TIGERS GOING 4 IT
As the team charter was headed from Houston to Tennessee, John Calipari opened a book and tried to read, but his concentration level just wasn’t there. His mind repeatedly drifted away from the printed word and toward the rousing tale that is Memphis basketball.
“Every once in a while my mind would go to, ‘Wow, this group of kids really did some special things this year,’ ” Calipari said. “Then you go home and go to bed and all of a sudden you’re thinking about UCLA. I will say the way we played this weekend, we deserve to be in the Final Four.”
No one can deny Calipari’s club deserves the trip later this week to San Antonio, where the nearly-unbeaten Tigers (37-1) face UCLA on Saturday in a national semifinal game. This is a four-team field that includes three of the most storied and successful programs in college basketball history, with UCLA making its 18th appearance in the Final Four, followed by North Carolina (17th) and Kansas (13th). Then there’s Memphis. This will be the Tigers’ third Final Four, the first since 1985.
Lately, though, Calipari has things rolling in Memphis, going 103-9 the past three seasons and advancing three consecutive years into the Elite Eight. Last weekend, the Tigers finally broke through with a convincing 85-67 rout of Texas, even though the murmurs circulating throughout the NCAA tournament were that Memphis – based largely on sub-par team free-throw percentage of 60.7 and widespread disregard of Conference USA – was the most susceptible of the four No. 1 seeds to get bounced along the way.
“When the majority, all the pundits were picking us to lose like every game we played and focusing on one area of our basketball team, and I mean focusing to the point of ridiculous, it just got to ’em a little bit,” Calipari said of his club. “I laugh about it and say if you want to continue to help us keep doing it. I’m not in the locker room talking in those terms. What I’m talking is, ‘It’s our time.’ ”
If not for a 66-62 loss to Tennessee on Feb. 23, the Tigers would be perfect, which is an apt description of the way freshman point guard Derrick Rose has energized an already polished team. Memphis returned size and athleticism in Joey Dorsey and Robert Dozier, and scoring and defensive prowess with a backcourt of Antonio Anderson and leading scorer Chris Douglas-Roberts. What was needed was a catalyst, and the landing of Rose out of Chicago turned out to be transcendent.
This is the third straight Final Four appearance for UCLA, but the presence of do-everything freshman Kevin Love has the Bruins believing two more victories are possible. Likewise, Rose sparks belief in Memphis. At 6-3, Rose is strong enough to dominate, big enough to sky high above the rim and versatile enough to average 14.6 points, 4.7 assists and 4.4 rebounds.
“This kid, more than any point guard I’ve seen, reminds me of Jason Kidd, and I think that’s who he’ll be at the next level,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said.
Calipari is 411-135 in eight years at Memphis, but has never taken the Tigers this far. Now they brace for UCLA.
