There is one more game in the college basketball season. It's Monday night. More than 300 Division I teams are sitting home right now. Two are game planning for one more 40 minute session. The University of Connecticut is one of those teams.
I don't know what else to write. This entire run has been magical. To say it has been unexpected is to beat a very nearly dead horse. What Saturday night showed me was that Uconn........is a really, really good team. They aren't just Kemba Walker. They aren't just Jeremy Lamb. They aren't just one or two players. They are a swarming team on defense, a set team on offense. They are nothing, NOTHING like the team that played through February.
Now, they will play on Monday. We have said all March long "whatever happens" in such and such game, this season has been a success. That remains true. No matter what happens Monday night, this Uconn season has been unreal.
But, now Uconn is 40 minutes away from a National Championship. Now, the gold standard is staring Uconn in the face. Now, only the Butler Bulldogs, on their own magical run, stands in the way.
I want one more 40 minutes of magic. I want one more college basketball dream to come true. I want one more night of watching Kemba Walker do his thing. I want one more night of Huskie Mania.
Is that too much to ask? Maybe.
Maybe it's too much to expect this 11-game run. Maybe it is too much to put on a team that was obviously gassed at the end of the game against Kentucky, and has been playing on shaky legs since doing the unthinkable in MSG. But, Uconn has been doing the impossible now for an entire month. Why not one more impossible feat?
How will Monday night end? Euphoria? Heartbreak? Will the story be Jim Calhoun and his third national title, or will it be the upstart Butler Bulldogs and their two-year Cinderella run?
I don't have any idea. Butler might be the best defensive team Uconn has faced in this entire tournament, and while Kentucky played, at times, like a young group, Butler isn't going to be rattled, nor are they going to play dumb. As well as Uconn played, at times, on Saturday, they will need to do better Monday.
But, Uconn will be the better team on Monday. They will have more talent. They will have, by far, the best player on the court, and probably the second best player on the court (Lamb). What does that mean? Not much. Pittsburgh was better than Butler when the two played, as was Florida. They beat both.
But, this Uconn team looks like it's on a mission. It has played every way you could want. Need to win by shooting the three? They've done it. Need Kemba to score 35? No problem. Need to win by playing great defense? They are up to the task.
Whatever they will be asked to do on Monday, you know they'll be ready for it. They won't quit. They won't scare. They won't back down. They won't be intimidated.
I don't know what will come from Monday, but what I do know is that this team has long since convinced me that they can, not just that they might.
I believe. I believe in the magic. I believe in the run. It can happen. I pray it does. Because this run, this historic moment, needs its capper, and that capper would be some new pieces of net for everyone on Uconn to bring back from Storrs.
I don't know what else to write. This entire run has been magical. To say it has been unexpected is to beat a very nearly dead horse. What Saturday night showed me was that Uconn........is a really, really good team. They aren't just Kemba Walker. They aren't just Jeremy Lamb. They aren't just one or two players. They are a swarming team on defense, a set team on offense. They are nothing, NOTHING like the team that played through February.
Now, they will play on Monday. We have said all March long "whatever happens" in such and such game, this season has been a success. That remains true. No matter what happens Monday night, this Uconn season has been unreal.
But, now Uconn is 40 minutes away from a National Championship. Now, the gold standard is staring Uconn in the face. Now, only the Butler Bulldogs, on their own magical run, stands in the way.
I want one more 40 minutes of magic. I want one more college basketball dream to come true. I want one more night of watching Kemba Walker do his thing. I want one more night of Huskie Mania.
Is that too much to ask? Maybe.
Maybe it's too much to expect this 11-game run. Maybe it is too much to put on a team that was obviously gassed at the end of the game against Kentucky, and has been playing on shaky legs since doing the unthinkable in MSG. But, Uconn has been doing the impossible now for an entire month. Why not one more impossible feat?
How will Monday night end? Euphoria? Heartbreak? Will the story be Jim Calhoun and his third national title, or will it be the upstart Butler Bulldogs and their two-year Cinderella run?
I don't have any idea. Butler might be the best defensive team Uconn has faced in this entire tournament, and while Kentucky played, at times, like a young group, Butler isn't going to be rattled, nor are they going to play dumb. As well as Uconn played, at times, on Saturday, they will need to do better Monday.
But, Uconn will be the better team on Monday. They will have more talent. They will have, by far, the best player on the court, and probably the second best player on the court (Lamb). What does that mean? Not much. Pittsburgh was better than Butler when the two played, as was Florida. They beat both.
But, this Uconn team looks like it's on a mission. It has played every way you could want. Need to win by shooting the three? They've done it. Need Kemba to score 35? No problem. Need to win by playing great defense? They are up to the task.
Whatever they will be asked to do on Monday, you know they'll be ready for it. They won't quit. They won't scare. They won't back down. They won't be intimidated.
I don't know what will come from Monday, but what I do know is that this team has long since convinced me that they can, not just that they might.
I believe. I believe in the magic. I believe in the run. It can happen. I pray it does. Because this run, this historic moment, needs its capper, and that capper would be some new pieces of net for everyone on Uconn to bring back from Storrs.
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