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We have previewed the Battle 4 Atlantis, and the Wake Forest-Kansas opening round match up. We know that Wake will need to keep Andrew Wiggins out of the lane, and that Kansas will need to keep Devin Thomas off of the glass. However, we are wondering how these teams would stack up historically. With the help of the crew over at Rock Chalk Talk, we came up with a top historical rotation for two of college basketballs' most storied programs.
What We Did
- We chose seven players, added up the votes and made up our rotation (5 starters, 2 bench player).
- We tried to find as many college stats as we could for each player, but many players do not have stats readily available (due to era) - those numbers which are provided for some older players are total rather than average stats.
- Statistics used: Points (per 40 minutes), Assists (per 40 minutes), Rebounds (per 40 minutes), Turnovers (per 40 minutes), True Shooting Percentage, Effective Field Goal Percentage.
The Kansas Jayhawks
| Player | Points | Assists | Rebounds | TO's | True Shooting% | Effective Field Goal% |
| Jeff Boschee | 11.4 | 3.1 | 2.2 | *** | 57.6% | 55.6% |
| Jo Jo White | 15.3 | *** | 4.9 | *** | 45.5% | 42% |
| Paul Pierce | 37.7 | 5 | 14.4 | 4 | 55.5% | 52.1% |
| Danny Manning | 23.8 | 2.8 | 9.6 | 3.2 | 62.1% | 59.6% |
| Wilt Chamberlain | 29.9 | *** | 18.3 | *** | 51.3% | 47% |
| Dean Smith | *** | *** | *** | *** | *** | *** |
| Clyde Lovellette | *** | *** | *** | *** | *** |
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The Wake Forest Demon Deacons
| Player | Points | Assists | Rebounds | TO's | True Shooting% | Effective Field Goal% |
| Chris Paul | 18 | 7.5 | 4.6 | *** | 62.2% | 54.5% |
| Randolph Childress | 22.2 | 4.8 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 61.4% | 55.9% |
| Dickie Hemric | 2,587 | *** | 1,802 | *** | *** | *** |
| Len Chappell | 2,100+ | *** | 1,200+ | *** | *** | *** |
| Tim Duncan | 18.9 | 2.6 | 14 | 5 | 61.3% | 58.4% |
| Josh Howard | 19.9 | 2.7 | 9.5 | 3.1 | 55.8% | 52.4% |
| Muggsy Bogues | 11.1 | 8.8 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 53% | 49.4 |
Key Match Ups
I am not sure there could be a more epic big man battle than Wilt Chamberlain against Tim Duncan, as both players are regarded as two of the best to ever play the game. Duncan was the Naismith Player of the Year and John R. Wooden Award winner for the 1996-97 season. Chamberlain was a two-time consensus All-American and won the NCAA Tournament's Most Valuable Player award in 1956-57. Both Duncan and Chamberlain will also end up in the NBA Hall of Fame. I imagine there would be a wealth of hook shots, powerful dunks and more fundamentals than a Dee Brown instructional tape.
Another interesting match up would take place a little further from the basket, as sharp shooters Paul Pierce and Randolph Childress face off. Pierce was a consensus All-American for the 1997-98 season and also holds a number of NCAA records for field goal attempts. Childress was a 1994-95 consensus All-American (2nd team) and is best known for his performance in the ACC tournament where averaged 35.7 points. Pierce would have a significant size advantage on Childress, but Childress never walked away from a challenge.
Though we will never know how this contest would turn out, we do know that it would be a lot of fun to watch. I would imagine that the score would be well into the hundreds and Warner Bros. would use the footage for a remake of Space Jam. Please feel free to comment on who you would include on either of these teams and how you would image this game turning out.
Don't forget to tune in today as the Wake Forest Demon Deacons take on the Kansas Jayhawks in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis. Tip off is at 3:30 PM est, and will be shown on AXS (Which you probably don't have). We here at BSD hope you have an excellent Thanksgiving and Go Deacs!