SAN ANTONIO -- Losing this game wasn't going to be easy. Not with a nine-point lead and less than two minutes to play. For Memphis to lose the 2008 national championship under those conditions, no ordinary choke would suffice. This was going to require a complete collapse involving multiple players and even the head coach.
And I'll be damned. That's exactly what happened.
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| Chris Douglas-Roberts has a lot on his mind as the game heads to OT. (Getty Images) |
Memphis couldn't have botched it any worse, is what I'm saying.
Kansas rallied from that nine-point deficit to force overtime, then cruised to a 75-68 victory and the title. That's a great story for Kansas, but the inverse is true as well. Kansas was fabulous; Memphis was wretched. Kansas roared; Memphis stumbled. The Memphis story isn't happy, but if anyone is looking for a bright side, here it is:
No longer will Darius Washington -- who missed those two free throws in the 2005 Conference USA title game to cost Memphis a spot in the NCAA tournament -- be remembered for the biggest choke in school history.
That honor falls to the 2008 Tigers. Losing a 60-51 lead with 1:55 to play was a team effort that required contributions from All-American Chris Douglas-Roberts, future NBA star Derrick Rose, junior Antonio Anderson, senior Joey Dorsey and coach John Calipari.
It started with Anderson, who made the worst turnover of the game with 1:51 left and Memphis leading 60-53. He casually inbounded the ball after a Kansas basket and had it stolen in the corner by Sherron Collins. Soon the ball was back in Collins' hands in the same spot, and his 3-pointer cut the Memphis lead to 60-56.
Next up was Dorsey, who was ineffective -- six points and two rebounds in a reprise of his disappearing role in the 2007 Elite Eight -- and then fouled out with 1:23 left. On the play, he helped defend Kansas' Mario Chalmers after a perimeter screen, but helped too aggressively. It was a hustling foul, but a dumb one for several reasons. One, Chalmers was 25 feet from the basket and moving away from the rim. Two, it stopped the clock and allowed Kansas to score two points from the line. Three, by fouling out, Dorsey effectively reduced the Memphis rotation to five players for the final 6 1/2 minutes.
Then it was Douglas-Roberts' turn. He had played so well for so long -- scoring 22 points and holding Kansas scoring leader Brandon Rush to 12 -- but he dissolved in the final minutes, probably from fatigue. He had the ball ripped from his hands three times late in the game and missed a fusillade of free throws in the final 75 seconds of regulation. With Memphis leading 62-58, Douglas-Roberts pulled the front end of a one-and-one with 1:15 to play. Fifteen seconds later, Kansas scored and Memphis' lead was down to 62-60.
"We can do this," coach Bill Self was saying to himself on the Kansas bench.
Only if Memphis kept missing free throws. It was still 62-60 when Douglas-Roberts returned to the line with 16.8 seconds left and missed two. Robert Dozier grabbed the offensive rebound and got it to Rose, who was fouled with 10.8 seconds left.
Make two free throws, and this game was over.
