Tigers report: Notes, quotes
FINAL RECORD
38-2, 16-0, first place in C-USA.
WHAT WENT RIGHT
After reaching the Elite Eight in consecutive NCAA Tournaments, Memphis coach John Calipari pushed his team in the offseason to put their individual goals aside and focus on team goals, primarily the national championship. The Tigers did that, usually putting defense, rebounding and unselfish offensive play first. As a result, they won a school-record 38 games, raced through their conference schedule and postseason without a loss and reached the national title game.
WHAT WENT WRONG
Not much, but when it did go wrong, it hurt. The Tigers struggled with free-throw and 3-point shooting during the season but they usually overcame it with defense and rebounding. They lost only one regular-season game -- to then-No. 2 Tennessee -- but moved past it. Memphis had a strong postseason run, reaching the national championship game against Kansas and taking a nine-point lead with 2:12 lead. But the inability to make free throws contributed to blowing the lead down the stretch and losing 75-68 in overtime.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"It's on all of us. They're hurting bad because they know how close they were. I look at it, and you want to think back as a coach, what else could I have done? I'll probably do some soul searching on this." -- Memphis coach John Calipari on losing in the national championship game.
Copyright (C) 2008 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.
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