SAN ANTONIO -- Statistically speaking, I'm about to attempt the impossible. I'm about to look at a 37-1 college basketball team -- specifically, the 37-1 Memphis basketball team -- and identify two major flaws entering the Final Four.
That's not easy to do, but that's not enough. There's more. As an added touch, I'm going to identify two major flaws on a great college basketball team -- and I'm going to do it without a great deal of statistical documentation to back me up.
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| Memphis sputters when Derrick Rose has to tag out in favor of Antonio Anderson and Co. (Getty Images) |
Although ...
Although UCLA could win. And if UCLA does win, it will be because of one -- or both -- of these flaws in the 37-1 Memphis Tigers.
Be good, Memphis fans. But be scared. Because UCLA is just the team to expose both flaws. One is at point guard. The other is at center. Those are two important positions, wouldn't you say? Point guard and center?
At center the Tigers have the most physically gifted big man in the Final Four, maybe anywhere in college basketball. Joey Dorsey isn't the most skilled rascal, but he's built like a truck and flies like a bird.
From the neck down, he's awesome. From the neck up? Not so much. This isn't an indictment of his intelligence, because Dorsey seems pretty sharp. But he's immature, spectacularly so considering he's a senior, and that's a problem.
It hasn't been much of a problem this season, mind you. Memphis is 37-1. But Dorsey is a ticking snooze button, capable of turning off at any moment, especially moments of extreme pressure.
The most infamous example was Memphis' final game of 2007, that Elite Eight loss to Ohio State when Dorsey tried to fire himself up by calling out Greg Oden but disappeared on the court: no points, no blocks, three rebounds. With Dorsey not flying like a bird -- only laying an egg -- Memphis never had a chance.
Dorsey disappeared this season in only a handful of games, but the results were ominous. In the Tigers' loss, to Tennessee, he had one point and six rebounds in 28 minutes. In their ugliest win, 79-78 against UAB, he had one point and two rebounds in 22 minutes.
Dorsey has been solid in the NCAA tournament -- 8.3 points, 9.3 rebounds -- but he hasn't faced a big man like UCLA's Kevin Love, or a system like UCLA's. Dorsey has played the Bruins before, and it was ugly. It was the 2006 Elite Eight, and Dorsey fouled out in 21 minutes with two points, six rebounds and three turnovers. UCLA won 50-45.
So that's a problem. The UCLA stress-and-press will work on Dorsey's mind, and the 6-foot-10, 270-pound Love will work on his body. Dorsey could lay another egg. Or he could just crack.
