2008 NCAA Name - For Kansas Coach Expenditure Self, the Distant Wait Is Over as His Jayhawks Outlast Memphis

Copyright  2008 Ed Bagley

The only guarantee going into the 2008 NCAA National Championship Game was that one of two very good coachesâ "Bill Self of Kansas or John Calipari of Memphisâ "would win his first national title.

In an NCAA first, the four No. 1 seeds in this year's tournament false it to the coveted Final 4. Both coaches managed to thump their competition in the semifinals as Kansas turned back North Carolina 84-66 and Memphis ripped UCLA 78-63. Both games were about as exciting as watching an ashtray wait for a cigarette butt.

North Carolina had no chance ultimately against Kansas as the Jayhawks went on an early 25-2 gallop after relevant 15-10. The Tar Heels would divide the vanguard to 4 pointsâ "54 to 50â "with more than 11 minutes remaining, but then Kansas continued its hot hand, shooting 53% to North Carolina's 36% from the floor. Jayhawk Guard Brandon Quickness led all scorers with 25.

Kansas just escaped from Davidson to span the Final 4 and then dusted off the Tar Heels in spite of their all-everything player Tyler Hansbrough. It was a durable night for North Carolina Coach Roy Williams, who coached Kansas to state prominence for 15 years before returning to his alma mater in 2003. Williams never won a national honour at Kansas on the contrary led the Tar Heels to the civic designation in 2005.

Memphis' 1-2 punch of guards Chris Douglas-Roberts (28 points) and Derrick Rose (25 points) ran UCLA ragged, outscoring the Bruins 14-2 on the quick break. The Tigers place the game away with 10 consecutive free throws (20 of 23 for 87% in the game), well above their season sample of 61%.

UCLA's freshman wonder Kevin Love, the Pac 10 Player of the Year, was held to 2 points in the moment half and 12 for the sport after averaging 21.8 points per game coming in. Love, who is 6-10, ran smack into the Tigers' 6-foot-9, 265-pound Joey Dorsey, a ample presence that kept Love at bay. Dorsey and pulled down 15 rebounds.

Memphis Coach John Calipari was giddy with diversion stirring into the championship entertainment and UCLA Coach Ben Howland was no doubt disappointed after reaching the Ending 4 three consecutive second childhood without winning the title game. Memphis' victory was its 38th this year, setting an NCAA document for most wins in a season.

The championship game was a beauty, close as accelerated could be and excellent to the correct purpose of rule time, when Kansas' Mario Chalmers drained a 3-pointer over Derrick Rose to tie the diversion at 63 with 2 seconds left. Chalmers' gunfire would earn him the Most Valuable Player honor.

Memphis had a 9-point lead with 2 minutes left nevertheless could not connect on 4 free of charge throws by Chris Douglas-Roberts down the stretch and absent control of the game. Kansas would outscore Memphis 12-5 in overtime to pay dirt 75-68 to deed Coach Reward Self his first off national term Monday night (4-7-08) in one of the best played title games in NCAA history.

Standout freshman Derrick Rose took over the amusement for Memphis in the second half, scoring 14 of his team's 16 points to build the 9-point lead.

Kansas Coach Bill Self summed up the pastime best, saying "If we played 10 times, it'd probably go 5 and 5. We got lucky late."

There were a abundance of upsets early on in this year's tournament and a great final game. All in all, a very admirable year for NCAA basketball and a fitting butt end to March Insanity for 2008.

2008 NCAA Tournament Results for Round 5 - The Final 4

#1 Midwest Local Champion Kansas eliminated #1 East District Prizewinner North Carolina 84-66

#1 South Limited Champion Memphis eliminated #1 West Community Champion UCLA 78-63

2008 NCAA Tournament Conclusion for Round 6 - Governmental Championship Game

#1 Midwest Regional Champion Kansas beat #1 South Regional Champion Memphis 75-68 to win the National Championship

Postscript on the Final 4 Coaches:

The coaches of the Final 4 teams this year brought a combined 143-9 record, a winning percentage of .941. When you can gain 94% of your games you accomplish not compare yourself to others, they itch to compare themselves to you because, expectation me, you are setting a standard this season that not another 4 coaches in America can match.

The dean of the coaches was North Carolina's Roy Williams, who averaged 28 wins a year for 15 years at Kansas and took the Jayhawks to 4 Final Fours before coming back to his alma mater and essential the Tar Heels to a Public Championship in 2005.

Only 5 other coaches in history accept led their gang to 6 Final Four appearancesâ "John Wooden (12), Dean Smith (11), Mike Krzyzewski (10), Denny Crum (6) and Adolph Rupp (6). It is possibly no coincidence that Williams honed his art for 10 caducity as an assistant coach to Dean Smith at North Carolina.

North Carolina won Federal Championships in 1957, 1982, 1993 and 2005 and had been among the Final Four 17 times time to come into this year's tournament.

Ben Howland marked his 3rd straight Final Four appearance this year. His UCLA Bruins were runner-up in the National Championship merriment two elderliness ago. He led Pittsburgh to two Like candy 16 appearances before coming to UCLA, and has had the Bruins in the NCAA tournament 4 straight years.

Howland hoped to add to John Wooden's legacy at UCLA however came up short again. Wooden's UCLA teams won 10 national titles and 7 consecutive titles from 1967 to 1973. This year marked the Bruins' 18th Final Four appearance.

Wooden's UCLA inscribe during his 10 National Championship senility was 291-10 (not a misprint); it rounds to a 97% winning percentage and includes no less than 4 accomplished 30-0 seasons. In short, there is Wooden and everyone else when it comes to winning basketball games and national titles.

Memphis coach John Calipari had never won a national label on the other hand did built two smaller conference teamsâ "Massachusetts in the Atlantic 10 and Memphis in Conference USAâ "into national powers, reaching the Final Four with both. His Memphis Tigers won 103 games during the carry on 3 years, particular 1 win shy of Kentucky's national file from 1996 to 1998.

On account of Calipari's last appearance in the 1985 Final Four match-ups, the other 3 teams in this year's sphere combined for 19 Final Four appearances and 4 national titlesâ "Kansas in 1988, UCLA in 1995 and North Carolina in 1993 and 2005.

Kansas coach Bill Self could not assert a national reputation coming into this year's Final Four. In 15 years as a imagination coach, Self averaged 23 wins a season, won 8 conference championships and had taken 4 teams abysmal in the tournament, but none of them to the Final Four until this year.

Until this season, Self had another NCAA tournament winsâ "18â "without reaching the Final Four than any other active coach. Only two other coaches have augmented wins than Self without reaching the Final Fourâ "Temple's John Chaney with 23 and Purdue's Gene Keady with 19.


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Read my additional NCAA coverage on movie reviews on "First 2 Rounds in 2008 NCAA Tournament Make 1 Elder Upset in Every 6 Games" and "The Final 4 for the 2008 NCAA Tournament: North Carolina, Memphis, UCLA and Kansas" plus my 4 basketball articles on last year's 2007 NCAA Basketball Tournament detailing Florida's National Championship run.
Gem my Blog at:
http://www.edbagleyblog.com
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