March Madness NCAA Tournament - Articles - Zimbio

ROCK CHALK! Chambers Hits 3 at Buzzer to Give Kansas Title

Mon, 8 Apr 2008 08:36:47 GMT

posted by ccassidy

After suffering through repeated blowouts in the last two rounds, fans had to wait until the Championship to see two teams worthy of each other play. And what a spectacle it was.

In an incredible finish to an unforgettable March Madness, Kansas' Mario Chalmers hit a contested three with 2.1 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime. From there it was Jayhawks as they took advantage of a shell-shocked Memphis team, scored the first three buckets and never looked back.
Chalmers' shot capped an incredible comeback by Kansas, who were down 9 with 2:12 remaining before a series of key steals, big shots and missed free throws allowed the Jayhawks to climb back within three with ten seconds remaining. From there point guard Sherron Collins dished to Chalmers, who hit the fadeaway three with Tiger Derrick Rose in his face.

It may never have come to that if Memphis' old achilles heal hadn't shown itself at the worst possible time. Coach John Calipari had said that his squad would hit their free throws when it mattered, but when it mattered most on Monday they hit only 1 of 5 shots from the line, any one of which could've put the game away.
Meanwhile Kansas was flawless down the stretch. They hit their last 14 free throws and their last two 3-pointers of regulation. The first of those was the momentum-changing play that sparked the Jayhawk assult. Down seven with two minutes to go, Collins stole the inbounds pass and dished to Darrell Arthur for a three from the corner that put a comeback back into the realm of possibility.

Freshman sensation Rose led Memphis with 18 points and 8 assists while playing the full 45 minutes, but also coughed up the ball five times to the Jayhawks athletic defense. Both teams were fast and liked to run, but it was D that ruled the court. The game featured arguably the top two defenses in the country, depending on which metric you use, and each squad's athletic defenders wreaked havoc on the opposing offense. Each team had 11 steals, and Rose managed only 3 points in the first half as the quick Collins was able to match him step-for-step and deny the dribble-drive that he had used so effectively against Texas and UCLA.

Arthur led a balanced Jayhawk attack with 20 points and was backed up by Chalmers' 18 and Brandon Rush's 12.

Chalmers was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, but perhaps more significantly, he entered himself into Tournament lore with his clutch shot and capped a historic March Madness.

Memphis and Kansas down Top Seeds

Sat, 6 Apr 2008 05:30:29 GMT

posted by ccassidy

In the highest quality Final Four seen in years, Memphis and Kansas rose to surprisingly easy victories against UCLA and North Carolina.
Memphis seemed to improve throughout the tournament and entered the UCLA game on a tear. After squeaking out victories in the first and second round, the Tigers turned it up with a solid win over fifth seeded Michigan State and a dominating performance against a very good Texas team. UCLA had a rockier road to their Saturday game. They hung on to win close games against Texas A&M and Western Kentucky in the second and third rounds of the tournament, but in the Elite 8 they handily beat a good team in Xavier and seemed to right the ship.

The first half played up to the game's billing, and the scoring went back and forth. Josh Shipp, UCLA's forward who had been in a shooting slump, lifted the Bruins with two early three's to counter Memphis' Chris Douglas-Roberts' early scoring run. The half ended with Memphis up only 3 on the Bruins, but it was all Tigers from there. Freshman point guard Derrick Rose created offense for the Tigers with his drives and vision in the lane. Douglas-Roberts led all scorers with 28, as Memphis outscored the Bruins 48 to 20 in the second half. Russell Westbrook led UCLA with 22, but it wasn't enough as star center Kevin Love scored only 12, his lowest total of the tournament.

North Carolina was the tournament's top seed and has played like it throughout. Facing arguably the toughest road the last two games to the Final Four, the Tar Heels handled Washington State and Louisville to enter championship weekend as the favorite. Kansas, on the hand, had the easiest road to their Saturday game and was still tested mightily by upstart Davidson in their last game. But the Jayhawks came into San Antonio a different team than the one that played last weekend and blew the doors off North Carolina. At one point Kansas built a 28 point lead on the Tar Heels and ended the first half up 44-27. But finding themselves in a far different position than they had been the rest of the Tournament, the Tar Heels responded and mounted a tremendous comeback. North Carolina brought the deficit down to five late in the second half behind scoring from Wayne Ellington and Tyler Hansbrough, but it wasn't enough. The Kansas offense couldn't be stopped down the stretch as they cut through Tar Heel traps with long passes that ended in alley-oops and easy lay-ups and stifled Hansbrough with double-teams that forced him into bad shots. The Jayhawks ended the game on a 13-0 run to bring the final score to 84-64. Brandon Rush led Kansas with 25 and the Jayhawk guard play killed North Carolina's press late with their speed and vision.

Monday's Championship Game between Memphis and Kansas could be a barn-burner. Both teams are very athletic with quick point guards and like to run. Memphis appears to be the hotter team after big wins over Texas and UCLA, but Kansas' dominance over previous favorite North Carolina is hard to ignore. After a wild tournament that featured all the best March Madness has to offer, it's clear the two best teams in the sport will be playing for it all Monday.

The Final Four

Fri, 5 Apr 2008 12:59:00 GMT

posted by pauleilers
Near the Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio, college basketball's biggest event has finally arrived - the Final Four! Is there anything better?

For the first time ever, all of the number one seeds have made it. (Cinderella, where art thou?) The Big Dance field has a combined record of 143-9, making this the most wide open NCAA tournament championship in recent memory.

Basketball analysts nationwide are making their predictions about what will go down in the Alamodome. Like the weathermen, these experts have no idea. Sports predictions are nearly always exercises in futility, but trying to guess what's going to happen in this Final Four is like a craps shoot.

And now on to my fearless predictions, which are, like I said, a total toss up.

Kansas vs North Carolina

This is really the defacto championship game and a perfect setting for a drag race. Ty Lawson, the cat-quick player from North Carolina is arguably the fastest point guard in terms of getting to the rim. Kansas prefers to play up tempo and has guards that can run the floor. But can they keep up with the Heels and their transition game?

The biggest difference, though, will be Tyler Hansbrough, who is having a monster tournament. He along with the other UNC bangers should get more than their share of offensive put-backs and win the rebounding battle by a large margin.

The Tarheel offense goes from good to otherworldly when it's on the move. This will not be a game for the faint of heart. The Heels are the pick.

UCLA vs Memphis

This game is defense against offense, grind it out against the dribble drive. You've heard it said that defense wins championships. UCLA can really, really defend. The Bruin defense will put the clamps down on Memphis for the first time all tournament. UCLA will come up with the clutch shots needed late, just when the Tiger free-throw shooting rears its ugly head. The Bruins will take this one.

Championship Game: UCLA vs UNC

A classic matchup between two of the most tradition-rich college basketball programs in the country. The key will be who is best able to survive the slugfests in the semifinals.

UCLA has the experience of two Final Fours on its resume. The Bruins added what could be their missing piece in skilled freshman big man Kevin Love.

But North Carolina is the most complete package. In terms of size, depth, speed, talent, coaching, recent Final Four success and momentum, the ACC champions have a slight head-to-head advantage.

The Bruins have the starting quickness and rebounding to run, but aren't nearly as comfortable playing fast and lack the quality depth to play up-tempo for too long. Carolina will get out on the break at every opportunity and in the second half, eventually wear down as the Bruins.

Then Roy Williams and the Heels will cut down the nets Monday night.

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Terms you need to know to follow March Madness

Wed, 27 Mar 2008 23:26:22 GMT

posted by ccassidy
What is a sport without its jargon? Learn these words and at least you'll sound like you know what you're talking about.

"Boxing out" - The technique used to get a rebound. A player faces the basket and sticks his rear into the opposing player, putting his body between the player and the basket. Using this method, smaller players can get rebounds when facing much taller opponents. When watching a game, say something like, "the Texas Longhorns need to box out if they stand any chance of getter rebounds against Stanford and their two seven footers." People will totally buy it and agree with you. If they ask a follow-up question, change the subject.

"Screening" - A process of getting an offensive player away from his defender by running the defender into a stationary teammate. The offensive player has to be perfectly set, or unmoving, otherwise it's a "blocking" foul on the offense.

"Cinderella team" - The name given to underdog teams who beat one or two teams to make it into the later rounds. Teams are also said to "put on the glass slipper" (when they pull off an upset) or have the "clock strike midnight" (when they finally lose), all references to Disney's Cinderella.

"The Big Dance," March Madness, NCAA's (pronounced NC Double-A) - All synonyms for the 65 team NCAA Tournament that decides the college champion in March and early April. This tournament is not be confused with the NIT, the second tier tournament that features teams who just missed the cut for the NCAA Tournament.

"Alley Oop" - An exciting play that features an offensive player throwing the ball toward the hoop and a teammate grabbing the ball and dunking it all in one motion. This play can be used to energize a home crowd. Video

"Glass" - Another word for the backboard behind the basket. Going "off glass" or "using glass" is a way of saying that a player intentionally bounced the ball of the backboard an into the hoop.

"The Key," or "The Paint" - They key is the area that includes "the paint" (the painted rectangular area around the basket) and the semi-circle above the paint. A key stat is "points in the paint", which means how many points a team has scored from shots originating in the paint.

"Round of 32" (or lucky 32), "Sweet 16," "Elite 8," "Final 4" - The names for the different rounds of the tournament. March Madness begins with 65 teams. A play-in game leaves 64, and the winners of that round enter the round of 32 (or lucky 32). After each round the field is halved into the Sweet 16, Elite 8 and Final 4 before the Championship Game.

"Fast Break" - When a team gets the ball and runs to the other end and scores before the defense can get back to stop them. This typically happens on a turnover (when the other team loses the ball without shooting it) or sometimes off a rebound when the opposing team fails to get back on defense. North Carolina, Louisville and Memphis are teams that like to score on fast breaks, while Washington State usually does not.

"2-3 Zone" - A type of defense where players only cover an area, as opposed to man defense where players follow their man wherever he goes. The 2-3 zone is the most common type of zone. In this defense, two players are at the top of "the key", while one player is under the basket and two players are on either side of him.

My March Madness Bracket

Sun, 24 Mar 2008 20:00:18 GMT

posted by TannerDanger

This is my NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Bracket (as of 3/24/2008). I of course had a few upsets, and this definitely isn’t my best bracket by far. My problem is I am so biased towards certain teams and it usually comes back to haunt me…(I usually have Duke and Gonzaga in the lead 8, and often further than that. I still think North Carolina can win it even though Top Seed teams usually don’t…and don’t accuse me of hopping on the bandwagon, North Carolina is one of my favorite teams of all time! It was after all the college Michael Jordan went to.

My biased teams to pick every year are Duke, Gonzaga, North Carolina, and Syracuse and Wake Forest even though Syracuse and Wake Forest didn’t make it this year.

I am obviously disappointed in Duke and Gonzaga this year for going out so early. They are my only real upsets, along with Connecticut, who I really just went with because of gut instinct, I don’t really follow Connecticut too much.

.
I didn’t do too bad on this half of the bracket. I picked my obvious favorite, North Carolina, to win it all.

I Was of coarse disappointed to see USC and Gonzaga blow it, both in the first round.

I’m glad to see Washington State made it to the Sweet 16, on account of there my home state’s school and they usually don’t make it too far but have been doing pretty well this year.

In the west is where I really had problems. I am glad to see UCLA doing so well, but other than that I am pretty disappointed with the outcome of that area.

I picked BYU to beat Texas A&M, because BYU is not only my school, but because they are pretty underrated and are over due for some serious recognition, even though I knew them beating UCLA was a big stretch I figured they could at least take on Texas A&M.

I picked Connecticut to go pretty far because I think San Diego was just out of their league, and Drake was overrated. That obviously didn’t work out for me so well.
I also picked Georgia to win, despite my better judgment. I usually would have picked Xavier, but I guess I just predicted an upset and it didnt work out for me as well.

Duke is just a huge disappointment to me. I had them to go against North Carolina in the Finals, which would have been an epic game, but they blew it by losing to West Virginia, a team that I had going out in the first round.

On this half of the bracket I did pretty good in the South, but not so well in the West. In the south I picked Oregon to beat Mississippi because I really like that school, even though their basketball team isn’t the greatest, and I had Kentucky to beat Marquette, because I just don’t like Marquette.

(bracket made on facebook.com)