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| Kentucky's victory on Monday night signals bad signs for college basketball. |
Mondays's national championship game was interesting to say the least. Though it didn't always enthrall us with end-to-end exciting basketball it did leave us with some different ideas to take in both during and after the game.
The Good
Kentucky As a Whole
Kentucky might not have been the best team all season but their style of play tantalized us with a showcase of supreme athleticism, undying selflessness and a serious commitment to defense. That's exactly how they won the National Championship on Monday night. Despite John Calipari being one of the slimiest characters in sports let alone college basketball, his Kentucky team was much more attractive than his free-wheeling, over privileged '07-'08 Memphis Tigers team that went on to lose dramatically to a similar Kansas team. Last night that wasn't going to happen because of the Wildcats solid team D. Even when UK got cold, their defense stayed the part.
Anthony Davis' Final Showcase In College
Anthony Davis declared for the NBA before he even entered Rupp Arena, but we knew that, so the whole season began and ended with us assessing just how good this 6'10" lanky, athletic and downright ugly center could be. Everyone had their premises about how he might be the best player in college basketball and it didn't take long for that to come true. Davis had shown himself all season as being a solid offensive player with phenomenal defensive play-making ability transforming him into a dynamic player. But Monday night he solidified himself and his draft status with an overly impressive game letting scouts and NBA GMs that no one should even second guess him. Davis had only 6 points. But chipped in with 16 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 blocks and 3 steals. He was asked last night to be the defensive enforcer and to crash the glass, and he did so as only the best college basketball could. The surefire 1st overall selection should only grow in the NBA game, but for now we can just dream of the possibilities for this kid. All-Star? All-Pro? Hall-of-famer? We shall see, last night was a definitely a good start.
Kansas Made It A Game
Kentucky led for most of this game at a 14/15/16 point click and really dominated both sides of the ball holding Kansas to ugly shooting numbers while connecting for more than 60% of their own shots. But the Jayhawks buckled down late and cut the lead to 5, but when you fall behind 16 points to something of a D-League team, you're just not going to win. At least they made it exciting, with Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor bringing their Jayhawks back through a series of pick-and-rolls and beautiful finishes. I've always been impressed by Thomas Robinson's game and I knew that he had to get hot in order to bring Kansas back. Unfortunately it was too little, too late as Kentucky, unlike their Memphis predecessors, actually hit their free throws to preserve the win. I'm sure I'm not the only one who was glad that Kansas dug down deep and made it a game.
The Bad
Kansas's First Half
I don't know why Kansas tripped out of the gates and appeared like they were a Cinderella team that waltzed unknowingly into the mouth of a beast. They were playing like VCU, not Kansas. Kentucky dominated all facets of the game and stuck it to the Jayhawks like they had a chip the size of the United States on their shoulder(which they probably did). Kansas keyed in on Anthony Davis who made them pay in all different ways and unselfishly let his teammates like Doron Lamb and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist lead the way. Bill Self rallied his troops in the second half, but the ugliness of that first half will haunt them forever. I'm sorry but you can't dig yourself a six foot hole against the best team in the nation and actually dig yourself out.
The Ugly
What Kentucky's Win Means To The College Basketball World
Monday night set a lot of college basketball purists into a winding and deep depression that should leave them somewhere between maddeningly confused and downright pissed off. John Calipari's "one-an-done" philosophy finally turned to gold after years of things going wrong. For a while our college ball traditionalists had a strong case against Calipari. "Yeah, your freshman-laden team is pretty good, but their inexperience will catch up to them," they would say. They were totally right until now. I think what's worse than the fact that Calipari won with 3 freshman and 2 sophomores is that Calipari won it with smug openness about how he will recruit the best players in the nation no matter what age they are or what their future plans are. It's ugly, because all of these Wildcats players will go on to be 1st round picks and John Calipari will simply retool with another group of phenom 18 year olds who will push Kentucky deep into the NCAA Tournament once again next year. Now that Kentucky actually has hardware to back up its revolutionary recruiting philosophy there is no reason for any "one and done" player to go anywhere else. Calipari knows how to handle egos and craft superstars; his teams are like D-League teams because there is no academic standard or school spirit. These players are here to win a National Championship, grow as budding professionals and get themselves ready for the National Basketball Association. Monday signaled the death of college basketball as we know it and a true transition into the "one-and-done" era.
Kansas Made It A Game
Kentucky led for most of this game at a 14/15/16 point click and really dominated both sides of the ball holding Kansas to ugly shooting numbers while connecting for more than 60% of their own shots. But the Jayhawks buckled down late and cut the lead to 5, but when you fall behind 16 points to something of a D-League team, you're just not going to win. At least they made it exciting, with Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor bringing their Jayhawks back through a series of pick-and-rolls and beautiful finishes. I've always been impressed by Thomas Robinson's game and I knew that he had to get hot in order to bring Kansas back. Unfortunately it was too little, too late as Kentucky, unlike their Memphis predecessors, actually hit their free throws to preserve the win. I'm sure I'm not the only one who was glad that Kansas dug down deep and made it a game.
The Bad
Kansas's First Half
I don't know why Kansas tripped out of the gates and appeared like they were a Cinderella team that waltzed unknowingly into the mouth of a beast. They were playing like VCU, not Kansas. Kentucky dominated all facets of the game and stuck it to the Jayhawks like they had a chip the size of the United States on their shoulder(which they probably did). Kansas keyed in on Anthony Davis who made them pay in all different ways and unselfishly let his teammates like Doron Lamb and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist lead the way. Bill Self rallied his troops in the second half, but the ugliness of that first half will haunt them forever. I'm sorry but you can't dig yourself a six foot hole against the best team in the nation and actually dig yourself out.
The Ugly
What Kentucky's Win Means To The College Basketball World
Monday night set a lot of college basketball purists into a winding and deep depression that should leave them somewhere between maddeningly confused and downright pissed off. John Calipari's "one-an-done" philosophy finally turned to gold after years of things going wrong. For a while our college ball traditionalists had a strong case against Calipari. "Yeah, your freshman-laden team is pretty good, but their inexperience will catch up to them," they would say. They were totally right until now. I think what's worse than the fact that Calipari won with 3 freshman and 2 sophomores is that Calipari won it with smug openness about how he will recruit the best players in the nation no matter what age they are or what their future plans are. It's ugly, because all of these Wildcats players will go on to be 1st round picks and John Calipari will simply retool with another group of phenom 18 year olds who will push Kentucky deep into the NCAA Tournament once again next year. Now that Kentucky actually has hardware to back up its revolutionary recruiting philosophy there is no reason for any "one and done" player to go anywhere else. Calipari knows how to handle egos and craft superstars; his teams are like D-League teams because there is no academic standard or school spirit. These players are here to win a National Championship, grow as budding professionals and get themselves ready for the National Basketball Association. Monday signaled the death of college basketball as we know it and a true transition into the "one-and-done" era.
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