In the end, KU makes it worth the wait

Mike DeCoursey, Sporting News

Posted: April 7, 2008

It took forever to play those last couple minutes of regulation. Were you willing to wait? Were you willing to wait the month or so it took Mario Chalmers' game-tying 3 to climb through the San Antonio sky and find its way into the basket? Were you willing to wait through an overtime period in the NCAA championship game for Kansas to win its first title since the Reagan administration?

The KU players were not going to delay their celebration. No, sir. They were on the court embracing as the final meaningless seconds ticked away on a 75-68 comeback victory over Memphis at the Alamodome. No referee on this planet would have punished them for their zeal. It was the one part of the process of claiming a piece of basketball history that could be rushed.

Think back to how Kansas and its coach, Bill Self, were treated over the first 1,550 days of his tenure. It all seems rather silly now, doesn't it?

It sure seemed ridiculous Monday at 11:12 p.m. CT, when Self climbed up a ladder that looked an awful lot like it was painted a KU shade of blue. He cut down the final strand of the net and waved it at the crowd. Were five years and an extra 5 minutes really that long to wait?

"I don't know if a coach really deserves what happened to me," Self says, a statement that could contain a double meaning. "Because I can't imagine it being any better at any time." Kansas' comeback will be considered one of the greatest in the seven decades of NCAA championship games. The Jayhawks trailed by nine with 2:12 left after a couple of free throws by Tigers forward Robert Dozier. It seemed hopeless. But a sweet 16-footer by center Darrell Arthur was followed by a quick timeout, and KU emerged in a press that squeezed loose the biggest play of the game. Chalmers stole the ball from Tigers guard Antonio Anderson, and, following a quick scramble, guard Sherron Collins nailed a right-corner 3. The Tigers no longer were safe.

From there, KU fouled on purpose and challenged even the best Memphis shooters to make free throws. Three in a row rolled out for All-American Chris Douglas-Roberts, and star freshman Derrick Rose missed another with 10.8 seconds left and a chance to clinch victory. Down, 63-60, Chalmers took a dribble handoff and launched a hopeful 3-pointer. When it finally landed in the goal, the score was tied. But the game was won.

Building a championship program is not as simple as figuring out iTunes. It takes time, even under the best of circumstances. It takes resources, tradition, a fair amount of good fortune and enough selling to make the fellas in Glengarry Glen Ross sound like Girl Scouts.

More than anything, it takes patience, and that may be harder to find than a shot-blocking 7-footer. The 2008 NCAA Tournament was filled with programs that excelled in spite of maddening impatience from regular fans, wealthy boosters, administrators or the media who cover the teams. Or, in some cases, from all those constituencies.

Xavier fans were ready to evict coach Sean Miller before he'd finished his second season. His bosses backed him and were rewarded by a third consecutive NCAA Tournament bid and the school's second Elite Eight finish.

Western Kentucky's Darrin Horn was averaging 22 victories over five seasons, but there was plenty of agitation about removing him if he failed again to reach the NCAAs. Horn got the Hilltoppers into the Sweet 16, then left for South Carolina.

And there is Kansas, the last team standing, at last.

"I think it's just they're so emotionally attached," says Michael Lee, now a KU graduate student manager, whose jump shot was blocked by Hakim Warrick to clinch the 2003 championship for Syracuse. "At Kansas, there's a level of expectation. So naturally, fans, if it doesn't turn out how they want, get upset. That's just human nature because they want us to do so well."

Brandon Rush was patient. Once a talented prospect at Mt. Zion Christian Academy in Durham, N.C., Rush originally chose not to commit to a college and entered the NBA draft. But a funny thing happened on the way to basketball oblivion: Rush showed up at the NBA pre-draft camp and played great. He had a good chance to be selected.

That was three years ago. Honestly, Rush did not believe he would be at KU this long. He thought he might play a single year. Then he was sure he'd be done after his sophomore year•so sure he filed for early entry. Within a month, he'd blown out a knee ligament during a pickup game.

Rush is the third brother from what could be described as the first family of Kansas City basketball. It began with JaRon, who played at UCLA, and then Kareem, a star at Missouri. Although the Tigers are Kansas' biggest rival, KU owes Kareem because it was his influence that directed Brandon to college.

With three years of NBA experience, Kareem recognized Brandon needed experience to handle himself in the league. He pushed hard for Brandon to play in college. He won. Now, Brandon is the winner. He was terrific in overtime, scoring the first basket on a fast-break feed from Collins and climbing into double figures•something he did in all six tournament games.

"Really, I just want to brag to my brothers," he says. "That's all I want to do. Just flash the ring in front of their faces."

Sherron Collins was patient. He was a McDonald's All-American at Crane Tech in Chicago, rated No. 12 by Scout.com in the recruiting class of 2006. With his resume and his talents, he'd have been an instant starter at nearly any Division I program. Not at Kansas. Russell Robinson already was in place.

And Chalmers. Collins has played in 72 college basketball games but started only six.

"When people get too worried about things like that, it becomes a distraction to themselves as well as the team," Collins says. "I still play the same minutes as a starter. I just want to win." Although Collins does not open for the Jayhawks, he closes like Goose Gossage. Collins ignites KU by playing the point guard position powerfully.

That's now, anyway. Self has spoken -- privately and sometimes publicly -- for most of Collins' two seasons about needing to see the kind of consistent performances a coach depends upon from a point guard.

"We need a guy to get us shots," says Jayhawks assistant Joe Dooley. "He's one of the most creative guys we have. But in his defense, he wasn't healthy." As a freshman, Collins was limited by weight and conditioning issues. After this season's second game, he learned he'd fractured his left foot.

Originally expected to miss six weeks, he recovered in less than a month and wound up an essential part of the championship.

When KU began searching for someone to step forward in the final minutes against Memphis -- looking, as so many had diagnosed, like a team without a go-to guy -- Collins made the big plays. Along with his big 3, he stole the ball to start overtime. He scored the final two points of the KU season on free throws just 17 seconds from the end (and 15 seconds from the celebration).

"Coach Self said, 'Players are going to make the plays.' Somebody had to step up and make a play," Collins says. "I tried to make it be me."

Bill Self was patient. Man, it was hard. He took over a team that had been taught by a Hall of Famer, Roy Williams. Some of his players had appeared prominently in the 2003 NCAA championship game. They were not excited about having to learn an entirely different approach.

Self cajoled that team into the Elite Eight and all the way to an overtime period against Georgia Tech. The following season, they were "tired and beat and hurt" and, in the tournament's first round, were upset by Bucknell. Self then rebuilt by adding Rush, Chalmers and Julian Wright to guard Robinson and center Sasha Kaun. All those freshmen and sophomores rallied from an ominous 10-6 start to win the Big 12 regular season and conference tournament. But they lost in the NCAA first round again.

"In the fans' minds, it was a disastrous season," Self says. "In my mind, I'm thinking we're starting three freshmen, two sophomores.

"You lose in the first round, and all of a sudden it's a disaster. To me, that's ridiculous." Rush admits it was pressure "from the fans" that led to KU's reticent performance in the Elite Eight game against Davidson. There was such a weight on that team it nearly was impossible to play against the Wildcats with the kind of confident aggression that consumed North Carolina in the first 10 minutes of their national semifinal and Memphis in the last 5 minutes of the title game.

Once freed from the public demand that KU microwave a Final Four appearance, the Jayhawks attacked in San Antonio and gained their third national title.

Once disdained as a coach who couldn't win the big one, much the same as Jim Boeheim, Lute Olson, Gary Williams and Jim Calhoun, Bill Self did precisely that.

Posted: April 7, 2008

It took forever to play those last couple minutes of regulation. Were you willing to wait? Were you willing to wait the month or so it took Mario Chalmers' game-tying 3 to climb through the San Antonio sky and find its way into the basket? Were you willing to wait through an overtime period in the NCAA championship game for Kansas to win its first title since the Reagan administration?

The KU players were not going to delay their celebration. No, sir. They were on the court embracing as the final meaningless seconds ticked away on a 75-68 comeback victory over Memphis at the Alamodome. No referee on this planet would have punished them for their zeal. It was the one part of the process of claiming a piece of basketball history that could be rushed.

Think back to how Kansas and its coach, Bill Self, were treated over the first 1,550 days of his tenure. It all seems rather silly now, doesn't it?

It sure seemed ridiculous Monday at 11:12 p.m. CT, when Self climbed up a ladder that looked an awful lot like it was painted a KU shade of blue. He cut down the final strand of the net and waved it at the crowd. Were five years and an extra 5 minutes really that long to wait?

"I don't know if a coach really deserves what happened to me," Self says, a statement that could contain a double meaning. "Because I can't imagine it being any better at any time." Kansas' comeback will be considered one of the greatest in the seven decades of NCAA championship games. The Jayhawks trailed by nine with 2:12 left after a couple of free throws by Tigers forward Robert Dozier. It seemed hopeless. But a sweet 16-footer by center Darrell Arthur was followed by a quick timeout, and KU emerged in a press that squeezed loose the biggest play of the game. Chalmers stole the ball from Tigers guard Antonio Anderson, and, following a quick scramble, guard Sherron Collins nailed a right-corner 3. The Tigers no longer were safe.

From there, KU fouled on purpose and challenged even the best Memphis shooters to make free throws. Three in a row rolled out for All-American Chris Douglas-Roberts, and star freshman Derrick Rose missed another with 10.8 seconds left and a chance to clinch victory. Down, 63-60, Chalmers took a dribble handoff and launched a hopeful 3-pointer. When it finally landed in the goal, the score was tied. But the game was won.

Building a championship program is not as simple as figuring out iTunes. It takes time, even under the best of circumstances. It takes resources, tradition, a fair amount of good fortune and enough selling to make the fellas in Glengarry Glen Ross sound like Girl Scouts.

More than anything, it takes patience, and that may be harder to find than a shot-blocking 7-footer. The 2008 NCAA Tournament was filled with programs that excelled in spite of maddening impatience from regular fans, wealthy boosters, administrators or the media who cover the teams. Or, in some cases, from all those constituencies.

Xavier fans were ready to evict coach Sean Miller before he'd finished his second season. His bosses backed him and were rewarded by a third consecutive NCAA Tournament bid and the school's second Elite Eight finish.

Western Kentucky's Darrin Horn was averaging 22 victories over five seasons, but there was plenty of agitation about removing him if he failed again to reach the NCAAs. Horn got the Hilltoppers into the Sweet 16, then left for South Carolina.

And there is Kansas, the last team standing, at last.

"I think it's just they're so emotionally attached," says Michael Lee, now a KU graduate student manager, whose jump shot was blocked by Hakim Warrick to clinch the 2003 championship for Syracuse. "At Kansas, there's a level of expectation. So naturally, fans, if it doesn't turn out how they want, get upset. That's just human nature because they want us to do so well."

Brandon Rush was patient. Once a talented prospect at Mt. Zion Christian Academy in Durham, N.C., Rush originally chose not to commit to a college and entered the NBA draft. But a funny thing happened on the way to basketball oblivion: Rush showed up at the NBA pre-draft camp and played great. He had a good chance to be selected.

That was three years ago. Honestly, Rush did not believe he would be at KU this long. He thought he might play a single year. Then he was sure he'd be done after his sophomore year•so sure he filed for early entry. Within a month, he'd blown out a knee ligament during a pickup game.

Rush is the third brother from what could be described as the first family of Kansas City basketball. It began with JaRon, who played at UCLA, and then Kareem, a star at Missouri. Although the Tigers are Kansas' biggest rival, KU owes Kareem because it was his influence that directed Brandon to college.

With three years of NBA experience, Kareem recognized Brandon needed experience to handle himself in the league. He pushed hard for Brandon to play in college. He won. Now, Brandon is the winner. He was terrific in overtime, scoring the first basket on a fast-break feed from Collins and climbing into double figures•something he did in all six tournament games.

"Really, I just want to brag to my brothers," he says. "That's all I want to do. Just flash the ring in front of their faces."

Sherron Collins was patient. He was a McDonald's All-American at Crane Tech in Chicago, rated No. 12 by Scout.com in the recruiting class of 2006. With his resume and his talents, he'd have been an instant starter at nearly any Division I program. Not at Kansas. Russell Robinson already was in place.

And Chalmers. Collins has played in 72 college basketball games but started only six.

"When people get too worried about things like that, it becomes a distraction to themselves as well as the team," Collins says. "I still play the same minutes as a starter. I just want to win." Although Collins does not open for the Jayhawks, he closes like Goose Gossage. Collins ignites KU by playing the point guard position powerfully.

That's now, anyway. Self has spoken -- privately and sometimes publicly -- for most of Collins' two seasons about needing to see the kind of consistent performances a coach depends upon from a point guard.

"We need a guy to get us shots," says Jayhawks assistant Joe Dooley. "He's one of the most creative guys we have. But in his defense, he wasn't healthy." As a freshman, Collins was limited by weight and conditioning issues. After this season's second game, he learned he'd fractured his left foot.

Originally expected to miss six weeks, he recovered in less than a month and wound up an essential part of the championship.

When KU began searching for someone to step forward in the final minutes against Memphis -- looking, as so many had diagnosed, like a team without a go-to guy -- Collins made the big plays. Along with his big 3, he stole the ball to start overtime. He scored the final two points of the KU season on free throws just 17 seconds from the end (and 15 seconds from the celebration).

"Coach Self said, 'Players are going to make the plays.' Somebody had to step up and make a play," Collins says. "I tried to make it be me."

Bill Self was patient. Man, it was hard. He took over a team that had been taught by a Hall of Famer, Roy Williams. Some of his players had appeared prominently in the 2003 NCAA championship game. They were not excited about having to learn an entirely different approach.

Self cajoled that team into the Elite Eight and all the way to an overtime period against Georgia Tech. The following season, they were "tired and beat and hurt" and, in the tournament's first round, were upset by Bucknell. Self then rebuilt by adding Rush, Chalmers and Julian Wright to guard Robinson and center Sasha Kaun. All those freshmen and sophomores rallied from an ominous 10-6 start to win the Big 12 regular season and conference tournament. But they lost in the NCAA first round again.

"In the fans' minds, it was a disastrous season," Self says. "In my mind, I'm thinking we're starting three freshmen, two sophomores.

"You lose in the first round, and all of a sudden it's a disaster. To me, that's ridiculous." Rush admits it was pressure "from the fans" that led to KU's reticent performance in the Elite Eight game against Davidson. There was such a weight on that team it nearly was impossible to play against the Wildcats with the kind of confident aggression that consumed North Carolina in the first 10 minutes of their national semifinal and Memphis in the last 5 minutes of the title game.

Once freed from the public demand that KU microwave a Final Four appearance, the Jayhawks attacked in San Antonio and gained their third national title.

Once disdained as a coach who couldn't win the big one, much the same as Jim Boeheim, Lute Olson, Gary Williams and Jim Calhoun, Bill Self did precisely that.