post centers going against each other," noted Georgetown coach John Thompson III in yesterday's conference call, and he's right. On many college teams, "center" is a euphemism for "the guy who's a little bigger than the guards." Most teams have a 6-foot-8-inch or 6-foot-9-inch type manning the middle, and often a skinny one at that. But Oden and Hibbert are the real deal ? they're big centers even by NBA standards. In fact, after dwarfing opponents most of the year the 7-foot Oden will be giving up inches to the 7-foot-2 Hibbert. Additionally, each player was his team's top scorer on a per-minute basis, so their importance to the offensive attack of each club is obvious. Oden, the odds-on favorite to be the top pick in June's NBA draft, led the Buckeyes with 15.4 points per game and shot 61.6% from the field. Even Thompson, while trying to insist that his opponent had no discernible weaknesses, allowed that, "Obviously Oden is the focal point." His presence opens the perimeter for the other Buckeyes, who boast a quartet of solid 3-point shooters in senior Ron Lewis (35.8%, including a season-saving triple against Xavier in the second round), freshman Daequan Cook (42.2%), junior Jamar Butler (38.4%), and senior Ivan Harris (39.6%).</div> Source
