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2008 NCAA Title - For Kansas Coach Bill Self, the Long Wait Is Over as His Jayhawks Outlast Memphis

By: Ed Bagley Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

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

In an NCAA first, the four No. 1 seeds in this year's tournament made 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 run after leading 15-10. The Tar Heels would cut the lead to 4 points—54 to 50—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 Rush led all scorers with 25.

Kansas just escaped from Davidson to reach the Final 4 and then dusted off the Tar Heels despite their all-everything player Tyler Hansbrough. It was a tough night for North Carolina Coach Roy Williams, who coached Kansas to national prominence for 15 years before returning to his alma mater in 2003. Williams never won a national title at Kansas but led the Tar Heels to the national title 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 fast break. The Tigers put the game away with 10 consecutive free throws (20 of 23 for 87% in the game), well above their season average of 61%.

UCLA's freshman wonder Kevin Love, the Pac 10 Player of the Year, was held to 2 points in the second half and 12 for the game 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 big presence that kept Love at bay. Dorsey also pulled down 15 rebounds.

Memphis Coach John Calipari was giddy with joy moving into the championship game and UCLA Coach Ben Howland was no doubt disappointed after reaching the Final 4 three consecutive years without winning the title game. Memphis' victory was its 38th this year, setting an NCAA record for most wins in a season.

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

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

Standout freshman Derrick Rose took over the game 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 game best, saying "If we played 10 times, it'd probably go 5 and 5. We got fortunate late."

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

2008 NCAA Tournament Results for Round 5 - The Final 4

#1 Midwest Regional Champion Kansas eliminated #1 East Regional Champion North Carolina 84-66

#1 South Regional Champion Memphis eliminated #1 West Regional Champion UCLA 78-63

2008 NCAA Tournament Result for Round 6 - National 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 win 94% of your games you do not compare yourself to others, they need to compare themselves to you because, trust 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 leading the Tar Heels to a National Championship in 2005.

Only 5 other coaches in history have led their team to 6 Final Four appearances—John Wooden (12), Dean Smith (11), Mike Krzyzewski (10), Denny Crum (6) and Adolph Rupp (6). It is perhaps no coincidence that Williams honed his craft for 10 years as an assistant coach to Dean Smith at North Carolina.

North Carolina won National Championships in 1957, 1982, 1993 and 2005 and had been among the Final Four 17 times coming 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 game two years ago. He led Pittsburgh to two Sweet 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 but 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 record during his 10 National Championship years was 291-10 (not a misprint); it rounds to a 97% winning percentage and includes no less than 4 perfect 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 title but did built two smaller conference teams—Massachusetts in the Atlantic 10 and Memphis in Conference USA—into national powers, reaching the Final Four with both. His Memphis Tigers won 103 games during the last 3 years, only 1 win shy of Kentucky's national record from 1996 to 1998.

Since Calipari's last appearance in the 1985 Final Four match-ups, the other 3 teams in this year's field combined for 19 Final Four appearances and 4 national titles—Kansas in 1988, UCLA in 1995 and North Carolina in 1993 and 2005.

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

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

Article Source: http://www.lifeweightloss.com

Read my additional NCAA coverage on movie reviews on "First 2 Rounds in 2008 NCAA Tournament Produce 1 Major 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. Find my Blog at: www.edbagleyblog.com www.edbagleyblog.com/Sports.html

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