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Revenge fabulous for Kansas
S AN ANTONIO | Five years of pain and frustration provoked 15 fabulous minutes.
You can’t forget the Fab 15. Not if you love Kansas, loathe the way Roy Williams departed for North Carolina and appreciate beautiful basketball.
The Kansas Jayhawks served Roy Williams revenge steaming hot, blazing to a 28-point advantage to open their Final Four semifinal showdown and settling their emotional divorce from Williams on terms KU fans can live with.
Kansas 84, North Carolina 66.
The Jayhawks will meet equally impressive Memphis, winners over UCLA in Saturday’s other semifinal, in Monday’s national championship game inside the Alamodome. It’s doubtful they’ll be able to duplicate the Fab 15, quite possibly the most impressive 15 minutes of play in the school’s storied history.
“It’s the best 15 I’ve ever had anybody play,” Kansas coach Bill Self said, “because you’re playing against the No. 1 seed on the biggest stage.”
Of course, the Jayhawks couldn’t sustain their magnificent play Saturday night; they allowed the Tar Heels to rally from a 40-12 deficit to make the second half super competitive for a time.
Carolina’s comeback was somewhat predictable. You knew the Jayhawks’ shooting would eventually cool. They started the game sinking 16 of their first 23 shots. Kansas was too long for North Carolina on the inside, and Brandon Rush was too hot on the perimeter. Rush scored 15 of his game-high 25 points during the Fab 15. And Kansas’ Bermuda Rectangle of big men limited Tyler Hansbrough to a quiet 17-point, nine-rebound night.
But you also knew the Tar Heels would rally because you remembered the reason Kansas fans worshipped Williams for 15 years. Williams-coached teams do not quit. Ever. And the Tar Heels didn’t on Saturday, climbing all the way back to within 54-50 midway through the second half.
Yeah, the Tar Heels matched Kansas’ Fab 15 with 15 remarkable minutes of their own, outscoring KU 38-14 at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second.
“As good as we played early, we played about that poorly in the middle,” Self said.
But the Jayhawks regrouped and reasserted control of the game. With their outside shooting MIA, the Jayhawks rediscovered their big men — Sasha Kaun, Cole Aldrich, Darrell Arthur and Darnell Jackson.
No doubt, Kansas’ backcourt played brilliantly. Rush, Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins put up big numbers and scored crucial baskets. But the Jayhawks won on Saturday because of their dominance in the frontcourt.
Kaun, Aldrich, Arthur and Jackson frustrated Hansbrough in the low post. College basketball’s player of the year could never find a comfortable rhythm in the paint. He went long stretches without getting a shot. He was not dominant on the boards. The player described as the hardest working in basketball did not appear any more active than Aldrich, Kansas’ little-used freshman who collected six rebounds in the first half and finished the contest with a game-high four blocks.
Arthur swatted four, too. Jackson scored 12 points in 17 minutes and hit five of six shots. Kaun rebounded from an ineffective first half and dropped in two baskets after the break. KU’s frontcourt spurred the Jayhawks to a 42-33 rebound advantage.
North Carolina simply could not deal with Kansas’ size. And the Tar Heels couldn’t match Kansas’ emotion and physical play.
This game meant more to Kansas. It reminded me of Kansas State’s victory over Kansas at Bramlage Coliseum this season. On that night, the Wildcats’ energy overwhelmed the Jayhawks.
On this night, KU’s emotion drowned the Tar Heels.
In retrospect, we should’ve seen this coming. All of the anti-Roy passion favored the Jayhawks. No one in North Carolina has cared about Roy leaving Kansas in five years. The hurt feelings and resentment have festered in Kansas for five years.
“I never once talked to our players about them playing against Roy Williams, never once,” Self said. “I never once talked about what a big game it was for our fans. Never once. They may have read into it.”
Oh, they read. How could they not?
Even though this particular group of players had nothing to do with Roy’s departure, they could not help but get swept up in the get-Roy sentiment. Jackson, Chalmers, Kaun, Rush and all the rest are friends with Wayne Simien, Keith Langford, Aaron Miles and Michael Lee, the players Roy left behind for Carolina.
Those former players do not dislike Roy Williams. They’ve made peace with his decision. But those players certainly wanted Roy to know that Kansas is every bit as good a job as North Carolina.
From an emotion standpoint, this game totally favored Kansas. Bill Self has no love for North Carolina. It’s not his second-favorite school. Self doesn’t root for North Carolina or Roy Williams. Self isn’t pictured on a KU media guide smiling with former North Carolina players. Nope. That’s Roy Williams’ burden. He has the split loyalties.
Well, it’s really over now. The divorce is settled. And Kansas got the house, cars, custody of the kids, the 401(k) and a shot at a national championship.
“Hopefully for everybody’s sake, that’s over, that’s done,” Self said, “and we can all move forward and everything.”