Tarheels, Jayhawks, Bruins, Tigers Need to Learn Alphabet to Cut Down Nets

Before we turn our focus to baseball season—and I don’t know about you, but I, for one, am beyond excited over the pending multiple eruptions from Hank Steinbrenner—college hoops season concludes with it’s biggest weekend of the year, the Final Four.  And what better way to analyze March Madness than by examining it from A to Z?

All four No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four for the first time ever.  I’m sure you’ve heard that statistic a time or 100 by now, but it is a fitting place to start seeing as how it has never happened before.

Brandon Rush is arguably the best all-around player for Kansas.  If the Jayhawks plan on a net cutting ceremony, they’ll need Rush burying 3-point shots and scoring off the dribble.  Most importantly, Rush must execute in the last two minutes of games when the outcome hangs in the balance.

Cinderella turned into a pumpkin the precise moment Jason Richards of Davidson missed what would’ve been a game winning three-pointer against Kansas in the Midwest regional final.  Sorry, Cinderella, but, this year, the dance card is full.  And, as for a bonus letter C, Coach Calipari, please stop trying to convince the masses that the Tigers are an underdog.  Your team lost one game all year. One.I’m not buying it, and neither is anyone outside of Memphis.

Darrell Arthur and Darnell Jackson have combined to average 11.5 rebounds through the first four tournament games, and they’ll need to continue this trend against North Carolina in order to negate the board work of the walking double-double also known as Tyler Hansbrough.

Wayne Ellington’s ability to drain threes under the defensive pressure from Kansas and possibly UCLA or Memphis will be a key for the Tarheels.  If Ellington’s jump shot is falling the way he is capable of shooting, then Carolina’s offense becomes that much more lethal.

Free throws, especially in the last two minutes of games, will be a deciding factor in what figures to be three highly competitive contests.  The four remaining teams are shooting free throws at the following percentages in the tournament:  UNC 76.8, UCLA 72.0, Memphis 67.4, and Kansas 63.2.  Now, Memphis fans, please hold the hate mail.  I am not here to beat a dead horse but the fact remains that while the Tigers are shooting a higher percentage in the tournament, that doesn’t change the fact that for the season Memphis only shoots free throws at a rate of 60.7 percent, almost nine points lower than the next closest team, which is Kansas at 69.6 percent.

If great Guard play is your thing, this is the Final Four for you:  Derrick Rose, Antonio Anderson, Darren Collison, Russell Westbrook, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Russell Robinson, Mario Chalmers, and Sherron Collins.  Need I say more?

Help defense. Will Kansas and Memphis double team Hansbrough and Love when they set up shop in the low post?  Both players are so integral to their team’s offensive success that how the Jayhawks and the Tigers choose to defend them will have a direct result on the outcome of the games.

I still can’t get over what strikes me as being one of the most Incredible stats of the year:  North Carolina managed to win every road and neutral site game they played yet they lost twice at home.  With the talent on the their roster and the home court advantage of the Dean Dome, how did that happen?

To paraphrase former Big East Commissioner Dave Gavett, the difference between college ball and the pros is that college hoops are all about the name on the front of the Jersey while the pros are all about the name on the back of the jersey.  And that is what makes the college game, and specifically the NCAA tournament, so special.

Kansas will win the national championship 20 years after Danny Manning led the Jayhawks on a six-game March winning streak.  Hey, give me a break, I picked Kansas in my office pool to beat UCLA so I can’t turn my back on them now, can I?

Kevin Love has been the biggest difference between this year's UCLA team vs. the teams of the past two seasons.  Love has a high basketball IQ and plays with the poise of an upperclassman.  And, with the Florida Gators (the team that sent the Bruins packing each of the previous two seasons) nowhere in sight, UCLA has to feel good about their chances.

If Bill Self, Ben Howland, and John Calipari appear to be walking with a bit of a slouch this weekend, that might have something to do with the fact that each coach has a legitimate claim to the title of Best Coach Not to Have Won a National Championship.  So that slouch can be attributed to the Monkey each man hopes to remove from his back.

As talented as all four teams are this year, it shouldn’t be a surprise to see any of them make a return trip to the Final Four next year given the depth of talent they all have.  Of course, that all depends on three little letters:  NBA.  Decisions made by underclassmen over the next few weeks will begin to sculpt the landscape for next season.

The Out-of-Conference schedule award, hands down, goes to Memphis.  You try playing USC, Georgetown, Arizona, Gonzaga, Siena (they bagged four-seed Vanderbilt in the first round), and Tennessee and came out with only a single loss.

For those of you who are disappointed that a lower seed didn’t crash the Final Four party, I offer the following consolation:  a tournament in which we don’t have to listen to Billy Packer whine and complain about needing to re-seed the four teams in order to get the best match-ups.  With the exception of the play-in game, the NCAA tournament is the closest to a perfect sporting event that we have.  When a lower seed defies the odds and earns their spot, why should they be punished for simply beating the four teams placed in front of them?  The answer is they shouldn’t, and that is why the NCAA should NEVER re-seed the Final Four.

Quentin Thomas.  (Admit it, you didn’t think I’d be able to get anything for the letter Q, did you?)  Anyway, if the Tarheels give out an Unsung Hero award at the conclusion of their season, how can anyone else but Thomas be worthy?  When Ty Lawson missed almost all of February after spraining his ankle against Florida State, and, with Bobby Frasor having suffered a season-ending knee injury, all Thomas did was lead the Tarheels to a 5-1 record while admirably filling in at the point guard position.

Derrick Rose, the super frosh point guard for Memphis, will play an even more crucial role to the team's success now that backup point guard Andre Allen has been suspended for the Final Four due to a violation of team rules as reported by Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com.  According to Parrish, the rule violation was a failed drug test.  Hats off to Memphis for doing the right thing.  Playing big time college basketball is a privilege and not a birth-right.

All four teams will certainly earn some frequent flyer miles as they travel to San Antonio, the site of this year’s Final Four.  Memphis has the shortest distance, a mere 725 miles while Kansas is right behind them at 779 miles.  UCLA is 1,353 miles away while North Carolina has the farthest to travel at a distance of 1,369 miles.  Maybe the winner Monday night can stay a few extra days and take on Tim Duncan and the Spurs?

Tyler Hansbrough.  A lot has been made in the media about Hansbrough and him being white.  Why can’t we just focus on the fact that, no mater how you slice it, Hansbrough is a great college player?  I’m certain that there are plenty of other players who hustle just as much as Hansbrough does.  Has anyone considered that the reason he receives so much face time is because he is the best player (and Associated Press player of the year nationally, as of today) on one of THE most well known and visible basketball schools in history?  And speaking of…..

UCLA.  The mere mention of those four letters conjures up images of college basketball royalty (and deservedly so).  The Bruins are playing in their third-straight Final Four, and, while they have yet to hang another banner from the rafters at Pauley Pavilion, I hope their fans recognize and appreciate what a great achievement this is even if they should fall short again.  Most fan bases would make a deal with the devil to get their team to one Final Four let alone three in row.  So, Bruins fans, enjoy the ride!

Given the success Memphis has had in implementing former Pepperdine coach Vance Walberg’s dribble-drive motion offense, it will be interesting to see how many other coaches seek Walberg’s counsel the way Calipari did.

Russell Westbrook has quickly become one of the most exciting and productive guards in all of college basketball and the NBA scouts are taking notice.  And, if I told you he averages more assist per game than back court mate Darren Collison, would you believe it?

Each team has a certain X-Factor which will help them book a date for Monday night.  For Memphis, Joey Dorsey needs to bring his A-game on both ends of the court and avoid a repeat of last year when Greg Oden schooled him.  Josh Shipp needs a big game offensively for UCLA as Memphis will try to dictate tempo.  If UCLA’s defense isn’t up to it’s usual suffocating standard, the Bruins will need all the fire power they can muster to have a chance to win.  If Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers, and Sherron Collins are knocking down three-point shots for Kansas, Carolina will be in for a long evening.  And North Carolina must be as defensively sharp as they have been all season because Kansas is one of the few teams that can hang with the Heels offensively.

With the exception of Kevin Love and Derrick Rose (perhaps you’ve heard of them), there is not much Youth in terms of impact freshmen for any of the teams.  In fact, all the teams have seniors who played key roles for their teams throughout the season and the tournament.  Nothing like senior leadership.

Robert DoZier, the second leading rebounder for Memphis with 6.8 per contest, needs to help Joey Dorsey control the backboards for the Tigers.  Memphis out rebounds UCLA by four per game and getting as many possessions as they can against UCLA’s stingy defense will be vital.