King Kaufman's Sports Daily

Final Four preview: A pair of NBA-ready centers are the highlight as Ohio State meets Georgetown. Plus: Florida-UCLA rematch. And: Pool o' Experts.

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March 30, 2007 | It's not every day you get to see two legitimate NBA centers play each other in a college basketball game. Come to think of it, it's not every day you get to see it in an NBA game, but we'll get to see it Saturday night when Georgetown and Ohio State meet in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

Florida and UCLA, who played for the title last year, meet in the second semifinal this time around. The Final Four tips off with OSU-Georgetown at 6:07 p.m. EDT Saturday.

Ohio State freshman Greg Oden and Georgetown junior Roy Hibbert are both 7-footers projected as lottery picks if they decide to turn pro this spring. Oden figures to be either the first or the second pick, depending what Kevin Durant of Texas does and how NBA teams view the two. Hibbert is projected by most draft watchers around the 10th pick.

Oden vs. Hibbert has basketball pundits searching the old Wayback for a comparable Final Four matchup, and they keep landing on Patrick Ewing of Georgetown vs. Hakeem (then spelled Akeem) Olajuwon in the Championship Game in 1984.

If Oden wants a picture of the future, he should imagine a boot pouring $100 bills on his face -- forever. That's roughly what awaits him if he abandons precalculus -- spring classes started Monday -- and heads to the NBA.

Oden was probably ready for the NBA coming out of high school last year. He's by far the more athletic of the two. But Hibbert, who was a project as a freshman, has improved dramatically and is a more polished player. He makes good, quick decisions in the low post, he is an excellent passer, and while he doesn't dominate the paint on defense the way Oden does, he positions himself well and blocks and alters shots.

Oden has yet to play against a top-notch college center. Hibbert played against Pittsburgh's Aaron Gray in the Big East tournament. Here's how that went: Hibbert 18 points, 11 rebounds; Gray three points, five rebounds. To be fair, Gray played Hibbert evenly, as the teams split a pair of regular-season games.

Here's the thing about Hibbert, though: He's Georgetown's best NBA prospect, but he's not the Hoyas' best player. That would be Jeff Green, who also projects as a first-rounder, though not a lottery pick. He may end up being caught between the two forward positions in the pros, but in college ball, he's plenty quick enough to play small forward. He's basically a big point guard, and Georgetown's game goes through him.

Oden is clearly the best Buckeye, but almost as important is point guard Mike Conley Jr., a terrific floor leader who can also shoot, pass and defend.

Next page: UCLA and Florida roughly the same as last year, but UCLA's improved. Plus: Pool o' Experts standings