Grant Hill Has Some 'Crazy' Final Four Keys, Has Not Seen Jim Nantz's Picture of Burnt Toast

Before he’s mic'd up for college basketball's biggest weekend, we caught up with Turner Sports NCAA analyst Grant Hill to talk all things Final Four.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

We’ve finally reached the end of the road.

One hundred and forty one days after the season started, the biggest weekend of the college basketball calendar tips from Houston Saturday. And for the first time in the NCAA Tournament’s 78-year history, the Final Four and Monday’s national championship game will be broadcast on cable. TBS to be precise. So don’t go running to CBS on Saturday and Monday looking for basketball.

Before he’s mic'd up alongside Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, and Tracy Wolfson, we caught up with Turner Sports NCAA and NBA analyst Grant Hill to talk all things Final Four, including each team’s strengths, Buddy Hield’s pro prospects, Jim Nantz’s toast preferences, and his “crazy” keys to winning it all.

It seems like every year we say this is one of the craziest NCAA Tournaments. But with a 15 beating a 2, the buzzer beaters, improbable comebacks and Syracuse’s run, where does this one rank?
It’s hard to rank them, but I will say just three weeks ago prior to the tournament we were talking about this very thing. The upsets, the comebacks, the great individual performances, the buzzer beaters. It just seems like every year it happens. Sure enough this year, it’s happened. That’s what makes the tournament so special. You have these young men who are fighting for the opportunity to play and when that kind of pressure combines with what’s on the line you just see unbelievable moments. We see it every year. That’s why it’s appropriately termed March Madness because that’s the only way to describe it.

Did you fill out a bracket? 
I didn’t. I don’t do the brackets every year. I just focus on my job and my responsibility. The first week is such a challenge, the seeds come out Sunday night and you’re scrambling to prepare for those four games the first day, those eight teams.  And there’s some familiarity; I had Kentucky, Indiana, had Kansas, UConn, programs that have won and been successful but even then learning about those players and then Chattanooga and Austin Peay, schools like that, Stony Brook. Learning about their story and doing them justice. I kind of approach my job as a broadcaster much like how I approached the tournament like my team at Duke. That’s kind of what I’ve done obviously with an ear to what’s going on and totally being consumed by all of the March Madness.

I want to break down Saturday’s games real quick so give me a succinct reason of why each team will win starting with Villanova.
Villanova is a physically, mentally tough team. They have improved immensely through the season. They’ve played their best basketball here in the tournament and really sort of exemplify the term sum of the parts are greater than the whole. They can shoot. They’ve got great coaching. They can easily walk away with the trophy.

And what about Oklahoma?
Oklahoma has a dynamic and explosive player in Buddy Hield who has just been consistently great all season. But they also have a really good supporting cast that’s more than capable of holding their own. A great coach in Lon Kruger. They have the athleticism and explosiveness on both ends of the floor to really beat anybody and win this whole thing.

He’s a guy that if he gets into the right situation and is given time to grow and mature he can really be a good pro."

And what about North Carolina?
North Carolina, they were a favorite in the preseason and to some people are still a favorite now. They have great size. I think they’re shooting the ball now well from the perimeter. Two things that are underrated about North Carolina, they’re actually a great passing team. They have guys that can really pass and are unselfish. And they’re starting to play defense. That was an area that was not really one of their strong points. They would just outscore teams. Now they’re really defending at a high level. You combine that with their depth and overall talent they’re a force to be reckoned with.

And the surprise team, Syracuse?
Syracuse has that David vs. Goliath thing going for them. They have a belief in themselves. They’ve had to overcome so much just to get into the tournament, been through a tremendous amount of adversity this season, but they have banded together. And they’ve been in some moments when they’ve had to be mentally tough and mentally strong and fight. They’re dangerous cause they have nothing to lose and they’re swinging for the fences.  And they have a legendary Hall of Fame coach [Jim Boeheim] who won before. The mere fact that they have  made it this far considering a lot of people didn’t expect them to be in the tournament they’re playing with a confidence they haven’t with all year. They’re a dangerous group.

That narrative that Syracuse didn’t deserve to be in the tournament, do you think that will brought up a lot this week?
If people felt that way, I think they’ve proven them wrong. If anything the selection committee looks pretty good right now because they had them in and made it all the way to the Final Four. It may be part of the narrative, but more so just the remarkable performances, the comebacks, not giving up, the performance last game against Virginia, all of that will consume a lot of the story lines with Syracuse.  

I think I know how you’re going to answer this question, but who is the best player in the Final Four?
I think Brice Johnson is pretty good, but Buddy Hield has separated himself. Those two are different kinds of players and hugely important to their respective ball clubs and have been dominant throughout the season.

What kind of pro will Buddy Hield because he has shot up the mock drafts like a rocket the past few weeks?
There’s a lot of variables that go into players transitioning from college to the pros. A lot of times it’s what style of play are you in, what team do you go to, what’s the personnel around you, what kind of coach do you have. But he has the skill set and talent, he can really shoot the ball. He shoots it from the NBA range, he creates his own shot. He’s a guy that if he gets into the right situation and is given time to grow and mature he can really be a good pro.

Who is the most underrated player in the Final Four?
It’s hard to single out just one because I think each team has unsung heroes, guys that bring so much to the table, have tremendous value, and are largely responsible for their team’s success thus far. When you think of Villanova you think of outside shooting, you think of scoring from the perimeter, they’re one of the best shooting teams in college basketball. But they’re big guy, [Daniel] Ochefu, he’s their inside force, their inside presence; he’s a guy that gives them a rim protector, he’s  a can score in the paint, and he’s playing at point this season where he’s healthy, which he hasn’t really been healthy all year. And he’s playing with a tremendous amount of confidence. So when you think of Villanova, you don’t really think of interior play, but he’s that one guy that’s invaluable to them. And for them to have a chance, he has to stay healthy and stay out of foul trouble.

How much will NRG Stadium’s set up affect the players? The last time Houston hosted a Final Four we were treated to a 53-41 championship game between UConn and Butler. Will it affect these teams the way it did in 2011?
I don’t know. We were there last year for the Elite Eight and Sweet 16 and we had Duke, Utah, Gonzaga, and UCLA, all really good shooting teams and they all struggled shooting from the perimeter. They were still good games. I even went out on the court and got a look at the 3-point line and compared that to [Final Four host] Lucas Oil Stadium last year and the lighting was different. I noticed, not that I was ever a great shooter, but when you’re on the 3-point line on the wings, the sight line of the lights were right in your eyes in terms of looking at the basket. I don’t know if that played a role. It was definitely a different sight line at Lucas Oil.  I would think because of all the talk about that in years past one of the things that will be emphasized at the open practice Friday and maybe at the course of the shootarounds on Saturday will be getting a lot of shots up. Getting used to the environment, getting used to being in a big dome, I would imagine the coaches emphasize the importance of getting shots up and getting comfortable and doing what they can so their players can be effective.

Monday was the anniversary of The Shot. How many people still come up to you to talk about it?
It’s quite remarkable that 20-plus years later we’re still talking about that particular game and moment. I don’t think at the time did we understand or appreciate the historical significance in terms of March Madness and the tournament with what that play meant. To think 20 years later we still talk about it, we still show it, it kind of to me—we talked about all the excitement of this—it symbolizes why it’s so crazy or the unbelievable happens and that’s become the signature moment of what March Madness embodies. It’s cool. It’s cool.

Sticking to Duke a little bit, there was some controversy involving Coach K and Oregon’s Dillon Brooks last week. Do you think Coach K apologizing was the right thing to do?
He acknowledged that he made a mistake; he reached out to the player and coach out there at Oregon and apologized. I think that’s the right thing. You make a mistake, you own up to it and that’s what he did. It sounds like they accepted it and it’s all good.  

Do confrontations like that happen more than we’re generally aware of since the microphone just happened to pick up the conversation?
I don’t see that. I haven’t seen that and the reason for that is when I was in school we weren’t required to line up and shake hands at the end of games. And we didn’t really do it in the NBA unless you knew somebody. So we didn’t have the opportunity to say something or have a coach say something. That didn’t exist back during my career.

You’ve been teaming up with Bill Raftery for a few tournaments now. Do you have a favorite Raftery story?
I think what you get with the humor and the jokes and the personality on camera you also get that off air. He’s always a lot of fun. He’s got a great spirit and a great attitude about life, enjoying life, and enjoying relationships and friendships. So there’s not really one single moment. All of it is fun. I think there’s also a lot of substance and character tied into the humor. He’s genuine person. But there hasn’t been one moment where I’m in stitches. Half the stuff I can’t even remember but I’m enjoying his company.

And you have a lot of respect for him since you call him Coach while a lot of people call him Raft.
I probably call him Coach too much. It’s more as a sign of respect. He was somebody who called my games. And I like to say even when I was playing he was old. So now 20 some odd years later he’s still calling games and he’s still old, but it’s a level of respect. I’ll probably mix in some Bills and Rafs for the Final Four and not just call him Coach.

And regarding your other partner, I’m wondering if you’ve seen the story that Jim Nantz carries around a laminated picture of burnt toast.
I have probably had, with the exception of two days over the course of the last two and a half weeks—throw in the Big Ten Tournament—I have probably had every meal with Jim Nantz and I have yet to see him order or eat toast. I’ve had breakfast with him and never seen him order toast. I have seen him at a steak house maybe have some French bread before dinner. But I have never seen him or heard anything about him and toast. I’ll have to ask him at the Final Four.

And finally, finish this sentence, in order to cut down the nets in Houston the national champion must…
This may sound crazy, but the Final Four is really all about managing your time and managing your team. There are so many distractions, obligations, requirements that you have to do. You also want to prepare your team, and make sure they’re ready. You also want them to experience it and enjoy it. I think whatever team can manage that and have their guys thoroughly prepared and refreshed and ready to go, as crazy as it sounds, I think that gives them a huge advantage and an opportunity to win. But there have been teams, and I’ve talked to guys who I played against or guys that have come through that by the time the game started Saturday night told me they were exhausted. So that’s huge. 

Latest in Sports