Memphis Final Preview

At the beginning of the NCAA Tournament, Memphis was supposed to be the first number 1 seed to be eliminated. In fact, the haters have been chirping all year that the Tigers are overrated. The only time they were the 1 seed was after they were the only undefeated team left in the country, and they promptly lost to Tennessee to lose the top spot. Still they finished the year with just one loss and all the momentum in the world. People said they couldn't make a long run in the Tourney because they weren't battle tested in a weak Conference USA. It only seems fitting that the team that no one believed in is now in the title game. John Calipari's band of merry men haven't really been truly threatened by any squad in March Madness so far. They plastered MSU and Texas by 19 points each before eliminating the Knuckler's predicted champ UCLA by 15 on Saturday. Tonight, they face a stacked Kansas roster ready for a battle, and you can bet Memphis is prepared to give them one. Let's take a gander at the Tigers five keys for victory.

1.) Circulating the game through Derrick Rose. The best player on the floor needs to be the center of attention this game. As long as he can control the flow of the game, the Tigers will be in great position to cut down the nets. Like Furry said, "Desert Rose" has straight dominated this Tourney. Not only has he stepped up his game, but the rest of the team realizes that in order to be successful, the Freshman phenom needs to touch the ball every possession. Whether he's tossing up a monster alley-up for Joey Dorsey, or creating an open mid-range jay off a screen, he's probably going to take over as long as the rock is in his hands.
2.) Chris Douglas-Roberts must penetrate the lane more than Peter North. When CDR gets a full head of steam, he's very difficult to stop. He doesn't have the all-around talent that Lebron possesses, but he can drive almost as well as the King. The Monster of the Motor city is one of the most explosive guards in all of college basketball and makes up the best backcourt tandem in all the land.
3.) Chalkin' it up from the Charity Stripe. The Tigers biggest crux heading into the tourney was their inability to cash in on the Free Throw line. That's why many so-called experts predicted an early demise in the tourney. Memphis has seen quite a reversal in fortune during Smarch Madness though, converting on nearly 80% of their Free Throw attempts. A big part of the success has hinged on the afformentioned CDR. Whenever he drives, there's a very strong chance that he'll either score or get fouled. In the NCAA tournament he has made 45 of his 54 FT opportunities. Including 9/11 against the Bruins. If he can put up a similar ratio in this contest, it could really make the difference down the stretch.
4.) Force the Jayhawks to become sloppy papi's. Not many teams in basketball turn the ball over as much as KU. Even with a convincing win over UNC, they still had 19 TO's. If Memphis can keep the aggressive defense at on high octane, the 'Hawk's are going to have more Turnover's than Marwan at the breakfast buffet. Kansas had better hope it's not 19 though, because a repeat of that stat could be a death blow to their title hopes. Look for the Tigers to pounce on the Jayhawks early and often tonight.
5.) Dominate the Paint. Joey "Deez Nuts" Dorsey has been putting his balls to the wall over the past couple of weeks on his way to shutting down the inside game of every opponent. K Love wasn't his usual self thanks to Dorsey dropping an epic deuce on his face. Joey is going to need to be even better against Kansas on both ends of the floor. Considering the 'Hawks height, Dorsey's average of 10 boards per game is no gimme. Sasha Kahn (artist) ate up the Heel's on Saturday and the battle will be on inside in this game to see who can get the upper hand.

5 Important Factors for the Jayhawks Tonight

Saturday was a pretty good night for the Jayhawks. Not only did they win a huge game over UNC, but they also did it against ex-coach and legendary cryer Roy Williams. The icing on the cake is how they turned media darling Tyler Hansbrough into the next Mark Madsen. That game took so much energy out of KU that its going to be a challenge to match the emotional intensity even though tonight's game is for all the marbles. So what are 5 factors that are imperative for Kansas in tonight's game? Lets take a look

1. Stopping Derrick Rose. No player has been as dominant in this tournament as the Chicago-bred freshman. He's been the most athletic player in the tournament as well as the best all-around player in the entire field. Rose has torn up a who's who of point guards as well on the path to the final game including Jamont Gordon, Drew Neitzel, DJ Augustin and Darren Collison. Fortunately for Kansas, they have three awesome perimeter defenders who could possibly contain him. Russell Robinson, Supernintendo Chalmers and Sherron Collins made Tywon Lawson look like Greg Paulus and also shut down the scorching hot Stephen Curry in the Elite 8. They will have to be at their defensive best tonight against Rose, because he is better than anyone they have faced all year. A good sign for Kansas is that their three guards can either go big with Chalmers, play physical with Collins, or match up in speed with Robinson. Maybe the different looks will slow down Rose and get him off his game, because if he dominates like he has lately Memphis is going to be very tough to defeat.

2. Get shots for Brandon Rush. Memphis has played some of the best perimeter defense in the tournament. Where smaller players have withered against the lengthy Tiger defenders, Brandon Rush will have to use his size to get off good shots and provide the Jayhawks with a go-t0-guy on offense. Rush had a really good game against UNC despite his shot not falling, but he will have to both make his shot and penetrate tonight to keep the Memphis defenders honest. Rush has had a tendency to dissapear for long stretches of games, but he cannot do that tonight. Tonight is the reason why he returned to school, he must play like its his last game.

3. Find some inside production. Sasha Kaun and Darrell Arthur have had nice stretches during games, but they have not been consistent enough to get past a team like Memphis tonight. Kansas is going to need an inside presence to keep Joey Dorsey and Robert Dozier honest on defense. If Mother Russia and Arthur can establish inside play and get those guys in some foul trouble, then they will not be able to aggresively help on the penetration of the Jayhawks perimeter players.

4. Control Turnovers. Memphis has been feeding off of the turnovers of their opponents. There is simply no way to stop Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts in the open court. And while Kansas has good ball handlers they have a tendency to get out of control. Their mistakes in the open court let UNC make the big comeback and they must be more careful with the ball tonight. The tempo is going to be fast and Memphis will be trying to poke the ball away from dribblers the entire night. If Collins and Robinson are playing out of control and giving the ball away to the Tigers, the Jayhawks might lose by 20.

5. Keep the game close. Kansas is the more veteran team and is battle-tested. If the game is close they get the decided advantage thanks to their ability to go to multiple options and because they are the better free throw shooting team. Its no coincidence that Memphis' only loss, to Tennessee, and their only close game in the tournament, to Mississippi State, occurred when an open-court game turned into a half-court game in the final minutes. While Rose can still create in those situations its much easier to shut down the Tigers because the big guys and Antonio Anderson will not look for their shots. Free throws will probably not be a huge deal because the ball will be in Rose and CDR's hands and they shoot it well, but Calipari is an awful coach in close games as exhibited in his coaching decisions down the stretch in the Tennessee game. While Bill Self is no John Wooden either, I think he's more prepared to keep his team under control and make the right play if its a close game than Calipari is. If its a 2 point game after the under 4 timeout, Kansas will be right where they want to be.

2008 All-Tournament Team

Now that we are down to the Final Four, its a good time to list which players have been at their best in the big games and did the most for their team in the month of March

1st Team
G - Stephen Curry, Davidson. No player made more of a lasting impression on the tournament than Curry, and no player did more for his team. Curry averaged over 20 points in the second half alone during Davidson's run, and despite only shooting 9-25 against Kansas, the Jayhawks still sent 3 players at him in the final possession so that he could not get a shot off. Without a doubt, Curry will be the most exciting returning player in the nation next year
G - Derrick Rose, Memphis. No player seemed more NBA-ready as a freshmen than Derrick Rose did. I remember seeing him play against Duke early in the year and he was constantly out of control and making awful decisions. But his two performances in beating MSU and Texas not only proved he was the best player on the court, but could possibly turn out to be the best freshmen in this class. No one has more athleticism and talent, and the rate at which he is learning the game is absolutely frightening. Please Seattle draft this guy.
F- Joe Alexander, West Virginia. While it hurt to watch him miss a potential game-winning free throw against Xavier, Alexander proved over the last month that he is All-America material. He destroyed Duke by displaying the best mid-range game in the country and helped make WVU one of the most overachieving teams in the nation.
F - Kevin Love, UCLA. Tim Duncan may be the Big Fundamentals, but Kevin Love sure seems to be the next in line. He seems to do every aspect of the game well whether it be in the paint, at the three point line, or at the defensive end. People keep saying he's not going in the top-10 of this years draft, which means a lot of people either haven't watched him play in this year's tournament or ride a little ass yellow bus to their day jobs.
C - Tyler Hansbrough, UNC. Look we're all annoyed at how Hansbrough has turned into the Brett Favre of college basketball the way announcers slurp up to him, but he has been great in this tournament. If UNC wins the title, his ability to hit a 15 foot jumper like how he did to win the Louisville game, which subsequently opened up his post game, will have been the key.

2nd Team
G - Mario Chalmers, Kansas. One of the most complete guards in the nation. His defensive efforts help shut down Scottie Reynolds and Stephen Curry, and he also hit huge shots to help Kansas finally get to the Final Four. You get the feeling if he wasn't on a team as deep and talented as the Jayhawks, he could probably average 20 points a game.
G - Dewon Brazelton, Western Kentucky. His cinderella efforts were easily forgotten thanks to the attention Stephen Curry got, but no player proved he belonged at a big-time program more than this guy. One of the quickest penetrators in the country, he helped the wacky Hilltoppers to the sweet 16, and kept them close with UCLA all throughout their matchup.
F - Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis. Another guy who probably doesnt get the credit he really deserves. He is an all-around player who can score seemingly whenever he wants, and is long enough to shut down any shooting guard or small forward in America. Watch a bunch of idiot teams pass on him in the draft so that he goes to a good team, and turns into another Tayshaun Prince type player for a contending team.
F - Earl Clark, Louisville. He was the best and the most talented player on a really good Louisville team. This dude can do it all and is extremely athletic for a 6-8 guy. Not many people may know him now, but I guarantee you hear about him next year.
C - Brook Lopez, Stanford. OK he likes Disney movies and looks like a Menendez Brother, but if you saw him absolutely dominate the Marquette game, you know that this freak show can ball.

3rd team
G - DJ Augustin, Texas
G - Jason Richards, Davidson
F - Brandon Rush, Kansas
F - Luc Richard M'Bah A Moute, UCLA
C - Josh Duncan, Xavier

All-Bum Team
G - Greg Paulus, Duke. I had to put the most overrated player on the most overrated team in the country on the list. Not only does he always play like ass in big games, his bitch-like attitude guarantees that Duke will always be everyone's least favorite team in the tournament.
G - Eric Gordon, Indiana. I am going to suspect that Gordon was just burned out from the amount of minutes he played all year and the Kelvin Sampson saga, but he was absoutely terrible down the stretch for Indiana. While its obvious he has a lot of talent, there is no way he should go pro this year because his decision-making and strength is about on par with Rashad McCants, and no thats not a compliment.
F - JP Prince, Tennessee. For some reason this guy thought he was Bob Cousy and tried to dribble all over the place for the Vols. This predictably led to tons of turnovers and was one of the main reasons none of the other Vols played up to their potential. This guy's fine playing off the ball and cutting to the basket, he should just leave the dribbling to the guys that can actually dribble.
F - Chase Budinger, Arizona. All season long I hear about how good this guy is, and then every time I see Arizona play all i see is some goofy white guy standing around the perimeter either shooting an awful three or driving to the hoop for a guaranteed turnover. His defense is also awful so excuse me for not seeing what all the hype is all about.
C - Drew Naymick, MSU. This guy has been garbage the second he got to East Lansing. He has hands of brick, a jump shot that would make his mama cry and no defensive ability other than hack his opponent. The way Joey Dorsey made him and the whole Spartans team his bitch was flat out embarrasing. I will dance a jig the day this guy leaves Sparty for good. What a trick ass mark