Looking Back on the Final Four

By Trey Cosby

Here we go again!  The most exciting time of the year in sports has come and gone, as we wound down with games from the Final Four teams left in the NCAA Collegiate Basketball Tournament.  It was a tournament to remember, with so many upsets, so many great stories and so many well built teams based on tradition, integrity, and well-coached basketball.  It has been a true blessing to be able to watch this year’s lineup, and now I can’t wait to see who closes the year out with a national championship. 

The first round began with some monumental upsets, which set the tone for the many stories that followed.  The Davidson Wildcats got to the Elite Eight for the third time in their history, and shooting guard Stephen Curry was the tournament’s most valuable player until the ‘Cats lost to Kansas. 

In the end, the powerhouses of college basketball all played their hearts out when it mattered the most, and made it into the Final Four in San Antonio. 

For the first time in history, we had four No. 1 seeds meeting in the Final Four.  That makes for absolute excitement and anticipation.  Four giants in the college basketball world, each with great coaching, big strong inside games and outstanding guard play.  If you ever wanted to run a successful business or program, then look no further than the coaches at those prospective schools. 

Starting with North Carolina, you had a proven winner in Coach Roy Williams, and then you have a monster in the middle with Tyler Hansbrough.  When it comes to work ethic you won’t find any two people who work any harder. Hansbrough is the hardest working basketball player you will ever see so he let’s his results speak for themselves.  The Tar Heels had a relatively easy time of it during the tournament, outscoring their opponents by an average of 20+ points per game until they were beaten by Kansas.  They had overmatched their oppositions with their unenviable depth and titanic waves of 3 point shooting.  Their scoring average of over 100 points per game was highest in the tournament as well.  I had them as my favorite to win it all, but I think they just ran out of gas in the by the time their season ended.  

When you take a look at UCLA, you think of defense.  Ben Howland’s team was by far the greatest defensive team in this year’s tournament, and Coach Howland is obsessed with keeping his teams fundamentally sound and detail oriented. He is a bit of a throwback to former UCLA Head Coach John Wooden, so you can imagine how much of a disciplinarian he is.  The Bruins were anchored by their first-year big man Kevin Love.  Love is an animal on the boards, with an inside scoring game that is similar to that of Tyler Hansbrough.  With exceptional guard play coming from both Darren Collison and Josh Shipp, along with talented depth, plus inspiring play from both Westbrook and Mbah a Moute, the embattled Bruins made themselves tough to beat, but they finally lost to Memphis to end a great run of three Final Four appearances in three years.  

If you wanted to go with an underdog, and a little bit of a Cinderella story, then I would have suggested the Memphis Tigers.  Although Head Coach John Calipari’s team has won 30 games per year in the last three years, the Tigers were not as well respected because they come from what is known as a “weak conference.”  However, I would have advised anyone not to sleep on this team!  They are absolutely loaded when it comes to talent.  The Tigers completely destroyed a very formidable team from Texas two weeks ago, after they handed Michigan State their walking papers with another 20 point blowout.  Calipari’s “rah-rah” style worked with these guys!  They really get out there and play for him.  When it came to playing above the rim with athleticism and ability, then Memphis was ranked high above the others.  Led by guards Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose, the team from Tennesssee had all the makings of this year’s champion as they took it to a UCLA team who just wasn’t quick enough to guard them.  Now they will move on to the Championship game on Monday night for the right to the National Championship.   

Of all the teams making it to the Final Four, the one that impressed me the least was the Kansas Jayhawks.  They had a terrible time of it against outmatched Davidson, and they looked out of synch during the entire game.  Head Coach Bill Self’s team from Lawrence has great players in Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers, but I didn’t think they matched up well with their opponent UNC in the Final Four game.  However, that is why they play the game… and Kansas blew Carolina off the court!