All day yesterday, I fully expected to be covering the 9 a.m. press conference for the national champions. At about 10:25 last night, I would have bet the farm on it. Instead, I’m ready to get home and begin a very long offseason in which we’ll probably be re-living and writing about what happened Monday night countless times. How can we not?
It was a historic collapse, something that won’t ever be forgotten. Any time a team is up 7 or 8 points in a national championship game with the clock winding down, Memphis’ 2008 loss will be talked about.
Was it free throws? Sure, Memphis could have won it once and for all at the line. If Derrick Rose makes 2-of-2 intead of 1-of-2, the Tigers win. If CDR doesn’t tense up with 16.8 left — and he was tense — the Tigers likely cut down the nets. But the play of the game was the inbounds pass Sherron Collins stole from Antonio Anderson. If Anderson gets the ball safely to Rose, he goes to the line with about 1:45 to go up by seven points. Maybe he makes both; maybe he just makes one. Either way, the Tigers probably would have put enough distance between themselves and Kansas right there to clinch it. Instead, a 9-point lead turns to 4 in a matter of 10 seconds. That changed the entire strategy in the final 1:40. Suddenly, every dribble and free throw was huge. If Rose goes to the line with a 7 point lead, he probably makes both simply because the pressure isn’t as great.
Joey Dorsey’s fifth foul with 1:23 to go was also another major mental error. It’s bad on three levels. 1) It stops the clock. 2) It fouls Dorsey out. 3) It allows Kansas to cut it from six to four on free throws.
The third gaffe belongs to John Calipari, and he will forever have to own it. He says he was trying to foul before Mario Chalmers got off the tying shot. But he should have called timeout after Rose made the second free throw. You have to call timeout there. Make sure everybody knows what is going on. Calling timeout is a no-lose situation. You let your defense get set up. You make Kansas inbound the ball. If you want to, you can even foul on the inbounds. If the Tigers foul, they win. Simple as that. Amazing.
Not fun to write about it, but it was a great season. Lots of things will be percolating in the coming weeks. We’ll do our best to have them for you first. Enjoy the offseason, as best you can.
in Tiger Basketball
Responses to “From the San Antonio airport…”
April 8th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
I agree with your deconstruction of last night’s meltdown. As you have documented, Coach Cal and four of the starters all made mental mistakes which contributed to the collapse.
One amazing aspect of the last two and a half minutes was that Dozier was our most clutch player. In addition to avoiding the mistakes that plagued the other starters, he sank free throws and came up with a huge offensive rebound after CDR’s missed free throws. If we had won he would have been remembered as a hero of the game. I hope he can carry his clutch play over into next season when we will rely on him heavily.
All in all, it was a disappointing end to a terrific season. I’ll always remember this team and what they’ve accomplished.
GO TIGERS GO!
April 8th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
What you left out is that Cal actually had TWO timeouts to work with, and never used. he could’ve set the defense after Rose’s make and then if Kansas had still somehow made a three he could’ve used the last one to set up something. And if you think it would’ve been impossible to set up a winning play in that amount of time I’ll have you know that the famous Christian Laettner play to beat Kentucky was started with 2.1 seconds left.
The bottom line is, Cal and the team went into a brain freeze. Dozier was actually the one guy who did anything right in the last 2:12.
The entire Kansas team ought to be arrested for grand larceny.
April 8th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Dan-
A big Thanks to you on your coverage all year. I know this was quite a ride for you as it was for me and all True Tiger fans.
April 8th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Its always easy to second guess what Cal or the players did after the game is over, but the fact is if Chalmers doesn’t connect on a ‘prayer’ of a 3- pointer, you’d all be talking about what a dope Self was for going box and one against CDR in second half which gave Rose the opportunity to go crazy. There’s a fine line between winning and losing a game like that and nothing that happened Monday night can take away from the wonderful season the Tigers had. My only regret is that we’ll never see those 5 play together again.
April 8th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Joey’ foul may have been a mental error, but he did what Kansas and Memphis had done all night. he came out to pressure the ball off the high screen. It hadn’t been called a foul all night on either end. Suddenly, with very little contact and absolutely no effect on the game, he’s called with the foul.
As for the timeout, Kansas took one right before Rose made the FT, I believe. Yes, Cal still could have taken a TO, and maybe should have, but I’m sure they covered the defense during that timeout. He should have at least called one with 2.1 seconds, forced the officials to review the 3 point basket, and set up some sort of inbounds play.
April 9th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Certainly you can place responsibility on the players for missing free throws, but I place the blame squarely on Calipari’s shoulders.
I don’t buy what he said in the post-game press conference. I don’t believe he told those kids to foul. They were doing everything not to foul.
I hate it for Tiger fans - I really do. But in the end, this team will only be remembered for their total meltdown, not their fantastic season.
April 9th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I agree with the deconstruction and the kudos to Dozier. I was there and he looked very relaxed and was playing with energy at the end. Also, with a timeout, Cal or one of the players could have told the refs that they planned to foul the ball handler.
April 9th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Also, Moondog, Collins told reporters (as reported in today’s NY Times) that he was fouled and was relieved that it wasn’t called.
April 9th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
That’s the key - it wasn’t called. The officials are typically going to let minor contact go in the closing seconds to allow for exactly what happened.
You have to make the contact obvious to force the officials to make the call. Memphis didn’t do that.
April 9th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
There were plenty of weird refereeing calls in that game. Take a look at the time their player slipped in regulation (not the later slip) and our player who wasn’t even near touching him, see slow motion with your DVR, gets called for a foul. We caught maybe one or two minor breaks but there were tons of times that even the announcer mentioned that Kansas got by with a foul and had lots of calls that benefitted them. We could have defeated the other team AND the refs had we gotten a foul called at the end but it didn’t get done. I don’t blame Joey Dorsey at all for fouling out. He played a good game and I was glad to see he took the final foul called in stride rather than having some sort of tantrum or getting a technical; he handled it with class. I guess we just had some bad breaks and maybe the universe wants us to not get it all in one season — how about having something still to work for next season! Come back Derrick! How about a 40-0 season next year? Well, there are things to still achieve such as a national championship. Good luck, guys!
April 9th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
I can only say that I am heart broken first for the Tigers, for the city, and for myself. They truly are the dream team for so many reasons. They brought such joy and comradarie to the city that is usually divided on just about every topic except the Tigers. I went to every home game as a season ticket holder and attended the Final Four as well as the championship game. I wish the team could go back in time and make just one more free throw or Coach Cal would have gotten Derick Rose to foul where it would have been extremly clear to the officals that was the intent or just one timeout be called. They deserved to win the championship and were only seconds away to accomplishing their dream for this season. I will always remember this team as the dream team not for their incredible talent but for how much they loved each other and the city of Memphis. They wanted to win it as much for Memphis as they wanted to win it for themselves. Joey Dorsey will forever be my all time favorite player. There will never be another player that has as much heart or who is more appreciative of the fans. I believe he is so loved because each of us can see a little bit of ourselves in his vulnerability. He is all heart and does not mind letting all of us see it. I will never forget CDR and his will to score in any situation. He is amazing and handles himself will pose and grace. Derick Rose is a rare talent and I know he must pursue his dream of playing in the NBA next year. I am thankful he chose Memphis so we could go to the championship game. So Tigers I can only say thanks for the best basketball season I have ever expericenced as I have been going to the games since I was two years old with my parents and I am now forty and take my son to the to the games. In my mind the Tigers won the national Championship and cut down the nets at the Alamodome. The 2007-2008 Tiger basketball team will always be champions in the hearts of the city of Memphis and We Love YOU.
April 13th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
As for the ‘Foot-Question’…
When ‘Derick Rose’ started his jump-shot… his ‘Left-foot’was behind the LINE… his ‘Right-foot’ was “In-Front” of the 3-point line!!
When he started his Jump-shot he MOVED-HIS-RIGHT-FOOT-OFF-THE-FLOOR… his “LEFT-FOOT” was the last foot to leave the floor & it was “BEHIND”-THE-3-POINT=LINE…
IT WAS LEGAL 3-POINT-SHOT!!!
The shot was logged as 3=Points when the play was over… referee’s re-checked Video camera’s a 2nd time & ruling was “AGAIN” that shot was LEGAL & should be counted as a 3-point play!!
Play was again retarted for a 2nd-time!!~THEN~ play was stopped for a 3rd-time & video reviewed again for a 3rd time!!… AND 1~POINT WAS DEDUCTED @ THAT TIME!!
HOW CAN A PLAY BE REVIEWED AFTER THE GAME HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO RESUME THREE~SEPERATE~TIMES & the SCORE CHANGED AFTER PLAY WAS RESUMED??????????
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