Apr 7, 2013
This year’s Final Four reminded us how great basketball is. This amazing spectator sport is paramount amongst all its colleagues. College basketball is chaotic and spectacular, it is like no other. Some lost, some won, but it was beautiful to watch.
The two games of the Final Four were breathtaking to watch! The courts seemed twice as big, the lights brighter, the crowds louder! That is the charisma of this sport, of March Madness going in to April, coming to an end!
In the first game, Louisville survived a dogged and admirable effort from an underdog Wichita State Shockers team, who, with about thirteen minutes left in the game had stretched their lead to twelve points and seemed on the verge of becoming the first team seeded No. 9 or higher to advance to the championship game.
Up to then, the Shockers had turned the ball over just three times against Louisville’s pressure defense. Yet in the final stretch, under stress from Louisville’s increased effort, they lost some of their steadiness, committing seven turnovers in the final seven minutes of the game as their lead melted away.
It stayed close right up until the end, but time and composure was on Louisville’s side, star guard Russ Smith, who had made about eighty per cent of his free throws for the season but missed six of his first seven in Saturday’s game, hit three of four at the end, sealing the victory.
The second game also came down to ball control at the end, and to free throws. Michigan maintained a sturdy lead for much of it, but, at the end, Syracuse seemed ready to steal the game. They extended their famous 2-3 defense to create full-court pressure, and Michigan struggled to get the ball over half-court, and once there, to execute its offense. When the announcer uttered the phrase, “Michigan is out of timeouts,” and a cringe flew all over the arena.
Michigan won by playing tight defense and overcoming several of its own smaller mistakes, mostly, as in the night’s earlier game, at the free-throw line. With just forty-eight seconds to go, Mitch McGary, Michigan’s freshman big man, had the chance to end it by making his free throws. Simple, except that he’d made just forty per cent of them in the tournament. He looked entirely miserable before missing the first free throw and much more so before attempting, and again missing, the second and even the third.
The Cardinals won 72-68 against the Shockers and the Wolverines beat the Oranges 61-56.
The tight games and the excitement were exhilarating and the games were neck-to-neck! Although there was a winner and a loser in each game, the sport was played in the perfect spirit and harmony!
The only match left! The finals!
Better than this? Its sure it will be!
-Heisenberg
