Rock Chalk Jayhawk
Great game last night, why Memphis didn't foul with 10 seconds left is a mystery. Jay Bilas' breakdown after the game last night was spot on about how Calapari was wrong that this was not about putting it in God's hands but getting your team to foul and call timeouts.
That said, the wife walked away with $335 by winning the pool at work with that KU win. She did not have all #1's in the finals either and picked a couple upsets along the way. She went nuts when Chalmers hit that trey. At the end of the game she was on cloud nine and asked "is this what it feels like to win at gambling?" which was follow by "are there pools for the NFL playoffs too?" Reason #25 why I married her.
5 Comments:
Awesome game. One of the better championship games - in any sport - that I can remember.
A strange thing happened last night. I had absolutely no rooting interest and no money riding on the game, but I found myself pulling for Memphis?!?!? I know...it sounds crazy. After all, for the past two weeks I had been rooting against them, calling them thugs, bagging on their fans, reminding everyone what a snake oil salesman Calipari was, etc. But for some reason, as the game wore on, I started appreciating the way they play. And with the exception of Joey Dorsey (who seems about one bad call away from going Ron Artest), they seem like they play hard, as a team, relatively ego-free. Don't get me wrong, I won't be emailing CAlipari today or anything, but I just started enjoying watching them...especially Derrick Rose. My goodness, I hope the Wolves get him in the draft. Plus, have you seen that 350 pound guy who comes off their bench?!?! Yikes.
The bottom line is that Calipari should have fouled, and everyone in the stadium knew it. He claims they wanted to wait until the guy reached half court, but that obviously didn't work out.
BTW, that kid Cole Aldrich from Bloomington Jefferson played a bit...and actually looked good on Saturday night.
One final thought: if you are a UNC player, do you want to punch Roy Williams in the throat today?!?!? I appreciate that he spent 15 years at KU, but cheer for them in private!!! Or sit in their section but DON'T wear a Jayhawk sticker the size of your boob on your shirt!
I'm spent.
April 8, 2008 at 11:25 AM
Congrats to Sarah and you for your share of the money (if there is one). Let's not act like this was her first time gambling/winning. We all know she has been running the FFL franchise Baba Booey for years.
As everyone shoud have guessed I was on the otherside of the coin. There are only 4 of us on my desk so we each drew a team last Friday and I had Memphis. All I have to say is I counted my chickens before they hatched.
On the in-bounds pass the Memphis gaurd would let the ball bounce to him several times before he began to dribble it. Is there anypoint to that or does it just look cool? It seemed to just waste time and look playgroundish when Memphis was behind. My basketball knowledge is so minimal that this is a serious question.
April 8, 2008 at 11:26 AM
RTS - the clock doesn't start until someone touches the ball, so it theoretically saves time...but I've never been a huge fan. Wouldn't they be better off just pushing it up the court?
April 8, 2008 at 11:32 AM
RTS, it didn't help your understanding of the clock rule when you had Billy Packer, in his infinite wisdom, keep announcing, "Rose is wasting time, he should be pushing the ball up the court" each time Rose would let the ball advance without his touching it, which, as BG pointed out above, saves precious seconds....
All in all a wonderful end to a fun tournament. Congratulation to S. Stenerud on her winnings... I actually came in 2nd in my bracket thanks to Kansas inexplicably pulling that game out, but since my win would have only been for pride, I'm glad it worked out for you guys.
BG- I had a similar feeling last night. I went into the game excited for the matchup but without much desire for one team to prevail over the other- I just wanted a competitive game. As the game wore on,however, I really started pulling for the Tigers. With the exception of Rose, Memphis doesn't really have a highly-touted recruit. CDR has made himself into a very good player, Dorsey is just a plain banger, and Dozier and Taggert are a combined 170lbs...and as you pointd out, one of the first guys off the bench was Willam Perry Jr., how can you not root for that team?
In the end I think Kansas' depth and some questionable coaching choices did them in... while I was told Calipari wanted his team to foul on that last play, he really should have called a TO (I'm fairly sure they had one to use) to make sure all of the players were on board, because they had plenty of opportunities to foul and chose to defend instead. I also think that Calipari rode Rose too hard (hence the cramping- and lack of explosiveness near the end of the game),Kemp hardly played at all, and he's certainly more than serviceable.
April 8, 2008 at 1:33 PM
Great game, I yelped when Chalmers hit that shot. Thoughts:
1. I don't like to see Kansas fans get their win, but man do I like that team. I also have a newfound respect for Bill Self. He's agile, not married to a "system" that he sticks with at all costs. Other than the temporary brain fart of going box and 1, he outcoached Calipari last night and he clearly had his team more ready than Williams on Saturday.
2. All four of the FF teams were outstanding, and so much better than my team at the end of the season, it hurt to watch them all shine so brightly while mine was exposed. I really thought we were capable of hanging with the big dogs this year. Obviously wrong. I'm depressed about my favorite team and its last 5 seasons now.
3. I, too, enjoy the way Memphis plays the game, and respect the fight they put up. And feel terribly for CDR for choking so badly. But when I felt myself inching closer to actively rooting for them, I re-read this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/25/sports/ncaabasketball/25preps.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin
and reminded myself that over half of their roster are "graduates" of these "schools." I fully realize the hypocrisy of the whole student-athlete thing when it comes to NCAA football and basketball, but Calipari and Memphis make a total mockery of it.
4. Ol' Roy is just a putz. He tries so hard to make everyone like him no one respects him. At least wear a sky blue sweater under that sticker. On the bright side for him, someone he actually recruited finally won a title.
5. I'm not sure why, but I just think Rose needed to stop making himself easy to guard last night, and Memphis needed to stop setting screens for him. I almost felt like I heard a voice saying that every single time Memphis had the ball after the first 7 minutes of the game. Also, I can't stop thinking about how UCLA should have been trying to get the ball to Kevin Love in the paint more on Saturday.
April 8, 2008 at 5:14 PM
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