March Madness Day 10 - The Game

Kentucky 67 - Kansas 59

In the end, Kentucky was simply too good, for anyone. And last night, at least, that anyone included Kansas. Kansas had lived on the edge for much of the tournament with their tried and true formula:
1. Fall behind early
2. Re-dedicate themselves to their strengths: defense and their inside offensive game
3. Continue chipping away at their deficit and out-execute the opponent down the stretch

This formula worked well for Kansas in 3 of their 5 games: against 11 seed Purdue, against 1 seed North Carolina (though the deficit wasn't as high against UNC), and against Final Four opponent Ohio State. However, against Kentucky their strategy failed for two reasons:
1. They dig themselves too deep of a hole in the first half (Kansas trailed by 18 with 1:04 to play in the first half)
2. Kentucky was a defensive juggernaut in their own right.

Purdue jumped out to their lead because Robbie Hummel was on fire for a half. UNC was ahead because they were hitting their shots and using their big men to outscore Kansas, and Ohio State hit some tough shots in the first half. Kentucky scored 41 points in the first half as much because of their defense (frustrating Kansas and generating looks off of turnovers and blocked shots) as their offense. When Kansas made their runs in the second half, Kentucky's combination of defense and speed ensured the runs never got too long, allowing Kentucky to bleed clock and keep Kansas at bay as Kansas desperately tried to claw their way back into the game.

And Kansas did get back into the game, again by clamping down defensively, but they weren't able to get solid looks thanks to Kentucky's length, athleticism, and commitment to team defense. By the time Kansas' post game materialized, the game was more than 35 minutes old, and Kansas ran out of time.

Kentucky won because their team of highly touted freshmen and sophomores played like juniors and seniors who had been playing and building together for years. And for that, coach John Calipari deserves tremendous credit. Yes, he had the most talent (by far) in college basketball, but he got that young talent to play championship basketball, something no one else had dared even try in the one-and-done era.

Speaking of coaches, Bill Self also deserves credit for getting the most out of his team. You can ask why Kansas kept falling behind early in their games (and it's a legitimate question), but in the end he got his kids to play hard and keep fighting to the bitter end, also a difficult feat with college kids.

Unlike last year's debacle of a championship game, this one featured good play, especially defensive play, and the team that played better (as opposed to the team who just played less poorly) won.