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Kansas, Memphis Face Off in NCAA Title Game
by
findingDulcinea Staff
The Kansas Jayhawks and Memphis Tigers will play for the 2008 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship tonight in San Antonio’s Alamodome.
30-Second Summary
Both teams won their Saturday semifinal games by double digits. Kansas beat former Jayhawks coach Roy Williams’s North Carolina team, running out to a 40–12 lead and surviving Carolina’s attempted comeback. Memphis avenged its 2006 Regional Final loss to UCLA, winning 78–63.
Kansas returns to the championship game for the first time since losing the 2003 final to Syracuse. After that game, Kansas coach Roy Williams left for the University of North Carolina and would go on to win the 2005 title. Williams’ replacement, Bill Self, took the Jayhawks to the tournament’s Elite Eight round twice, losing both times and earning the title “best basketball coach who has never been to a Final Four.”
Now, in a repeat of 2003, there are questions around whether Self will remain at Kansas or leave for his alma mater, Oklahoma State. Self has remained quiet on this issue.
The Jayhawks are looking to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their last championship and cap off an incredible year for Kansas athletics.
Since the arrival of former UMass and New Jersey Nets coach John Calipari in 2000, Memphis has developed into one of the country’s best teams, winning 30 games in each of the past three years. Using the Dribble-Drive Motion offense and a suffocating defense, it finished with a dominating 38-1 record this season.
Despite its success, many pundits discounted Memphis as a serious championship contender due to its weak schedule, focus on individual play and poor free-throw shooting.
Kansas returns to the championship game for the first time since losing the 2003 final to Syracuse. After that game, Kansas coach Roy Williams left for the University of North Carolina and would go on to win the 2005 title. Williams’ replacement, Bill Self, took the Jayhawks to the tournament’s Elite Eight round twice, losing both times and earning the title “best basketball coach who has never been to a Final Four.”
Now, in a repeat of 2003, there are questions around whether Self will remain at Kansas or leave for his alma mater, Oklahoma State. Self has remained quiet on this issue.
The Jayhawks are looking to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their last championship and cap off an incredible year for Kansas athletics.
Since the arrival of former UMass and New Jersey Nets coach John Calipari in 2000, Memphis has developed into one of the country’s best teams, winning 30 games in each of the past three years. Using the Dribble-Drive Motion offense and a suffocating defense, it finished with a dominating 38-1 record this season.
Despite its success, many pundits discounted Memphis as a serious championship contender due to its weak schedule, focus on individual play and poor free-throw shooting.
Headline Links: Kansas beats Carolina, Memphis beats UCLA, Rose will start
After watching the 40-12 lead dwindle to 54-40, Kansas took control of the final 10 minutes to avoid an embarrassing defeat.
Source: Kansas City Star
Memphis shut down UCLA stars Darren Collison and Kevin Love and controlled the game throughout the second half to earn their spot in tonight’s game.
Source: Commercial-Appeal
Memphis’s star freshman point guard Derrick Rose has been suffering from a stomach illness, but he will be ready to play tonight.
Source: Commercial-Appeal
Background: The Kansas Jayhawks and Memphis Tigers
After three Elite Eight appearances without making a Final Four, Bill Self was gaining a reputation for someone who couldn’t win the big game. Self has now not only reached the Final Four but also beaten predecessor Roy Williams and given himself a chance to do what Williams never did at Kansas: win a national title.
Source: Kansas City Star
Rumors have surfaced that Self may be offered the coaching job at Oklahoma State, where he played and coached. Self has yet to rule out the possibility that he may take the job, which would offer more money and be closer to his home.
Source: ESPN
Jayhawk fans have had a lot to cheer about over the past year. In addition to the basketball team’s success, the perennially poor football team went 12-1 and won the Orange Bowl for the first time in the school’s history.
Source: Lawrence-Journal World
John Calipari has helped to popularize the Dribble-Drive Motion offense, which he learned from a junior college coach in 2003. Eschewing traditional offensive strategies like screens and post-up play, the DDM relies almost entirely on dribble penetration.
Source: Sports Illustrated
The last trips to the Final Four for both Memphis and John Calipari have ended in scandal. Memphis State’s 1985 appearance and Calipari’s 1996 appearance with UMass were vacated due to NCAA violations. Now both coach and school are looking for redemption.
Source: Los Angeles Times
Memphis used its superior talent and athleticism to overwhelm its opponents during the season. Many of their critics believed that, once the Tigers faced other top teams, they would be doomed by their “AND 1” offensive play and their 59.2% free-throw shooting average. The Tigers have responded by dominating Michigan State, Texas and UCLA while making 80.9% of their free throws.
Source: CBS Sportsline
Opinion and Analysis: Game Previews
Sports Illustrated’s Stewart Mandel thinks that Kansas’s defense can shut down Memphis and the Jayhawks’ balanced offense will be enough to win.
Source: Sports Illustrated
Fox Sports’s Jeff Goodman thinks Memphis’s superior athleticism and underdog spirit will lead to victory.
Source: Fox Sports
This game features the two best teams in Basketball Prospectus’s Pomeroy Ratings. BP’s Caleb Peiffer looks at the stats to preview tonight’s game.
Source: Basketball Prospectus
Historical Context: 1988 and 1973
Led by senior Danny Manning (currently an assistant coach with the team), Kansas won the 1988 title, beating Oklahoma in the final game. The Lawrence Journal-World has an archive of articles from that championship year.
Source: Lawrence Journal-World
Memphis is appearing in its first national championship game since 1973, when, as Memphis State, it fell to Bill Walton’s UCLA Bruins. The Memphis Commercial Appeal reflects on that 1973 team with a series of articles beneath the video section.
Source: Commercial Appeal
Reference: March Madness Guide
FindingDulcinea’s March Madness Web Guide will help you find historical information on the tournament and show you how you can watch tonight’s game on your computer. It also features links to the best sources for News and Analysis from national and local sources, including local papers and blogs for both Kansas and Memphis.
Source: findingDulcinea
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