Kentucky breezed through the first twenty minutes, entering halftime with a 41-27 lead. Then Kansas spent the entire second half trying to unleash the late-game comeback they had come to rely on. The Wildcats wavered slightly in the final minutes--reminiscent of the late collapse by John Calipari's Memphis team against Kansas in 2008--but they were simply too much for the Jayhawks, winning 67-59.
Anthony Davis didn't have to be strong offensively (just six points on 1-of-10 shooting) to be the game's most dominant player. Not only did he block six shots, pull down 16 rebounds, and pick up three steals, he caused havoc in the paint for Kansas' frontcourt. Thomas Robinson and Jeff Withey were just 8-of-25 from the floor.
It had been said all along that Kentucky could not win the tournament without strong play from Marquis Teague. As it turns out, he finished with 14 points, just two turnovers, and perhaps the biggest shot of the game, a late 3-pointer from the top of the key with the shot clock winding down.
There will certainly be some anti-Calipari comments in the coming days that will have to do with his previous, vacated Final Four trips or the "ease" of coaching teams overflowing with NBA talent. Regardless of all that, Calipari deserves this. The mere fact that he coaches elite players does not make his job easier. We saw plenty of teams this year with future lottery picks that failed to show the unselfish dominance that the Kentucky Wildcats did so consistently. Just look at the underachieving of Connecticut or Illinois or Washington. Heck, even North Carolina and Baylor failed to make the Final Four. It's hard to argue that Calipari isn't one of the best coaches in the country.
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| Too close to the camera, Dick. |
One final note: several months ago, perhaps in January or maybe even earlier, Dick Vitale made an on-air prediction that he would actually repeat on several different occasions. He said that Anthony Davis would end up winning the four big honors: being the Freshman of the Year, the National Player of the Year, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, and the #1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. He's already won three of those, and he's got the last one pretty much locked up. A bold thing to predict, and a really nice call by Vitale.
Anyway, the most significant takeaway from all this is that baseball is just around the corner. After months of making do with Tim Tebow, Jeremy Lin, and Fab Melo, we've almost arrived at seven glorious months of Miguel Cabrera playing third, Albert Pujols playing for the Angels, Buster Posey back behind the plate, Andy Pettitte back in pinstripes, Bobby Valentine making stupid puns, Ozzie Guillen saying stupid things, and some Japanese-Iranian guy named Yu who's supposed to be all that and a bag of chips. It's about time.
