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Show Sunday, April 6, 2008 HERALD DAILY D6 Calipari still standing on the accelerator SEEDSjTiOVE SAN ANTONIO H JTj is team was up r r 14 I points : with a minute to go, mo- NOT CO It U seying back toward the bench for a final timeout that ' ' seemed like little more than a SAN ANTONIO Chere are No. Is, and then formality. Yet John Calipari was already three steps out there are No. Is. " . jj onto the floor, sweat ringing II ' If there's a lesson to be ' the collar of an impeccably learned from Saturday night, , Final tailored gray suit waiting for . it's that not. all are necessarily, them and still screaming. treated equal. ; ' We expected a Final Four for take care of the ball, rebound. Calipari stuck his right Final Four arm out, violently yanked it the ages. We got a clunker and Got a good team. fiat and then f back not No one's disputing that, ,' a half until North Carolina pointed Joey North Carolina coach Roy WilDorsey, letting Memphis' big nally woke up and made things after 38 wins in 39 games and liams has won more games. him want he didn't know man at the at least a little bit interesting for a performance At the news conference line that should put a few minutes against Kansas. ; getting pushed around under the basket, no matter how safe Saturday night, someone reUCLA was too slow and not to rest any worries about the the lead was or how little time minded Calipari about a newsnearly talented enough for the Tigers' ability to play in the Kan-, was left on the clock, could No from clutch. deal, paper column that ran in Los Memphis. big they high flyers It was one of those moments Angeles calling his meeting sas was too fast and, ultimately, have missed 10 more of them ; with UCLA's Ben Howland "a when it was easy to under-and still have earned a spot too good for North Carolina, v.;. ' ': stahS why one of Calipari's for-- ; coaching mismatch."-in the national championship Two of the country's best r is "I Ben think that don't so-s- o mer once "Hard to said, had when with , players points spare. game players nights ain't hard enough for him." it mattered most. Two others These games were so lacking bad," Calipari said, then smiled in drama they'll be consigned on opposite teams made sure ,,. The Tigers are headed for the broadly, "I respect Ben and I national championship game . think he's a heck of a coach." to the early morning hours if v; they paid for it. A few of his peers have been ESPN Classic even dares to re- - ) after demolishing UCLA 78- : ; Memphis and Kansas may the same thing about I same Los and In 63, muchthe show on them a saying way they Angeles play yet put spectacular and make it all pay off Monday Chapel Hill, they might only be ' demolished Michigan State and Calipari, dating back two deTexas before that. Depending on cades to when the brash found on the Horror Channel. night. For one night, though, with no whom you believe, they're either expethe dream matchups weren't The only consolation for rience took over an incredibly UCLA was they're used to it pulling Calipari along or being nearly as dreamy as network bad University of Massachusetts after losing in,the last two Final' pushed the entire way by him. programmers had hoped. "I'm going to go down to the For the first time ever, all four! Fours. There wasnt any consoprogram and started promising Riverwalk and do a power walk big things. Eight years later, he lation for North Carolina, which No. I seeds took the court in a to use up some energy and then delivered on one of them, riding in the seemed single night just a few blocks future NBA star Marcus Camby from the Alamo. Basketball fans opening half of its first appear figure who the heck we're playing on Monday. But yeah," Cali- - to the Final Four and a semifinal everywhere were salivating for ance in the same Alamodome where they were thrashed in a two semifinal matches without pari said, "I'm happy, excited for matchup against coach Rick Pitino. semifinal 10 years ago. a sacrificial lamb like George my team, all they've done." The man should have been "I told someone it looked Mason anywhere in sight. Calipari's coaching mentor, in the championship game long beginning at Kansas and durlike we have never played basThe Colonials were missing, before this. He's put teams ketball before," guard Quentin but UCLA and North Carolina ing a stint as an assistant with 10 the tournament in NCAA looked the "It said. like filled role Thomas and that Philadelphia 76ers, was the stepped up d 2 the first time we had ever times, the Sweet Sixteen six Larry Brown. But quite welL With the score in terms of both his approach in the first half, it looked as if walked on a basketball court." times, the Elite Eight five and appearance, the compariIt might have been the Kansas were playing the first times, and now the Final Four sons were often made with Pitwice. Calipari, though, has round against a No. 16 seed like last time Love and Tyler been derided as little more than tino. One magazine called CalNorth Carolina A&T instead of Hansbrough walked off a a toe-slithe revered Tar Heel program. basketball court, at least one recruiter, dismissed ipari the "the apotheosis of the as too much style and too little ambitious, Armani-wrappe- d of the college variety. Though Not content to be routed in basketball coach." And the substance. But during his 16 neither did anything to boost the first half , North Carolina seasons in college, including took a second lashing just for their NBA draft status with night UMass lost to Kentucky, wins during the last wiseguys watched the two good measure after pulling to workmanlike but unspectacucombatants work three seasons at Memphis, only lar efforts, the lure of the pros within tour points in the second half to lose may be too much, especially "I've never been so embarfor Love, who was always rassed in my life," guard Mar- groomed as a We'll get one more chance cus Ginyard said. "They were a typically gutsy effort (36$) very poised. They picked our to see two other definite lottery but his next move wiB be to defense apart. They knocked picks, though, and that might be decide whether to come back for down their shots. They knew what salvages this Final Four. Continued from Dl his senior season Brandon Rush Was spectacuwhere the open guy was go40-1- 2 in lar against North Carolina with late Kansas has more pressing the ing to be every time we douTrailing bled. It felt like we couldn't , first half, Tyler Hansbrough, 25 points and seven rebounds, things to deal with. "We know we've got anothwhile Derrick Rose was just as f Wayne Ellington and the Tar get a breath of air." i Heels made a valiant rally, Kevin Love couldn't, either, good controlling the floor for er step to take Monday night," Sherron Collins said. "It's mainly because Memphis put Memphis as a freshman on the getting to within five points two men on him all game in a big stage for the first time. with nine minutes left, but ran going to be a great matchup. brilliant bit of coaching strateout of steam in their effort to The two together on the They play fast, we play fast." Collins had two assists, a pull off the biggest Final Four gy from a coach who was sup- same court wijh some yery and a pair of free throws posed to be lacking in strategy able supporting casts is a .v n comeback ever, ' li" of any sort. To hear basketball pick 'em game in the eyes of Jf "I've never been so embarduring the decisive stretch that saw the Jayhawks (36-3- ) pad rassed in my life," said Tar pundits talk, all Calipari ever Vegas bookies, and a cant did was recruit great athletes, miss game in the eyes of colHeel guard Marcus Ginyard : that f lead back to 15 " ' toss them a ball and tell them Now, the Jayhawks will play and send the Tar Heels into true lege fans everywhere. Both winwhich basket they were supschools are starved for a title, Memphis, an earlier desperation mode. Williams stood stoically as the ner over UCLA, in Monday's both are coming off dominatposed to deposit it in. ;" Against UCLA, he threw title game. clock ticked down, arms folded, ing wins, and both are playing with supreme confidence. Kansas moved within a win nothing much left he could ' I defense at its freshman of its first national championdo. Tears usually come pretty The Final Four might not sensation, then let his big and fast team ravage the vaunted be one for the ages, but that ship since 1988, the year before quickly after the final buzzer defense that carried UCLA to doesn't mean the championWilliams began his storied of the season for him, and this its third straight Final Four tenure in Lawrence season ended one game short of 1,1 ship game won't be. one that ended when he jilted where many thought it might. appearance. "Heck of a game," CaliI Tim Dahlberg is a sports Yi Kansas for his alma mater. "We've had a good year, but I columnist for AP. Write to pari said. "Got a good team Hansbrough had 17 points and dont think anybody's goal here of players that play together, nine rebounds for North Carolina was to be one of the top four him at tdahlbergap.org. ' EQUAL 10 Tim Dahlberg Four At the i Jim Litke At the . free-thro- i . " , , '' r . , g ' . , d then-Kentuc- well-travele- 40-1- the sidelines, then looked up at the scoreboard the Wildcats won 4 en route to Pitino's only national title and began calling Calipari "Pitino Lite." It seemed even more apt after ck 30-pl- well-dresse- f 81-7- :, .' Calipari left UMass in shambles for the NBA. An NCAA investigation of the school concluded ,:' that Camby had dealings with an agent and received almost $30,000 while in school, then de-- , ' rided to punish the Minutemen by making them vacate their Final Four appearance. Plenty of people felt Calipari's disastrous stint running the New Jersey ' Nets was his comeuppance. But when he turned up at Memphis in 2000, Calipari was unbowed and still making grand plans. ' " "I stayed at UMass eight years, I would have stayed at J' .4 " -- New Jersey for eight years. I plan on staying here for that or longer," he announced. Now in his eighth year, Calipari has turned the tables on his critics. He's got perhaps the best backcourt in the nation and a r team loaded with talent. He likes recruiting tough kids, because it saves him some time in toughening up. Dorsey has become a pet project. senior a He gave the "homework assignment" after the Tigers' senior night, telling Dorsey to write out a dream scenario in a blue diary for every game going forward. Dorsey titled the one for Saturday night NBA-calibe- "No Love for UCLA," detailing how he planned to hold the Bruins' star freshman Kevin Love, to 10 points and 10 rebounds. Love finished with 12 and 9, but Dorsey, despite going scoreless, set the tone for Memphis' win with 15 rebounds and two blocks. "And his coach yelled at him the whole time," Calipari said. "I was trying to get coach off of me," Dorsey shot back. "I was looking at some of the v assistant coaches, like, 'Please, ERIC GAY Associated Press Memphis coach John Calipari directs his team during the second half Saturday. " get him off of me!' Dorsey did, but not until the final buzzer sounded. In the same way he's been challenging Dorsey to reach deeper with every game, Calipari has been challenging his team to use all the slights, real and perceived, thrown at his team for fuel. He's told them no one respects the conference the Tigers compete g in, their fast and NBA style, their inconsistent shooting and per haps most of all. the absence of the kind of tradition that North Carolina, Kansas and UCLA ;; brought to this Final Four. "... I told the team just before the game, 'Does anybody else feel like this is just the next " game?' Calipari recalled. "And so when we finished, I went in and said, 'I still feel like we're going to walk out there Monday night and it's just going to be the next game.' "Then we realized if we can win it," he paused, his voice1 trailing off, "Oh, my gosh." . -- free-thro- . .;. I Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke&ap.org. 84-6- Jayhawks . ive-poi- . 78-6- 3 , have one more in us." The Tigers will get their chance Monday night against Continued from Dl Kansas, which beat North And the Bruins certainly " Carolina , All season, this Memphis ' wouldn't doubt it. team from lightly regarded "Going into the game, we knew that we was going to Conference USA played along win. Ain't too much to say," with Calipari's Rose said. "We're just a great theme. Now, the Tigers team. With the team that we need only one more victory for their first championship. have, it's hard beating us." " Coach John Calipari claimed UCLA star Kevin Love put his Tigers weren't aware they on his own show at practice shoK had set a record for most wins Friday, hitting a '' in major college basketball. He managed just 12 points and missed both open "My team's like, 'Is it? That's the most wins?"' Calipari said. as the Bruins (354) "And then I told them, 'No, no. again fell short in their third , You've got to get to 39 to have straight Final Four appearance. the most wins.' Hopefully we'll "As disappointing as this loss Memphis 84-6- 6. , fuU-cpu- . is, it's hard to be here three' years in a row and not come away with a championship," coach Ben Howland said. "You have to give credit to Memphis State," he said. There's a reason why they've only lost one game and they've won 38. They're a very, very good team." Rose and Douglas-Robertespecially. A star freshman, Rose wasnt content to merely make shots, he wanted to stamp this Final Four as his own with a series of that became an NBA audition. Rose put up lefty floaters and righty scoops, often changing hands in mid-ai- r, and threw one try over his shoulder. He was . s, show-stoppe- in perpetual motion once, he caught a pass in traffic, tepped just long enough to look his defender in the eye, and then sped past him for an easy but showy layup. "Every once in a while, I go, 'Oh my' and I kind of sit down," Calipari said. "And they usually come at inopportune times for the other team." Rose finished with 25 points and nine rebounds and a bunch moves that of won't show up in the final box. Rose also hit free throws. For a team supposedly vulnerable from the foul line, the Tigers did great in making stutter-s- 3. r He fittingly wound up with teams in the country," Hansbrough said. "It's to be the top team. I'm frustrated with that." Williams got outcoached in this one, especially at the beginning, finding no solution for Kansas' somewhat surprising strategy of dumping the ball inside to Darrell Arthur, Darnell Jackson and Cole Aldrich Despite the impressive comeback, the final stats painted a picture of Kansas domination. The Jayhawks shot 53 percent from the floor and held the nation's second-leadin- g offense to 35 percent. They had nine more rebounds, 10 more as- sists, six more blocks! ' All that may have helped prove Williams' theory, as he tried to deflect all the talk of himself this week: That the game would be decided by the players. The Jayhawks were simply better. "We played great early," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "I mean, that's as good as we ' the ball in the final seconds and heaved it high. Only then did he crack the slightest of smiles. Douglas-Robert- s played like an scoring 28 points and Joey Dorsey had the most peculiar line of all zero points, but 15 big rebounds in keeping Love out of the middle. "It's great, it's great," Douglas-Robert- s said. "We all believe in each other and we expect great things to happen, so this isn't new to us." Four other teams had won Illinois 37 times in a season in 2005, UNLV in 1987 and Duke in 1999 and 1986 but all lost in the end. ; Memphis has won its five games in this NCAA tourna UTAH uvu . B&srzzzz New to the 2003 UVU Baseball Promotions Schedule will be your opportunity jt r- ost yoi7 child's birthday party at th r pz: UVU I now accepting Reservati r bi. lay p js . most me Wolvr? ner at Basely. ' , - A VALLEY bolted for North Carolina and this was the first chance to see them go against each other with their new teams and on the game's biggest stage. Self coached Kansas to the lead. Wpliams coaxed his team back in it. But for all North Carolina's effort, this game was lost early. (38-- Jackson 6, 0 S t insists i 1, Up to 20 gener. c Jmisslon tid upon rec tickets can be pprr.rsed by buy:"3 a larger pe ! C ' ' I Ji c check. (36-- 17. 7, Hansbrough 9, Ellington 0, Lawson 8 0 0, Thomas 0 0 0, Wood 5, Tanner 0- - 0 0, Woolen 0, Stepheson 0, 0 7 0. 5 Totals 66. Copeland Thompson Ginyard 18, Campbell 0, Green Halftima Kansas Goals Kansas Collins Chalmers Robinson (Rush - 4), North Carolina Lawson (Green Ellington 9, Hansbrough 1 Graves Ginyard fouled Out None. Rebounds Kansas 42 (Arthur Kansas 9), North Carolina 33 (Hansbrough 9). Assists 1 7 (Collins, Robinson 4), North Carolina Lawson, Thomas 2). Total Fouls Carolina 14. A 43,718, 7 (Ginyard, 21 North Kansas ment by an average of nearly 16 points. The Tigers got off to a slower start this time, falling behind before their suddenly chic "dribble drive motion" offense took over. Memphis led 5045 with 13 Vi minutes left before pulling away, 5-- UCLA ' ) Westtrook Keefe 22, 0 0. Totals MEMPHIS Jl 0, 0, Kemp 0. Totals Fouled Out 78. Collison - Y m ! for more Infotwauwv tte Child's name on itr andor poster autographed by the tea i. L'lithday boyolrl aets to throw out the fin Bex :i ;rition on the Matrix cir.ntmr 6. Visit from 'A If you have any faftherucoffi (801) 863:89S9. Mm And don't forget to have everyone WEAR GREEN ! ' i ..J,. UCLA Keele 8 (Dorsey 15). Assists-tl- OA 10 (Rose 4). Total fouls UCLA NA, l;:jc?ct to avanaDiiity). 5.1" 7 0 Tarjgaft 43 (Collison T Dozler (Anderson Taggart Mack Kerno UCLA 36 (Mbati a Rebounds Collison. 4). Mampliis Memphis 14. A 0, Boats Shipp Memphis 13). Memphis 1 25, - 3. Birthday Card Shlpp 12, Rose Memphis (WestDrook Love I 2, ' 12, - 2, 17, 9 Moule 2. (38-- Halttlme Moule 1 a 63. Andsrson 0 6, Dorsey 0 28, Niles 0 7, Mack 0- - 1 Collision 12, Mbah 4, Aboya 0 1 ! Addition?-- 5 f,4 ,, f , NORTH CAROLINA tfing: I ' " ' 12, Robinson 2 Rush 25, 7, Chalmers 1 1, Case 0 Teahan 0, Collins 9 4 Aldrich 0, Reed 0 0, Kaun 4 Totals 84. Kleinmann UN1VERS1 ill " ' KANSAS Arthur I arty at UY basrbi"! tirthc ; 2. Baseball Thety.? 1 could play." : It was Self who replaced Williams after the coach famously v ' - |