THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013
PAGE 5D
THE OTHER SIDE
The Memphis perspective on the Jayhawks' miracle
BLAKE SCHUSTER
bschuster@kansan.com
This is not their storv.
By the time the 2008 Jayhawks lifted the National Championship trophy many of the players had suffered through tournament catastrophes against Bradley and Bucknell. They had overcome hard times and achieved the ultimate goal.
The end of the 2006-07 season saw Memphis trounced in the Elite Eight by the Greg Oden-led Ohio State Buckeyes. Yet as bad as the 92-76 defeat looked on paper, there were signs pointing to a potentially historic year heading into next season.
Four starters from that Elite Eight team — Robert Dozier, Joey Osey, Allen Anderson and Chris Douglas-Roberts — were returning to the Tigers, and the third-highest ranked recruitment in the nation, point guard Derrick Rose, chose to attend Memphis that year.
The Tigers were on the cusp of becoming a top program under coach John Calipari and expectations reached a crescendo as the 2007—08 season neared.
"That was one of those rare years where you knew going in that that was a team that was Final Four or bust," said Dan Wolken, who at the time covered the Tigers for the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
Now a National College Football writer for USA TODAY, Wolken remembers the hype going into that season with ease.
"For Memphis there was no question," Wolken said. "From the day the season ended the year before in the Elite Eight game, they knew they were probably going to get back unless something went badly wrong."
With as prolific a lineup as the Tigers boasted heading into the season, there were few qualms with Memphis' team. When the preseason polls were released in November, the Tigers were ranked third behind North Carolina and UCLA — Kansas followed behind in fourth.
By week five, UCLA dropped to seven and Memphis moved up to second. On January, 21 the Tigers were ranked No. 1 with Kansas sitting at No. 2.
The gap widened as Memphis came up with convincing wins. In non-conference play, the Tigers knocked off Blake Griffin's Oklahoma Sooners and Connecticut in the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament at Madison Square Garden. A few weeks later they returned to New York and took down USC.
Memphis handled No. 5 Georgetown at home and No. 17 Arizona five days later. The Tigers wouldn't lose a game until No. 2 Tennessee came to Memphis in late February and knocked off the kings of college basketball.
The 66-62 loss to the Volunteers was the first time the Tigers looked truly vulnerable.
"They really only played three big men," Wolken said. "They had a
in-state rival. People start questioning if the team is really as good as some thought."
wemphis, UCLA, North Carolina and Kansas were the big dogs in college basketball", Wolken recalled. "There was a gap between those four teams and everybody else".
"Everybody knew that year that
But Tigers were still good enough to claim the Conference USA regular season and tournament titles and earned a No.1 seed for the NCAA Tournament.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Once the tournament got underway the doubts began creeping up again, even as Memphis rolled its way to a Final Four match-up with Ben Howland's UCLA Bruins.
Then sophomore guard Sherron Collins and then junior guard Mario Chalmers knock the ball out of the hands of Memphis' Derrick Rose late in the second half. Key defensive stops and steals and missed Memphis free throws allowed the Jayhawks to get back into the game.
"A lot of people thought Howland would out-coach Calipari," Wolken said. "In hindsight the funny thing is you look back at the rosters of those two teams and the narrative going into the Final Four was all this Memphis talent against Ben Howland's coaching."
As it turned out, Derrick Rose was the only one of those Memphis Tigers to maintain a NBA career, while Bruins Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, Darren Collison and Lu Richard
"The minute it left his hand you kind of knew that it had a good chance to go in. Just perfect rotation, perfect arc, there are some times you just know. At that point you knew history was changing right there."
DAN WOLKEN
USA TODAY reporter
And people in Memphis were following the Jayhawks. It was hard not to. Kansas had been right behind the Tigers in the polls for most of the season. They were the last two unbeaten teams in the top 25 and once Memphis joined the ranks as another beatable college basketball team, more doubts began to emerge for its title hopes.
couple other guys but that was the one thing. What if foul trouble occurred to one of their big guys? How were they going to play? Would they have enough size against a team like Kansas?"
"They got to the Tennessee game and it was just a horribly played game," Wolken said. "Too much hype, too much emotion. It was a big watershed moment of the season because obviously you're losing to your
Regardless, the Tigers handled UCLA, 78-63, setting up a National Championship showdown with one of the teams that had worried Memphis fans from the start.
Mbah a Moute went on to stardom in the league.
The Tiger faithful knew about Kansas' loaded front court. They knew Kansas' guard play was as good as any in the nation. They knew the Jayhawks were a team laden with NBA talent.
They weren't aware just how long two minutes and nine seconds could be. They weren't aware that Mario Chalmers had come up clutch time and time again. They would know soon enough.
"Really I will forever say in that game Memphis was not the better team but Derrick Rose played a
second half that was one of the alltime great halves in a championship game," Wolken said.
But then a few funny things started happening with Memphis up by nine and time winding down.
"Darrell Arthur makes a seventen-foot jumper," Wolken remembers. "Antonio Anderson throws an in-bounds pass into the corner, Derrick Rose has a hard time handling it and flips it back to Sherron Collins for three. All the sudden the lead goes from nine to four and you're saying 'Uh-oh, this is going to be a crazy finish."
The rest is forever cherished by Kansas fans and impossible to forget for those in Memphis. Everything that could have doomed the Tigers began, Joey Dorsey fouled out, Memphis was missing free throws and before anyone could fully comprehend what they were witnessing, Sherron Collins stormed up the court with ten seconds on the clock and Kansas
down by three points.
As he cut to his right, he began to stumble yet was able to dish the ball off to Mario Chalmers. With 3.7 seconds left on the clock he got one good look and fired.
"The minute it left his hand you kind of knew that it had a good chance to go in," Wolken said. "Just perfect rotation, perfect arc, there are sometimes you just know. At that point you knew history was changing right there."
it was real fast, you thought that maybe they were going to foul there," Wolken said. "Things just moved so quickly that it's just like 'Oh my god, what just happened?'
As overtime became a reality, Wolken, along with many Tigers fans, knew the window for the school's first national title was as good as gone.
Memphis was exhausted, Rose had played the entire game and the Tigers bench was in shock. They didn't stand a chance in the extra frame. Back in
the city of Memphis, they began trying to figure out why.
"There was a lot of second-guessing about the way the game ended," Wolken said. "To lose in that fashion was pretty crushing. I know people who will never watch a replay of that game for the rest of their lives.
"And of course that shot, any time CBS plays their NCAA tournament credits, that shot is what you see. It's hard to avoid." Wolken said.
As Wolken puts it, the 2007-08 season is one that's not likely to be repeated anytime soon. The combination of Derrick Rose and a veteran team is a formula most coaches dream about.
Most Memphis fans still do.
"Obviously people move onto a new season," Wolken said. "But it's not something you get over."
Edited by Hannah Wise
It's not too late!
HIGHLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Highland Community College is offering 8-week and weekend sessions.
View schedule and enrollment steps at www.highlandcc.edu
Classes being offered by Highland Community College
Week days:
BUS 185 Micro Appl I: DTP 3/1-3/16 Wed 5:30-9:30 pm Perry
CJ 120 Juvenile Delinquency 3/7-5/10 Mon/Wed 6-9 pm Perry
ED 110 Intro to Education 3/7-5/10 Tue/Thur 6-9 pm Perry
HIS 204 Reading in Western Civilization I 3/7-5/10 Thursday 1:30-4:30 pm Perry
POL 101 Intro to Political Science 3/7-5/10 Mon/Wed 9a -12p Perry
SOC 210 Social Problems 3/7-5/10 Mon/Wed 9a-12p Perry
Weekends:
COL 103A College Success & Orient. 2/23, 3/2, 3/9 Sat 8:30a-5p Perry
VIN 114 Spring Viticulture Tech. 2/23-4/27 Sat 9a-5p Wamego
BUS 185 DTP: Publisher 3/2, 3/9, 3/16 Sat 9a-5p Perry
MAT 100 Beginning Algebra 3/9-5/11 Sat 9a-3.30p Holton, Marysville, Wamego
PSY 101 General Psychology 3/9-5/4 Sat 9a-3.30p Holton
BUS 182 Database: Access 3/2-3/3 Sat & Sun 8:30a-5p Holton
BUS 126 Keyboarding 4/6-4/7 Sat & Sun 8:30a-5p Perry
BUS 183 Spreadsheet: Excel 4/6-4/7 Sat & Sun 8:30a-5p Holton
BUS 189 Presentations: PowerPoint 4/20-4/21 Sat & Sun 8:30a-5p Holton
HCC Online
Visit http://c.highlandcc.edu for a full schedule which begin Mar 11.
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