Instant Coffee: UCONN Huskies win National Championship, 4th in 15 years

Instant Coffee: UCONN Huskies win National Championship, 4th in 15 years

NCAA Basketball Tournament - Regionals - New York

(8) Kentucky Wildcats 54 vs. (7) Connecticut Huskies 60

March Madness delivers again. From start to finish, it continues to be one of the most exciting sports tournaments. By far, it is my favorite NCAA event. As usual, there were some unbelievable upsets at the beginning of the tournament. The upset of this year’s March Madness was 14 seeded Mercer defeating mighty, 3 seeded Duke in the Round of 64. The Cinderella story was Dayton. They beat their in state rivals, the 5 seed Ohio State Buckeyes, in the Round of 64. Next, they defeated the 3 seed Syracuse who completely fell apart late in the season after carrying an undefeated record late into the regular season. Dayton would go on to beat 10 seed Stanford in the Sweet Sixteen before losing to 1 seed Florida in the elite 8. There have been a lot of great stories in the NCAA tournament such as Wisconsin’s coach Bo Ryan finally reaching the Final Four and coming within one shot from playing in the Championship Game. The finalists have great stories too. The Kentucky Wildcats were ranked number 1 before the season due to another strong freshman class recruited by John Calipari. However, the results did not live up to the hype in the regular season as the Wildcats were inconsistent. Specifically, they struggled in close games which exposed the weakness of the inexperience from a freshman starting five. The young Wildcats grew up quickly in the tournament. They turned weakness into strength. Against top competition, they played great down the stretch of close games and hit a bunch of big shots. Although they faced large deficits against top teams, Kentucky remained poised and rallied. Accordingly, they were able to down Wichita State, Louisville, and Wisconsin to get to the final game. Aaaron Hernandez hit some clutch shots along the way including ridiculous 3 pointers against Louisvlille and Wisconsin in the final minutes of each game. The thriller with Wichita State, who was undefeated going into the game and a Final Four finalist from last year, is the best game in the tournament I watched. For the UCONN Huskies, they caught lightning in a bottle. Right before the NCAA tournament on March 8, they lost to Louisville by 33 points. Moreover, they needed to survive overtime against Saint Joseph’s just to advance past the Round of 64. Accordingly, this run is very unexpected. They appeared to get better as they advanced through the tournament beating Villanova, Iowa State, Michigan State, and Florida en route to the Championship game.

The Championship game was excellent. The UCONN Huskies took an early 15 point lead. As a result, the Kentucky Wildcats chased all night. Consistent with their games throughout the tournament, Kentucky rallied from a big deficit. Unlike the other games, Kentucky was like Sisyphus trying to push the rock up the mountain. They had 9 chances to take the lead but could never get past the imaginary barrier. UCONN pushed their lead back up every time Kentucky failed to do so. The key to the game was the UCONN guards Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright. Their quickness and defense really bothered the Kentucky guards. They pressured the Kentucky guards and forced the Wildcat offense to start at halfcourt. As a result, the Kentucky halfcourt offense was completely disrupted and never got going. Moreover, Kentucky had a lot of trouble defending the two guards one on one early. Kentucky was able to get back in the game once head coach John Calipari changed to a zone. The moves and countermoves in the game by both coaches really made it a great game to watch. However, the difference in the game was definitely the guards of UCONN. Shabazz Napier was the star of the tournament and had 22 points,, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. He also hit some timely shots that included four 3 pointers.  His backcourt partner, Ryan Boatright, was also great scoring 14 points on only 6 shots, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. In college basketball, guard play is even more important than it is in the NBA. In the pros, the guard play is much stronger and a team can usually not change the game by full court or half court pressure on the other team’s guards to stop that team from initiating its offense. However, we saw how that superior guard pressure can stall an offense when Napier and Boatright did it to Kentucky.

There were also other keys to the game. While UCONN was clearly the quicker team, Kentucky had the more powerful team. Nevertheless, UCONN actually outrebounded Kentucky 34 to 33. Next, Connecticut was perfect from the free throw line shooting 10/10 while Kentucky only shot 13/24. Those 11 missed free throws by Kentucky were definitely critical in a close 6 point game. For whatever reason, John Calipari’s teams have always shot poorly from the free throw line. In addition, it appeared that big time NBA prospect Julius Randle was slowed by injury for Kentucky. He only scored 10 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. James Young was the best player for Kentucky. He scored 20 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, and had presence. When it looked like UCONN would start pulling away near the end of the 4th quarter, Young posterized two UCONN Huskies on a monster dunk that sparked another Kentucky run that got the game close again. If the Wildcats completed their comeback for the win, that dunk would have been highlighted as the game changer. Moreover, Young was the only player that shot well from the free throw line going 8/9. After the game, I heard some analysts talk about Kentucky’s inexperience with 5 starting freshman. However, Kentucky won thrilling close games throughout the tournament leading up to the final game so it was not an overwhelming factor. The inexperience definitely showed in the beginning when Kentucky clearly appeared rattled and late when they did not handle the fouling situation well in the final minutes. Nevertheless, I think it was UCONN’s brilliant play rather than Kentucky’s inexperience that decided the game. Before the final game, Kentucky did not face a player that played as well as Shabazz Napier. UCONN forced inexperience to be a factor with their strong play.

For Kentucky, it was a disappointing loss because it was an opportunity to add to their championship banners. However, it is a great season. Kentucky had a young team that was inconsistent throughout the season but pulled it together during the tournament. John Calipari has returned the program to prominence and has them as a contender going into every season. As with every year, he recruits players that will leave for the NBA after one season. Julius Randle is definitely a top draft pick so he is sure to leave. Nevertheless, Calipari will always bring in a strong recruiting class to reload. On a side not, Randle has the physical tools to succeed in the NBA but is definitely raw. The NBA is currently talking about increasing the age limit to enter the league. Randle is a good example of how a player can benefit his own game by staying in school. In college, he can work on his fundamentals against lesser competition. The Kentucky coaching staff is also able to be more patient and allocate more time to teach Randle. In the NBA, they need to win now and cannot dedicate as much time into player development. Dwight Howard and Tim Duncan are great examples of this idea. As much physical ability as Howard has, he still has yet to develop a fundamental or low post game on offense in the NBA as a player coming out of high school. Duncan stayed all four years in school and was a great player on both sides of the ball as soon as he entered the NBA. His team has won 50 games every year of his career. While Randle will never stay at Kentucky, he would also benefit the NBA by doing so and entering the NBA as a more finished product.

For UCONN, it is a significant win for the program. More important than the championship, the win signals that the program will still be a top program after Jim Calhoun. It was not a major basketball school until Calhoun arrived. As a result, it was a fair question to ask whether it could continue without him. Kevin Ollie has taken the reigns. While it is extremely difficult to follow a legend, Ollie passed the test with flying colors. In addition, no critic can say Ollie rode Calhoun’s coattails. The roster has churned since the last championship team in 2011. While Napier was a freshman on that team, he was not the key player. Accordingly, Ollie had a role to play in Napier’s development. In addition, Ollie had to deal with major sanctions due to NCAA violations during the end of Calhoun’s tenure. Being disqualified for postseason play last season is a significant hurdle that Ollie had to overcome. It has been a great past 15 years for UCONN who have won 4 championships in that span, more than any other school. Moreover, their future is just as bright

Pat Wong

About Pat Wong

Patrick is a contributor for Rookerville. He is an avid sports fan. Before joining Rookerville, he was part of a defunct New York Yankees message board, NYYankeefans, where he was its top poster and was inducted in its Hall of Fame for his contributions. Patrick is also a passionate fan of movies. He has enjoyed reading movie reviews over the years and is excited about the opportunity to review movies.

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