There was a point in the second half of last night’s NCAA men’s basketball championship game that I found myself wondering, “Hey self, is this game on track to become what most people on the Twitters will call one of the worst national championship games in recent history?” Thankfully, the Kansas Jayhawks made one of their trademark late runs to chop a 16-point Kentucky Wildcats lead down to 5, making it a slightly above average title game.
And that’s about all there is to it, because terrible ball-handling by the Jayhawks in the last three minutes allowed the Wildcats to win their first title since 1998 and the 8th in program history, according to the really lame “GR8NESS” thing all the fans were doing. But congrats to Kentucky fans, unless they keep setting their cities on fire, in which case you guys are setting a poor example for the students of schools with terrible basketball programs.
As for the star of this game, UK’s Anthony Davis, he probably had the most amazing 6-point effort we’ll ever hear about, because his 16 rebounds and 6 blocks show just how amazing he might possibly one day be, depending on whether he stays at Kentucky or becomes the guy that Michael Jordan passes on as the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.
“Well, it’s not me, it’s these guys behind me,” Davis said after his 1-for-10 performance. “They led us this whole tournament. This whole game I was struggling offensively, and I told my team, every time down, you all score the ball; I’m just gonna defend and rebound.”
“I love the fact AD goes 1 for 10, and you all say he was biggest factor of game,” Calipari said. “He was 1 for 10. I asked these guys what they would do without scoring. You have an idea what he does.” (Via CBS Sports)
Meanwhile, the most remarkable statistic not involving Davis was bench scoring. The Wildcats outscored the Jayhawks 5-0 off the bench. That’s it. And that was all from Darius Miller. Three guys came off the bench for each team. One guy managed to score 5 points. Hell, I guess that’s why everyone is so high on Davis – he outscored both teams’ benches. Perspective, friends.
So in case you missed it, here’s everything you need to know about last night’s title game in convenient picture form.
(GIF via, images via Getty and the AP.)
UPDATE: Inexcusable omission time. What the hell was this? I know it was supposed to be a tribute to Marvin Gaye or something, but seriously – WHAT THE HELL WAS THIS?
The guys behind them had “GET IT? GR8NESS? BECAUSE WE’RE PLAYING FOR OUR 8TH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!” written across their chests.
Sorry Kansas fans, but you missed the chest painting memo. Not cool.
Wait, nevermind. Signs are cool, Kansas fans. As you were.
Oh hey, it’s GR8NESS again. Also, what’s up, blonde girl?
I gotta think that with being around cars so much, Dario Franchitti has gotta be familiar with the phrase “trade it in”.
“Ladies and gentlemen, your Charlotte Bobcats!”
Okay, here’s all you really need to know… Doron Lamb was the real star with 22 points for the Wildcats.
And Marquis Teague had a solid game with 14 points.
Anthony Davis got poked in the eye early on, but this made me imagine him wearing a monocle and the mental imagery is spectacular.
But as stated previously, Davis was awesome when it mattered, as expected. So make fun of the unibrow all you want – he’s still a badass.
This was probably the definitive moment of the game for me. The careless turnover in the second half, with less than 3 minutes remaining and the Jayhawks on a 13-3 run. A basket would have made it a one shot game. Instead… *fart noise*.
John Calipari was praised for “playing it cool” and being “laid back” prior to the championship game, but we all know he was thinking: “F*CK YOU, BOB KNIGHT. F*CK YOU SO HARD.”
And the rest was quick, mostly easy history. Congrats, Wildcats.
