Tigers Panicked And Choked
The Tigers were horrid in the Elite 8 vs. UCLA. The Bruins were almost as bad. In fact, of the 80 minutes UCLA played in Oakland (40 against Memphis, 40 against Gonzaga) it looked like a good team for only about three minutes, the last three vs. Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 game.
But the Bruins were able to punish the Tigers inside, especially in the first half, but they won only because the Tigers were worse than they were. Name something, name anything that the Tigers could do wrong and they did it. Over and over and over again.
UCLA was physical with the Tigers, a style the Tigers don't particularly like or are good at dealing with. The Tigers retaliated by trying to be physical, too. Instead, they fouled. And fouled. And fouled themselves into trouble. Then they panicked. Or to put it another way, they choked. For the first time all season, their youth stuck out like a sore thumb.
One also could make a case that this was as miserable an NCAA tournament game that's ever been played. Surely there never has been a worse one beyond the first round.
That's the bad part.
The good part is that the Tigers still enjoyed a remarkable season. Before it started if anyone had said the U of M would make it to the Elite 8, any Tiger fan would have said, "I'll take it." And nothing can diminish the fun the Tigers provided throughout the 05-06 season and nothing can take away from the prospect that next year could be just as good, if not better.
It's just too bad the U of M laid an egg in their last game and that Rodney Carney, who surpassed Larry Finch to become the Tigers third all-time leading scorer, went out so ingloriously. Even in defeat, Finch was magnificent in his last game, scoring 29 against UCLA in 1973. The Bruins stifled Carney so well that he faded into a shadow of himself as the game went along. It'll be surprising if NBA scouts fail to take note of that.
Somehow it just doesn't seem right or fair that a marvelous, at times even breathtaking, career ended the way it did.
Bottom Line: The Tigers need to be better prepared for tough games going into future NCAA tournaments. Translation: They won't find quality opponents in Conference USA and playing just one late-in-the-season toughie -- as they will next February against Gonzaga -- isn't enough. Somehow, they've got to convince other power teams to play them late because other than the Tigers there is no power in C-USA.
On the other hand, 11th seeded George Mason of the very mid-major Colonial League and a controversial at large invitee to the tournament, showed -- in its region final against number one seed U-Conn -- Sunday what can happen if you don't panic and if you don't choke. And if any team had reason to panic and choke, it certainly did. . . expecially after U-Conn miraculously sent the game to overtime. Even then, George Mason didn't fold which -- as much as anything else -- is why it's Indianapolis bound. Maybe John Calipari should give 'em a call and schedule a game next season . . . like sometimes between Valentine's Day and the beginning of the C-USA tournament.
