Tuesday
April 8, 2003
Vol. 113. Issue No.129
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN It's Over
Kansas 78 - Syracuse 81
Kirk Hinrich, Nick Collison and coach Roy Williams face the media as they come to grips with their championship game loss to Syracuse. This was Williams' second championship game loss.
By Doyle Murphy ■ Photos by Aaron Showalter
Defeat tough on players, coach
NEW ORLEANS — Michael Lee sat motionless in his locker, a white shirt draped over his face. That is what it feels like to lose the national championship.
Moments earlier, Lee, a sophomore guard, was alone in the corner of the court, his team trailing Syracuse 81-78. Kansas' best three-point shooter, senior guard Kirk Hinrich, was staring at three defenders, and then he looked at Lee. Lee caught the pass and saw a seemingly wide-open shot. What he didn't see was Syracuse sophomore guard Hakim Warrick's long arm slap his shot out of bounds.
"He covered a lot of ground," Lee said, when he was finally ready to face reporters. "I thought I had time to turn and shoot, but it didn't turn out that way."
Kansas got one more shot, an off-balance heave from Hinrich, but Kansas' best opportunity had clearly passed. Hinrich's shot never came close, and 3 points were suddenly the difference between wearing a championship T-shirt and using your own to hide the pain.
After the game, Kansas coach Roy Williams struggled to put into words what was said by Lee's appearance.
"This is one of those times," Williams told reporters, "that I feel so inadequate as a coach and so inadequate
as a person because there's nothing I can say to change the way my kids feel, nothing that can change the way I feel."
There was little solace in slicing a one-time 18-point lead to 2. That would be a "moral victory,"a consolation prize that still means you lost.
"I've never been one to like moral victories," Williams said. "And I don't like this one."
While Williams said he agonized for his team,he felt true joy for his long-time friend,Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim.
"I told him, and I meant it as much as anything I've ever meant in my life," he said. "I was really happy for him.I hurt.I hurt for my team, but I was really happy for him."
Like Williams, Boeheim has won consistently for years, but his place among the coaching greats was questioned because he had never won the game that mattered most. But with a team that was led by freshmen and began the season unranked, Boeheim finally captured the title that had eluded him for 27 years.
Photo Gallery Photos from the championship game, which Kansas lost to Syracuse 81-78.
SEE IT'S OVER ON PAGE 8A
Mass. hysteria After Kansas' loss to Syracuse, fans look to the streets downtown and on campus. IB
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