Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Rock, Chalk, Championship

Sometimes you get a feeling at the beginning of a game that it's going to be a great one. I had this energy running through me that said, "This one is going to be an all-timer." It wasn't even a matter of whether or not that feeling would be wrong; you just kind of know it's the truth.

We'll be seeing that Chalmers shot for years and years to come, but there were some other great things:
  • I can't quite explain why Derrick Rose didn't take the game over the whole time, other than that Sherron Collins was just that good defensively in the man-to-man. He was everywhere against Carolina, so maybe that's not such a stretch.
  • How freaking good is Darrell Arthur? Kevin Love had serious issues with Memphis' interior defense on Saturday, but Arthur was fantastic.
  • Maybe the Tigers could have fouled (and maybe they tried), but Chalmers ended up with an off-balance shot with a hand near his face. You just have to tip your hat to him for draining it.
  • I was going out of my mind when they originally counted Rose's bank shot as a three. His foot was obviously inside the line on the first watch.
  • I was going to joke here about some of the commercials, but I think I'll actually save it and do a whole thing later.
  • Wasn't that kind of a lame "One Shining Moment"? It was okay, but it was really full of Memphis and Kansas. Only one or two Stephen Curry highlights, basically nothing from the Final Four games (the thunderous dunk by CDR on Love comes to mind), no sign of Duke anywhere (even the Gerald Henderson winner in the first round).

Assuming nobody leaves (which is ridiculous, since Beasley and Love, at least, are gone), here is my top 5 for next year:

  • 5. Texas (returns all 5 starters)
  • 4. North Carolina (only loses one key player, no starters)
  • 3. Memphis (loses only Joey Dorsey and bench player Andre Allen, who didn't play in the Final Four anyway)
  • 2. UCLA (loses only one role player, no starters)
  • 1. Kansas (loses Russell Robinson and Roderick Stewart, but that means that Sherron Collins jumps into the starting lineup)

I'm going to assume that Rose, CDR, and Brandon Rush go pro, but not Kevin Love or Tyler Hansbrough. Maybe a reasonable guess? That gives me a top three of Kansas, UNC, UCLA.

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