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The first half was one of the most exciting and well-played halves in NCAA finals history. Syracuse couldn't miss, and Kansas kept storming the basket with four or five players on every single possession. The second half was a bit of a drag -- the teams were exhausted and couldn't buy a free throw -- but it was still a terrific game. Too bad Carmelo Anthony's likely to go pro and Roy Williams seems North Carolina-bound. I was rooting for Williams to win one in Kansas.

posted by rcade at 10:55 PM - reply - flag:

Awesome! I'm sorry I missed the game due to work, but, as I've said unequivocally and emphatically, this was coming! Yeehah!

posted by worldcup2002 at 11:02 PM - reply - flag:

I agree with rcade...the second half was pretty brutal to watch....way too many mental mistakes. And Langford got screwed by the refs on that last call. But how about Roy Williams telling Bonnie Bernstein and CBS how it is? I loved it...Tom Izzo looked like a deer in the headlights when the cameras came back on at the "studio".

posted by smithers at 11:26 PM - reply - flag:

My Duke friend always used to say, "You can't spell sucks without SU." Well, tonight, you can't spell super (or Superdome) without SU. I was pessimistic the other day, by tonight I am relieved and amazed: my Orangemen are #1!

posted by msacheson at 11:35 PM - reply - flag:

Is it true that Williams said "shit" in the interview?

posted by rcade at 11:41 PM - reply - flag:

As fast as the teams were moving, I don't think the refs did a bad job. It would've been impossible not to screw up a few calls when the teams are pinballing into each other every trip down the court.

posted by rcade at 11:42 PM - reply - flag:

But how about Roy Williams telling Bonnie Bernstein and CBS how it is? What did Williams say? I was jumping around and on the phone with Syracuse friends.

posted by msacheson at 11:56 PM - reply - flag:

Best headline: Coach finally basks in Boeheimian rhapsody And (from the article) here's what Williams said:

Where does Williams go from here? Perhaps to his alma mater, North Carolina, which he turned down three years ago, but promises to come calling again by this morning. He has refused to answer questions on the subject all week. "As a journalist, I understand you have to ask that question," Williams told CBS' Bonnie Bernstein. "I know you have somebody talking in your ear telling you to ask it. But at a time like this, I think you have to be sensitive. I couldn't give a (flip) about North Carolina right now." Except he didn't say flip. And he didn't say dad-gum or any of his other G-rated expressions. And maybe after getting close and missing again, there will be some Kansas fans ready to hold the door open this time.

posted by worldcup2002 at 01:25 AM - reply - flag:

he said flip the first time but then shit the second time. and he was a total class act about it despite the slip up language wise. I love SU but I hope he gets his win sometime soon, he deserves it.

posted by Bernreuther at 02:41 AM - reply - flag:

rcade: agreed, you just hate to see it when more blown calls really hurt Kansas at key times, but the ones against SU were never really decisive. bernreuther: agreed, Williams was totally classy about the whole situation; he knew he would get the question and basically let the entire viewing audience know that CBS wasn't matching that level of class.

posted by smithers at 02:49 AM - reply - flag:

From another post by a drunken Bernreuther:

Boeheim and the Cuse get theirs... I'm drunk and still in disbelief... Syracuse wins! I know we've got some Cuse fans and grads here... put words in my mouth... I've been waiting for this my whole life... still remember being too young to stay up for the 87 title game, and coming down to see my poster with a 74-73 score for the bad guys... this is just too awesome... (just hoping Cornell can keep it up in the Frozen Four now).
Now that Carmelo is obviously gone, can this help recruiting enough to get someone to replace the useless Craig Forth? Can SU get back to the Final Four in the next few years after this?

posted by rcade at 09:00 AM - reply - flag:

I really wish it had been Bobby Knight in the finals. He would've socked Bonnie in the mouth.

posted by wfrazerjr at 11:01 AM - reply - flag:

Blown calls, schmalls. KU was 12-30 from the line, they had more than twice the foul shots SU got, and, as Collison pointed out in the post-game interviews, if they'd only shot their season average... But Anthony was just so amazing in the last two games. Too bad he'll move on now, but he deserved the win.

posted by billsaysthis at 11:20 AM - reply - flag:

Agreed. No team that shoots that poorly from the charity stripe deserves to win the title. That was horrible. The game was great in that way the 1997 (?) WS between the Indians and Marlins was great. Close but poorly played. Anthony looked good. Is he the 3rd pick this draft?

posted by herc at 11:54 AM - reply - flag:

Syracuse. I have always had a love-hate relationship with them. I used to like watching them play against Georgetown and St. Johns when the three teams were the class of the NCAA. Dwayne "Pearl" Washington, Howard Triche, and Rony Seikaly. Then at some point, probably right around the Derrick Coleman and Billy Owens years (and who was the kid with the silky game that had his socks up to his knees before that was cool?) I hated them with a passion. I came around again when they made the finals with their stud John Wallace, because I really really liked the fact that Wallace stayed for his senior year when everybody else told him to go pro. Then for the last few years I've hated them again because there is a local Seattle sports radio personality named Mitch Something who is a 'Cuse alum and I absolutely can't stand the fucker and root against all teams he likes. But all in all, I have zero invested in the Orangemen, so it's just as well they won, but good fucking job to msacheson for his prediction back in early March. vito is sober

posted by vito90 at 12:08 PM - reply - flag:

msacheson: So ... whatchoo think about tech stocks? :)

posted by wfrazerjr at 12:48 PM - reply - flag:

my head hurts. But it's all OK :) Anyway, I thought the refs were bad both ways, and at times, till that bad charge call where GMac moved, it seemed like they couldn't buy a call. But KU got a makeup call on that bad intentional call, it was clearly unintentional, and he was cool about it too. That always made me laugh, how every foul at the end of the game in tight ones is intentional, but doesn't get called that way, but an unintentional but violent foul is "intentional"... Thanks for pulling in my post, rcade, and thanks to whoever deleted it from the front page too... ;) I almost went to the dome for this one too, even with the high roof I bet it got really loud in there. Surprisingly, the local CBS station didn't cut to shots of it in a split screen at all, whereas in the semi they did a few times... overall I heard that the fans did a great job staying well behaved there and on Marshall St. A few fires, and a couple arrests for disorderly, but nothing too outrageous. Guess when you win there's no reason to riot (unless you live in LA)....

posted by Bernreuther at 02:47 PM - reply - flag:

and who was the kid with the silky game that had his socks up to his knees before that was cool? Lawrence Moten, the leading scorer in Syracuse and Big East (conference play) history. good fucking job to msacheson for his prediction back in early March. I did not predict, I only made wary notice of Syracuse's rise in the late season. Remember, I predicted Texas would beat the Orange in the semifinal. But that was all part of my reverse-psychology ploy, and it worked! Mwa-ha-ha-ha!

posted by msacheson at 11:16 PM - reply - flag:

Moten. Exactly. Thank you. Where is he now?

posted by vito90 at 12:55 AM - reply - flag:

Motens still playing, just not in the NBA.

posted by jasonspaceman at 07:15 AM - reply - flag:

Did anyone see McNeil at the end of the game? He didn't seem to be too happy about winning. He gingerly got up off the bench and walked on to the court.

posted by jasonspaceman at 07:22 AM - reply - flag:

Monday, April 07, 2003

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