Many different articles on last nights game! Not much I can say, except complete domination! It was good to see a group of SENIORS pass up millions of dollars to come back to college to win a national title. I believe this trend will catch on more and more as the years go by. The players sum it up when they say there is not a feeling in the world that compares to winning it all, especially in front of over 70,000 people. Can you imagine? 70,000 people to watch you play the game of basketball. WOW! Then you gotta ask yourself if you're a State fan if it was still fun getting blasted in front of 50,000 of your own fans??????
Nothin’ finer: Carolina cruises to NCAA title
Heels set championship-game records in rout of Spartans; win 5th crown
from www.msnbc.com
For a year, maybe more, North Carolina could feel this national championship coming.
It was a calculated march, and behind the unrelenting play of Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson, the Tar Heels stomped out Michigan State’s inspirational run Monday night with an 89-72 blowout that wasn’t that close.
“I felt like it was fitting for us to do what this group just accomplished,” coach Roy Williams said.
Hansbrough scored 18 points, Ellington had 19 and Lawson led all scorers with 21 and also had a record eight steals. Now, they and Danny Green can all head to the NBA feeling good about their decision to return to school. They’re bringing home Carolina’s fifth championship, and the second for Williams.
All those upperclassmen, save Hansbrough, came back in part because their draft prospects didn’t look so good. They also didn’t want their college careers to end on last year’s embarrassing loss to Kansas in the Final Four. That was a dud of a game in which they trailed 40-12 in the first half and Billy Packer was telling CBS viewers it was over.
This time, North Carolina led 36-13 around the time “Dancing With The Stars” was starting on another network. At least nobody knew how that one was going to end.
This game, though, was a slam dunk. Ellington got choked up as he basked in the confetti. Williams gave a shout-out to his mentor, Dean Smith, and he almost started crying, too. Hansbrough was the first to grab one of those “National Champion” T-shirts. Nobody worked harder for it than him.
“Sounds like I made a pretty good decision,” Hansbrough said. “Nothing beats this feeling right here.”
Likewise, it can’t feel much worse for the Spartans (31-7). They never had a chance. They had been on an uplifting run, and the final chapter was supposed to be the national championship. It would, the storybook said, bring the definitive ray of sunshine to a city and state that’s been battered by an ailing economy.
Instead, the 90-mile ride home to East Lansing will be a quiet one.
“You’ve got six NBA players that could be drafted in the first round or early second,” Spartans guard Travis Walton said. “You’re looking at a team that could probably beat the worst team in the NBA.”
The Tar Heels (34-4) were up 55-34 at halftime, breaking a 42-year-old title-game record for biggest lead at the break and setting the mark for most points at the half.
By then, Lawson had already set an NCAA title-game record with seven steals.
“When you play North Carolina, there’s nothing you can do,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “Lawson says it all. He does stir the drink.”
A pretty strong drink.
This collection of NBA talent was too, too much from wire to wire, from the start of the tournament, to the very end.
Carolina won every game by double digits, something that hasn’t happened since Duke did it in 2001.
Lots of basketball fans saw this coming, including America’s No. 1 Hoopster-in-Chief.
Yes, President Barack Obama picked the Tar Heels to take it all in his much-publicized bracket.
Magic Johnson, Michigan State’s Spartan-in-Chief, joined Larry Bird at center court to present the game ball, a tribute to the 30-year anniversary of their historic matchup and Michigan State’s first title.
From there, it was pretty much all “Showtime,” all the time — but not for Michigan State. Heck, Magic didn’t even stick around for the end. He was spotted walking up the tunnel with 3½ minutes left.
Izzo tried to call a timeout to stop the onslaught with 6:45 left in the first half. His team came out and promptly turned it over — one of 14 in the first half, compared to only 12 baskets. Goran Suton led the Spartans with 17 points, and Kalin Lucas, the Big Ten player of the year, had 14 — most scored once the game was out of hand, which was very early in this one.
Michigan State pulled within 13 a couple times late in the second half, and the crowd of 72,922 — mostly pulling for the Spartans — tried to make some noise. But for most of the game, cavernous Ford Field had the atmosphere of a Lions game, save the few thousand Tar Heel fans whose Carolina Blue team put in a much better blue-collar effort than the team that was supposed to pride itself on that.
“I just don’t think we did the things we did all year,” Izzo said. “When you say that, you take away some credit from North Carolina, and I don’t want to do that. It was a combination of us and them, but we need to take some of the blame.”
As for that 98-63 beatdown Carolina put on Michigan State in this same building back on Dec. 3? No fluke. In fact, Detroit might want to give Ford Field a nice, long break. The winless Lions went 0-8 here last season, and there was no halt to the Motor City’s misery on this night.
It was, almost literally, over before it began. Ellington had a double-pump scoop layup and a 3-pointer and Hansbrough spotted up and sank a 14-foot jumper — all in the first 4:25 to put Carolina ahead 17-7. It never got closer.
The Spartans, meanwhile, were having trouble simply getting the ball in after Tar Heel buckets, turning it over that way twice in the first 6 minutes, part of a depressing day that didn’t do justice to the effort they put in to get here.
During pregame introductions, Williams walked over to shake hands with Izzo, who was distracted, drawing up a play on the greaseboard in the huddle. He jokingly showed the diagram to Williams — and you know what: It probably wouldn’t have mattered.
Izzo conceded in the lead-up to the game that if both teams played their best, Michigan State would lose. He’ll never find out if he was right because, while North Carolina was more than ready, the Spartans never showed up.
“The best team won,” Izzo said. “That’s an easy statement to make.”
Williams joined Jim Calhoun, Billy Donovan and Mike Krzyzewski as the fourth active coach (13th overall) to win multiple titles.
This title came four years after his first championship — and for the first time, with a roster full of his own recruits.
“Roy Williams is not that good,” Williams said. “But boy, ol’ Roy’s got some big-time players. That’s what it takes.”
Hansbrough was the only one who knew he wanted to come back from the get-go. He simply loves college, and though his senior season wasn’t quite as good as the year before, the ending was much better. Nobody on Michigan State could stop him — no shame there — and he had seven rebounds and two assists to go with the 18 points.
“I desperately wanted this championship for that young man,” Williams said. “I know it’s corny, but that’s who I am.”
Lawson was often criticized for not looking to shoot enough, and he sort of went back to his roots in this one. He finished only 3-for-10 from the floor but was a dominating presence, with six assists and a whopping 18 trips to the free-throw line.
Oh, and don’t forget Ed Davis. We’ll be seeing the 6-10 freshman in the pros with these other guys someday soon. He went 5-for-7 for 11 points with eight rebounds in 14 minutes and may have proven all he needs to, as well.
Overall, North Carolina dominated every matchup on the floor in pretty much every way. The Tar Heels were a unanimous No. 1 in the preseason and became the first UNC team to start and finish at No. 1 since 1982.
Michael Jordan was the star of that team.
There may not be any Jordans on this team, but there were plenty of Hansbroughs and Lawsons and Ellingtons — more than enough to finish off a project that seemed destined to end the way it did: On a ladder in Detroit, with scissors and twine in their hands.
Another good article about the game and Ty Lawson from www.si.com Seth Davis.
SI.com caught up with Seth Davis, who's serving as a CBS studio analyst during the tournament, to get his impressions of Monday's championship game.
SI.com: Wayne Ellington was the Most Outstanding Player, but who was your MVP tonight?
Seth Davis: Without a question, Ty Lawson. That was an air ball on the part of my friends on press row. Ellington wasn't the leading scorer and the Most Outstanding Player is the whole Final Four -- so the two games -- and Lawson was the most dominant player on the floor in both games. Tonight, Lawson had eight steals which was a Final Four record, controlled the lane, from the foul line he was ridiculous, going 15 of 18. He's a great player and a great example of a kid who benefited from having another year in school. He was the last one to come back and could have gone to the NBA and he could have come off someone's bench and just tried to play as fast as he can. Instead, he came back and learned how to play at different paces, his outside shooting improved, overall, he just got better in all phases of the game. He's a good example of a kid who made a good decision in coming back a year, and he'll make a whole lot of money off of it.
SI.com: What happened to the Spartans?
SD: Destiny ran into a buzzsaw. The worst case scenario for Michigan State was for UNC to get off to that kind of start, because Michigan State isn't that kind of a team and then they got away from what they do well. They had so many turnovers, which was their Achilles' heel all year. They had done such a good job during the tournament of avoiding them, but tonight there were a lot of unforced, bad turnovers. The Spartans were tight and nervous and that's all Carolina needs.
SI.com: What was the most important play?
SD: The opening tip? I guess Goran Suton hit a three to put them up 3 -2 and then there was that early sequence there when North Carolina had scored and Suton tried to throw the ball to Kalin Lucas and Lucas had three guys around him and Suton threw it to an open space on the floor. It was a quick, easy turnover and exemplified where Michigan State was tonight.
SI.com: What did you see on the court that we couldn't see from home?
SD: Greg Anthony eating popcorn. It's just a shame that it wasn't a game. It was a great atmosphere at the beginning and it never had a chance to get going ... North Carolina's a deserving champion but I would have liked to have heard 50,000 Spartan fans as loud as they can possible get, at least for a little while.
SI.com: We pretty much know what's next for the Tar Heels ... what's next for Michigan State?
SD: They're bringing everyone back except for Travis Walton and Goran Suton and they had a good season and I'm sure they will, in very short time, look back and think, 'that was very impressive.' They gave Detroit a reason to cheer, they represented their school well, and they ran into a great team playing at its very best and college basketball has its true champion.
A good article on Tyler Hansbrough by Andy Staples
Google the phrase "Tyler Hansbrough sucks." You'll get seven pages of results, including a YouTube clip with that very title. The ever-intuitive Google also will suggest you try Tyler Hansbrough overrated, which nets 37 pages of results.
Among Hansbrough's critics' complaints: He isn't athletic. He'll make a lousy pro. When he flashes that bug-eyed, slack-jawed, "Who, me?" look at the refs every time they whistle him for a foul, he looks like Beaker from The Muppets.
Here's another one for the list. He has no rhythm. None whatsoever. When the North Carolina band struck up Jump Around early Tuesday morning and Tar Heels guard Danny Green broke it down one last time, Hansbrough stood on the periphery of a circle of dancing teammates and did a little white-guy shuffle that looked more like a mild seizure than a celebratory groove.
Guess what? He doesn't care. You can criticize his jumper. You can compare him to a Jim Henson creation. You can even rip his dancing. He has that net he wore as a necklace early Tuesday, and that's all that matters. "They ain't getting that net," Hansbrough said. "They can try."
Though he tried his best for four seasons to block them out, the ACC's all-time leading scorer couldn't help but hear his critics. Monday, as he scored 18 and grabbed seven rebounds to help the Tar Heels to an 89-72 win against Michigan State Hansbrough silenced them. "A lot of people doubted me this year," Hansbrough said. "But people can say whatever they want. I'm part of something special that some people never experience in their lives."
That something special began in 2005, when Hansbrough, Green, Bobby Frasor, Marcus Ginyard and Mike Copeland arrived in the wake of the departures of Sean May, Raymond Felton and the other key members of North Carolina's fourth national championship team. The first time he met Hansbrough, the scruffy high-schooler Copeland knew he was dealing with a different cat. During his first conversation with Green, Green told Copeland they needed to make 2005 the best class ever. Frasor and Copeland discussed basically the same thing. What were Hansbrough's first words to his new teammate? "Mike," he said, "you need a shave."
Copeland's suspicions were confirmed his freshman year when the players took a dip in the pool at the Dean Smith Center. Hansbrough climbed to the highest diving platform and did a belly flop. But in the weight room and on the practice court, Copeland saw something else. "He's the most dedicated player I've ever been around. Ever. He does everything he's supposed to do. Everything."
That's why when Hansbrough decided to return for his senior season, the Tar Heels' other potential pros followed him back to Chapel Hill. And while point guard Ty Lawson probably was North Carolina's most talented player, Hansbrough was the Tar Heels' heart and soul. That's why his teammates smiled so wide when they saw him climb that ladder, snip that net and punch the sky with a pair of gold-plated scissors. "He's going out the right way," forward Deon Thompson said. "For all the things he's accomplished in his career, this was the only thing missing. Now, he's a legend."
When Carolina coach Roy Williams inserted his walk-ons with 1:03 remaining, Hansbrough walked off the court and wrapped his coach in a bear hug. Williams will cherish that hug forever. "I earn a good salary, but if you put $10 million in that pile right there, and say, Roy, you can have that $10 million, but if you take it, you'll forget that feeling you had when that big rascal came over and hugged you," Williams said, "you guys can split that $10 million, because I wouldn't give $10 million for the feeling that I had at that moment."
So go ahead, rip Hansbrough. Prank call him, even. He's gotten plenty of those. At this point, he'd welcome a few more. "When they prank call me, I'll just leave it at that," Hansbrough said. "I'll be like, 'I'm a national champion.'"
As the celebration raged, Hansbrough kept uttering the phrase "national champion," as if he couldn't believe his dream had finally come true. But the net around his neck and the smile on his face provided plenty of proof. The Hansbrough haters can't touch him now.
"Say what you want," Hansbrough said. "I'm a national champion. Who can say they're a national champion? I can. That's right."
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