2014 NCAA Tournament was one of the best in recent memory. We had everything from buzzer beaters to clutch three-points to games that will live in college basketball lore. But no one thought Connecticut would come out victorious in the end. A Husky team that Louisville wiped by 33 points two weeks before the NCAA Tournament ended up being the champions of this season defeating Kentucky, 60-54. UConn did it with Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright stepping up when it mattered the most on the biggest stage. Huskies take home their fourth title in 15 years and likely their most improbable one.
When the chips were down, UConn got its best performances from its best players. Napier and Boatright both took control of this game at different points of the game on both ends of the court. Their defensive effort might be more incredible than anything they did on offense seeing as the Harrison Twins are 6'6 which are at least six or seven inches taller than Napier and Boatright. They also had a solid offensive performance with combining for 36 points and having more than 50 percent of UConn's points last night.
For the entire NCAA Tournament, I underestimated how good Napier and Boatright were in-game. I am as big of a Shabazz fan as they come by, but Boatright sort of got forgotten by me. He plays such good defense. Boatright frustrated the living hell out of multiple players throughout the tournament. He made Scottie Wilbekin's life miserable, and he did the same with the Harrison Twins. Boatright will not be talked in the same light as Napier will be this week. Shabazz will be etch in the NCAA Tournament history. He put the team on his back multiple times this season and carrying them through the tournament. Every time Kentucky got close, Napier nailed a big shot to quiet the run. No matter how good he is next level, we will always remember Bazz.
At the end of the game, Napier made a comment to CBS' Jim Nantz about the NCAA and the ban, UConn received that barred this team from playing in the 2013 season. He referred to the ban making the team stronger and acted very passionately about how they used the ban as motivation. There is nothing wrong with that, but their ban is more on UConn than anyone else. NCAA changed their rules to adjust academic standards and Connecticut didn't meet those expectations. I don't like the NCAA, but this isn't something the NCAA did to the Huskies, UConn did it to themselves. Fine with Shabazz making his comments, but he needs to understand a little more context.
As for Kentucky, they played like freshman in their final game of the season. Wildcats looked tight for the whole game. Julius Randle started cramping early and often which led to him only getting 10 shots up. Kentucky had been awesome from 3-point territory for the entire NCAA Tournament until tonight. Luck ran out there with the Wildcats going 5/16. From the free throw line, it didn't get much better as Kentucky missed eleven free throws. The misses seemed to come at the most inopportune times as well. It would be the front end of a one and one or a miss when Kentucky started to gain momentum.
Kevin Ollie deserves a ton of credit for this ride through the tournament. In five games, he beat Villanova, Iowa State, Michigan State, Florida and Kentucky. That's as good of a stretch we will ever see. Ollie matched wits with Phil Martelli, Jay Wright, Fred Hoiberg, Tom Izzo, Billy Donovan and John Calipari. That's a who's who of head coaches for a guy making his first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. I always come back to some guys don't know better. Ollie isn't supposed to do this in the first tournament yet he found a way to defy all odds.
College basketball comes to an end. Honestly, I wish UConn still played in the Big East. I realize that's selfish given what happens, but I felt that way when they were at Madison Square Garden. The dream would be is if they made football an independent and decided to return to the Big East.
Charlie.
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