Poll: Who is the National Champion?
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Kentucky
Kansas
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04-02-2012, 01:17 PM
One things for sure, UK couldnt play any worse than they did against lville, especially mkg.
I believe you are going to see a monster game from MKG and Jones tonight
I believe you are going to see a monster game from MKG and Jones tonight
04-02-2012, 02:25 PM
Make free throws
This didnât seem like an issue for the Wildcats three games ago, when they sank a staggering 35 of 37 free throws against Indiana in the Sweet 16. But since then they have hit just 41 of 64, a troublesome 64 percent. You might recall that free-throw woes cost John Calipari a national title at Memphis in 2008 â also against Kansas â when his Tigers missed 4 of 5 in the final 1:15 while blowing a nine-point lead. âIâve recruited better free-throw shooters,â Calipari said, noting that his team was the best in the Southeastern Conference at the line this season. He expected the players to get in the gym and get back in a groove by tonight. âThatâs going to be a big part of the game,â sophomore Doron Lamb. âYouâve got to take a deep breath and just follow through.â
Control the boards
Calipari wasnât nearly as worried about free throws before Sundayâs practice as he was about the fact that Louisville outrebounded his team 40-33 and grabbed 19 of them on the offensive end on Saturday. âYouâre not winningâ when that happens, he said. âWe were lucky we won giving up that many.â Kansas crushed Ohio State 42-30 on the boards in the other semifinal. âIt will come down to that physicalness of play,â Calipari said. With their length and leaping ability, the Wildcats arenât accustomed to being beaten on the boards. They rank 12th nationally in rebounding margin (plus-6.7). The Jayhawks are 22nd (plus-5.8).
Defend the arc
Most teams that have been trouble for UK could swish 3-pointers in bunches. Indiana and Vanderbilt both rank in the top 20 nationally from beyond the arc, and North Carolina sank 10 threes in its near-miss against the Cats. If thatâs the formula for an upset, itâs bad news for Kansas. No one but big man Thomas Robinson â who has only 14 attempts â is shooting better than 37.7 percent from 3-point range for the Jayhawks, whose 34.3 percent team rate ranks 158th nationally. UK is a top-40 team at 37.7 percent, led by Lamb (46.5 percent) and Kyle Wiltjer (43.8 percent).http://www.courier-journal.com/article/201230401008
This didnât seem like an issue for the Wildcats three games ago, when they sank a staggering 35 of 37 free throws against Indiana in the Sweet 16. But since then they have hit just 41 of 64, a troublesome 64 percent. You might recall that free-throw woes cost John Calipari a national title at Memphis in 2008 â also against Kansas â when his Tigers missed 4 of 5 in the final 1:15 while blowing a nine-point lead. âIâve recruited better free-throw shooters,â Calipari said, noting that his team was the best in the Southeastern Conference at the line this season. He expected the players to get in the gym and get back in a groove by tonight. âThatâs going to be a big part of the game,â sophomore Doron Lamb. âYouâve got to take a deep breath and just follow through.â
Control the boards
Calipari wasnât nearly as worried about free throws before Sundayâs practice as he was about the fact that Louisville outrebounded his team 40-33 and grabbed 19 of them on the offensive end on Saturday. âYouâre not winningâ when that happens, he said. âWe were lucky we won giving up that many.â Kansas crushed Ohio State 42-30 on the boards in the other semifinal. âIt will come down to that physicalness of play,â Calipari said. With their length and leaping ability, the Wildcats arenât accustomed to being beaten on the boards. They rank 12th nationally in rebounding margin (plus-6.7). The Jayhawks are 22nd (plus-5.8).
Defend the arc
Most teams that have been trouble for UK could swish 3-pointers in bunches. Indiana and Vanderbilt both rank in the top 20 nationally from beyond the arc, and North Carolina sank 10 threes in its near-miss against the Cats. If thatâs the formula for an upset, itâs bad news for Kansas. No one but big man Thomas Robinson â who has only 14 attempts â is shooting better than 37.7 percent from 3-point range for the Jayhawks, whose 34.3 percent team rate ranks 158th nationally. UK is a top-40 team at 37.7 percent, led by Lamb (46.5 percent) and Kyle Wiltjer (43.8 percent).http://www.courier-journal.com/article/201230401008
04-02-2012, 02:27 PM
NEW ORLEANS â For John Calipari, one demon remains.
He has beaten his friend in Tom Crean.
He has beaten his enemy in Rick Pitino.
Now, he must beat his past.
If the coach can accomplish that Monday night when his team plays Kansas in the national championship game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome â for Calipari a rematch of his 2008 national title game loss to Bill Self and the Jayhawks â then Kentucky basketball can make an addition to its tradition.
Then the preservation society that is the Big Blue Nation can finally commence at its appointed destination of Rupp Arena and hang that eighth national championship banner.
"It's not about me, it's about them," Calipari said here at his Sunday news conference, nodding toward the five Wildcats beside him at the podium.
To be sure, players are first. No program is about players alone, however. They are a third of the athletic trinity of players, coach and program.
No other place is that more true than Kentucky, where its fans eat and breathe and live and die with each bounce of an orange ball, where each season begins with the collective dream of a crown.
This particular collection, 37-2 on the season, the tournament's No. 1 seed, has taken a tradition-filled route toward that end, beating Western Kentucky in the first game, then stopping a would-be Cat in Royce White and Iowa State in the second.
Last week, in Atlanta, Calipari was forced to face his friend Crean and Indiana in a rematch with the lone outfit that managed to best UK in the regular season. The Cats prevailed, then blew by Baylor in the South Regional finals.
Here, in the Big Easy, Calipari and his program were forced to face their archrivals, Pitino and Louisville, where pre-game niceties did nothing to soften the post-game consequences.
Anthony Davis scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to validate his numerous national awards.
Senior Darius Miller, the lone Kentuckian of significance in this civil war, the lone significant senior on a team known for one-and-doners, rose to the occasion on a raised floor. The Cats punched their ticket for Monday night madness.
There waiting, again, is Kansas.
Lawrence is where it all began for Calipari. He was a volunteer assistant under Ted Owens there. He worked for Larry Brown there. He met his wife there. He got his start there.
The two winningest programs in college basketball have never met in the title game. They have played this season, however.
On Nov. 15 in Madison Square Garden, Kentucky won 75-65. The halftime score was 28-28. Kentucky opened the second half with a 13-2 run. With five minutes remaining, the Cats led by 17.
Kansas is different now. It defends better, rebounds better. Thomas Robinson progressed into a contender for national honors. Tyshawn Taylor became a leader. Self did possibly his best coaching job.
It's the Kansas of 2007-08 that presents the problem, however.
If Kentucky has not played the Jayhawks for the title, Calipari has. The year was 2008. The site was San Antonio. The trophy was all but in the hands of Derrick Rose and his Memphis Tigers, Calipari's team leading by nine points with 2:12 to play.
Somehow, it all fell apart. Memphis missed from the foul line â three in the final 75 seconds â and Kansas' Mario Chalmers didn't miss from behind the three-point line, his famous shot knotting the score with nine seconds remaining
Calipari opted to play on, eschewing a timeout. Memphis missed again. Overtime commenced. Kansas sprinted ahead. And Calipari suffered the most painful loss of his career.
"I'm fine with that game," he said Sunday when asked what he learned from the experience.
"Make free throws," answered Calipari. "That's what I learned."
He admitted he's never watched the game tape, however. Threw it out the bus window leaving the arena, he joked. Why rehash the past? Just move on.
It is four years later. Calipari is at Kentucky and at his second Final Four and first national title game since.
"Cal is such a great recruiter," said Self on Saturday night after his Jayhawks beat Ohio State, "that it gets lost that he's one of the very best coaches in the country."
The dissenters always have that final game of 2008.
Now, in the final game of 2012, Calipari can beat them, too.
"It would mean a lot to bring that No. 8 back to Kentucky," said UK sophomore Doron Lamb on Sunday, just yards from the Superdo
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/04/01/21354...rylink=cpy
He has beaten his friend in Tom Crean.
He has beaten his enemy in Rick Pitino.
Now, he must beat his past.
If the coach can accomplish that Monday night when his team plays Kansas in the national championship game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome â for Calipari a rematch of his 2008 national title game loss to Bill Self and the Jayhawks â then Kentucky basketball can make an addition to its tradition.
Then the preservation society that is the Big Blue Nation can finally commence at its appointed destination of Rupp Arena and hang that eighth national championship banner.
"It's not about me, it's about them," Calipari said here at his Sunday news conference, nodding toward the five Wildcats beside him at the podium.
To be sure, players are first. No program is about players alone, however. They are a third of the athletic trinity of players, coach and program.
No other place is that more true than Kentucky, where its fans eat and breathe and live and die with each bounce of an orange ball, where each season begins with the collective dream of a crown.
This particular collection, 37-2 on the season, the tournament's No. 1 seed, has taken a tradition-filled route toward that end, beating Western Kentucky in the first game, then stopping a would-be Cat in Royce White and Iowa State in the second.
Last week, in Atlanta, Calipari was forced to face his friend Crean and Indiana in a rematch with the lone outfit that managed to best UK in the regular season. The Cats prevailed, then blew by Baylor in the South Regional finals.
Here, in the Big Easy, Calipari and his program were forced to face their archrivals, Pitino and Louisville, where pre-game niceties did nothing to soften the post-game consequences.
Anthony Davis scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to validate his numerous national awards.
Senior Darius Miller, the lone Kentuckian of significance in this civil war, the lone significant senior on a team known for one-and-doners, rose to the occasion on a raised floor. The Cats punched their ticket for Monday night madness.
There waiting, again, is Kansas.
Lawrence is where it all began for Calipari. He was a volunteer assistant under Ted Owens there. He worked for Larry Brown there. He met his wife there. He got his start there.
The two winningest programs in college basketball have never met in the title game. They have played this season, however.
On Nov. 15 in Madison Square Garden, Kentucky won 75-65. The halftime score was 28-28. Kentucky opened the second half with a 13-2 run. With five minutes remaining, the Cats led by 17.
Kansas is different now. It defends better, rebounds better. Thomas Robinson progressed into a contender for national honors. Tyshawn Taylor became a leader. Self did possibly his best coaching job.
It's the Kansas of 2007-08 that presents the problem, however.
If Kentucky has not played the Jayhawks for the title, Calipari has. The year was 2008. The site was San Antonio. The trophy was all but in the hands of Derrick Rose and his Memphis Tigers, Calipari's team leading by nine points with 2:12 to play.
Somehow, it all fell apart. Memphis missed from the foul line â three in the final 75 seconds â and Kansas' Mario Chalmers didn't miss from behind the three-point line, his famous shot knotting the score with nine seconds remaining
Calipari opted to play on, eschewing a timeout. Memphis missed again. Overtime commenced. Kansas sprinted ahead. And Calipari suffered the most painful loss of his career.
"I'm fine with that game," he said Sunday when asked what he learned from the experience.
"Make free throws," answered Calipari. "That's what I learned."
He admitted he's never watched the game tape, however. Threw it out the bus window leaving the arena, he joked. Why rehash the past? Just move on.
It is four years later. Calipari is at Kentucky and at his second Final Four and first national title game since.
"Cal is such a great recruiter," said Self on Saturday night after his Jayhawks beat Ohio State, "that it gets lost that he's one of the very best coaches in the country."
The dissenters always have that final game of 2008.
Now, in the final game of 2012, Calipari can beat them, too.
"It would mean a lot to bring that No. 8 back to Kentucky," said UK sophomore Doron Lamb on Sunday, just yards from the Superdo
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/04/01/21354...rylink=cpy
04-02-2012, 02:28 PM
04-02-2012, 02:28 PM
Stardust Wrote:Make free throws
This didnât seem like an issue for the Wildcats three games ago, when they sank a staggering 35 of 37 free throws against Indiana in the Sweet 16. But since then they have hit just 41 of 64, a troublesome 64 percent. You might recall that free-throw woes cost John Calipari a national title at Memphis in 2008 â also against Kansas â when his Tigers missed 4 of 5 in the final 1:15 while blowing a nine-point lead. âIâve recruited better free-throw shooters,â Calipari said, noting that his team was the best in the Southeastern Conference at the line this season. He expected the players to get in the gym and get back in a groove by tonight. âThatâs going to be a big part of the game,â sophomore Doron Lamb. âYouâve got to take a deep breath and just follow through.â
Control the boards
Calipari wasnât nearly as worried about free throws before Sundayâs practice as he was about the fact that Louisville outrebounded his team 40-33 and grabbed 19 of them on the offensive end on Saturday. âYouâre not winningâ when that happens, he said. âWe were lucky we won giving up that many.â Kansas crushed Ohio State 42-30 on the boards in the other semifinal. âIt will come down to that physicalness of play,â Calipari said. With their length and leaping ability, the Wildcats arenât accustomed to being beaten on the boards. They rank 12th nationally in rebounding margin (plus-6.7). The Jayhawks are 22nd (plus-5.8).
Defend the arc
Most teams that have been trouble for UK could swish 3-pointers in bunches. Indiana and Vanderbilt both rank in the top 20 nationally from beyond the arc, and North Carolina sank 10 threes in its near-miss against the Cats. If thatâs the formula for an upset, itâs bad news for Kansas. No one but big man Thomas Robinson â who has only 14 attempts â is shooting better than 37.7 percent from 3-point range for the Jayhawks, whose 34.3 percent team rate ranks 158th nationally. UK is a top-40 team at 37.7 percent, led by Lamb (46.5 percent) and Kyle Wiltjer (43.8 percent).http://www.courier-journal.com/article/201230401008
I would love to see a repeat of the Indiana game. Not the same percentage but a real high one. Can't miss free throws in a championship game, has cost plenty of teams to get beat. Memphis lost to Kansas back with Cal at Memphis cuz of free throws.
04-02-2012, 02:29 PM
04-02-2012, 02:30 PM
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04-02-2012, 02:31 PM
04-02-2012, 02:31 PM
04-02-2012, 02:31 PM
04-02-2012, 02:32 PM
04-02-2012, 02:32 PM
04-02-2012, 02:32 PM
04-02-2012, 02:33 PM
04-02-2012, 06:46 PM
I hope this is a great game where the better team on this night wins and the refs are not part of it.
I have enjoyed getting on yalls nerves and with the season coming to an end there are two people on here that really kow what I was doing.
Both of them can post on this matter if they wish and to both of them thanks for allowing me the time to get the forum moving even more than it was.
I have enjoyed getting on yalls nerves and with the season coming to an end there are two people on here that really kow what I was doing.
Both of them can post on this matter if they wish and to both of them thanks for allowing me the time to get the forum moving even more than it was.
04-02-2012, 08:14 PM
Win or lose, this Kentucky team has been a joy to watch. They have played as a team all season long, no one trying to be a super star, always willing to make the extra pass. This team will go down as one of my personal favorites of all time.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
04-02-2012, 09:32 PM
Kansas comes out with fighters punch early,and then Cats take over,MKG, Miller have big games, and they hit 75 percent free throws, and win 12-15 points, and Lexington burns to the ground with so many fires, only thing left standing is RUPP,LOL
04-02-2012, 10:36 PM
Overrated Wrote:Uk should win by 20...Kansas sucks
Almost there
04-02-2012, 10:52 PM
One more half!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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