For 238 of 240 minutes played in the NCAA Tournament, the Memphis Tigers played like a team that didn't read press clippings that said how they couldn't win the tournament.
They made free-throws and beat very good opponents. It was as if John Calipari had figured out a way to finally win the big one.
With two minutes left in the championship game, Memphis led Kansas 60-51. Then everything that everyone said would happen, happened. Although it was a lot later in the tournament than many expected, their meltdown came at the worst possible time and place.
Kansas coach Bill Self decided at the two minute mark in regulation to start fouling.
As I wrote in previous articles, the numbers don't lie. Memphis spent the next two minutes wetting their leg and missing free-throw after free-throw.
With over a minute left to play, Joey Dorsey fouled out on what Billy Packer called "a terrible foul to commit."
Memphis' execution in the final two minutes of regulation can be compared to watching the Titanic sink. Memphis gave Kansas every possible opportunity to come back and Kansas took every one of them.
Mario Chalmers made an acrobatic three-pointer with mere seconds remaining to tie the game at the end of regulation. At that point, you could see that Memphis wasn't going to come back from this.
If John Calipari is such a great coach, he would have done a better job of motivating his shocked bunch at a time when his players really needed his guidance.
Instead, Kansas ran out to a six point lead early in overtime. Memphis was simply chucking shots at the rim and most were pretty ugly.
Kansas' strategy was perfect. They said, "OK, if Memphis has the lead with 2:00 left, let's foul the crap out of them." Mississippi State had this opportunity in round two but didn't take advantage of it.
Bill Self is clearly the better coach, and furthermore, Kansas was definitely the better basketball team tonight.
Great athletes can only take you so far. Memphis somehow made it to the final, and amazingly, had it won until they realized that they ARE the Memphis Tigers.
Coach Cal, great season! Nobody remembers who came in second…
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6 months ago
YA'LL SUCK....We need new reporters....
6 months ago
I will never understand why coaches don't tell their guys to FOUL when leading by 3 with nder 0:10 to play. Calipari choked. Period.
6 months ago
Calipari never got a touch on the ball! It was the players who choked. They could'nt handle a little extra work in o.t.
6 months ago
calipari is a horrible crunch time coach AND his players choked like dogs. what a loser.
6 months ago
I don't think fouling when up 3 is an obvious call when your team shoots free throws as poorly as Memphis does. If Memphis screws up the timing of the foul, you're potentially looking at Kansas getting the ball back down 1 or 2 with 6 seconds left in the game. You never want to give the other team a chance to win if you don't have to. I might consider it a no-brainer if I had a go-to free throw shooter on my team - but Memphis was laying nothing but bricks at the time.
6 months ago
this is a horrible article, written by someone who has been taking shots at memphis for a month now...face the facts, you are wrong about everything, memphis clearly isnt the worst number 1 seed in history or they wouldnt have annihilated michigan state, texas, and ucla, and played kansas to overtime, when kansas ripped apart unc. you are the most bias writer i think i have ever read and it makes your articles unbearable, its simply pathetic.
from 6 months ago
I agree I was wrong about Memphis being the worst number one seed in history. I never cared about Memphis one way or another before I wrote my first anti-Memphis article. The backlash of hate and vitriol I received by Memphis fans was reason enough for me to continue writing about the subject. I had an article prepared had they won which would have explained how wrong I would have been about this team. I am humble. I also appreciate you thinking that my articles are unbearable. Most importantly I appreciate that you used your name, Aaron, and didn't go under the anonymous tag that most of my hate mail has come from. Clearly some people don't agree with what I wrote, a lot of people do agree though. The facts, though, suggest that I AM right about most everything I wrote in previous articles. I would say I was accurate about 80 to 85% of the facts that I wrote. If you take that number, it would compare favorably to "real" writers who write for major publications. Thank you for not telling me to jump off a cliff or something like that.
6 months ago
WOW!! BEST BASKETBALL GAME I'VE EVER SEEN! SUPER MARIO WAS MY FAVORITE FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME. FAST AND SCRAPPY!! CAN PLAY UNDER PRESSURE!! KANSAS WAS OBVIOUSLY HAD BETTER SPORTMANSHIP. IT'S GREAT TO SEE THE NICE GUYS FINISH FIRST!!
ROCK CHALK JAYHALKS!!!!!!
6 months ago
WOW!! BEST BASKETBALL GAME I'VE EVER SEEN! SUPER MARIO WAS MY FAVORITE FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME. FAST AND SCRAPPY!! CAN PLAY UNDER PRESSURE!! KANSAS WAS OBVIOUSLY HAD BETTER SPORTMANSHIP. IT'S GREAT TO SEE THE NICE GUYS FINISH FIRST!!
ROCK CHALK JAYHALKS!!!!!!
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