Darrell Arthur (photo. KU)No need for the NBA last night, as Kansas and Memphis gave us one of the best national championship games we’ve seen in a long time. The two deepest and most talented teams in the country got major contributions from a lot of guys, but the night will ultimately be remembered for Mario Chalmers, whose three-pointer with two seconds left sent it to overtime, where the Jayhawks went on to claim their first ‘chip since the Danny Manning Era twenty years ago … Kansas got out to an early lead in the first half, bottling up Derrick Rose defensively and dominating the paint offensively. John Calipari made some tweaks at halftime, though, and the Tigers took what seemed like a commanding lead in the second half until KU rallied to force the extra frame. By that time Memphis just seemed defeated and exhausted and were simply outplayed … In the end, the free throw shooting that everyone said would become problematic for Memphis became problematic. If they’d hit just a few more freebies, the game would have been over in regulation, not to mention the critical junctures where they had to sit Joey Dorsey because he can’t shoot from he line … After Rose (18 pts, 6 rebs, 8 asts) struggled in the first half, Billy Packer made an astute observation that Memphis needed to stop trying to give him screens and just let him create in open space. When they did that in the second half, Rose started taking over. He had at least two incredible plays: the fadeaway two-pointer that was originally called a three which Rose lofted over 6-8 Darnell Jackson off the glass (that actually had seemed like the dagger for Kansas), and the and-one layup where he showed every bit of that 40-something-inch vertical and stayed in the air for what seemed like 10 seconds. Rose showed why he could be a Baron Davis-type scoring PG in the pros. At worst he’s Rajon Rondo, which isn’t bad at all. After this tournament, the Mike Beasley vs. Rose debate over who should be the #1 pick has gotten real close … A few observations on individual players: Darrell Arthur is going to be a very solid pro. Yes, we know he falls right in line with the Overrated Kansas Power Forward profile, which includes Drew Gooden, Raef LaFrentz and Wayne Simien, but did you see him last night? Arthur (20 pts, 10 rebs) hit two HUGE jumpers under pressure in the late stages of regulation, came up with some big rebounds, and in overtime had one interior pass to Jackson for a bucket that was right out of the Utah Jazz playbook … It was blatantly obvious that no one wanted to win the game more than Sherron Collins (11 pts, 6 asts, 3 stls). Not only had Collins battled injuries all season, but you could also tell he had a personal thing going with Rose; they both grew up in Chicago and no doubt have gone head-to-head on the playground, in AAU and in high school. And part of Collins was probably a little sick of all the hype surrounding Rose while no one’s talked about him. Collins’ desire to get the W got him in trouble a few times, though, as he was forcing the issue at times when he needed to pull back. But he came up huge for KU when it mattered — his steal and corner three with 1:40 left in regulation was one of the biggest sequences in the comeback, and he had a crucial steal and assist in overtime. It was fitting that Collins was the one holding the ball at the final buzzer, and he was NOT throwing that thing into the crowd … How good is Chalmers (18 pts, 4 stls) on the defensive end? It’s like he has three hands. When Chris Douglas-Roberts was torching Brandon Rush at a time when Kansas needed to get stops, Bill Self stuck Chalmers on CDR in a box-and-one and you saw Douglas-Roberts immediately become less effective … Speaking of Rush (12 pts, 6 rebs), it was big of him after the game to admit that Douglas-Roberts (22 pts) had got the best of him. Rush and CDR won’t be drafted as high as you’d think due to the “We can get scorers anywhere” mentality, but here’s the thing: the Draft is the best place to acquire and cultivate scorers at a low price tag. Just ask the Pistons and Rodney Stuckey about that … Robert Dozier (11 pts, 10 rebs) will end up playing in Turkey before it’s all said and done, but he was a Shawn Marion-type player for Memphis last night. Dozier handled the rebounding load while Dorsey (6 pts, 2 rebs) sat out with foul trouble, and he had some huge offensive boards in clutch situations. And just like Matrix, Dozier can’t really create his own shot, thriving on off-the-ball movement and put-backs … As annoying as he can be sometimes, Packer is a college basketball Wikipedia of information. At one point he dusted off a 1944 Final Four reference, and it definitely didn’t sound like he was reading off of anything. And you heard the man nonchalantly remember and repeat what he said at halftime of the ‘88 championship game. Then again, Packer did mispronounce Sherron Collins’ name like six different times during the night … That alley-oop to Sasha Kaun off a back-pick is the one play that you know is coming early in the game if you play Kansas, and still no one can stop it. Remember how the Suns, on their first or second possession of every game, always used to run that high-post lob with Boris Diaw and Marion? Or how, late in the game, you know the Hornets are running the pick-and-roll with Chris Paul and Tyson Chandler? It’s like that … Obviously no one in the Dime office has bothered to watch the show or do the research, so we’ll just ask you guys: What does NCIS stand for? Who’s on the show? What’s it about? Is it worth fitting into the TV rotation? … And what was with CBS showing some replays like 15 times over and over (with sound)? It was especially annoying because the rim mics were turned up SUPER-LOUD … If you didn’t get a good look at Tracy McGrady’s half-brother Chance McGrady on the Memphis bench, it’s because he was kind of lost behind big Pierre Niles … The Luther Vandross rendition of “One Shining Moment” is great and everything, but they need to go back to Teddy P. No one can ever touch that one … The other big basketball-related event from Monday was the announcement of the 2008 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class. In what’s being called one of the strongest fields yet, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Adrian Dantley, Pat Riley, Dick Vitale, women’s basketball pioneer Cathy Rush and Pistons/Shock owner Bill Davidson were honored … Remember SlamBall? The trampoline-assisted, real-life version of NBA Jam is back, and they’re looking for ballplayers and coaches. This morning there’s a SlamBall tryout going on in Brooklyn, and one of the Dime crew will be among those taking the court. (Seriously. We’ll let him decide whether he wants to be ID’d after he gets back.) There’s another tryout being held at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., on April 10 if you’re interested. Go to SlamBall.net for details on in-person tryouts and online applications for aspiring players and coaches … We had a really good debate going on yesterday on DimeMag.com about the proposal to raise the NBA’s age limit. We all know such a ruling would improve the quality of the college game and ultimately the pro game, but what other factors are at play? Put in your two cents HERE … We’re out like NBA Jam …
April 8th, 2008 at 3:45 am
stanaeciouz says:
numero uno!
April 8th, 2008 at 3:57 am
Damon says:
ncis means naval criminal investigative service. some may know michael weatherly from playing in dark angel with jessica alba(also being engaged to her). the show is similar to all the csi shows( miami, ny) but also a lot more funny. you guys should watch some episodes
April 8th, 2008 at 6:18 am
sans says:
How many future NBA ballers were in this game? I said seven, but given how deep both teams are, there could be a lot more. And what a great no-call by the refs, allowing the fouled player to get his pass to Chalmers for the dagger three. Tight game for the three officials involved–called what needed to be called but still let the players decide the flow of the game. This year’s draft is going to be tight–but with everyone involved, how far did Psycho T drop? He got treated like he’s the 2nd coming of Chris Mihm by KU. Where does Dorsey go? Where do the International players match up? And why do guys from Italy always seem way overhyped? I’m out like Ricky Rubio pulling into the lottery this year.
April 8th, 2008 at 6:18 am
GayforRudy says:
NCIS is pretty good. It’s like a sitcom in that you don’t have to think too hard and you don’t need to see one episode to understand the next episode.
April 8th, 2008 at 6:45 am
TJ says:
Mario Chalmers must be a nice defender is he can slow someone down in a box-and-one
April 8th, 2008 at 7:03 am
djKianoosh says:
speaking of NBA potential of these players… Chalmers really has quick hands. some NBA coach is going to love that about him. now he can add clutch to his resume. he did good for himself.
kind of lost in all the mayhem is the fact that Kansas took over after Dorsey fouled out. You wouldn’t think he’s that important to them, but he obviously is. They look like two completely different teams with and without him. Is he another Ben Wallace?
Does Rush remind people of Paul Pierce a little bit? similar games coming out, right? or is my memory bad?
the Kansas bigs put in good work all night.
April 8th, 2008 at 7:36 am
GEE...The NBA should last all year! says:
Free throws man…free throws. I bet so many coaches are going to be pointing to this game now, to show the importance of free throws.
All props to Arthur, cat did his thing.
Free throws!
April 8th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Juanito says:
What a devastating loss for Memphis…clearly the better team, they handed that win to KS. I feel for them; that was one hell of a collection of top-tier talent on one team. Extremely enjoyable to watch.
April 8th, 2008 at 8:43 am
celticsdada says:
its a shame that the great Dennis Johnson once again was snubbed out of the HOF. And Dime did not even mention it….,wat a shame
April 8th, 2008 at 8:56 am
Bigdoggchad says:
U guys forgot to add Nick collison to the overrated Kansas pfs
April 8th, 2008 at 9:05 am
doc says:
I think D Arthur a better prospect than those dudes you named earlier.He did his thing in the Madness on some Noah Horford shit mixed up.Kansas guards manned up and slowed Memphis guards down a little and they big men dominated Memphis bigs.That dum ass foul by Dorsey to foul out hurt.They were up 4 I think with 1 minute left and that put Kansas at the line.CDR choked you gotta say it missing all those freebies with the chip on the line.He missed a 1 and 1 like that against Tennesee in their other loss.But it was a hell of a game and I give Kansas credit because they balled they ass off.
April 8th, 2008 at 9:08 am
doc says:
As far as going to the league out that game I see Rose,CDR,Dorsey,Anderson a prospect.For Kansas I see Arthur,Chalmers,Collins,Rush the other big man a prospect and the two white boys will get some looks.
April 8th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Jim says:
I don’t think you can say–as far as what he did AT Kansas–Collison was overrated. Overrated coming into the league as a pro player, sure. But he was dominant in college, and came up big in big games; I know this as a Texas fan, unfortunately.
This reminded me a lot of his KU team losing to Melo’s Syracuse team. Kansas looked better in that game, but missed a ton of free throws in the last 2 minutes.
Also, and as a Big 12 guy I was pulling for Kansas, didn’t Chalmer’s big 3 look questionable? They didn’t talk about it in the broadcast, but every time they showed it I thought his foot might have been on the line.
April 8th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Yoooooooo says:
No mention of dumbass Kemp from Memphis trying to throw a LOB with under 2 minutes left on a fast break instead of making a basic basketball play. It was an even worse pass than idea, and he had just got into the game. Bonehead nigga
April 8th, 2008 at 9:27 am
DaPro says:
First shot out to Rod Strickland sitting on the Memphis bench as an assitant. I didn’t know where he disappeared to, dude was the truth as a pg.
Memphis gave this game away. Kansas showed alot of heart by staying in the game and taking the heart out of Memphis. I was really impressed with Rose-Dime Kansas did not shut this guy down in the first half, he wasn’t looking to score. It’s 1a Rose 1b Beasley come draft day
April 8th, 2008 at 10:05 am
Jules says:
I will only watch SlamBall if they bring back Reggie Theus as a commentator…
“Those two guys looked like two anacondas, all tangled up and making love.” - Reggie Theus
April 8th, 2008 at 11:43 am
word says:
I felt bad for Calipari in the end where he said he blamed himself for the whole thing, that was a tough loss but that was still one of the best ball games I’ve seen in a long ass time. Chalmers clutch three was insane, especially since Memphis took over second half, but that steal Collins had was the play that they needed to get back in the game. They should’ve fouled Chalmers on the shot but I guess they didn’t think that was going to happen. I wonder if Hansborough is going to enter the draft, at halftime coach said he will talk to him and let him make his choice, but I think he absolutely has to after the season he had and awards he took home. Either way I think he will be top pick. And slamball is sick, good luck to the dude trying out.
April 8th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Bobby B says:
Antonio Anderson on the Tigers’ FT shooting: “When they need to be made, they make ‘em.”
Memphis Tigers on their FT shooting (FFW to about 1:17):
http://youtube.com/watch?v=anIPKtsDlMo
I don’t like how Calipari took the blame for the loss. He can’t go out there and shoot FTs for his players. Can anyone really blame Calipari for the loss?!
April 8th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Austin Burton says:
What do you want Cal to do, throw his kids under the bus? That’s what college coaches do, if nothing else because it makes them look better to recruits. If Cal calls his kids out like that on national TV, every five-star recruit who’s deciding between Memphis and Louisville just leans a little more towards Pitino.
April 8th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
GEE...The NBA should last all year! says:
To me it is Cal’s fault anyway. All season long people been asking him about free throw shooting. He always dances around it highlighting the other great things his team could do. He always made it seem as if free throws were just no big deal. I promise I have never seen something come back and bite a coach in the %$$ so hard.
Sure you can’t go shoot the free throws for the kids but you dang sure can make sure that you highlight it as important instead of …just make them when you need to. When you go on national tv with an I don’t really care about free throws attitude, I am sure some of your players will adopt the same mentality.
Someone might say well I don’t think that it’s he didn’t care, he just considered other things more important. I hope other players, coaches and everyone sees that they (free throws) are just that important. I know I am going to be working on mine next time on the court.
April 8th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
GEE...The NBA should last all year! says:
DIME no print today about tonight’s games on tap? Seeing as college basketball is almost officially over, outside of the ladies, we can get the focus on total playoffs.
DIME are you all collectively going to pick who you all think will take the chip or we going to have AB, Patrick “Drink and two-step” Cassidy, Fantasy Doctor and others make different picks?
Man I am so geeked about the playoffs this year. Even outside of my teams possible demise, it’s still going to be jumping. Story lines galor.
Who gets the M.V.P.?
Can Dirk shed the choking in the playoffs, crunch time image?
Who is really the missing item to take their team home Shaq, Sam I am, Pau, Bonzi, Korver, Wally or who (long list when you think about all the additions teams made)?
Will San An. repeat?
What lower seed is going to make the most noise?
Who all will be gone fishing with Kenny, Charles and crew?
Will old #^$ Detroit and San. An be spry enough to teach these young bucks a lesson.
Will “The back” be the best defense against LeBron?
Will “The finger” end up catching up to Kobe?
How far can Philly, Orland and Washingto go.
Who is going to be the first team to be upset by the Rockets…threw that in for me.
Anyway you can go on and on, it’s really gonna be worth calling in sick for those that work at night, and hoping the preacher makes his Sun. sermon a lil shorter. Kenny and Charles are going to have a wild time this go round I believe.
April 8th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Jay Chau says:
More like…
“we’re out like memphis’ free throws.”
April 8th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
shoot the j says:
I can blame Coach Cal for not calling timeouts;
(1) with 11 sec. left (up by 3) to remind players to foul Kansas before allowing any 3pt attempt &
(2) with 2.1 sec. left (tie ballgame) to set-up a Laettner-to-Hill type shot, instead of a Hail Mary 1/2 court prayer.
I haven’t heard anyone mention this, but what happened to Rose in that OT. He seemed like a completely different player. Instead of taking over by creating for himself & teammates off the dribble (like he did in the 2nd half), he left the responsibility on CDR on the wing. I don’t mind that he was dishing it off, I just wondered why he stopped being the aggressive creator that he is. It might have to do that slight limp he had at the end of regulation, he just didn’t look right in OT.
April 8th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
doc says:
gee here go your answers MVP=CP3. Dirk can do it.None of them are the missing piece.They all good to average players who have to ball with a franchise player to shine.San An wont repeat, I hope.Cleveland at the fourth seed.Everybody except Lebron and Kobe going fishing they dont get chipgames on TNT so u dont see the chip loser go fishing.No San An and Detroit aint getting there this year.Bron back the only thing that can stop him.The finger aint gonna hold KB24.2nd Round at the most for all three of them teams,unless Dwight turn to a husky Keem in the playoffs but I dont see that.The Rockets will upset whoever they play in the playoffs the first game of the season next year because that will be the team that whipped they ass this year.
April 8th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
the truth says:
Yes. San Antonio will repeat.
No Diggity.
No Doubt.
April 9th, 2008 at 7:25 am
GEE...The NBA should last all year! says:
lol @ Doc preshate the answers!