"Self"-Made Men vs. the Pre-Anointed

Memphis Coach John Calipari had pooh-poohed foul shots all week long. He intimated that it wouldn't come down to the foul line. His team was too good, too athletic, too composed. He referenced 16 points that made a championship team and said his team had them all, that his was a "dream team".

We did get to see Bill Self's locker-room pre-game address to his players. Coach Self stressed to his team that they had already won more games than any other team in Kansas history, that that in and of itself was a tremendous accomplishment. He reminded them that they would remember this game for their entire lives, but that this Kansas team could play loose, it could be itself, it had nothing to lose. It could only gain.

Bill Self gave his team a good feeling about itself, let them know that they were already the best team Kansas had ever seen...that if they just did everything they had done all season, they had a good chance to win this game. But he instilled an image in his team's collective consciousness, that of winning a Championship. It was the kind of speech you'd wish for your son to receive before the biggest game of his life.

Someone in the booth had stressed the importance of the first three minutes of a basketball game. And the Jayhawks came out strong, making some nice passes inside for some easy buckets. They played a strong defense, especially on #23, the super-frosh All-Everything Derrick Rose. They grabbed most of the rebounds. They looked loose. And they held a lead for much of that first half. Although the Jayhawks were down by five at the half, it seemed that Kansas was playing the best it could play.

But just as he had done for most of the season and certainly in this tournament, Derrick Rose came alive in that second half. He took the game over. From the 12:21 to 7:52 marks of the second half, Rose made two driving layups, made a three, and then still another jumper. Although he missed a couple of jumpers after that, his layup and free throw at the 5:10 mark gave Memphis a 54-47 lead. At 4:04, another 3-pointer made it 56-49 Memphis and it seemed that nothing would stop the Tigers..

Down the stretch in regulation though, the game and momentum seemed to slowly turn. At 3:12 Rose missed a three. But at 1:23 of regulation, in maybe the defining moment of the game, the muscular Joey Dorsey fouled out of the game. Mario Chalmers hit 2 free throws to make it 62-58 Memphis. Chris Douglas-Roberts (CDR) was then fouled and missed a FT while the Jayhawks Darrell Arthur made a nice turnaround jumper to pull the Jayhawks to within two, 62-60.

At the thirty second mark, CDR missed a layup, then with just 16 seconds left, CDR missed both his free throw opportunities to keep the Memphis lead at 2. At the 10-second mark, Derrick Rose missed his first attempt, then made the second to stretch the lead to just 3, keeping it a one-possesssion game at 63-60.

The rest is history really, and will be history for the rest of time. The ball went to Mario Chalmers at the top of the key and, with Rose just a step behind and hand fully-extended, Chalmers jumped high in the air, letting that ball go at the top of his jump. Then, two closely-matched teams, a national television audience and Mario Chalmers watched that orange sphere sail cleanly through the net. Overtime.

It seemed there was never any doubt as to the outcome in OT. With Dorsey out of the game and an exhausted Rose by then limping around, the Tigers fate was sealed. Kansas would win their National Championship. And Memphis would lose theirs.

Just as the Dallas Cowboys had been anointed winners in their playoff game against the New York Giants this past January, so were these Memphis Tigers pre-anointed winners of a game that had yet to be played. Just as the Cowboys had thought their ten All-Pro players would surely roll over those moribund Giants, these Tigers swaggered into last night’s game and all the way into that deep fourth quarter.

And they just needed to make a couple of foul shots. What must have gone through CDR’s mind as he stepped to the line? Surely it occurred to him that they were supposed to be leading by more than just a few points. Coach had counted on them dominating this game. What had the coach said about free throws? Anyone…anyone..?

This is not to say that Calipari necessarily did a bad job with this team all year. Giving him his due, he had recruited them and he had brought them this far spouting the same bravado he had displayed all year and throughout this tournament. His team, and most certainly his star player, were young men who seemed to thrive on playing loose and letting their athleticism and sheer talent overwhelm their opponents.

I’m sure Calipari felt that it wouldn’t do much good to over-emphasize a weakness to a bunch of young men who didn’t need doubt sown into their collective psyche. And there is surely some wisdom in that point of view. But I do think Calipari overdid it in the days leading up to the Championship Game. He broke out that Kool-Aid he’d been feeding his players and started pouring it down his own throat.

Calipari had prepared his team for a game they would dominate. Perhaps playing in a weak conference had pre-conditioned him for that kind of attitude, orr maybe it was their comparatively easy run in the tournament itself.

One thing is sure. The only scenario for which success at the line is not important is a close game. The Tigers weren’t prepared for that one.