Calipari wanted to foul on last possession
SAN ANTONIO -- Sometimes the strategy doesn’t fit the execution.
On Kansas’ last possession of overtime, Memphis coach John Calipari wanted his team to foul. He certainly didn’t want the Jayhawks to get off a shot that could erase the Tigers’ three-point lead.
When Kansas’ Sherron Collins reached mid court he eluded the Tigers’ defender and veered toward the sideline.
“We were gonna foul him at half court,’’ Calipari said. “He separated. We pushed him down but it wasn’t a hard enough foul. We had a good plan at the end.’’
Collins managed to hand it off to Kansas’ Mario Chalmers, who was cutting back toward the top of the circle. Chalmers’ 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining was all net.
“Mario’s shot, I was right there, left hand up,’’ said Memphis freshman Derrick Rose, who had to switch defensive assignments to cover Chalmers. He’s a good shooter and he shot it right over me.’’
Chalmers’ shot capped the Jayhawks’ comeback from down 60-51 with 2:12 remaining.
Group hug
Seconds after the final horn sounded in Kansas’ overtime victory, senior Darnell Jackson was on a mission.
He stepped onto and over a table at court side then made his way into the stands. Jackson, a 6-8, 250-pound senior from Oklahoma City, hugged members of his family.
Jackson has endured his mother’s recovery from a 2005 traffic accident that killed his grandmother. In February, Jackson’s 19-year-old cousin was shot and killed.
Briefly
Mario Chalmers is the fifth Kansas player to earn most outstanding player honors at the Final Four. The others: Danny Manning in 1988, Wilt Chamberlain in 1957, B.H. Born in 1953 and Clyde Lovellette in 1952.
Chalmers was also selected to the all-tournament teams at the Big 12 Conference tourney and the Midwest Regional.
Former Kansas and current North Carolina coach Roy Williams was wearing a Kansas button as he sat in the stands.
Memphis trailed at halftime for the fifth time. The Tigers won the previous four games they had trailed at intermission.
Maybe moving the 3-point line back one foot from 19-feet-9 inches isn’t a good idea. The four teams in the three Final Four games combined to make 27 of 98 3-point shots (27.5 percent).
It was the seventh national championship game to go overtime. Kansas and Cincinnati have both played in two of those OT title games.
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