NCAA Tournament 2015: Most Outstanding Player Contenders in Duke vs. Wisconsin
There are reasons cliches exist. It's not to annoy you at every turn or out someone as being wildly uncreative, either, although cliches have long been synonymous with those two things.
So when someone says something akin to "legends are created in March," it's natural to roll your eyes a bit. Yes, genius, we most often remember the way players perform on the largest stage. The same goes for every other sport.
Legends are also created in January (college football), February (NFL), June (NBA/NHL) and October (MLB). Add in the individual sports, and you can probably create a "legendary" moment for every month on the calendar.
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That said, cliches aren't created because they're untrue. Legends really are created in March. And April. Georgia State's R.J. Hunter will be compiled in clips for the rest of time showing mid-majors taking down Power Five teams. Jahlil Okafor and Justise Winslow will be remembered for powering Duke past Michigan State to the title game. Frank Kaminsky is going to have a difficult time cutting down his legend package after helping topple Kentucky.
On and on we go, all culminating in Monday's national title game. With that in mind, let's take a look at Wisconsin and Duke's top performers and assess their likelihood of taking home the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award.
Jahlil Okafor, C, Duke
Okafor winning the Most Outstanding Player award would properly cap off one of the best freshman seasons in recent memory. A throwback post threat with an array of moves and underrated feel for the game, Okafor's remained largely effective in the tournament despite not playing all that well.
He had 18 points and six rebounds in Duke's triumph over Michigan State, atoning for his relative disappearing acts against Utah and Gonzaga. Facing two teams with length in the middle, Okafor scored just 15 points and was held in check while his teammates carried the offensive load.
Duke won't be able to win the title without Okafor playing at the peak of his skill set. It's not a coincidence the team's best scoring games have come in the three tournament contests where Okafor has excelled. Their offense just hums at a different level when he can act as the focal point from the post or high block.
That said, Okafor's biggest improvement over the course of the season has been on defense. Like many of his Blue Devil cohorts, he spent most of the regular season intermittently trying and making head-scratching mistakes. Like many of his Blue Devil cohorts, Okafor has completely cleaned up those foibles this month.
Duke has defended at near-Kentucky levels throughout the tournament, and Okafor has done an impressive job of staying engaged when he's not the offensive focal point. If he's able to go head-to-head against Frank Kaminsky and play him to a draw, Duke has a good chance of cutting down the nets.
Justise Winslow, F, Duke
Perhaps no player has helped himself over the last few weeks more than Winslow. Grouped by most in the same general strata as Arizona's Stanley Johnson, Croatia's Mario Hezonja and Kansas' Kelly Oubre heading into the tournament, Winslow has clearly established himself as the top small forward in this year's draft class.
There just aren't many holes in his game. Winslow has an insatiable motor that allows him to pull down boards that are unthinkable for someone his size. He's grabbed double-digit rebounds in three of Duke's five tournament games, posting two double-doubles in the process. The Houston native is also shooting better than 40 percent from three-point range, fills up the blocks and steals on the stat sheet and is one of the best individual defenders in the country.
“He’s a terrific competitor and kid, exceptional athlete, who is becoming an exceptional basketball player,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said, per Will Hobson of The Washington Post. “In this tournament he’s been one of the key guys for us.”
If the tournament ended Saturday night, I'd have a difficult time choosing between Winslow and Okafor for Most Outstanding Player.
Okafor's first weekend was nearly flawless; his second weekend was nearly anonymous. Winslow has been the more consistent of the two, but he'd probably be third on Coach K's list of players to take a shot in crunch time. (Quinn Cook would probably be No. 1 or No. 2 on that list; he's a distant third in the Blue Devils' MOP chase, though.)
It's an interesting conundrum. Winslow probably gets my vote thanks to his consistency. The winner, though, will ultimately be decided Monday night.
Frank Kaminsky, C, Wisconsin
With apologies to Sam Dekker, Kaminsky is winning this award if Wisconsin beats Duke. The AP National Player of the Year has been nothing short of brilliant all tournament long, including putting up 49 points in wins over Kentucky and Arizona.
For the tournament, Kaminsky is averaging 22.2 points and 8.8 rebounds, both leaps over his regular-season numbers. He's been the focal point of the offense all season, a decent enough defender when matched up against the right man and a steady leader whenever Wisconsin has needed someone to step up.
"You come back to school for moments like this, to share it with your teammates, your friends, the people you’ve been with the last four years of your life, very significant people that are going to be in the rest of your life as well,” Kaminsky told reporters (via the Wisconsin State Journal's Jim Polzin) following Wisconsin's Elite Eight win over Arizona.
Winning Monday would the perfect closing chapter in Kaminsky's story. Relatively unheralded when arriving in Madison—he was ranked outside the nation's top 200 players, per 247Sports—his ascent to college superstardom has been a slow burn. He averaged just 7.7 minutes as a freshman and 10.3 as a sophomore before finally breaking out as an upperclassman.
Given the rapid track to stardom that's given way to so many collegiate stars in the one-and-done era, Kaminsky's a throwback in more than one way. It'll take him outplaying the latest one-and-done star to push Wisconsin to a national title. If he does so, there's not much stopping him from hoisting the MOP trophy.
Sam Dekker, F, Wisconsin
Dekker isn't beating out Kaminsky, but we'd be remiss if we didn't give him an honorable mention shoutout. Disappointingly inconsistent as a long-range shooter all season, Dekker has come alive as an offensive force over the last three weeks.
He's averaging 20.6 points per game—more than seven better than his regular-season number—while adding a handful of rebounds and knocking down more than half of his three-point attempts. This is the player Bo Ryan envisioned when he landed the Wisconsin native a few years ago.
Dekker is something of an aberration on this team, a true 5-star superstar in high school who landed in Ryan's lap thanks in large part to proximity.
"I think Sam always plays his best when he's under the most pressure in big games, on big stages, like he's been in the past few games," teammate Bronson Koenig said, per of the Journal Sentinel. "I think he's peaked at the right moment."
Dekker's ascent has helped push him firmly back into the first round of June's draft, and may put him on the edge of the lottery. An intelligent attacker with more athleticism than he's given credit, Dekker's sudden consistency from three-point range was his final missing piece. At the very least, he's clinched going somewhere before pick No. 20, which is more than you could have said during his wildly inconsistent regular season.
No Wisconsin player is beating out Kaminsky for Most Outstanding Player honors, but Dekker's tournament deserves recognition.
Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.
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