LOS ANGELES — Kansas and Memphis play for the national championship tonight in what is, by all accounts, a premier matchup. But in Los Angeles, something seems a little off.
As the college basketball nation collectively drools over the two teams’ recent performances, one knowledgeable group has reason to be unfazed by any Packerisms or Nantz poetry lauding the Jayhawks and Tigers’ play.
You guessed it.
Eighteen days removed from tournament action, USC men’s basketball might not even care which team wins the title, but the Trojans might have spent some time wondering how two squads they lost to by a combined eight points now appear so superior to the pack, while they sit around watching TV as nothing more than a generously coined afterthought.
USC lost to Kansas at home Dec. 2, 59-55, then traveled cross-country to take on Memphis two days later at Madison Square Garden in the Jimmy V Classic where USC lost again by four, this time 62-58 in overtime.
Had the Trojans pulled off one of the upsets, they would have handed the No. 3 Jayhawks or No. 2 Tigers their first loss. More than four months later, the two teams will end the season tonight with a combined five losses to go along with 75 wins.
So who has the edge?
You could ask Arizona and Oklahoma, who also played both teams in the regular season. The problem is the Wildcats were soundly defeated by Memphis while the Sooners were swept out of the gym by the Jayhawks.
How about Texas? The Longhorns lost two of three contests to Kansas, but were annihilated by Memphis in the Regional Final last weekend.
Tough to find telling information from those sources.
Thus, it all circles back to the Trojans, who, for at least one night, figured out how to give Kansas and Memphis a game - something only Davidson has managed to do in the NCAA Tournament.
Against Kansas, USC slowed down the pace - rule No. 1 for Memphis, which undoubtedly saw the Jayhawks score 40 points in the first 12 and a half minutes Saturday against North Carolina.
Kansas averages more than 78 points per game and has been held to less than 70 points just six times. It lost two of those games, and two of the other four (USC and Davidson) were four and two-point wins, respectively.
And I highly doubt fans will hear this statistic illuminated by Billy Packer or Jim Nantz, who both think Brandon Rush is their love child, but when Rush’s shot is off, Kansas as a team is off.
In the team’s five lowest scoring outputs of the season (one being the USC game), Kansas’ leading scorer shot a combined 18 of 60 from the field and 6 of 24 from 3-point range.
That’s ugly.
So much of Kansas’ fast break success relies on Rush knocking down open 3s from the corner after the guards drive and kick it out to him.
Memphis coach John Calipari should call USC coach Tim Floyd. I’m guessing the conversation would go like this:
“Hey Tim, got a minute?”
“Funny, Cal, it’s not like I’m game planning.”
“Thanks, Tim. So you guys really shut us down with the triangle-and-2 back in December. Do you have any suggestions for guarding Kansas?”
“Put a box-and-1 on Rush, Cal.”
“… I know you love junk defenses, Tim, but really?”
“Take it as you wish …”
Memphis matches up with Kansas’ big men inside, so it can afford to put extra attention on Rush. If the Tigers let him score 18 or more, the Jayhawks will be champions.
Now, flipping the coin, what did USC do to control Memphis’ attack?
As coach Calipari described in the earlier conversation with Floyd, the triangle-and-2 gave his team fits. You would think other teams would have taken notice.
That’s you, UCLA.
I mean, really, what were you doing playing man-to-man? UCLA coach Ben Howland is supposed to be one of the best in the game if you listen to the talking heads.
Saturday he was severely lacking between the ears.
Memphis tore apart the Bruins’ attempt at defense, exploiting matchups left and right and putting multiple bodies down low to crash the offensive glass.
The only way to beat Memphis is to force it into shooting jump shots.
Against USC, the Tigers shot their worst percentage of the season from the field - 37.3 percent. The Trojans’ almost inexplicable 28.8 percent ensured the New York City crowd fell asleep before game’s end.
Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts - Memphis’ two heralded backcourt stars - had a combined 19 points.
That’s funny. Which players were the “2″ in the triangle-and-2 again?
Just as the flipside is true, Kansas has the size to cancel out Memphis’ size and strength in the post. The game will be decided at the wing and guard position.
If Rose and Douglas-Roberts net a combined 40 points or more, the Tigers will bring home the title.
In an ideal world, Kansas would play a triangle-and-2 and hold Memphis to 58 points, while Memphis would play a box-and-1 and hold Kansas to 58 points, forcing overtime.
It won’t happen.
But if it did, somewhere Floyd would be chuckling.