Final Four

REACTIONS

The reason this may be the best shot in tourney history is it was both unlikely and unexpected and, importantly, evolved organically (that is, coaches were not involved). A 10-second drama in three acts. Mullins' shot gets the nod due to the clash of powerhouse programs and the 19-point comeback.

Honorable mention to similar heroic shots from Gonzaga's Jalen Suggs to escape UCLA and San Diego State's Lamont Butler taking down fellow mid-major Florida Atlantic (coached by Dusty May, who's now at Michigan). Butler's shot, while clutch, was inside the 3-point arc. Suggs' was not. Worth revisiting a classic.

We're going to see the Mullins shot a lot as the years pass, just like the Laettner dagger against my team. With St. John's, coached by Rick Pitino, playing Duke last weekend, we saw and heard way too much about Duke-UK in 1992 for my taste. Kentucky star Jamal Mashburn, who joined the studio team for this year's tournament, agreed. They asked him if a St. John's win would erase the bad memory. Mashburn wasn't having it. No, he said flatly. I love coach Pitino, but nothing is going to make up for that loss. I am biased, but I think Mashburn has done a great job as part of the studio team. Barkley gets by on personality, without needing to actually watch the games. But Monster Mash clearly follows the college game. And he's a bright guy. Across multiple dimensions. He earned generational wealth playing basketball. He then invested his earnings into 40 Papa John's, 38 Outback Steakhouses, several Dunkin Donuts and multiple car dealerships (the thoroughbred race horses may be more of a hobby). He made around $70 million as a player but now is worth around half a billion dollars. He is often cited as a model for asset management to younger players.

We can debate the most iconic shot in Madness history. But Duke-UK in 1992 was the greatest basketball game ever played. Period. Duke had Laettner, the player of the year who was about to become a member of the Dream Team; Bobby Hurley, whose assist record stood until last week; Grant Hill, who would himself win national player of the year in 1994; Cherokee Parks, who played in the NBA for nine seasons; and Erik Meek, who no one remembers but was better than every Kentucky player but one.

Kentucky had Jamal Mashburn, an excellent college player who would be named All-American the next season; three dudes from Kentucky who looked like taller versions of me and Sean Woods. That team had no business taking the defending national champion to overtime. It took The Shot to beat them. Did I mention that Mashburn fouled out? I've seen that damned shot too many times. Let's take a look at the shot before the shot, the one that convinced my state that our team was back. (It's at 1:40)

Illinois coach Brad Underwood may be the most under-appreciated in the sport. It's true that his teams haven't exactly over-achieved in the tournament. Prior to this season he's only seen the Elite 8 once. Which is puzzling because the guy can coach. He looks like an old-school, defense-first kind of guy. But his teams actually run really nice motion offense sets. Until this season. With Keaton Wagler, two  7-footers that shared a womb and a bunch of shooters, this team was built to pick-and-roll. Which is just what they've done. Against Iowa, they ran ball screen after ball screen and waited for the Hawkeyes to stop them. Didn't happen. Will be interesting to see how UConn deals with Wagler (and vice versa).

Illinois started in a 2-3 zone, and Mullins immediately hit two 3s. Odd decision by Underwood. A streaky shooter, why let Mullins get comfortable? 10-2 run, Huskies. Underwood called TO, ditched the zone, and his team locked down on D. Illinois battled back and took the lead on a 3 by T. Ivisic. UConn missed shots even when they were open. The Huskies went over 5 minutes without scoring. They finally hit a shot (Reed, who again kept UConn in it) and ripped off a run to end the half. Huskies by 8, 37-29. Reed with 11 points and 5 boards. Illinois with 2 turnovers, UConn had none. Illinois had 1 assist to UConn's 9. In other words, the Huskies ran their offensive sets, the Illini was all hero ball. UConn with the lead even though Karaban only had 3 in the first.

Physical ball game in the second. Illinois got good shots, but they just wouldn't fall. They let Stojakovic initiate the offense, and he got to his spots, but every floater he shot from the lane found a different way to not go in the basket. The Huskies hit a few 3s and extended their lead to 14. UConn got in foul trouble and Illinois got the ball to T. Ivisic on the low block, who consistently scored or was fouled (he hit a lot of freew throws).

Illini back in it, down 4 as we crossed 5:00 to go. UConn's shooting was ice cold and they were getting literally nothing from Reed and Mullins, neither of which had scored in the second frame. They immediately called Reed's number, getting him the ball on the block for an easy score to give UConn a little breathing room. Wagler, inexplicably, threw up a couple 3s from deep that weren't close. Mullins finally scored, a dagger 3 under a minute to go. Wagler answered right back, but the damage was done. UConn held on to advance to the Finals, 71-62.

Wagler and Mullins are the first pair of opposing freshmen to both score 15+ in a Final Four. The last time was 1982. Two pretty good freshmen back in the day: Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing.

Alex Karaban had nine points on 1-8 shooting (1-7 from deep) and the Huskies still won.

Good defense on both sides. But let's be real: this game was ugly.

Like always, the Final Four was played on a cavernous football field. Like usual, the shooting was terrible. Illinois was 6-26 from deep. UConn wasn't much better at 12 for 33, but those extra 3s were the difference.

That's three national title games in the last four years for UConn. Respect. Only two basketball programs have won 3 of 4 (or better) in the history of the tournament. UCLA and (you guessed it!) Kentucky.

UConn has a passionate fan base that travels. But they were badly outnumbered by Illini faithful. When Danny Hurley began the postgame interview at halfcourt, boos rained down. Even the implacable Hurley was taken aback.

The volume of insurance commercials during March Madness is insane. They spend over $7 billion collectively a year on various forms of advertisement. Which makes me wonder, do the ads work? Below are seven insurance company characters. Quick, what company do they represent?

The last one is actor JK Simmons, who won an Oscar for Whiplash. I had no idea his character was named Professor Burke. I could hum the jingle of the commercials he's in, but I couldn't dredge up Farmers Insurance. Guess they should have spent more than $68 million last year.

The most highly paid insurance commercial actor, by far, is Stephanie Courtney - Flo from Progressive. Courtney reportedly makes nearly $2 million a year to play the quirky, upbeat insurance saleperson. She's been doing those ads for 18 years! Previously, she was a member of the improv sketch comedy group, the Groundlings. She's actually shown up in a lot of things. Here she is on Mad Men.

I get sick of all of these commercials, with one exception. The ad campaign with Dr. Rick, the life coach who tries to keep people from turning into their parents. I love it. “If you printed out directions to get here, you’re in the right place” “There’s no place to sit. You’ve got too many pillows.” “We're not speed skating, we're dancing.” "This is a freezer, not a time capsule." "It's a football game, not a play date." So many good lines. Better than a lot of SNL sketches (particularly this season!). The insurance company is Progressive, meaning that Dr. Rick is employed by the same people that have inflicted Flo and her posse on us for nearly two decades (some of those ads are clever, many of them are not). The Dr. Rick writing is excellent and many of the actors have backgrounds in improv comedy as veterans of Second City or the Groundlings (like Stephanie Courtney). The reaction to the person with blue hair (“We all see it. We allll see it.”) was primarily improvised. Dr. Rick is played by 54 year-old Bill Glass; that Dr. Phil-style moustache is fake. The comedy rests on the terror of transforming into everything about your parents that causes you to roll your eyes. Which the ad campaign argues doesn’t happen when you move out or have your first child. It’s when you buy your first home and suddenly become conversant in load bearing walls. The ones running in the tournament focus on valet parking and going to the grocery store. I guarantee the line "Visiting four different grocery stores is too many" will garner only puzzled and disbelieving looks from the Dutton side of my family. Incredibly, I think the Scared Straight commercial actually should get more play...

Two fouls on Yaxel Lindeborg less than 90 seconds into the game! The second was not, in fact, a foul. But it counted and sent him to the bench. Huge development.

Didn't matter early on. Arizona's offense was all out of sorts. Michigan sprinted out to a 10-1 lead.

Michigan's Elliot Cadeau was sick in the Elite 8. It was actually an allergic reaction. The team was fed salmon crusted with cashews. Cadeu is allergic to cashews. Fortunately, he recovered. Indeed, he took over when Yaxel got in foul trouble.

Cadeau is from West Orange, NJ. The mid-Atlantic schools gotta keep these kids close to home! Cadeau began his college career at UNC. His father is Haitian, his mother Swedish.

Lindeborg came in at the 13 minute mark and promply hit a corner 3 off a Cadeu feed to push the Wolverine lead to 22-10. 

The lead ballooned to 16. Sooner after, Yaxel went to the locker room with a rolled ankle. Zona took advantage this time, going on a 9-0 run (led by Peet) to close the gap to five. 

Looked like we had a game on our hands and then Arizona went stone cold. On the defensive end, Zona has size but they couldn't handle Aday Mara. The big Spaniard was unstoppable in the pick-and-roll, finishing the half with 15. The Wolverines pushed their lead back to 16 at the break, 48-32.

Arizona ran one of the most efficient offenses in the game this season. In the first half, Michigan held them to 32 points on 38% shooting. Arizona hadn't trailed by double digits all season. Cadeu was 2-14 in the first half (!!) and still outplayed the Arizona backcourt. 

Yaxel sat 15 minutes of the first half, much of it getting treatment in the locker room. He not only sprained his ankle, he also strained his MCL. Zona fans stomachs must have dropped when he came out and started the second half. After Mara scored on yet another roll to the basket (off a Spanish back screen - I am not making that terminology up), Yaxel drilled a 3 to push the lead past 20. Then he hit another one off a high screen to the other side! The floodgates opened; Zona couldn't swim against the tide. Michigan to the Finals with ease, 91-73. Led by Mara who put up 26 points and 9 rebounds. Cadeau shot it poorly, but had 10 assists and 6 steals. 

No team has ever scored over 90 in five straight tournament games, until this Michigan squad.

Michigan dominated an excellent Arizona team. Yaxel played 14 minutes. Be afraid UConn fans; be very afraid.