Final Four

Ladies and gentlemen, Cinderella has left the building. The dress, shoes, carriage, and chauffeur have turned back intro rags, slippers, a pumpkin, and mice. As much as everyone outside of Kansas was rooting for Stephen Curry and the Davidson Wildcats, the clock has struck midnight. The silver lining in this cloud is that this should be one of the greatest Final Four's ever. All four of these teams have been dominating college basketball not just all season, but for years. This year, all of these teams have won conference titles and are riding double digit winning streaks. Memphis and Kansas have won eleven straight games, UCLA has won fourteen, and North Carolina has won its past fifteen games. None of these teams have lost consecutive games this season. Memphis, who is the least accomplished of the four teams, has appeared in the elite eight the past two years and now is in the final four. This is also the third Final Four for the Tigers in the past three decades, with a third different coach.
The success of these teams comes as no surprise considering the talent and athleticism on all four teams. There are twelve high school McDonald's All-Americans between the four teams. Three of the four teams also have college All-Americans on their team (UCLA's Kevin Love, Memphis' Chris Douglas-Roberts, and UNC's Tyler Hansbrough).
So the million dollar question is, who of all these great teams will prevail in San Antonio? Let's start with Memphis vs UCLA. The Memphis Tigers are going to looking for revenge after UCLA ended their season two years ago in the elite eight. Memphis plays great defense, and has dominated just about everyone who stood in their way this year. Freshman point guard Derrick Rose has been averaging 20 points and 6 assists in the tournament, and is drawing comparisons to former Wake Forest standout and current New Orleans Hornet Chris Paul. His ability to make plays for his teammates along with creating shots for himself, has put him head and shoulders above every other point guard in the country (especially after embarrassing All American point guard DJ Augustine last week). It also appears that Memphis is overcoming their free throw shooting woes. During the regular season Memphis was dead last in this statistic (59%), they have shot in the 70-80% range the past two games, but I'm not sure how the Tigers will do in a close game. For Memphis, it may come down to Joey Dorsey's ability to shut down UCLA's fantastic freshman center Kevin Love (18 points, and 11 rebounds per game) for Memphis to move on to the championship. Love has been doing it all for the Bruins in the tournament and all year long. He steps out and shoots the three pointer, he plays hard in the post, and has been crashing the boards like a man possessed. But, when you talk UCLA you cannot forget about their defense either. Point guard Darren Collison is the son of former track star parents, and has the speed and quickness to keep up with anyone. He and the rest of the Bruins have been holding opponents to a meager 53 points per game in the tournament (Memphis has been scoring 83 points per game). This game will be decided in the final three minutes, with the Bruins prevailing because of their defensive abilities.
The Kansas Jayhawks and the North Carolina Tar Heels are the deepest teams in the country. This is the clash of the titans, the heavyweight bout of this semifinal round. When it comes to Carolina, you can't say enough about Tyler Hansbrough. He seems to improve with every passing moment. He has added the 15-18 foot jump shot to his arsenal, making him almost impossible to guard. Let's not forget about Hansbrough's partner in crime, Ty Lawson. Lawson was out for six games in February due to an ankle injury, but has come back full force. His injury forced backup Quentin Thomas and the rest of the Tar Heels to step up and as a result, Lawson returned to a more complete team when he had healed.
The Jayhawks have had seven different players lead the team in scoring in games this season. The depth of this team is unmatched in all of college basketball. They have supreme guard play with Brandon Rush,Mario Chalmers, and Sheron Collins. They also have a fantastic front court lead by Darell Arthur. Arthur vs Hansbrough could be the determining factor in this one, as both will try to avoid getting into foul trouble. This game will be a physical one, featuring great defense on both sides, leading to a low scoring game. Although North Carolina has been solid all year long, Kansas will prevail in this one, setting up a championship game of the Jayhakws versus the UCLA Bruins.