Good afternoon my fellow participants, friends, family and basketball connoisseurs,
As the Final Four weekend has winded down and the flurry of basketball news conferences has since subsided, I would like to share my closing chapter to this year’s tournament, entitled “Nothin’ Finer than Carolina” . . . On Monday evening, for the fans that are part of the “Nation of Power Blue” to the Tar Heels down at Chapel Hill too, things couldn’t have been any finer than the play from the kids of Carolina. With that, it is only fitting that a team with “Heel” in their name should triumph in the “Big Dance”. Unfortunately for Michigan State, the “Sparty” is over.
Monday marked a perfect transition for us all . . . as the snow was falling in Detroit, we all had a sense of hope as the dawn of that day had ushered in the “Rite of Spring” with “Opening Day” first pitches being tossed across the country.
How fitting that an evening in Motown was an evening for the “record” books . . . as 50,000+ out of the 72,922 in attendance chanted “Go White . . . Go Green” . . . . when all was said and done, it was the Spartans who were “blue”.
Bravo to MSU for an inspirational run and an invigorating several weeks of basketball. Along the way, I am certain that many of us cursed them as they destroyed our pool picks like Louisville and Connecticut as they marched through those #1 seeds to the Championship Final. Despite the outcome of Monday night, we have to admire and respect Tom Izzo and his incredible ability to win and motivate his players and hats off to those very players and what they have represented for so many along the way. In a city that has been fueled by the auto industry for decades, the Spartans “run” at #1 simply ran out of gas . . . . in an environment so filled with musical history. . . they could never find their rhythm . . . it was North Carolina who was on “cruise control” from the outset of the tourney to the final buzzer.
Let’s take a ride back to Motor City:
One word: Turnovers
The Tar Heels stormed out of the gate and were ready to dominate. They proceeded to stampede the Spartans on their home battleground and before we new it, they were up by 16 points seven minutes into the game and by 23 at the 10 minute mark. They played convincingly like National Champions and were on a mission from the onset of the game . . . stomping out a bit of the Spartans hope with every one of their shots! Their “Shooting Stars” soared through the atmosphere of Ford Field and were unrelenting in their efforts to put the game out of reach early.
Throughout the first half the Spartans were taught to “Obey the Lawson” . . . despite being a lawful man, he was stealing all over the place, putting the sea of State fans in a state of cardiac arrest! With every MSU turnover, and there were definitely plenty, Carolina seemed to find a way to convert and create shots for themselves. You know things are not going well when your turnover # exceeds your # of FGs made (14 TOs to 12 FGs). Michigan State had 14 first-half turnovers, leading to 17 points for the Tar Heels. As half-time approached, the air of Ford Field seemed almost dead in awe of the dismantling that was going on . . . the only sound that was heard was the sweet musical swish after swish by Wayne “The Duke” Ellington’s show stopping 17 point fist half dazzling performance. The “Duke’ made all three of his 3-pointers and was 6 of 7 from the field overall by halftime, much deserving of the Final Four MVP award that he would later receive.
Much to the prayers of the Spartan faithful and the majority of the crowd, half-time finally arrived. It was hard to find a shred of hope as even MSU legend Magic Johnson seemed to be skeptical of a “magical” second half comeback. Despite UNC going only 3 for 16 at the opening 10 minutes of the second half, the Spartans couldn’t rally the troops to mount a comeback of any significance. They rallied a bit here and there, but could never get a series of back to back scores and any momentum. The closest they ever got was within 15 points at around the 9-minute mark.
They say things usually come full circle and indeed this year they did. At the start of the season, North Carolina was the consensus best team in the land. There is no argument at the end that that is the case again. They did what was deemed their destiny and delivered. There was only to be “ONE SHINING MOMENT” Monday evening and that spotlight solely belonged deservedly to North Carolina. After losing to Kansas last year, many of the sensational Tar Heels could have looked for “greener” cash-filled pastures in the NBA, but opted to return to win a National Title. On their athletic accolade list of things to do, they can all now check off “Win a National Championship” as that as been their driving force since their four stellar and scintillating stars decided to return to Chapel Hill for one more year. They can all now move on to the NBA with the peace of mind that they have accomplished their collective mission and fulfilled the wishes of many on Tobacco Road. Since they have now defeated the “Green & White” on the court, they can begin to “Dream in Green” as soon they will be signing what are sure to be fabulous and phat NBA contracts.
Random Collection of Final Commentary
When all is said and done, our Commander in Chief silenced the critics as his National Champion pick of UNC brought home the victory.
Bravo to Bucky! Despite not making it to the Sweet 16, Wisconsin did have a victory of its own and a lot of national attention as they won the Pontiac Game-Changing Performance Award for Trevon Hughe’s buzzer beating play in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Will there be a renewed desire among the elite athletes to stay just a little bit longer instead of being “peace out” to the NBA after a year or two? Remember this year’s Tar Heels in Blue and how to their “own selves were true” . . .
Definition of Dominance: Out of the 240 minutes played by North Carolina in this tournament, the led by 10 or more points for 154 of those 240 minutes and trailed for less than 10 minutes in the entire tourney. The Tar Heels won every game by double digits, something that hasn’t happened since Duke did it in 2001.
Dean Smithism of the Week: The most efficient place to score is at the Free-throw line.
How long until the Kentucky faithful are on a witch-hunt for Calipari and they cite “incompatibility” again? Gillispie didn’t last long with that finicky bunch.
I never want to hear about another athlete’s “toe” again. . . .
By the numbers:
72,922 – # of people in attendance at Ford Field; Highest championship game attendance in history ~ Previous record was 64,959 @ Superdome ‘87 – Indiana vs. Syracuse
161 – Total points in the championship game (North Carolina 89 – Michigan State 72)
18,446,744,073,709,551,616 – # of possible ways that you could have filled out your bracket
5 – # of National Championships that North Carolina has won (’09, ’05, ’93, ‘82. ’57)
2 – # of National Championship teams that Roy Williams has coached (’05 & ’09) ~ 2 in last 6 years . . . truly a “Great” Recruiter, Communicator and Strategist . .
17.2M – # in millions of TV viewers of the National Championship Game. The highest ever ratings were 20.9M for 1992 Finale of Duke (Laettner & Hill) vs. Michigan’s Fab Five.
46 – # of hours until Brewer’s Home Opener! GO CREW!
55 – # of points scored in 1st 1/2 by UNC ~ Record for most points scored in 1st half in Championship Game
21 – # of point UNC led MSU by at half-time; Largest half-time lead in Championship Game History
8 – # of steals for Ty Lawson. . . setting an NCAA Final Four/Championship Game record . .. incredible to think he had 7 in the first half
34 – # of wins this season for UNC (34-4)
4 – # of UNC players that will likely be top NBA picks come this year’s draft . . . Hansbrough, Ellington, Lawson & Danny Green
20.2 – Average # of points that UNC won every game in this year’s tournament (6 games)
12 – # of points that was the lowest margin of victory for Carolina in any of their six ’09 Tournament games (only 2nd team ever to win 1st 5 games by 12+ points)
~ Note: Since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985, only one other team, Michigan State in 2000, has won every game by more than 10 points.
40 – # of FT attempts for UNC
18 – FT attempts for Lawson in Championship Game (last time and individual had this many was 44 years ago – Gale Goodridge)
13 – # of Coaches to have won multiple titles (4th active coach to have won 2+ titles ~ UConn’s Calhoun, FL’s Donovan, Duke’s Coach K and now UNC’s Williams)
#4 – # on all-time NCAA Tournament Scoring Leader list that Tyler Hansbrough moved up to after this tournament
14 – # of Turnovers that Michigan State had already at the half
21 – # of total turnovers for MSU in the game
18 – # of points for Tyler Hansbrough
17 – # of points that UNC’s Wayne Ellington scored in the first half. . . 19 total in the game
21 – # of points for Ty Lawson
15 – # of points that MSU cut the lead to in the 2nd half at the 9 minute mark
35 – # of points that UNC beat MSU by in December 3, 2008, at Ford Field, the last time they played.
0 – # of times that UNC has lost in their last four title games (’09. ’05, ’93 & ’82)
1 – # of times that MSU lost in their last three title games (’09) as they won in their attempts in ’79 & ‘00
64 – # of games played in this year’s NCAA Tournament (1 play-in + 63 games)
#3 & #4 – National ranking predictions for the upcoming ’09-’10 season . . . . UNC #3 and MSU #4 (Kansas is #1 and Syracuse #2)
3.4% – % of people in our $10 pool that had MSU in the Final Game (5.2% in the $5 pool)
17 – # of points for Goran Suton . . . a MSU bright spot with a double double night (11 rebounds too)
3 – Place that UNC is tied with Indiana on the list of most NCAA Titles in History with 5 (UCLA has 11 and Kentucky 7)
5 – # of the Tar Heel’s 5 starters that scored to make up their first 10 points. . . now that is “TEAM”
45.9% – UNC’s overall shooting % (52.9% in first half)
4 – # of point that Raymar “The Mask” Morgan had vs. UNC . . . . following an 18 point night vs. UCONN
145 – # of games played for Danny Green in college career . . . most in Tar Heel history
3.5 – # of minutes left in the game when Magic Johnson was seen departing the game, walking up the tunnel to escape the visual of the likely outcome.
1 – # of players from Milwaukee. . . . MSU’s Korie Lucious . . . a player who I had the privilege to watch all four years in MKE (played High School BB at King & Pius)
$292 – average price for a ticket to the Championship Game according to StubHub (down from $442 last year)
In conclusion:
As always, hats off to all the teams for their passion, heart, enthusiasm and never-ending invigorating entertainment.
Until next year’s college basketball season begins, I say congratulations to all the winners listed below.
In the interim, to satisfy our needs we have the following:
The Masters “tees” off tomorrow. Welcome back Tiger to the tradition “unlike any other” . . . glad to have you back in the “hunt”.
The Brewer’s home opener is Friday vs. the Cubs . . . hopefully there will be another playoff-bound Brewer’s season in store
In case you all were wondering, College Football starts September 5 as Wisconsin takes the gridiron against Northern Illinois @ Camp Randall
As always, THANKS FOR PLAYING and have a sensational Spring.
Signing off,
GuestBlogger:- Heather a.k.a. “The Commish”
“THE COMMISH”
