Thanks to Kansas blowing over a dozen dunks and lay-ups, Kentucky wins their 8th NCAA Basketball Championship — until it is vacated for recruiting/academic violations — still short of UCLA by THREE, which is incidentally the same number of Bruins who were named to the Basketball Hall of Fame yesterday
Kentucky was the best team in the Country this year, without a doubt. They dominated Kansas for most of the Title game, building an 18-point lead before John Calipari’s bad coaching allowed his team to get complacent and lazy, which in turn allowed the Keystone Kops of Kansas to mount a late, frenetic comeback. After missing about 11 lay-ups and 2 dunks in the first three-quarters of the game, Kansas finally settled down — when Kentucky turned off the pressure — and started to make some shots. Against a passive Wildcat team that was coasting, the Jayhawks were able to cut the lead to just 5 points with about a minute to play. They had chances to make it a one-possession game, but couldn’t sink the clutch shots that they needed, so Calipari FINALLY gets his FIRST-EVER Championship. For a guy that’s considered elite, it sure took a long, long time to win it all, despite having the Nation’s most talent many, many times.
The question is, how does he GET that talent? Does he do it the ol’ Pete Carroll way? By paying his recruits and skirting academic regulations? Most people think so. His teams have been busted before. But no Banner has ever been removed from an NCAA Basketball team, so a Kentucky violation this year would have to be mighty egregious for the NCAA to take definitive action.
The impressive line-up that Kentucky put on the court included three Freshman starters, who will all probably be in the Basketball Hall of Fame one day, including Wooden Award winner and Most Outstanding Player in the Final, Anthony Davis. Unlike his trojan namesake, this A.D. is destined to Pro greatness. Even though he started 0-for-8 from the field last night, he still dominated the game, with 16 Rebounds, 6 Blocks, and 5 Assists.
But speaking of the Hall of Fame, congratulations go out to THREE BRUINS, who were selected yesterday by the Naismith HoF for induction: Reggie Miller, Jamaal Wilkes, and Don Barksdale. Not everyone who was nominated made it — Just ask Rick Pitino. And if Calipari’s Title gets vacated, and his sleazy off-court reputation continues to overshadow his on-court success, he’ll join Pitino on the outside looking in.
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As for the Keychain Contest, the winner is Marissa, who was the very first person to enter, and who nailed it exactly with her “Kentucky by 8” prediction, made several weeks ago. She chose the keychain with the black background. “bruin75” takes the one with the white background, engraved on the back with “BeatSC.com,” for finishing second with a “Kentucky by 10” prediction, just barely nipping “bruinelle’s” “Kentucky by 5.” Thanks to everyone for playing!