Bosco
04-06-2004, 01:08 PM
This was a little too predictable to be enjoyable. You could see it coming from a month away.
The Connecticut Huskies, nearly everyone's pick to win college basketball's national championship, avenged their early-season loss to Georgia Tech and won the national title 82-73 Monday night inside the Alamodome.
As expected, the Huskies dominated, taking a 15-point lead at halftime and leading by double-digits for nearly two-thirds of the game. We'd heard since February that coach Jim Calhoun's Huskies were the best team in the land … when All-America center Emeka Okafor is healthy.
Okafor's back didn't trouble him Monday night. He had no problem outplaying Georgia Tech 7-footer Luke Schenscher, and the Nigerian post man erased the memory of his poor showing in UConn's 16-point loss to Georgia Tech in the preseason NIT. Okafor dropped in 24 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked two shots. He's ready to take his act to the NBA.
As dominant as Okafor and the Huskies were, you didn't leave the Alamodome believing you'd witnessed greatness. This wasn't Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony and UNLV running over the Duke Blue Devils by 30 points in 1990. The Rebels made you feel as if you were watching a special team on a special night.
Monday night was business as usual. Monday night was a good team whipping a solid team that had run out of miracles, gas and answers. We knew what would happen from the opening tip.
Okafor is a good athlete. He plays a solid game. He's not the next Hakeem Olajuwon or Alonzo Mourning or even the next Chris Webber. You don't have to be great to dominate the college game anymore. An 18-year-old kid, Carmelo Anthony, dominated college hoops last year. Anthony was a far better college player than Okafor, a 21-year-old junior.
But we knew Okafor would run wild Monday night. How could he not? There was no one to stop him. Schenscher is a poor man's Rik Smits. Remember Rik Smits, the former Indiana Pacers center from the Netherlands? Smits played at Marist. Schools like Marist used to be training grounds for scrawny, fundamentally sound 7-footers from overseas. Now college basketball is so watered down that Schenscher, a native of Australia, is a force in the ACC, the world's most elite college basketball conference.
The game has changed. Monday's game was nearly unwatchable in the first half.
UConn led by 15 points at the break despite shooting 40 percent from the field. The Huskies turned the ball over nine times in the opening 20 minutes. They were sloppy and undisciplined. Rashad Anderson repeatedly took unwise three-pointers with lots of time on the shot clock. He missed four of his first five three-pointers.
As bad as UConn was, the Yellow Jackets were worse. Tech's top scorer, B.J. Elder, remained in his ankle-sprain funk. He moved more effortlessly Monday night than he had in Tech's two previous contests, but his shots just wouldn't fall. No one coach Paul Hewitt put in the game could find his shooting touch. Three-point bomber Marvin Lewis couldn't connect. Point guard Jarrett Jack, the star of Tech's win over Kansas, shot poorly. So did reserve Isma'il Muhammad.
You could credit UConn's defense, but that would be posturing. Georgia Tech's players missed open looks.
It was an ugly game. The Yellow Jackets rallied late when the Huskies missed some free throws and Elder and Will Bynum threw in some late three-pointers. The final score was no indication of what happened most of the night.
Unfortunately the night was predictable. There is no way to fix the college game. We just need to lower our expectations. We just need to celebrate the coaches. They're the stars. Jim Calhoun is a star now. He's won his second national title. He's advanced to two Final Fours and has won titles both times.
I don't know Calhoun well enough to tell you what makes him great. There's nothing all that innovative about UConn's style of play. The Huskies don't run a particular offense or defense that sets them apart from everyone else. Calhoun recruits good players and coaches them well.
I'd love to lie to you and tell you we saw something special Monday night. We didn't. The truth is I'm mad I wasn't at Kauffman Stadium on Monday. Wow. That sounded like magic.
The Connecticut Huskies, nearly everyone's pick to win college basketball's national championship, avenged their early-season loss to Georgia Tech and won the national title 82-73 Monday night inside the Alamodome.
As expected, the Huskies dominated, taking a 15-point lead at halftime and leading by double-digits for nearly two-thirds of the game. We'd heard since February that coach Jim Calhoun's Huskies were the best team in the land … when All-America center Emeka Okafor is healthy.
Okafor's back didn't trouble him Monday night. He had no problem outplaying Georgia Tech 7-footer Luke Schenscher, and the Nigerian post man erased the memory of his poor showing in UConn's 16-point loss to Georgia Tech in the preseason NIT. Okafor dropped in 24 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked two shots. He's ready to take his act to the NBA.
As dominant as Okafor and the Huskies were, you didn't leave the Alamodome believing you'd witnessed greatness. This wasn't Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony and UNLV running over the Duke Blue Devils by 30 points in 1990. The Rebels made you feel as if you were watching a special team on a special night.
Monday night was business as usual. Monday night was a good team whipping a solid team that had run out of miracles, gas and answers. We knew what would happen from the opening tip.
Okafor is a good athlete. He plays a solid game. He's not the next Hakeem Olajuwon or Alonzo Mourning or even the next Chris Webber. You don't have to be great to dominate the college game anymore. An 18-year-old kid, Carmelo Anthony, dominated college hoops last year. Anthony was a far better college player than Okafor, a 21-year-old junior.
But we knew Okafor would run wild Monday night. How could he not? There was no one to stop him. Schenscher is a poor man's Rik Smits. Remember Rik Smits, the former Indiana Pacers center from the Netherlands? Smits played at Marist. Schools like Marist used to be training grounds for scrawny, fundamentally sound 7-footers from overseas. Now college basketball is so watered down that Schenscher, a native of Australia, is a force in the ACC, the world's most elite college basketball conference.
The game has changed. Monday's game was nearly unwatchable in the first half.
UConn led by 15 points at the break despite shooting 40 percent from the field. The Huskies turned the ball over nine times in the opening 20 minutes. They were sloppy and undisciplined. Rashad Anderson repeatedly took unwise three-pointers with lots of time on the shot clock. He missed four of his first five three-pointers.
As bad as UConn was, the Yellow Jackets were worse. Tech's top scorer, B.J. Elder, remained in his ankle-sprain funk. He moved more effortlessly Monday night than he had in Tech's two previous contests, but his shots just wouldn't fall. No one coach Paul Hewitt put in the game could find his shooting touch. Three-point bomber Marvin Lewis couldn't connect. Point guard Jarrett Jack, the star of Tech's win over Kansas, shot poorly. So did reserve Isma'il Muhammad.
You could credit UConn's defense, but that would be posturing. Georgia Tech's players missed open looks.
It was an ugly game. The Yellow Jackets rallied late when the Huskies missed some free throws and Elder and Will Bynum threw in some late three-pointers. The final score was no indication of what happened most of the night.
Unfortunately the night was predictable. There is no way to fix the college game. We just need to lower our expectations. We just need to celebrate the coaches. They're the stars. Jim Calhoun is a star now. He's won his second national title. He's advanced to two Final Fours and has won titles both times.
I don't know Calhoun well enough to tell you what makes him great. There's nothing all that innovative about UConn's style of play. The Huskies don't run a particular offense or defense that sets them apart from everyone else. Calhoun recruits good players and coaches them well.
I'd love to lie to you and tell you we saw something special Monday night. We didn't. The truth is I'm mad I wasn't at Kauffman Stadium on Monday. Wow. That sounded like magic.