The Prettiest Ugly Game I've Ever Seen

Last night, I, like many others, tuned into CBS to watch the NCAA Men's Basketball between the University of Connecticut Huskies and the Butler Bulldogs.  But what I, and the rest of the country, saw was one of the worst postseason games, let alone championship games, ever played.  Last night, we saw Butler shoot an abysmal 18.8 percent from the floor.  The score was 22-19 at half, and I was wondering if I had just watched a half of soccer...  They go all the way down the court and ohhhh, a miss.  Then it goes back all the way down the other end and a turnover, back the other way it goes.  It was painful.

There was a lot of this to be seen Monday night.

But after watching the University of Connecticut hoist the NCAA Championship trophy, and after seeing Jim Calhoun, who had just become the 5th coach ever to win his 3rd title, thrust the trophy into his star point guard, Kemba Walker's, hands, I realized something.  I realized that despite one of the ugliest games I has ever seen, and one of the worst shooting performances in history, this team deserved it more than any other team to ever win the tournament.  This group of kids, led by their guy, Kemba Walker, started this season without a single vote to be ranked in the preseason polls.  They peaked at number 4 during the season, and rode an improbable streak of 5 wins in 5 days to win the Big East Tournament, which included a buzzer-beater against Pitt by Walker.

It seemed as if no one had an answer for Walker.  But the more impressive thing about 

him may be that he is about to graduate on May 8th (also his 21st birthday) in a mere 3 years.

In the Final Four, however, Walker took on a lesser role as Freshman Jeremy Lamb had the hot hand and in the title game it was Alex Oriakhi who stole the show as his size, length, and strength couldn't be matched by the more finesse-oriented team in Butler.  For the tournament as a whole, however, it was the Kemba Walker show.  Walker's crossovers and big jumpers at key moments are what won them this tournament.  Right now, Walker is projected to be selected somewhere in the middle of the first round of the upcoming NBA draft.  Now, whether that is because he is an undersized guard or whatever the knock on him may be at the time, one thing cannot be argued, the kid's got game.  What I got out of this tournament, and what I hope many others have too, is that whoever selects the 20 yr old Walker will have a player that not only can shake the defender and hit the step-back jay, but they're getting a kid that can flat-out win.  Kemba Walker, folks, is a winner.