We got back in the game by pushing the tempo not slowing it down. Green and Ellington are going to be the keys.
I'm talking bout slowing the players down, not the game tempo. the execution is there, Kansas is just far superior on the wings, and getting great looks at the basket. Even when contested they are getting pretty good looks. Carolina has a center problem also. No big man that can play great D in the paint.
indeed, could be the dagger. but you can't count Carolina out just yet, they can go on a 18-0 run their self.
So KU answers the run and will win. What killed UNC were mistakes and poor decisions after they got it down to 4 points. KU was still in choke mode but UNC couldn't take advantage to pull even or pull ahead. If they had taken the lead, KU may have continued the meltdown mode. As it was, KU woke up in time and squashed 'em. I wanted UNC to win but Memphis vs. KU is fine with me. My main goal for this Final Four was for UCLA to lose. I'll pull for Memphis on Monday but KU winning is fine.
I hate it that Brandon Rush is coming up so big. I was hoping he would stay hidden until we picked down at the end of the first round.
This is going to be a great game. I picked Kansas in my bracket to win it all because to me they were, by far, the most consistently dominant team in college basketball all season long. I knew Memphis' numbers were comparable, but I wrote off their level of dominance based on C-USA. Clearly, based on tournament results, they're just as good. Memphis has more length in the backcourt, but Kansas might even have a little more speed (if that's possible). I'd also give Kansas the edge inside -- they're slightly deeper and have comparable length and athleticism. I think Arthur will be a key -- I think he's more refined as a scorer with his post moves than the big guys for Memphis. (As a side note, I'm in love with his NBA potential -- I think he's one of the most underrated players in the country. On a team without the depth of Kansas, Arthur is a star.) I think Rose's level of dominance is a key as well. Clearly, he's the best talent on the floor, for both sides. However, as a point guard, he's still a freshman lacking big time experience and going against quick, ballhawk-type guards the likes of which he hasn't remotely seen from UCLA and Texas (trust me). On the other hand, from the mental perspective, KU has had some very scary second half moments to both Davidson and UNC -- not exactly awe-inspiring. I think they're still dealing with a lot of the psychological effects from recent chokes. In the end, I'm still picking KU. I have so much respect for Memphis, and I hope the Tigers win -- but Kansas is just so good in transition, on both ends of the floor, and I have a really difficult time seeing a team that plays that style beating them. That said, I underestimated Memphis a week ago against Texas, and I certainly hope I'm doing the same here. Should be a close game.
I have to think Memphis is the favorite. UNC was heavily overrated because Tyler Cheezbrough is a player that relies so much on the refs to give him his points, and every single tournament game before that Kansas game was held in North Carolina. You could see him pouting all game that he wasn't getting calls he normally gets, but it was fair because Kansas had the athletes to outjump him. Cheezbro will suck in the NBA because this exact same thing will happen to him. Anyways, back to Kansas...they played an overrated UNC team, and every other game team they played was a 9 seed or lower (16 round one, then 9 Arkansas, 12 Villanova, 10 Davidson). Memphis is the one team that has even more athleticism than Kansas, and more NBA talent. The way they took down Texas was a statement to the rest of the world that strategy has no place in this year's March Madness: it's coming down to who can jump the other team out of the arena.
I'm just hoping Brandon Rush falls to the Rockets in the draft. Don't really care who wins the tourney.
UNC is far more than Hansbrough. Lawson and Ellington are basically first round locks. Danny Green is a second rounder with first round potential. The team athleticism, and speed, is off the charts. Several here made the case that Louisville was one of the three or four best teams in the entire field, and UNC's team speed made them look silly at times. To reduce UNC to one player is ridiculous. As for how Memphis played Texas -- take a look at the last time Kansas played Texas. As many unforced errors as Texas had against Memphis, Texas played the best game I've seen them play all year in the Big 12 title game. I think many others would agree -- it's why I picked Texas to get to the national championship game in my bracket. And Texas, firing on all cylinders, still lost by double digits to KU. I also disagree that there's no strategy. There was plenty of strategy in the Memphis Texas game. The Texas zone didn't completely collapse the lane, so the quicker Memphis defenders drove and penetrated. On rare occasions when it did, the Tigers made outside shots. Memphis shot 50 percent from the field, while Texas shot 36. They had more assists and fewer turnovers. If it was a game of who jumps the highest, you'd think it would show up in rebounding and blocks -- two statistics in which leaping ability is paramount. Except it was almost identical. Memphis beat Texas because they went out and executed, and that's exactly what they need to do on Monday. The problem is that Kansas defensively is far more tenacious than UT, and I think they'll find that out tomorrow night the same way UNC did last night.
I'll be rooting for Memphis to win. All season long, despite their stellar and near flawless season, everybody has been so critical of them. "They don't play anybody..." "They can't hit their free throws...." "Calipari is overrated..." Blah blah blah. They're not just beating teams, they're embarrassing them. Talk about playing with a chip on your shoulder.
I think Memphis. Based on my last two years of picking NCAAs that means put money on Kansas. Admittedly I havn't been putting money on anyone. IMO Memphis has been consistent. They really handled UCLA and Texas in ways no other teams have. Destroyed a decent playing MSU team as well. That is a 3 game run that looks different than anyone else. Kansas has been way more up and down. So I don't think they are playing as well. On the other hand, statistically Kansas is slightly surperior. Ever so slight edges in most metrics, with more significant edges in FT% and 3%. You could chaulk that up to schedule though, despite Memphis playing in CUSA their schedule came out better. Again, I'll go with the team playing more consistent and more dominant for 40 minutes--that has been Memphis. I'll have to route for Memphis because I don't like the Jawhawks attitude post Roy W leaving nor towards Texas, and I haven't like Bill Self since his thug Illinois squads.
I'd love to be wrong, but I don't really understand where this is coming from. Kansas thoroughly dominated a UNC team considered to be better than the UCLA group Memphis beat. Even the 84-66 final doesn't do it justice -- look at the shooting percentages, rebounds, assists, and blocks. It was complete domination. The same could be said for the way Kansas played Villanova and UNLV, or even Texas in the Big 12 title game. As I said earlier in this thread, that was as good as I've ever seen a Texas team play -- and KU still won by double digits. In this tournament, Kansas had one "down" game -- when a Davidson team with a contrast in style slowed the game down. Likewise, in this tournament, Memphis had one "down" game -- when Mississippi State banged them inside, played physical and kept it close down to the final seconds. Is there something I'm missing? From where I'm sitting, both Kansas and Memphis have been up this entire tournament, with the exception of one game for each.
