John Calipari Finally Has His Championship; A Rivalry Is Brewing In The West

The two winningest programs in NCAA history met in the N.O. Bayou last night, and when it was all over, one thing was clear: Kansas would’ve had to be perfect to stop Kentucky. The game didn’t really heat up until the second half, but we knew pretty early it was going to be a great game. By the game’s first TV timeout, there were already more highlights than all of last year’s title game. And when Kansas finally did make their push, in part behind Tyshawn Taylor (19 points), it was the sniping from Doron Lamb (22 points) and Marquis Teague (14 points) that put the kids to bed … Of course, Kentucky’s 67-59 title win would’ve never happened if it wasn’t for this summer’s No. 1 draft pick, Anthony Davis. The dude made ONE shot, and yet still had the most impact on the game with 16 rebounds, five dimes, three steals and six blocks. He’s obviously awesome, but to listen to Clark Kellogg, Steve Kerr and Jim Nantz talk about him, you would think they never saw Ewing, Duncan, Robinson, Olajuwon and lots of other great college front line players. … Say what you want about Jeff Withey, but that boy can block some shots. He had two in the opening minutes that could’ve killed small children in the stands. Too bad that defensive prowess couldn’t lend a helping hand on the other end. Withey was lost in the post, looking like a blind Tyrus Thomas down there. The rest of his team wasn’t much better, even Thomas Robinson (who had 18 and 17, but did it in the most inefficient, “I can’t make a shot over NBA length” way possible), and the guards were driving in there and putting up some softies that Kentucky was grabbing and going the other way. Kansas was shooting more blanks than The Fray because Kentucky was altering everything, and Davis broke the all-time freshman record for blocks in a season. The ‘Cats had Teague on the outside going coast-to-coast, and even banging a three, as well as Davis nearly out-rebounding the entire Kansas team on the inside. By the half, Kentucky was up 14, and Anthony Davis hadn’t even scored, and yet he looked like the best player on the court … Tyreke Evans (24 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists) had one of his best games of the year as Sacramento took it to the Timberwolves, 116-108 … And Paul Millsap exploded for 31 points and 11 boards in Utah’s five-point win over Portland … Chris Singleton spent $10,000 on lottery tickets this past week in hopes of landing that $640 mill, saying he didn’t regret it because it was “either that or blowing it in the clubs.” Okay dude. That wasn’t even the worst part. Singleton said he had to drive to different places because no outlet could print that many tickets at once. Imagine how much time he must’ve spent driving all over the place in an effort to drop 10k? This is one of those classic rookie stories that reminds you half these dudes think Lil B is good music. In relation to his own salary, this isn’t much at all. Still funny though … Keep reading to hear about one ridiculous Blake Griffin dunk …

For one, the Grizzlies and Thunder should play every other day. They don’t know how to not take a game down to the wire. And two, let O.J. Mayo match up with Russell Westbrook at every opportunity. It seems to be the only time Mayo actually steps up to be more than just a glorified spot-up shooter. Both went down in OKC last night as Mayo’s (22 points) rainbow triple iced the Grizzlies 94-88 win (Then he mocked Westbrook’s signature “gunslinger” celebration). Outside of the obvious matchups – Wade/Kobe, LeBron/Carmelo, Scola/hygiene – this UCLA/USC connection is one of the better under-the-radar personal rivalries in the league. On the other end, the Thunder point guard had a rough time, struggling with his shot and finishing with 19 … While James Harden (14 points, five dimes) was busy dominating the pick-n-roll game with some of the nicest passes we’ve seen anyone with a full beard make since Vlade Divac was alive and kicking, Russell Westbrook had one play on the break where he stumbled, and then threw the ball over the backboard. No clue whether it was a pass or a shot, and we’re not sure which one would be worse … Last night, the Daily Thunder’s Royce Young tweeted: “Eddie Sutton was in the Memphis locker room after the game. Tony Allen saw him and said, ‘Y’all make room for the chief!'” … The Bucks beat the Wizards, 112-98, as their backcourt put in work. Brandon Jennings (who actually dropped 17 of his points in the third quarter) and Monta Ellis combined for 36 points, 11 rebounds and 13 dimes … To help describe this game, we’ll just recap one play in particular: Ellis hit Ersan Ilyasova (16 points, 11 rebounds) in the face with a pass before the ball bounced away and hit Jan Vesely in the head … There goes one record these Bulls teams had over the MJ teams. Before last night’s six-point loss against Houston, Chicago had gone 86 regular season games without losing two in a row, a franchise record. But thanks to Goran Dragic (21 points) and two massive Houston second half runs (14-1 and 17-2), Chicago completely fell apart in the final 24 minutes outside of Luol Deng (24 points) … Most incredible stat of the night is undoubtedly Marcus Camby‘s age. While his former college coach was trying to win a championship with Camby 2.0, Anthony Davis, the old Rocket was dropping 12 points and 11 rebounds on one of the best teams in the NBA. When Calipari and Camby were together, and going for a college championship in ’96, Davis was three years old … We can’t fault Dallas for forgetting about Randy Foye. We can’t remember a single Randy Foye moment since he left Villanova six years ago. But disregard someone in the NBA at your own peril, something the Mavs learned in their 19-point thumping at the hands of the Clippers. Foye somehow found the time to throw up 15 triples, making eight of them to finish with 28 points … That’s also six straight Clipper wins, something they hadn’t done in 20 years … Blake Griffin‘s (15 points, 16 rebounds) daily highlight came in the form of a put-back that we’re pretty sure Dirk Nowitzki could never do … And Larry Brown wants to get back into coaching. He also said he thought Kentucky could beat 15 NBA teams. In related news, don’t hire Brown if you want a reliable coach … We’re out like Meagan Good‘s free agency.