Final Four didn't go so well, lets see if I can do better

Well tonight was pretty much a disaster for my picks. Memphis once again made foul shots with remarakble accuracy, defying the odds for a second straight game. They pretty much ran UCLA out of the building, not allowing the perceived inside advantage to affect the game at all. Kevin Love spent most of the game trying to catch his breath and was never effective. As for UNC, they were just shellshocked for the first 15 minutes and then did not have enough energy to recover in the second half when they staged a comeback. I have a feeling that that game may cause Hansbrough, Lawson, and Ellington to all return next year. Now on to Monday.

Memphis has finally made a believer out of me, and I feel like Derrick Rose gives them a huge advantage on the perimeter in this one. Kansas has a good backcourt, but after Rose thoroughly outplayed who I thought was the best PG in the nation this year, Darren Collison, don't expect this matchup to bother him. Memphis also has so much depth and strength on the front line, and their foul shooting woes haven't been an issue so they have appeared nearly unbeatable. The only thing that Memphis that would give them a good chance of losing this game is settling for too many threes, because this would be giving Kansas a free pass on defending all of the inside options Memphis has. As we saw in the Tennessee game, most likely the outside shots for Memphis won't fall for the entire game, so it will be Rose penetrating and dishing to Dozier and Taggart which will really be the biggest weapon for Memphis. Of course they also have Chris Douglas-Roberts, who seems to get the better of a matchup with Brandon Rush at the "swingman" spot. Memphis won't have a problem getting those transition points on a Kansas team that likes to run almost as much as they do. If the teams execute well on offense and stay in control, this could be a very high scoring game. I like Memphis, as strange as it sounds, to cut down the nets on Monday night, despite the fact that they were the only 1 seed that I didn't have in the final four.

Memphis 81 Kansas 75

Coming soon: Final top 25, pre-preseason top 25 and BCS conference previews

-Chris

ccsportsblog@yahoo.com