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Umm....maybe Memphis is good after all.

It finally dawned on me when Chris Douglas-Roberts threw down a huge left-handed dunk over Kevin Love. Memphis is for real.

Actually we all knew that before. But there was still a strong sentiment in the press room that UCLA would slow down Memphis and frustrate them. It's been the other way around.

Here's the thing about the Tigers - they're unbelievably athletic, they're relentless and they're a matchup nightmare. Memphis solved UCLA's vaunted half-court defense largely on the strength of guards Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts. Rose is 6-5. Douglas-Roberts is 6-6. Basically the Tigers gave the ball to one of those two, spread out the floor and let them attack UCLA's guards Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook. They usually shot over them or backed them down for easy shots. If the Bruins tried to counter with bigger defenders, like Josh Shipp or Luc Richard Mbah Moute, Rose and Douglas-Roberts went right by them.

And oh man, can Memphis get up and down the floor. They're not running nearly as much as they'd like, but they're still getting an easy basket here and there. That's huge in these games, where the margin of error is so thin.

If UNC beats Kansas, it'll be interesting to see a track meet between the Tar Heels and the Tigers. I used to think no one in the country could run with UNC. Now I'm not so sure.

Comments (1)

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The Devil_HimSelf said:

"I used to think no one in the country could run with UNC. Now I'm not so sure."
You still choking, Jim? Haven't seen an update to your blog. Now if Memphis might be able to run with the all-but-coronated mighty Heels, do you think Kansas may have a chance against Ed Hardin's "most talented team ever assembled"? Oh yeah. I forgot. Already decided! Tell Ed I'm waiting for the re-evaluation and not a puff job on D. Manning. Ol' Ed didn't take long to dig into Duke after a Final Four flameout.
Tell Ed, "Good Times Never Felt So Gooood!"
Right?

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