Ramblings from a true armchair quarterback

Ahh, March Madness.

'Tis the greatest time of year, especially when you have the underdog team facing off against arguably the best team in NCAA basketball, with no more at stake than the national championship.

And so my proclamation goes out, ALL HAIL SYRACUSE!

The Orangemen, under the strength of freshman phenoms Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara, have triumphed, winning their first national championship and sending Roy Williams and his Jayhawks home with nothing but second thoughts of things that they wish they would have done before leaving the City of Sin.

On a side note, I am in fact a Duke fan, and yes, I had picked Duke to get to the Final Four, but thanks to Kansas, that was not the case. Interestingly enough, I had picked Syracuse to win it all, so you can imagine my delight when they actually did. However, it was not enough to overcome Mr. Steve Chuang, whose expert picks won him the 2003 'Prince' Sports March Madness Bracket Pool. For full coverage and analysis of the pool, see Saturday's paper...

Okay, back to basketball.

And so last night as I sat in my room watching the end of the game, as Syracuse's lead was cut down to three, and as Kansas pinned its final hopes on the — well let's be honest — unsure hands of its leader Kirk Hinrich. Of course, I could not help wondering what the point of that coaching call actually was. From where I was sitting, it seemed more than obvious that the Jayhawks were going to try to get the ball into the senior's hands. And I was pretty sure that it was obvious to the Orangemen as well, seeing as how they had no less than four people guarding him at various points of that inbounds play. So my question is...

Where was Nick Collison?

This particular senior, who was arguably Kansas' most valuable player of the entire tournament (as he lit up my Blue Devils for a whole heap of points a couple games earlier), was nowhere to be found. The play itself was designed to get Hinrich the ball, and to let Hinrich force the shot that nearly airballed, while three out of five of the Syracuse team on the floor tried to block him.

While Collison was not necessarily known for his outside shooting, Hinrich only managed six for 19 from the floor on the night. If I were coach Williams, I would have put the ball in someone else's hands — or at least had a backup on the play. I'm sure that is a question he will ask himself repeatedly on his way over to hated Chapel Hill.

Could Collison have been to Williams what Christian Laetner was to Mike Krzyzewski?

Now I'm not trying to criticize either Hinrich's play or Williams' final decision — I believe both have more than proven themselves. Hinrich is an amazing player, with an excellent vision of the entire floor, enabling him to both find good passes and good shots. Williams, regardless of not joining the championship club this year, is one of the best coaches in college basketball — why else would a school like Chapel Hill be asking him to become the next Dean Smith?

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I am positive that the decision was made based on the confidence that Williams had in Hinrich. But of the two seniors, based on their performances during March Madness, I would have bet on Collison, or at least set him up on the opposite side of the court as an outlet to at least draw some attention away from Hinrich.

But that is the beauty of watching the game from the comfort of my room instead of from the Kansas sideline in the Superdome.

And so, I laud the efforts of both coach Williams and Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim as well as their individual teams. It was certainly one of the best endings to a March Madness and winter that I can remember . . .