Final Four Thoughts (Including My Pick)
Hopefully this blog entry gets completed before the game starts!
Quick Final Four thoughts:
1) Is it too much to ask for one of the two games on Saturday to be a close one? Granted, UCLA-Memphis was close for about 25 minutes, and UNC made that furious rally to close the deficit against Kansas to 4, but at half time of each game, didn’t you have a hard time seeing the trailing team rallying to win?
2) Three Final Fours in a row, and three straight blowouts.
Are we going to become Buffalo West and go for the four-peat next year?
The night before the game, I had my doubts about the Bruins’ ability to guard Memphis’ guards (see #3). I didn’t expect the game to go THAT badly, though. Ten straight misses down the stretch, when the game wasn’t really in doubt?
Actually, I sensed that the Bruins were in big trouble very early in the game, when the Bruins played outstanding D, and couldn’t get any real offense going. The same thing happened last year against Florida; the Bruins shut the Gators down early, but they could only manage three points. As soon as Florida’s—and Memphis’—guards started hitting shots, I knew we were in trouble.
(Tangent: How good would Arron Afflalo have looked on Saturday? Do you think the Bruins could have used a 6′5″ perimeter defender on CDR?)
3) Speaking of Memphis’ guards…how awesome were they last night?
(Tangent: Late in the game, CBS showed a graphic that showed that CDR and Rose had combined for 51 points at that point. After the game, my sister told me that she couldn’t believe that some Memphis player—”that Rose-Roberts guy,” to paraphrase—scored 51 points against UCLA!
Sigh…)
Derrick Rose should be the #1 pick in the NBA Draft next year, and CDR could be a lottery pick too. As badly as UCLA played down the stretch, I’m not going to offer that as an excuse for the Bruins’ loss; Memphis kicked their butts. We can stop discrediting Memphis for their weak schedule now (in fact, one could argue that their weak schedule meant that they had to exert less energy throughout the season; if that’s true, that’s pure genius!).
That being said, Memphis, you could stop playing the “We get no respect” card any day now. The Patriots think that playing with a self-imposed chip on your shoulders is weak.
4) For the past two years, we’ve been saying that Ben Howland hasn’t yet won a title, but I’m starting to wonder if he can win one. The guy doesn’t recruit enough athletes, he is terrible at developing depth, and he can’t seem to make a coaching adjustment for the life of him. Case in point: with about eight minutes left in the second half of the UCLA-Memphis game, Howland went big, playing Westbrook and Shipp at the guards. For 32 minutes, he allowed his small back court to get torched by Memphis’ big guards, and I give him credit for finally making a defensive adjustment, he sent Collison back in two game minutes later! At that point, I knew the game was lost.
Yes, Howland’s teams weren’t the better teams in each elimination match up, but at some point, you have to wonder if the coach is ever going to get it done. I love Ben Howland’s coaching philosophy, but I seriously have to wonder if he’ll ever win one at UCLA.
5) I missed the first part of the Kansas-UNC game—I was on the road, returning home from the bar outside of UCLA where we saw the Bruins’ massacre—and was absolutely floored to see Kansas absolutely blowing out UNC in the first half. I didn’t watch again until UNC got within four, but it was fairly obvious that UNC spent too much energy in making their comeback.
- As for my Final Four prediction…I can’t stand Kansas (ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!! Shut up.), and I am one of those that, when my team loses, I want the team that defeated my team to win, so I’m picking Kansas to win 
Kansas 83, Memphis 77
(Just in the nick of time!)