BBN Jam Elite Eight: (2010) Wall & Cousins vs. (1993) Mashburn & Ford

We have reached a pivotal moment in KSR’s BBN Jam Tournament. Will the fan favorites from John Calipari’s first season prevail or will they once again be upset one game short of the Final Four?

The hysteria following the 2010 Kentucky basketball team has been well-documented. Our own Aaron Torres wrote a book about the team (and recently spoke to Patrick Patterson about that squad). Led by John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, the young superstars ushered in a new era of cool. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to get them to the Final Four.

What the 2010 team needed was some outside shooting, something you will find in this 1993 squad. In 1993 Ford set a UK single-season record for made three-pointers, one that stood for almost 20 years. After coming up one game short the year before, Jamal Mashburn was a consensus First Team All-American that put the team on his back to get to the Final Four in New Orleans where the Cats fell to the Fab Five (only after Mashburn fouled out).

TALE OF THE TAPE

Typically, I use this portion of the post to provide the closest thing to objective analysis possible. I am throwing objective analysis out the window to say this matchup belongs to the 1993 squad.

Wall and Cousins are two of the three most freakish athletes to ever walk through Rupp Arena’s doors. That does not matter in NBA Jam. Three-point shooting reigns king above all else. Ford and Mashburn are walking balls of fire that could not be contained.

If you want to think of this as a real-life game of 2-on-2, I’ll accept your argument that Wall could physically impose his will on Travis Ford. There’s no denying it. There’s also no denying that Boogie could not guard Mashburn. He just couldn’t. His size might force Mashburn to play more on the perimeter, only giving Mash the opportunity to drive by him to the bucket.

While others may disagree, you certainly can below, the 2010 team’s Achilles heel from three-point land cost them a Final Four and it should cost them a Final Four in KSR’s BBN Jam Tournament. If only Jodie Meeks stayed for one more year…