Final Four: Where Was the Love?

As I watch the National Semifinal between UCLA and Memphis State (thanks for being up on current events Ben Howland), I felt like I was singing the chorus to the Black Eyed Peas' 2003 hit "Where is the Love?"  

In the first three rounds of the tournament, Howland got Love involved early and often. But in the semifinal, after the first 20 minutes, Love had ONLY four shots from the floor. How in the world is that possible!?

He should have had four shots in the first five minutes not with five minutes to go. I would have been shocked if you told me that Kevin Love would only have six points on two of four shooting in the first half.

Love was one the best players all year and was a huge reason that UCLA was even in the Final Four, and they quit feeding him the ball. That is the stupidest thing that I have ever seen.  

How do you slow a team that loves to run in the open floor like Memphis does? Run your half court sets and pound the ball in down low. Love should have touched the ball on every single trip down the floor. Now I am not saying that he should have shot the ball 30 times, but he needed at least that many touches. 

There was no doubt or question that UCLA was the bigger of the two teams. Every time they went inside, something good happened. Whether is was a foul, a basket, a combination of both or at the worst was a good look that just did not fall.

Dorsey and Taggart both picked up their third fouls in a span of 30 seconds. Both fouls came as a result of guarding Love and for some strange reason Love did not touch the ball again for what seemed like an eternity. 

Ben Howland is a great coach and he will continue to win at UCLA and will probably hang a championship banner before much longer, but he missed a golden opportunity to hang this year.

While I might have been singing "Where is the Love?" last night there might just be a lot of Bruins singing it soon if Love opts to enter the NBA draft.