Memphis coach John Calipari might try to seize the underdog role for his team, but with four No. 1 seeds playing, there really is no true dark horse. Tribune reporter Skip Myslenski breaks down who has the edge in each of Saturday’s semifinals.
No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 1 Kansas (5:05 p.m.)
FRONTCOURT
Little more can be said about Tyler Hansbrough, the Tar Heels’ 6-foot-9-inch junior whose exuberant approach has earned him the nickname “Psycho T.” His partner, 6-8 sophomore Deon Thompson, has reached double figures in three of four tournament games. Neither 6-9 Darrell Arthur nor 6-8 Darnell Jackson, their Kansas counterparts, is highly acclaimed. But Jackson is tough enough to deal with Hansbrough’s manic approach and Arthur, just a sophomore, is a future pro. NORTH CAROLINA
BACKCOURT
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Carolina’s is constructed classically. It has a fleet point guard, sophomore Ty Lawson, a prolific scorer, sophomore Wayne Ellington, and a lockdown artist, junior Marcus Ginyard. Kansas point guard Russell Robinson, a senior, is not as quick as Lawson, but he is steady and more experienced. His running mates, juniors Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush, hit better than 40 percent of their three-point attempts. Rush is the player his team looks to in moments of need. KANSAS
BENCH
Tar Heels swingman Danny Green can be a microwave–he scored a dozen in the first half of Carolina’s regional semifinal win over Washington State. He also had three steals in those 20 minutes, so his defense cannot be discounted. Sophomore forward Alex Stepheson is 13-for-14 coming off the bench in the tournament. Kansas’ Sasha Kaun, a 6-11 senior, came up big for the Jayhawks in their regional final win over Davidson, scoring 13 while going 6-for-6 from the field. Another big body to throw at Hansbrough is 6-11 freshman Cole Aldrich, whose best days are ahead of him. Sherron Collins, a sophomore from Crane Tech, can spell any of the backcourt starters and will sometimes play alongside them when the Jayhawks go small. NORTH CAROLINA
COACHING
This is the sixth trip to the Final Four for Tar Heels coach Roy Williams and the first for the Jayhawks’ Bill Self. But there’s more pressure on Williams, whose team is favored. Self, in contrast, pushed a gorilla off his back last weekend by finally winning a regional final. There is little difference in their respective approaches. Both like to pressure and both like to push it. KANSAS
KEEP AN EYE ON . . .
Carolina is renowned for its running game, so Self was asked about dialing down the pace to slow the tempo. His answer went a long way toward breaking down how this one will go. “We want to run,” Self said. “That won’t change, us wanting to run. What we have to do is keep them from running. Sometimes, early shots in the clock or early misses would lend the other team an opportunity to run. But we’re not going to change who we are. We know the way we play gives us the best chance to score easy baskets and that’s very important to our success. What we have to do is make sure Carolina doesn’t do that. I’m not going to tell our guys, ‘Let’s ratchet it down.’ We’ve got to play. We just can’t let them play the way they want to play.”
%% UNC TEAM STATS KU 36-2 Record 35-3
89.2 Points per game 80.6
72.2 Opp. pts. per game 61.2
17.0 Margin 19.4
.491 FG percentage .507
.423 Opp. FG percentage .379
.379 3-pt. FG percentage .401
.326 Opp. 3-pt. FG percentage .333
5.6 3-pt. FG per game 6.9
7.2 Opp. 3-pt. FG per game 7.1
.755 Free-throw pct. .696
11.5 Rebound margin 7.8
1.8 Turnover diff. 2.6
8.2 Steals per game 8.8
4.5 Blocks per game 5.9 %%
PREDICTION: KANSAS 85 – NORTH CAROLINA 81
No. 1 Memphis vs. No. 1 UCLA (7:45 p.m.)
FRONTCOURT
Kevin Love, the Bruins’ 6-10 center, is a mere freshman, but Memphis coach John Calipari put him in exclusive company. “He gives them the Bill Walton, the Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] they want to have,” he said. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who toils beside Love, is not in his class, but he averages a workmanlike 8.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Memphis’ 6-9 Joey Dorsey is as renowned for his inconsistency as he is for his talent. Good Joey is bad news for Tigers opponents. Bad Joey is bad news for the Tigers themselves. By comparison, teammate Robert Dozier is a metronome, averaging 9.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. UCLA
BACKCOURT
Memphis had lost in two previous regional finals. The differencemaker this time is freshman Derrick Rose, the gifted point guard whom Bruins coach Ben Howland aptly compares to Jason Kidd. Next to him are junior Chris Douglas-Roberts, an All-American and his team’s leading scorer (17.7 ppg), and junior Antonio Anderson, a member of Conference USA’s all-defensive team. Defense is also the specialty of the Bruins’ Russell Westbrook, who hounded USC’s heralded O.J. Mayo into a four-point, 10-turnover night. UCLA’s igniter is the quicksilver Darren Collison, who is also its second-leading scorer. Then there is Josh Shipp, who has picked the worst possible time to sink into a shooting slump. EVEN
BENCH
Andre Allen, Rose’s normal backup, was left home after breaking unspecified team rules. That leaves the role to sophomore Willie Kemp, who was the Tigers’ starter at the position last season. Shawn Taggart, a 6-10 transfer from Iowa State, is another solid contributor off the bench. The Bruins also trot out a former starter in Lorenzo Mata-Real, a 6-9 senior whom Love displaced in the middle. James Keefe, a rugged 6-8 sophomore, has been a valuable late-season contributor, scoring 18 in the Bruins’ regional semifinal win over Western Kentucky. MEMPHIS
COACHING
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The Tigers’ Calipari is glib and sharp and a true orator when seated behind a microphone. It’s no wonder his team plays with flash and dash. The Bruins’ Howland is more reserved and offers up answers that are often elliptical and unrelated to the questions. His team’s success is built upon the most aggressive kind of defense, which is often unappreciated and an anomaly in this age that so admires sizzle. UCLA
KEEP AN EYE ON . . .
If styles make a fight, which is an old boxing axiom, this promises to be a classic brawl matching the Tigers’ dribble-drive offense against the Bruins’ lockdown defense. Says Howland: “It’s an incredible challenge to try to defend them because of their athletic ability.” Returning the compliment, Calipari says, “They’re great defensively. It’s body-to-body, mano a mano. You’re going to have some hands on your body, you’re going to drive and there are going to be two hands around your waist. You’d better be ready to play a man’s game because that’s how they play.” As the referee might say, “May the best man win.”
%% UM TEAM STATS UCLA
37-1 Record 35-3
80.3 Points per game 73.8
61.6 Opp. pts. per game 58.5
18.7 Margin 15.3
.469 FG percentage .479
.388 Opp. FG percentage .418
.351 3-pt. FG percentage .351
.303 Opp. 3-pt. FG percentage .323
7.9 3-pt. FG per game 5.7
5.1 Opp. 3-pt. FG per game 5.0
.607 Free-throw pct. .730
6.6 Rebound margin 8.6
4.2 Turnover diff. 1.8
8.4 Steals per game 7.3
6.2 Blocks per game 4.3 %%
PREDICTION: UCLA 72 – MEMPHIS 67