CRY OF THE TIGERS

Missed foul shots doom Memphis; Kansas commits grand larceny

On a Monday evening that more than made up for an arguably second-rate tournament thus far, two of the nation’s top schools all year long banged heads in a 40-minute winner-take-all showdown in central Texas.

In a game that went back-and-forth like Nick Saban’s words for a majority of the first thirty minutes of play, the Tigers began to pull away a little more than halfway through the second half, eventually boosting the margin to a game-high nine points with a few ticks over two minutes left. Faced with desperation and heart-wrenching defeat looking him dead in the eye, Kansas coach Bill Self decided it was time to exploit Memphis’ best-known Achilles’ heel: their inability to hit undefended set shots from fifteen feet out.

This may have been the most exciting and efficient displays of the foul-and-extend-the-game strategies ever seen on the basketball court. As Memphis missed crucial free throw after free throw (four misses in the waning minutes of regulation), the Jayhawks chipped away at the lead with a colossal steal and big outside shots, including the biggest bucket of the tournament coming out of the hands of Mario Chalmers, who swished in a trey with under 3 ticks left on the game clock to send the contest into only the seventh overtime in Championship Game history. A Joey Dorsey-less Tigers team looked panicked and helplessly scrambled around during the extra period, only managing five points.

Memphis’ Bo Outlaw foul-shooting will surely be under severe scrutiny in the coming days, especially with their tournament free-throws showing vast improvement over their horrid regular season numbers. But on the largest of stages, when it counted the most, with the hearts of their fans riding on their shoulders, the Tigers simply could not deliver. One can point at the “controversial” review of a perimeter jumper (and they got the call correct, John), or the lack of an NBA-ready performance from their freshman-sensation Derrick Rose in the first half (credit given for his ailment), or questionable coaching decisions, but ultimately, the never-say-die Jayhawks took full advantage of Memphis’ fatal shortcomings.

So where do things go from here? Does this win validate Self’s tenure in Lawrence? Will Rose or CDR be back in Memphis come next fall? Surely this loss will leave a nasty taste in the mouth of Calipari and his players for quite some time, but as coach said exiting the floor, “when you have a lead like that, you’re supposed to win the game”.

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THE IRON ENSHRINED

The Dream and Ewing, Sr. cement legendary status

When Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing went toe-to-toe in the 1994 NBA Finals during the "Dark Ages" of the Chicago Bulls Empire of the Nineties, we all knew we were watching two sure-fire Hall-of-Famers battle each other for the crowning achievement that had eluded both of them for their entire illustrious careers. A rematch of the classic NCAA Championship match a decade earlier, in which Ewing's Georgetown Hoyas defeated Olajuwon's Houston Cougars, Hakeem looked to settle the score. The Dream would eventually “shake” his way to the NBA Promised-Land over the Knicks in a remarkable seven game series (including the year after, against a younger "Diesel"), leaving Ewing to ponder how he just missed his opportunity for glory on the biggest stage that every ball player yearns for.

Hakeem entertained and impressed us not with his sky-flying dunks or nightly inserts in ESPN's Top Plays, but with his remarkable and sheer efficiency, lighting up scoreboards with his 18-foot baseline turn-around fall-aways that seemed to soar endlessly towards the arena rafters before finally splashing into the net. Dominant on both the offensive end and a terribly imposing presence underneath on the defensive end, Olajuwon's game was a perfect blend of yin-yang basketball prowess, much like the soft-crunchy Double Decker tacos he hawked with Shaq during the mid-90s. His was a fun and unique brand of basketball to watch, and frankly, a brand that is sorely missed. Olajuwon enters the halls of Springfield with just under 27,000 points, over 13,000 boards, a astounding 3,830 rejections, two rings with matching Finals MVP trophies, 12 All-Star bids, and one quadruple-double.

As for the man who was the face of the Georgetown Hoyas in the early eighties, the man who seemed to be born with wobbly knees wrapped in braces and icepacks, the man who is the reason that sweat-moppers have a job, the man who was blocked by Muggsy, the original urban caveman before Geico took it and ran, and the man who stole every scene in Space Jam, his Hall resume is just as remarkable. As the Big Apple's man in the middle for 15 years, Ewing led the perennial playoff-bound Knicks in numerous memorable rivalries, with Jordan's Bulls, Reggie's Pacers, and Alonzo's Heat, but was never able to capture that elusive championship in 2 tries. P-Ew holds the Knicks records in scoring, rebounds, blocks, and steals, finished with nearly 25,000 points, 11,000 boards, and just under 3,000 blocks. The 1986 Rookie of the Year was a member of 11 Eastern All Star teams, won Olympic gold twice including the Original Dream Team, and was named one of the NBA' 50 Greatest.

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