It wasn't a very pretty end to a miraculous post season run, but a win's a win. No matter how ugly it was, it's not going to bring down the UConn Huskies and their contingent of fans off Cloud 9. No snide remarks like "Any other team could have beaten both of those teams last night" or "UConn wasn't THAT good this season" can wipe the smiles off the alumni and the 16,000+ undergrad student currently enrolled in Storrs, CT. In simple terms, it doesn't matter. Those other teams didn't win when they needed to advance so they got eliminated. The only team who stepped up to the challenge every single time was UConn and look what it got them, the National Championship.
Yes Butler exhibited the worst shooting performance ever in NCAA title game history, shooting a measly 18.8%, and while as un-entertaining as it was for the rest of the sports world, it will go down as quite possibly one of the greatest sports moments in UConn's history. Most of the world expected it to be a defensive game, but with more of an offense to it from both sides. Neither team shot well, UConn just shot better and that's all they needed. What was their defensive key to winning this game? REBOUNDS. UConn had 51 rebounds on the night. They blocked out the normally outstanding Butler rebounding team, who didn't lack in rebounding with 43, but they just didn't have the offense to match. UConn's Jeremy Lamb lit up the 2nd half, scoring all of his 12 points reigniting the entire Husky Nation. While Butler failed to make any of their shots go in, UConn didn't let up one bit. They kept the pressure on causing the Bulldogs to scramble and hope they could make something work. UConn's relentless defense shut down Butler's inside game completely with 10 blocks and holding them to just 3 2-pt field goals. If you would have asked Brad Steven's before the game that UConn was only going to score 53 points, he would have been thrilled, but not with his team on the losing end of this surprising end to the season.
Last night's title game brought an end to one of the greatest post season run's in NCAA history. No I'm not being biased because I'm a Husky Hardcore, but it's undeniably one of the greatest. There's something about this title for UConn Country that is just a little bit more special than 1999 and 2004. In 99, Rip Hamilton and his team took down the mighty Duke Blue Devils 77-74. Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon and Co. roared through the 2004 tournament as a #2 seed proving to many they should have been a #1. 2011 is different. There was a different walk a different smile on Jim Calhoun's face when accepting the trophy. It wasn't all about flash and fancy plays, it was back to basics. One simple thought: win.
Starting with their heartbreaking loss to Michigan State in the 2009 Final Four, they took a step back and started over. Rather than recruiting All-Stars who don't always need coaching, Calhoun found raw talent in players like Shabazz Napier, Alex Oriakhi and Jeremy Lamb who were willing to learn and be coached. What was going to reignite this team was Kemba Walker. The ultimate success of this team would fall on his shoulders. As Calhoun said post game "I needed this team as much as they needed me". The bond of trust from Calhoun to Kemba and then Kemba onto his team mates can't be matched. If Kemba wasn't having a good night against Arizona, Calhoun trusted him when he said they needed to give the ball to Jeremy Lamb and in turn Lamb trusted Kemba to get him the ball to score.
Pre-season, Connecticut wasn't even ranked. Besides the star power in Kemba Walker no one really knew just how good they were going to be. After the Maui Invitational, a lot of people changed their POVs. The Huskies stormed through Hawaii defeating future NIT Champions Wichita State (83-79), Michigan State (70-67) and future Final Four Kentucky (84-67). Kemba Walker and the Huskies had arrived. Regular and conference season began with more ups and downs than the roller coasters at Six Flags. They started pushing their way up the ranks of the AP polls but then suffering tough Big East losses would throw them back down a few places. Then they'd play teams like Texas, at Texas and rise once again on the shoulders of the Kardiac Kemba. Despite their phenomenal play outside of the Big East conference they faltered to a 9-9 conference record losing 4 out of their last 5 games.
Something happened the day after their regular season ending loss to Notre Dame. They had the best practice that day, that spark was back but they still had the daunting Big East tournament in front of them and with their poor record in order to win the tournament they'd have to play 5 games in 5 days. Nothing anyone thought was possible. Oh wait, it was. 5 in 5 with a staggering 130 point performance from Walker and Jeremy Lamb emerging with double figure points in every game. Magic happened in those 5 games at Madison Square Garden. Walker was playing the best minutes of his career, Calhoun was feeding off his energy calling plays and the rest of the team was using his passion and heart to drive themselves past exhaustion. Saturday night after defeating Louisville they could finally rest, but not for long. NCAA tournament play was set to begin on Thursday in Washington D.C. 5-0 in post season, 8-0 tournament play.
Would Connecticut be too tired after their Big East tournament performance? When asked about fatigue Kemba's reply "We're not going to let fatigue get us. When I'm on the court my heart takes over". They came out storming in the first round and manhandled Bucknell. Tired? Wouldn't have known it. After a rocky first round, they knocked out Big East opponents Cincinnati guaranteeing a Big East team to the Sweet 16. After the dismal performances of the upper seeded Big East teams in the first few rounds the 9th and 10th teams (UConn and Marquette) were the only ones left. Moving out to Anaheim, to play San Diego State in a near home game, the Huskies continued their road to Houston. Elite 8 vs. Arizona, a scary game in the least but with an 18-7 run in the 1st half while Derrick Williams was on the bench, UConn sealed their spot in the Final Four. 9-0 post season, 12-0 tournament play.
The UConn-Kentucky re-match wasn't going to be the same as Maui. Both teams were very different from November. It was visible that the Huskies were tired, Kemba had played all 40 minutes of the past 3 games. Would the 5 in 5 finally catch up with them? Physically maybe, but emotionally and mentally, hell no. Despite the late charge from Kentucky, Shabazz Napier getting fouled after his rebound of Andre Liggins' final 3-pt attempt took him to the line. Both free throws went in. Game Over. UConn is headed back to the Championship and well, we all know how that ended up; the championship title. 11-0 post season, 14-0 tournament play.
You push the Huskies back against a wall, they will find a way to win, no matter how ugly it may be. You don't see Coach Calhoun smile often, but when he does it's a beautiful thing. Monday night was about as good as it gets for him. He became the oldest coach at 68 to win a national championship and joined an elite club of 4 other coaches (Wooden, Rupp, Knight, Krzyzewski) to win 3 or more titles. Still want to say he's not one of the greatest? You can't argue it. No better team than this years Huskies to launch him into legend status.
UConn had everything this year: offense, defense, Kemba Walker, teamwork, trust, athleticism, heart, power and determination. They played well enough in the regular season to get themselves into the NCAA tournament, maybe not have been a top team during the year, but when it mattered most they did what other teams couldn't do: win. 11-0 in post season and 14-0 in tournament play. UConn played the best 420 minutes (540 in tournament play) than any other team in the NCAA giving them the 2011 National Title.
Until next year...
U! C! O! N! N! UCONN! UCONN! UCONN!
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