The Memphis Tigers, the No. 1 seed in the South region, struggled to beat 8 seed Mississippi State to advance to the Sweet 16 because they couldn't make their free throws, going a horrendous 15-for-32 from the line.
And coach John Calipari's reaction is, "What, me worry?" Writes Thayer Evans of the New York Times:
The media were right to laugh. Calipari is a great coach whose team is now 35-1 even though it ranks dead last in the nation in free throw shooting. But he's in serious denial if he thinks ranking dead last in free throw shooting can't eventually catch up to his team. March is too late for him to do anything about it, though, which means denial may be the best option Calipari has."What I'm taking great pride in is we won it with Chris's free throw," Memphis Coach John Calipari said. "So all that stuff about our free-throw shooting now goes out the window, I guess."
Calipari's remark elicited laughter from the news media because Memphis (35-1) finished the game 15 of 32 from the free-throw line (46.9 percent). The Tigers entered the game shooting 59.7 percent from the line.
Mississippi State (23-11) made 14 of 20 free-throw attempts (70 percent). The Bulldogs had a game-high 21 points from Gordon, a junior guard.
"We made more free throws than them," Calipari said. "We beat them at the free-throw line."
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-24-2008 @ 9:52AM
Stephen Shearer said...
If the Tigers hit a decent percentage of their free throws they run away from MSU. However, the Memphis Tigers style of play forces other teams to change their playing style. Other teams are forced to play to the Tigers strengths and not their weaknesses. The Bulldogs played zone most of the game and that's not really their style. At the end of most games you will have CDR, Rose, Taggert and possibly Doneal Mack at the line and they collectively are 65% which is well above the team average of 55%. The fact is that their attacking style will put most teams at a disadvantage because their best players will be on the bench more than usual allowing the Tigers to take advantage of the other teams weaker bench. Tigers will make history by being the lowest shooting free throw natianl champs in history.
Reply
3-24-2008 @ 10:17AM
nonny2t said...
I live here in Memphis and went to U of M to college so am a fan, but unless Calipari tightens up those lousy free throws, no way can they beat UNC, which I imagine is who they are eventually going to have to play. Come on John, kick some butt and figure out why your guys are so lousy with free throws!!!!
Reply
3-24-2008 @ 11:07AM
Shelley said...
CDR always does the same ritual before every free throw attempt. He touches his arm and bounces the ball 3 times then shoots. It appears he is touching a meaningful tattoo on his arm. Can anyone tell me where this ritual comes from? Or why he does it?
Reply
3-26-2008 @ 10:01PM
tierfan1975 said...
CDR touches his shoulder because its his sign of telling his mother, he loves her
Reply