Back In (Carolina) Blue

North Carolina deserved to win their fourth national title in school history last night, but before you start blindly praising the Tar Heels performance, it's important to remember one thing: UNC didn't win the 2005 NCAA Final as much as Illinois lost the 2005 NCAA Final.
The Illini couldn't convert open looks (Luther Head), committed stupid fouls (James Augustine) and were outhustled on loose balls and rebounds (everyone). Given countless chances to make a run and take a lead, Illinois failed and was unable to capitalize on a gassed Carolina team that only had three players show up to play and was on the cusp of blowing a huge lead.
Roy Williams' UNC team played well, mind you, but late in the game they were like a boxer using the ropes to stay afoot while waiting to be saved by the bell. One punch is all it would have taken to knock Carolina out. And while Illinois had landed the flurry to daze the Heels, they couldn't land the big one and instead bricked threes and committed bad turnovers en route to a 75-70 loss.
The Illinois Fighting Illini didn't live up to their moniker last night. Now a magical 36-win season will be labeled a disappointment and the lasting memory of Bruce Weber's stellar 2005 coaching job will be one curious decision in the National Championship.
Why didn't Weber take Augustine out after committing his third foul? The Illini's overmatched center immediately picked up his fourth when he should have been on the bench - the same place he should have been when he got his fifth foul. Sean May wasn't in the game at the time of Augustine's DQ, so what was Weber thinking by having him in? It's not like the Illini were working Augustine in the middle, so he shouldn't have been on the court unless May was there to defend.
Speaking of May, he had a night for the ages, dropping in 26 points on 10/11 from the floor and pulling down 10 boards while combining with classmates Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants for 57 of the Tar Heels 75 points. The junior from Bloomington was unstoppable in the paint, as expected, and won a ring to go along with his father's, who was the MVP of the undefeated 1976 Indiana team.
But even with May's interior dominance, Illinois was in the game late after erasing a 15-point second half deficit to tie the game at 65 and again at 70. The jumpers didn't fall though, as Luther Head and Deron Williams missed two shots each in the game's final 90 seconds; shots that would have tied the game or given Illinois the lead.
UNC's defense wasn't as porous as some expected, but the Illini's ball movement and screens still created open looks for their shooters who then couldn't convert.
Head, in particular, had two great looks, particularly on the shot he took with his team down 73-70. The senior was freed-up off a double screen and the release looked perfect, but the ball clanked off the back rim and essentially buried Illinois' hopes.
For the night Bruce Weber's team shot 12 for 40 from beyond the arc, a miserable 30% for a team that shot 40% for the season.
While Illinois didn't win and didn't play particularly well last night, all their doubters have to acknowledge they were wrong in questioning the team's talent. If UNC is as good as everybody says they are (I'm not one to rain on a victory parade - well, yes I am... particularly on a rival's victory parade - but I don't think the Heels were nearly as good as they should have been, considering they have four potential lottery picks in their rotation), then Illinois must be pretty damn good too considering they stayed in the game despite playing miserable for the game's first 20 minutes and only hitting 30% from three.
Outside of Champaign, the saddest college town in the country right now is Lawrence, Kansas. Jayhawk coach Bill Self must be disappointed that his former team and all of his recruits came up short in their quest for the NCAA title, and KU fans are swallowing the bitterest pill of them all - watching Roy Williams cut down the nets wearing Carolina blue, after 15 years of near-misses with the Jayhawks. You think the name Roy Williams was Mud in Lawrence before? After last night, his name is now much worse than Mud... today they probably won't speak his name at all, and if they do, it will be in hushed tones and they'll use a worse-than-Mud code word, like "Barbara Streisand" or something.
Good ol' two-time Roy deserves his long-awaited championship though. He's been a great coach ever since he arrived at Kansas back in 1988 and should have had at least one title by now.
Dean Smith entrusted Williams with bringing North Carolina back to national prominence, after the Matt Doherty debacle left the Tar Heels reeling. Williams did just that, ironcially using Doherty's recruits to get Carolina back to the summit of the sport, where they will likely stay for the foreseeable future.
It took Roy Williams 15 years to get his first National Championship. It won't take 15 to get a second.