How It Should Have Ended

Kansas had proved me wrong all tournament, why would I have thought things would be any different late in the 4th quarter on Monday night?

Memphis up 9 with under 2 minutes to go felt like a lock, but Kansas stormed back. The furious comeback was capped by Mario Chalmers 3 point shot, which tied the game with only 2 seconds left.

Now on to the real story, no not the OT win by the Jayhawks, but the strategy employed by Memphis at the end of regulation. There were two controversial subjects: No. 1, should Memphis have called a timeout after hitting the FT to go up by 3? And, No. 2, should Memphis have fouled to prevent Chalmers' game tying 3?

The answer to both questions is . . . YES!

This was the National Championship. You don't take chances on this stage.

The timeout is probably the more controversial of the two topics. Kansas was out of TO's and calling one would give them a chance to draw up a play. However, people that are using this argument are forgetting one key point. Memphis was not going to allow Kansas to get off a shot! The Tigers should've used their timeout and made it clear to all players that they were to foul when the ball was near the half line.

Calipari claims they were trying to foul, but I'm not sure I'm buying it. I believe that he wanted his players to foul, but It didn't appear that a single player on the floor for Memphis got that message.

It hurts me to say it, because I like Calipari as a coach, but he simply blew it. Combine the coaching error with horrendous foul shooting down the stretch, and it equals a monumental meltdown that will be remembered forever by fans of both the Tigers and Jayhawks.