Packer News That's Actually Exciting

With all the back-and-forth that has become Favregate, it's nice to read some welcome news regarding a Packer of note.

That guy gets on my nerves, anyway...

If They Weren't Already...

Go ahead and rank UNC number one for the 2008-2009 basketball season. With returning National Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough already coming back, the Tar Heels got this good news today: Ty Lawson, Danny Green and Wayne Ellington will all be back to try and avenge last season's disastrous loss to Kansas in the Final Four.

A Rare Duke Post

I just read a story about Quin Snyder which reminded me that Duke went to the Final Four in 1988 and 1989. I started thinking about it and it's pretty remarkable. Especially 1986-1994. Asterisks denote playing in the title game.

1986*
1988
1989
1990*
1991*
1992*
1994*
1999*
2001*
2004

In 1987 Duke lost in the Sweet Sixteen to eventual champion Indiana and in 1993 Duke was stunned by Jason Kidd and Cal in the second round.

Why We Love Mike Krzyzewski

Why we love Mike Krzyzewski:

1. Nevermind

Overtime?

During last night's NCAA title game between Memphis and Kansas, Billy Packer mentioned that Kansas would be fine going into overtime because they'd been in that position before, IN THE 1957 TITLE GAME. That game went to three overtimes before Lennie Rosenbluth and North Carolina defeated Wilt Chamberlain, Dean Smith and Kansas.

Of course, not only were none of the current Kansas players alive for that game, it's quite possible that very few of their parents were either. I'm not exactly sure how that experience would have helped KU in the overtime period (not that they needed it).

Who Can Resist?

Nothing better than the original with Billy Donovan, Rony Seiklay, Derrick Coleman and Steve Alford featured prominently.

Final(ly)?

Heralded College Basketball Coaches with Exactly One (1) National Title:

Tom Izzo
Jim Boeheim
Roy Williams
Jim Valvano


If his three consecutive 30-win seasons and back-to-back #1 seeds aren't enough--not to mention his taking two different schools to the Final Four (UMass: 1996)--perhaps a victory over Kansas will finally earn John Calipari not only a national title, but the true title he deserves: Elite Basketball Coach.

Two points of note:

• Calipari shouldn't be penalized for his poor stint with the Nets. Numerous high-caliber college coaches in various sports have failed miserably at the pro level (see: Rick Pitino, Lon Kruger, Pete Carroll, Lou Holtz). No one would deny Pete Carroll's abilities, for example, simply because he spent a few lackluster years in the ego-filled war game that is professional sports.
• If Memphis beats KU (which I expect to happen), John Calipari will have exactly as many national titles as the legendary coaches mentioned above. They're all Hall-of-Famers. (As a side note, it may also be said that John C. managed to not be thoroughly outcoached in the Final Four. The same cannot be said for Roy Williams, who has no trouble gaining the plaudits that so frequently allude the Memphis coach.)

Get over the good looks and schmoozy smile, forget the Marcus Camby agent debacle, and give John Calipari credit for being one of the elite coaches--from any sport--in the country.

KANSAS

What an interesting ballgame. Kansas led by as much as twenty-eight in the first half before Carolina made a ridiculous comeback to bring the game within four, before KU ultimately pulled back away with a late 13-0 run. I wouldn't say it's a surprise to see Kansas make the championship game, but the way in which they accomplished the feat was highly unusual.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure the game spoke to whether or not Kansas would be able to handle the outrageously strong Memphis attack. Clearly their size inside gave Carolina problems all night, but the Memphis strategy will be different. Rather than a focus on a strong inside player like Hansbrough, Memphis will try to push the tempo with their guard play. Kansas has a revolving door of big men but that advantage might be a hindrance rather than a help against Memphis.

It will definitely be a game to watch on Monday night as two extremely athletic and energetic teams will face off for the title. At this point I'd have to give the edge to Memphis, though I wouldn't be surprised if Kansas were able to bring the title back to Lawrence.

MEMPHIS

It's 9:15 in the east and I'm watching Kansas jump out to an early advantage over North Carolina. But I'm having trouble focusing on this game with the shock of what just happened still fresh in my mind.

It's been a long time since I've seen a team completely dominate really strong opponents like Memphis has over the past two weekends. After stumbling a bit early with a tough game against Mississippi State in the second round, Memphis has utterly destroyed Michigan State, Texas and most recently and surprisingly, UCLA. It's becoming apparent that smaller guards simply stand no chance against Derrick Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Antonio Anderson, the ridiculously big and strong Tiger backcourt. I was really disappointed to see how Texas was manhandled in the regional finals against Memphis but I now realize it had little to do with UT and everything to do with how unbelievably dominating Memphis can be.

Look at the names who have been neutralized in the past three games by the Memphis defense. Drew Neitzel, AJ Abrams, DJ Augustin, Kevin Love and Darren Collison. These are all-Americans and guys who we all know. These guys are finishing games with lines like 4-18 and 1-9 with tons of turnovers.

Not only did they destroy Darren Collison, who looked for the first time all year like he belonged on the JV squad, they made Kevin Love look human for one of the few times this season as well. Love scoring only two points in the second half would have been inconceivable if you'd told me that before the game. But sure enough, he barely could get his hands on the ball against the long arms of Joey Dorsey and Shawn Taggart and he looked really tired throughout the second half. Had no one really pushed him this season?

All in all, I'm not sure I've seen a better team this year than Memphis' efforts in the last two games in particular. Derrick Rose looks like the best guard in the country, with CDR coming in a close second.

Interestingly, Memphis' lack of competition all year has been confusing in terms of deciphering their comparative talent in two ways. The first is the direction that most have taken which is to say that since they didn't really play very many good teams, we don't really know how good they are and therefore have to assume that they probably aren't as good as their record indicates. It would appear that the opposite is in fact true, which is that since they didn't play very many good teams, we didn't get a chance to see how good they really are. I don't think their opponents are making that mistake, especially at this point in the tournament, but they sure are making a lot of analysts, not to mention morons like me, look like assholes.

As good as both Kansas and Carolina are (and Kansas is crushing Carolina right now), I just can't see either of them matching Memphis in the finals, assuming Memphis can keep up the play they've perfected over the past two weekends. If they want to win, they'll absolutely have to play some zone, as correctly  stated by Dick Vitale. Memphis' offensive size and abilities going to the hoop are just too good to be left to run rampant. Switching to a zone for even a minute or two, just to change the pace and make Memphis prove they can shoot from the outside, would go a long way toward giving the Tigers' opponent a fighting chance.