Victory Slips Away From Memphis

There it was. Right in their own hands. Destiny. Victory. Immortality. Nine points up. Less than two minutes left. The CBS announcing team felt it. Kudos were being handed out to Coach Caliperi and his "dream team". How quickly the dream turned into a nightmare.

Looking back upon Kansas' overtime triumph, three key plays led to Memphis' demise.

1) The non-three pointer. Derrick Rose hit a three pointer late in the game that pushed his team to a comfortable nine point lead. Play continued. A timeout was finally called. And then the refs looked to the monitors and at first upheld the three points. Then they decided to turn it into a two pointer. TV replays showed that the acrobatic Rose, started his ascent with one foot within the three point arc before landing outside it after the ball left his hands. Perhaps it was the right call. But why wasn't it made right at the moment? If there was any doubt, why didn't the officials stop the game and make their decision right then. The Tigers were feeding off the emotion of Rose's shot and in a tight game, nine points instead of eight is a big deal. That extra point that was finally awarded to the Jayhawks was like having an extra free throw from a technical. It was not deserved.

2) Memphis guard, Chris Douglas-Roberts inability to hit three key free throws down the stretch. Much had been written about Memphis' poor charity stripe shooting, but in the semi-final against UCLA, the Tigers scored big at the free throw line. With the pressure on, Douglas-Roberts missed three out of four which gave immense hope to Kansas and helped to seal Memphis' loss.

3) The final tactical mistake. With all that was happening, Memphis still had a three point lead with less than ten seconds remaining in the game. What could go wrong? Obviously, someone from Kansas could hit a three pointer and tie the game. Coach Caliperi should have realized that overtime was a danger zone that he needed to avoid at all costs as his rebounding machine center, Joey Dorsey had already fouled out of the game and would not be available in any extra period. So as Kansas guard, Mario Chalmers drove down court with the last precious seconds ticking away, there was opportunity for Memphis to grab him well before he got off any shot. With about four seconds remaining, two free throw points would only put Kansas within one, and the odds would have been incredibly in Memphis' favor. Instead, Chalmers was allowed to get his shot off. As we all witnessed, it hit nothing but net, overtime ensued, and Kansas was the improbable but well deserved champions of big time college basketball.