Final Four

One Sh!tty Moment: An Ode to Busted Brackets and a Weak Tourney

Dave Barend — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:52:23 -0400

After the championship game, CBS once again followed tradition and showed a montage of tourney clips set to the cheasiest song ever written - "One Shining Moment." The lyrics are below.

For all of you who, like me, had their brackets destroyed well before the big game, I have provided a slightly different set of lyrics. Interspersed within "One Shining Moment" are the words to my song, in parentheses - "One Sh!tty Moment". Hope you enjoy.

The ball is tipped
(Your brackets are ripped)
and there you are
(Worst year by far)
you're running for your life
(You're looking for a knife)
you're a shooting star
(To kill ‘Nova's star.)

And all the years
(All those fears)
no one knows
(Of Lawson's toes)
just how hard you worked
(And the Sooners lurked)
but now it shows...
(Now you feel hosed)

IN ONE SHINING MOMENT,
(In One Sh!tty Moment)
IT'S ALL ON THE LINE
(Marquette Crossed The line)
ONE SHINING MOMENT,
(One Sh!tty Moment)
THERE FROZEN IN TIME
(Pitt - Ran Out Of Time)

But time is short
(Damn Zags went length of court)
and the road is long
(for another pick you got wrong)
in the blinking of an eye
(BC stinking- oh God why?!)
ah that moment's gone
(Wife then yells "Shut TV - tend to lawn.")

And when it's done
(Hope it was fun)
win or lose
(picking Syracuse)
you always did your best
(You knew they had no rest)
cuz inside you knew...
(Well, you got screwed)

THAT ONE SHINING MOMENT,
(One Sh!tty Moment)
YOU REACHED DEEP INSIDE
(Siena's Shots Went Wide)
ONE SHINING MOMENT,
(One Sh!tty Moment)
YOU KNEW YOU WERE ALIVE
(You Knew - Wake Took A Dive)

Feel the beat of your heart
(There's no beat of your heart.)
feel the wind in your face
(There's no blood in your face)
it's more than a contest
(Don't look your greatest)
it's more than a race...
(more like a corpse on Cold Case)

And when it's done
(Yup you're done)
win or lose
(Go grab your booze)
you always did your best
(went 0 for the West)
cuz inside you knew...
(Cuz Memphis blew)

THAT ONE SHINING MOMENT,
(That One Sh!tty Moment)
YOU REACHED FOR THE SKY
(You Just Want To Cry)
ONE SHINING MOMENT,
(One Sh!tty Moment)
YOU WERE WILLING TO TRY
(Worse - Than A Boeheim Sigh)

Take it easy,
Dave

UNC Wins 2009 Title: Too Good For MSU

Raphielle Johnson — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 10:11:59 -0400

A lot of talk surrounding Monday night's national championship game surrounded Michigan State, a team that had many uttering the word "destiny" in regards to their run through the tournament. That word was properly used...just for the wrong team. With the first seeds of their championship run planted in San Antonio last spring, the North Carolina Tar Heels completed a dominant run through the tournament with a sparkling performance on college basketball's biggest stage.

Monday began with the confirmation of Tar Heel Michael Jordan being elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, and it ended with celebrations on Franklin Street as the Heels won their fifth national title by a final score of 89-72. Ty Lawson ran the show at the point and set a championship game record with eight steals, and fellow guard Wayne Ellington (19 points) was named Most Outstanding Player. Tyler Hansbrough (18 points, 7 rebounds) played well inside, as did freshman Ed Davis coming off the bench for eleven points and eight boards.

North Carolina jumped on the Spartans from the start, combining their efficient offense with solid defense to lead 22-7 with just over six minutes off the clock. Michigan State didn't help their cause at all, turning the ball over at a dizzying rate on their way to twenty-one turnovers. Pregame talk focused on the Spartans making sure that their turnovers were of the "dead ball" variety so an explosive guard like Lawson wouldn't get free runs at them. Live ball or dead, when you end up with a turnover margin of minus-14 (outscored 25-6 in points off turnovers) you're not going to win.

"But the turnovers were the big key," said Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo. "To have 14 turnovers in the first half on a team that doesn't really press hurt us a little bit." The Spartans were led by senior center Goran Suton, who finished with seventeen points and eleven rebounds. Of the Michigan State players who saw double digit minutes on Monday, Chris Allen (one assists, zero turnovers) and Kalin Lucas (seven assists, six turnovers) were the only players to finish with more assists than turnovers. Michigan State simply became the latest team to find out such miscues against the Tar Heels are fatal.

Roy Williams' team went full circle from a season ago, eventually leading 32-11 at the ten minute mark after trailing Kansas in last year's national semifinal 40-12. The goal was to take the pro-Michigan State crowd out of the game early; mission accomplished. "We came out strong; we wanted to get going from the gates," said Hansbrough. "We knew there was going to be a big crowd there for them [and] we kind of wanted to take them out of it early." To this Lawson added that "we learned from past experience it's important in the game" to get out to fast starts, and you can't help but think about San Antonio a year ago.

North Carolina won their six games by a combined margin of 121 points, the second-highest number in the 64/65-team era of the NCAA Tournament. Only Kentucky in 1996 (+129) had a higher point differential for a national champion, and of the 240 minutes the Tar Heels played they led by at least ten points in 154 of them. Not just lead, but to do so in dominant fashion confirmed the praise heaped upon this team before practice began in October. And despite a couple of bumps in the road North Carolina confirmed those expectations and won their fifth national title.

All-Tournament Team

G Wayne Ellington (North Carolina) *named Most Outstanding Player
G Ty Lawson (North Carolina)
G Kalin Lucas (Michigan State)
F Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina)
C Goran Suton (Michigan State)

Monday's Superlatives

Player of the Game: Ty Lawson (his speed was evident in the record eight steals as well as getting to the foul line enough to attempt eighteen free throws)

Team of the Night: North Carolina

Unsung Hero: North Carolina freshman forward Ed Davis, who tallied eleven points an eight rebounds. Davis came off the bench and grabbed just about every offensive rebound during the opening onslaught that essentially put the game away.

Quote of the Night: "People anointed us before the year that you were going to go undefeated, which I thought was silly at the time. Then we lost two games and everybody jumped off the ship. The kids believed us in the locker room at Wake Forest when we told them we were going to be there at the end. That's about the most satisfying feeling I've ever had as a coach." - North Carolina head coach Roy Williams

Final Four TV Ratings: Up 7%

Press Release — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:06:12 -0400

CBS Sports' coverage of the Final Four on Saturday, April 4 earned an average overnight household rating/share of 9.0/18, up +7% from an 8.4/16 last year.

CBS Sports' overall average overnight household rating/share for the tournament-to-date is a 6.1/13, up +7% compared to last year's 5.7/12.

The first game window (6:00-8:45 PM, ET), featuring Michigan State's victory over Connecticut delivered an 8.7/18, up +12% from a 7.8/16 last year (Memphis-UCLA). The second national semi-final game (9:00-11:30 PM, ET), with North Carolina beating Villanova, earned an average overnight household rating/share of 9.3/17, up +2% from last year's 9.1/16 (Kansas-North Carolina).

UNC vs MSU: Matchup Comparison

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:36:47 -0400

You know the story by now, UNC crushed Michigan St by a ridiculous 35 points back in December, but now the Spartans are riding a new wave of confidence and backed by 70,000 Ford Field fans, so everything will be different this time around.. or will it just be more of the same?

According to the individual matchups, UNC has the upper edge, but the Spartans have a knack for making opponents play well beneath their ability.

Click on team and player name for full stats, game logs, bio info, and more.

Matchup Comparison
	#1 UNC		#2 Michigan St

	Ty Lawson Lawson has been UNC's top gun throughout the tournament, hitting threes, pushing the ball, and finding teammates. Needs to limit TO's to just 1 or 2 tonight.	PG	Kalin Lucas The Big Ten POY has been solid and clutch for MSU the entire tournament. But he's simply not as good as Ty Lawson.
	Wayne Ellington Ellington is peaking at the right time. Outside of a weak Oklahoma showing, he's on the best run of his career in recent weeks.	SG	Travis Walton Doesn't light up scoreboard, but is a solid passer and defender. Last two games were good examples of how he makes important contributions.
	Danny Green Underrated player, defends well and can knock in threes. Still prone to a dud offensive game every once and awhile (like against LSU).	G/F	Raymar Morgan Never really got into flow this season with injury issues, and has been virtually invisible.. up until the UCONN where scored 18 points, 9 boards, and added 5 steals. Is he back?
	Tyler Hansbrough Bounced back from a down game against OU with 18 & 11 last time. MSU needs to stop him from getting to the line.	F	Delvon Roe Promising freshman has only impacted 1 of MSU's 5 tourney games. Needs to step up or he'll lose more time to Draymond Green.
	Deon Thompson Leveled off as season went on, and is prone to disappearing. Losing time to Davis recently and becoming less of a factor. Still, not horrible by any means.	C	Goran Suton Was absent when these teams met earlier. Needs to rebound well and help shut down Hansbrough on D. Can step out and hit shots like he did against Louisville.
Reserves
	Bobby Frasor/Larry Drew Frasor somehow got worse throughout career. Drew is a solid passer who rarely scores.	PGs	Korie Lucious Lucas is really MSU's 3rd PG, so he rarely gets much time. But he's far from a scrub, as shown by the 11 pt outburst against the Huskies.
	NA	Wings	Chris Allen/Durrell Summers Michigan St excels when these guys run the floor and hit threes. Summers was huge against L'Ville and UCONN, while Allen has been quiet.
	Ed Davis/Tyler Zeller Both of these guys are A-level future stars. Davis is the Heels main option off the bench now. He'll need to step up big on the glass as MSU is a tough rebounding team.	Bigs	Gray/Green/Ibok Since February started, Draymond Green has emerged as the feature reserve forward. He's really coming into his own. Can be foul prone though.

Disagree with my matchup winners? Post your thoughts in the comments section. Who do you think will win? Vote below:

Semifinals Rewind: UNC & MSU to Play For Title

Raphielle Johnson — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 10:37:04 -0400

There were questions in regards to just how much of a factor the pro-Michigan State crowd would be in the first semifinal. While the majority of a record 72,456 people was heard throughout the Spartans’ 82-73 victory, Connecticut had a much tougher time boxing out the five eligible players on the floor. Although the teams tied with forty-two rebounds apiece, the Spartans took advantage of their eighteen offensive caroms and controlled the flow of the game in the second half.

Point blank the Big Ten champions were the tougher team on the Ford Field floor, playing with a blue-collar style that has been a trademark of Tom Izzo’s program since the day he took over for mentor Jud Heathcoate. Michigan State attempted thirteen more field goals than the Huskies, and other keys to their victory included the bench and their ability to get out and run. Stereotyped as a plodding club since they represent the Big Ten, Michigan State prefers to look for opportunities to run up the backs of their opponents and they did just that against Connecticut.

Michigan State outscored the Huskies 22-10 in fast break points, including 16-6 in the final twenty minutes. Kalin Lucas led the Spartans with twenty-one points, but the star was forward Raymar Morgan. Morgan, who struggled with his health throughout the year due to walking pneumonia and mononucleosis, finished with eighteen points and nine rebounds in the win. The better-fitting facemask to protect his broken nose seems to have done the trick, allowing Morgan better vision on the floor.

“The mask felt great; it's a perfect fit for me,” said Morgan after the game. “It's a lot better seeing-wise. I can see out of my peripheral, so it's a great fit.” Not only was he more accurate from the field (7-for-13), Morgan was also more aggressive Saturday night as opposed to the Midwest Regional Final against Louisville. But the two stars had help on Saturday in all areas. Frontcourt starters Delvon Roe and Goran Suton didn’t score very well (four points apiece) but they did combine to grab fifteen rebounds. And the bench cannot be ignored, taking a small advantage before the game and turning it into one of the deciding factors.

Michigan State outscored Connecticut’s reserves 33-7 on the evening, with Durrell Summers (10 points, 6 rebounds) and Korie Lucious (11 points) doing the most damage. Lucious was hot in the first half, scoring all eleven of his points to help send the Spartans into the locker room with a 38-36 halftime lead. Summers was one of the guys who provided added toughness, and he also gave the Tournament it’s best individual play with his second half dunk over Stanley Robinson.

“We thought we had depth over them,” said head coach Tom Izzo. “That's why we had to run and wanted to run. We could run if we could rebound and we rebounded the ball pretty well.”

The Huskies were able to hang around for much of the second half, but Michigan State was able to put together what turned out to be a decisive second half run on the heels of Connecticut’s 4-for-4 start. All of a sudden banging the ball inside wasn’t working, with missed shots and turnovers compounded by missed foul shots. UConn shot 63.6% from the charity stripe for the game, but that doesn’t do justice to their struggles in the middle portion of the game. When going up against a team as efficient on offense as Michigan State you can’t afford to leave points on the floor, and that’s exactly what Jim Calhoun’s team did.

“Both teams had an enormous amount of runs, it was who is going to make that play, make those foul shots, which we didn't in the second half. That made a difference,” said Calhoun. Four Husky starters finished in double figures, with Hasheem Thabeet leading the way with seventeen points. A.J. Price and Stanley Robinson (Robinson also had thirteen boards) each scored fifteen, but the senior point guard was harassed into a 5-for-20 night by Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Travis Walton. Connecticut was able to get the ball inside, but their inability to punish the Spartans on the perimeter eventually caught up to them.

After falling behind by ten with 7:05 to go (64-54), just about every spurt that Connecticut tried to extend into a run was put out by a Spartan score off of an offensive rebound or quality shot produced by their set offense. Finally with all of their key parts healthy, Michigan State offers up a potent opponent on Monday night, no matter where the game would be played.

North Carolina jumps on Villanova early and keeps them at a distance throughout.

The worry for the Tar Heels coming into their second consecutive Final Four appearance was to avoid getting blitzed out of the gates. Last year in San Antonio North Carolina fell behind eventual champion Kansas 40-12 in the first half, and despite closing to within four Carolina lacked the energy needed to get over the hump. No worries tonight, with the Tar Heels starting out hot while Villanova reverted to bad habits and stuck to firing up three-pointers. Jay Wright’s team can definitely shoot the basketball, but they’re at their best when they attack via dribble penetration.

The result was North Carolina racing out to a 40-23 lead, leading by nine (49-40) at the half thanks to 67% shooting from the field. Ty Lawson led the way with twenty-two points, and had he not gone just 10-for17 from the foul line the junior could have sparked an even worse beating than the 83-69 final. The Wildcats were able to fight back into the game, getting as close at 50-45 early in the second half, but their poor perimeter shooting (5-for-27, 18%) combined with timely three-pointers from Wayne Ellington (20 points) and Danny Green spelled doom for a school making its first Final Four trip in twenty-four years.

“I think it was big for us to come out and share the basketball and get easy ones,” said Ellington. “We built some confidence, and we went from there.”

Tyler Hansbrough posted a double-double, countering Dante Cunningham’s twelve points and twelve rebounds with eighteen and eleven. Outside of Shane Clark and Reggie Redding no one shot the ball well for Villanova, with the Wildcats shooting 32.9% from the field and failing to take advantage of seventeen more field goal attempts. Carolina shot 50% from behind the arc and outscored Villanova from behind the arc by eighteen. The one concern for North Carolina going into Monday night: rebounding. They were a minus-4 (50-46) on Saturday night, and in Michigan State they’ll encounter a far more imposing team when it comes to interior height and depth.

An unsung hero for North Carolina was guard Bobby Frasor, who came off the bench to grab seven rebounds (five offensive) to help counteract an aggressive opponent. “I think he showed some sense of urgency and effort on that,” said head coach Roy Williams of the senior’s performance. Without the rebounding of Frasor, Hansbrough, Lawson (seven boards) and Ellington (nine rebounds) it could very well be Villanova talking about a miraculous comeback. Instead, North Carolina gets a shot at history and adding another impressive line to the legacy of their senior class.

Scottie Reynolds led Villanova with seventeen points but shot just 6-for-18 from the field on the night. Two other key players who struggled from the field were Dwayne Anderson (2-for-12) and Corey Fisher (5-for-19), and while both were active and helped out immensely on the boards the poor shooting was too much to overcome. The Villanova that we saw tonight didn’t play at the same level they did over the last two weekends, and their opponent had an awful lot to do with that.

“We've been getting better every game. We did not get better this game,” said Villanova head coach Jay Wright. “There are a number of reasons. Probably the main reason, though, is we played a better team tonight.”

Saturday Superlatives

Player of the Night: North Carolina guard Ty Lawson (22 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists)

Team of the Night: Michigan State (expect an even greater “home court” advantage on Monday night)

Clutch Performances of the Night: North Carolina guard Wayne Ellington (20 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists) and Michigan State forward Raymar Morgan (18 points, 9 rebounds)

Play of the Night: Michigan State forward Durrell Summers’ second half dunk on Connecticut’s Stanley Robinson

Quote of the Night: “I think when [they’re] watching us, just the fact that we’re in the Final Four, I think they kind of forget about they hard times. That's one thing we talked about is bringing hope to the city, kind of for a whole weekend. People forgetting about their problems [and] what they’re going through; just focusing on us and focusing on Michigan State.” - Michigan State senior guard Travis Walton

Final Four: Player & Position Ranking

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:08:24 -0400

This is a straight-forward list: a ranking of the remaining Final Four players. Most of the teams go about 8 deep now, so the top 8 from each squad is included. Only 3 others players (2 on MSU and 1 on UNC) get meaningful minutes beyond the top 8. Below, the players are ranked by position.

A couple things to note: Look how weak these teams are at small forward, and mostly at power forward as well. On the flip side, look how great all 4 of these teams are at point guard and at center (especially if I swapped Hansbrough as a center in place of Thompson).

1. Ty Lawson - UNC (1)
2. Hasheem Thabeet - UCONN (1)
3. AJ Price - UCONN (2)
4. Kalin Lucas - Michigan St (1)
5. Tyler Hansbrough - UNC (2)
6. Dante Cunningham - Villanova (1)
7. Scottie Reynolds - Villanova (2)
8. Wayne Ellington - UNC (3)
9. Goran Suton - Michigan St (2)
10. Jeff Adrien - UCONN (3)
11. Danny Green - UNC (4)
12. Stanley Robinson - UCONN (4)
13. Travis Walton - Michigan st (3)
14. Dwayne Anderson - Villanova (3)
15. Reggie Reading - Villanova (4)
16. Corey Fisher - Villanova (5)
17. Ed Davis - UNC (5)
18. Kemba Walker - UCONN (5)
19. Durrell Summers - Michigan St (4)
20. Shane Clark - Villanova (6)
21. Deon Thompson - UNC (6)
22. Corey Stokes - Villaova (7)
23. Chris Allen - Michigan St (5)
24. Raymar Morgan - Michigan St (6)
25. Gavin Edwards - UCONN (6)
26. Craig Austrie - UCONN (7)
27. Tyler Zeller - UNC (7)
28. Delvon Roe - Michigan St (7)
29. Draymond Green - Michigan St (8)
30. Bobby Frasor - UNC (8)
31. Antonio Pena - Villanova (8)
32. Donnell Beverly - UCONN (8)
+ Korie Lucious, Marquise Gray, Larry Drew

Point Guards
1. Ty Lawson - UNC (1)
2. AJ Price - UCONN (3)
3. Kalin Lucas - Michigan St (4)
4. Scottie Reynolds - Villanova (7)
5. Corey Fisher - Villanova (16)
6. Bobby Frasor - UNC (30)
7. Korie Lucious - Michigan St (NA)
8. Donnell Beverly - UCONN (32)
9. Larry Drew - UNC (NA)

Shooting Guards
1. Wayne Ellington - UNC (8)
2. Travis Walton - Michigan st (13)
3. Reggie Reading - Villanova (15)
4. Kemba Walker - UCONN (18)
5. Durrell Summers - Michigan St (19)
6. Corey Stokes - Villaova (22)
7. Chris Allen - Michigan St (23)
8. Craig Austrie - UCONN (26)

Small Forwards
1. Danny Green - UNC (11)
2. Stanley Robinson - UCONN (12)
3. Dwayne Anderson - Villanova (14)
4. Raymar Morgan - Michigan St (24)

Power Forwards
1. Tyler Hansbrough - UNC (5)
2. Jeff Adrien - UCONN (10)
3. Shane Clark - Villanova (20)
4. Tyler Zeller - UNC (27)
5. Delvon Roe - Michigan St (28)
6. Draymond Green - Michigan St (29)
7. Antonio Pena - Villanova (32)
8. Marquise Gray - Michigan st (NA)

Centers
1. Hasheem Thabeet - UCONN (2)
2. Dante Cunningham - Villanova (6)
3. Goran Suton - Michigan St (9)
4. Ed Davis - UNC (17)
5. Deon Thompson - UNC (21)
6. Gavin Edwards - UCONN (25)

Disagree with this ranking? post your thoughts in the comments section.

Poll: UCONN vs Michigan St: Who Will Win?

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:34:30 -0400

Poll: UNC vs Villanova: Who Will Win?

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:30:06 -0400

NCAA Tournament Final Four: Writers' Predictions

CHN — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:40:43 -0400

Need help picking the Final Four? CHN writers give their National Champion & Final predictions and we try and come up with some semblance of a consensus.

Note how the #1 seeds dominate our predictions. Perhaps our memories are overly dominated by last year year's Final Four, or maybe the top teams really are just that good. See how these picks compare to CHN's Official Prediction.

Writer	Jeff Borzello	Jason Brubaker	Dan Daitchman	Jeff Fox
Champ	Pittsburgh	UNC	Pittsburgh	UNC
Final 4	UCONN	Louisville	Wake Forest	Louisville
Final 4	UNC	Memphis	UCONN	UCONN
Final 4	Louisville	Pittsburgh	UNC	Pittsburgh

Writer	Raphielle Johnson	Kevin McNeill	Shawn Siegel	Joel Welser
Champ	Pittsburgh	Louisville	UNC	Pittsburgh
Final 4	Louisville	UNC	UCONN	Louisville
Final 4	Memphis	Villanova	Michigan St	Missouri
	Oklahoma	Memphis	Pittsburgh	Oklahoma

Writer	Joey Whelan
Champ	UNC
Final 4	Louisville
Final 4	Florida St
Final 4	Memphis

Writer Consensus

Champion: Pittsburgh (5 of 9)

Runner Up: UNC

Final Four

East: Pittsburgh (7 of 9)

Midwest: Louisville (7 of 9)

West: UCONN/Memphis (4 of 9 each)

South: UNC (7 of 9)

The only real "surprise" picks are Wake Forest & Florida State in the Final Four by two of our writers. Interesting that the ACC is given a lot of respect.. except for Duke, which doesn't even make anybody's list. Perhaps that will come back to haunt us?..

Poll: How Many #1 Seeds Will Make the Final Four?

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 06:58:09 -0400