Brandon Lang
100 DIME - Memphis
Free Pick - Memphis/Kansas Over the Total (analysis on Free Daily Video)
100 DIME MEMPHIS
There?s something to be said about a Final Four Freshman, something special.
While I?m sure the names prior to my memory are beyond my years, I can remember as far back as 1977, when Mike O?Korean pumped 31 points through the nets for North Carolina, setting a then-Final Four freshman record, to lead the Heels past Jerry Tarkanian?s Runnin? Rebels in the semifinals.
And through the years I?ve watched this tournament, not one single time can I say I?ve been more impressed than I am with Memphis? Derrick Rose. His array of acrobatic moves leaves me speechless at times, like the other day against UCLA, which he sliced through with such ease. A hot knife through butter isn?t even a good enough clich? to use on him ? he?s silk!
Other than John Calipari and his experiences while coaching Massachusetts, I can?t say there?s another catalyst for my choice in Memphis as your 2008 National Champion. Honestly, we haven?t seen phenomena like this since 2003, when Carmelo Anthony drowned Texas with 33 points, setting a national semifinals record for a freshman, and helped lead the Orangemen to the national title.
And quite frankly, I?d take Derrick Rose over the college-freshman player Carmelo Anthony.
Thirteen years ago Toby Bailey was extraordinary in guiding UCLA to an easy win over defending-national champ Arkansas, as he popped for 26 points to empower the Bruins, and no other freshman has scored more in a championship game. I believe that?s about to change.
Now, a quick disclaimer, as I realize Rose missed media sessions yesterday because of a stomach ailment ? that?s old news. But he received treatment from trainers, according to wire reports, and he will play tonight ? effectively. Christ, the kid eats Gummy Bears like they?re going out of style from what I understand. Do I feel an endorsement looming????
But seriously, Memphis has been overdue to get to this point in the Big Dance. As far back as the Keith Lee days, this team has been knock, knock, knockin? on college basketball?s heaven?s door over the past two decades; and this year there?s no need to knock, as Calipari has the key.
This team has defied odds, critics, doubters and every bracket filler-outer in the nation. What the heck was I thinking the other day, loving UCLA like that against a team that had already knocked off Tom Izzo?s defensive Michigan State bunch and Rick Barnes? rugged Texas squad?
The Tigers were just too special. Rose was too thorny for them to get near, and his supporting cast was dynamic. The same can be said tonight, as Kansas? pressure defense won?t amount to much when it gets a whiff of this kid. He absolutely embarrassed UCLA, and you know what, if the kid had Lester Hayes-stick ?em on his hands, he might have gone for 40. But the kid just isn?t that greedy.
Chris Douglas-Roberts was the team?s high-scorer, punching up 28 for the jungle stripes. Rose had 25, and never even made a three-point attempt. Instead, he made Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook look like those obstacles they used in last year?s All-Star Weekend battle between Kobe and D-Wade. He went around, over and under people; he was shaking and baking from the free-throw line, and on the most replayed move of Saturday, he left a UCLA quintet dizzy from a drive to the bucket that simply awed the Alamodome crowd. When it was said and done, the Bruins were grabbing their ankles, dripping sweat and in need of oxygen. Hell, I was tired just watching Rose go back and forth. Honestly, if the kid wore green felt during a game you?d think he was a tennis ball.
Again, it starts and ends with Rose ? that?s the bottom line. But with Douglas-Roberts doing his part, Joey Dorsey being the Dutch Boy down low (he painted 15 rebounds on Saturday in the same key Love was in) and Antonio Anderson getting in on the scoring act, I don?t see Kansas? defense mattering much after the road Memphis has traveled to get here.
Kansas opened up the 1-point favorite, and swarms of money has come in on Memphis ? I realize this is normally a bad public-move sign. But this is not a game just being bet on by the squares. The largest betting groups in the world ? yes, the real wise guys ? are moving money on this game as well.
Why? It?s simple: At 38-1, Memphis has the most single-season victories in college basketball history. And these are no Kardiak Kids either; this is a team that has won its five games in this tournament by an average of nearly 16 points. And by the way, teams favored by five or fewer points are 10-0 ATS the past 10 National Championship games.
Guys, I don?t know which way the wind is blowing, what the weather will be like or if the sun will come out tomorrow. But what I do know, is along the lines of some of the most famous freshman performances in Final Four history ? add Patrick Ewing and Michael Jordan in 1982, Pervis Ellison in 1986 and Greg Oden last season to the aforementioned fraternity ? tonight we?re going to see Derrick Rose don a Memphis uniform for the last time in his short, but story-book, collegiate career.
And he ain?t headed to the NBA with a program and a T-shirt as his keepsakes from the Alamo. He?s leaving with the National Championship and the Most Outstanding Player award.
Memphis is your 100-Dime winner boys, as it rolls to a 77-71 win over Kansas.
