MrCLEAN

It has definitely been a busy week in San Antonio, Texas. The final rounds of the NCAA Tournament wrapped up in amazing fashion, with the Final Four hosting all #1 seeds for the first time ever. This only solidified the status of these four teams as the very best in the nation. The National Championship game hosted Kansas and Memphis, with the Jayhawks pulling out an extremely dramatic win. After being held to only 3 points in the first half, Kevin Love finally got into the game with a few key shots late that appeared to help Memphis ceal the deal. But Memphis' free-throw woes continued under pressure, missing 4 out of 5 from the line, giving Kansas the opportunity they needed to keep the game close. This came after Memphis rallied from 9-points down with just 2:12 left on the clock. Hustling the ball down the court with 10.8 seconds left, no timeouts and trailing by 3, Sherron Collins handed off to Chalmers at the top of the 3-point line, and Chalmers took the shot. It hit nothing but net and tied the score at 63, sending the game into OT. The Jayhawks got a second chance after facing what appeared to be their own demise. Those five minutes of OT belonged strictly to Kansas, with the Jayhawks having all of the confidence they needed to finish strong. Brandon Rush, Darrell Arthur and Darnell Jackson scored the first six points of overtime to put Kansas ahead 69-63. The incredibly athletic Memphis Tigers, clearly exhausted by this point, didn't pull any closer than three the rest of the way. Kansas finished with a 75-68 overtime victory in easily the best game in the entire NCAA Tournament. There were 8 ties and 9 lead changes throughout this game that pitted two 3-guard offenses for the majority of the night. Kansas got a grip on Kevin Love early on, which helped the Jayhawks control the tempo of the game. This was definitely one of the best games I've seen in a while because of the talent level of these two teams as well as the way the game was played/won. I know I'm not the only one that had Kansas winning it all on my brackets. Kansas is the epitome of the word 'team', with no absolute go-to guy but more of a multi-talented group of players who were lead by a great basketball coach -- thus resulting in this Self-fulfilling prophecy.

But just a few days earlier in Greehey Arena at St. Mary's University, several players competed in the State Farm College Slam Dunk and 3-Point Championships. Eight players were invited to participate: Sonny Weems of Arkansas, joining James Gist of Maryland, J.R. Giddens of New Mexico, Patrick Ewing Jr. of Georgetown, Brian Randle of Illinois, Joey Dorsey of Memphis, Will Bullard of Texas A&M – Corpus Christi and Deron Washington of Virginia Tech. The 6-6 guard/forward from West Memphis, AR, Sonny Weems placed second in the first round and in the semifinals before claiming the title in the finals. Bullard, Giddens and Gist also advanced after the first round with Weems, who wore his cardinal Razorback uniform, and Bullard reaching the finals. Weems’ display included a dunk where he passed the ball between his legs while in the air for a slam, catching the ball off a high bounce for a two-handed tomahawk dunk, running the length of the floor from the left corner and taking off from the free throw line for a one-handed jam, and catching a high bounce from the right corner and passing the ball between his legs for a left-handed dunk. Weems recently completed his Razorback career by earning first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors, and all-district honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the United States Basketball Writers Association. He averaged 15.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists, helping the Razorbacks go 23-12, finish second in the Southeastern Conference’s Western Division, reach the finals of the SEC Tournament and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Arkansas beat a talented Indiana team in the first round, but went on to lose to North Carolina in the second game.

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mR. cLeaN