Choke or Comeback?

By: Eli Kaberon

If there is one thing that sports fans can agree on, it’s that there is nothing that sports fans can agree on. Some people like the designated hitter in baseball, others say it takes away the basic elements of the sport. There are both major fans and major critics of the BCS in college football. Even fans of a respective team don’t always get along. For instance, some Bears fans would say Jerry Angelo has been a good general manager for his selections of Tommie Harris and Devin Hester in the draft, while others would point to former first-round picks Cedric Benson and Michael Haynes as examples of his failures.

One of the most common arguments fans have with each other is on the subject of close games. After almost any close game in any sport, there will be one debate that always comes up: Did team A win it or did team B lose it? There are no right or wrong answers in this conflict, since in fact they are both partially true. Still, it is an interesting conversation to have, especially because depending on your team affiliation, the answer can judge how you view your team’s players, coaches and strategy.

This debate has been a very popular one the past few days, ever since the NCAA Championship game in men’s basketball on Monday night. In that game, the Memphis Tigers had a nine-point lead with just over two minutes left, and then depending on your point of view, either blew that lead or were victims to a great comeback by the Kansas Jayhawks. Memphis turned the ball over, committed silly fouls, and worst of all, missed free throws at the end of the game. At the same time, Kansas played tough defense and made incredible shots, especially Mario Chalmers’ game-tying three with only three seconds left on the clock, which led to the nine-point Tiger lead shrinking down to a tie at the end of regulation. The Jayhawks continued their run in overtime, giving KU their first National Title in 20 years.

Almost immediately after the game ended the debate began. Some were saying that Memphis definitely gave the game away with four missed free throws and two costly decisions at the end of regulation. First, after UM guard Derek Rose actually made a free throw - the first Memphis make in the final three minutes of the game - with ten seconds left, these critics felt that Tigers coach John Calipari should have taken a timeout to set up his defense. The second complaint, in direct connection to the first, is that the Memphis players should have fouled Kansas guard Sherron Collins as he brought the ball up the court. The thinking there is that with a foul, the Jayhawks go to the free throw line and can only score two points instead of getting off the game-tying three, which is eventually what occurred. If Calipari had taken the TO, perhaps his players would have known to commit the foul. The game was Memphis’ to win, but with poor free throw shooting and those two foolish choices, it’s no shock that the Jayhawks were able to make up the deficit.

Others saw the game differently. From their perspective, it looked like Kansas played great ball, made smart decisions, and got one of the most clutch shots in NCAA Tournament history at the end of the second half to extend the game. Sure, they were a bit lucky that Memphis put up brick after brick at the free throw line, but that’s what happens to a team that shot about 60% during the regular season at the charity stripe. The Jayhawks saw that Memphis was reeling a bit and took advantage, which is exactly what a team is taught to do. Chalmers’ shot was far from luck, as he shot nearly 47% from three point range all season long. Then in overtime, KU continued their surge and finished off their opponent, something the Tigers should have done earlier.

If that choke or comeback argument sounds familiar, it’s because the NCAA Title game wasn’t the first championship contest this year where it took place. You may remember after Super Bowl XLII between the New York Giants and New England Patriots, the same debate occurred. In that game, the Giants scored the go-ahead touchdown with just 35 seconds left in the fourth quarter, winning the game 17-14 and ending the perfect season of the Patriots. So was that great comeback by New York or a horrible loss by New England?

Let’s examine the game stats. The Giants had more than twice as many rushing yards, had more passing yards with 14 fewer attempts and also one less penalty. Each team committed one turnover and the time of possession was practically even. New England sacked NY quarterback Eli Manning three times, but Patriots QB Tom Brady was taken down five times by the Giants. And the play of the game - other than the game-winning touchdown pass - was a miraculous escape and heave by Manning and a beautiful catch in traffic by receiver David Tyree, who had to balance the ball on his helmet as he was being brought down during that final drive.

Those facts make it seem like the G-Men dominated the game. Yet the final score says it was a three-point contest, one that the Patriots had the lead for more than half of. NFL regular season MVP Tom Brady had one of his worst games of the season, as the Super Bowl was one of only three contests all year that Brady didn’t throw two or more touchdowns. And were it not for the amazing Manning to Tyree pass with a minute left in the game, we might not be having this discussion and instead be talking about the only 19-0 team in football history.

So what are the conclusions? Did Memphis give the National Title game away or did Kansas step up and take it? Were the Giants playing great in Super Bowl XLII or was it the Patriots who were just playing poorly? I believe each game has elements of both theories, but in the end, I say the Tigers lost their game and New York won theirs.

In my opinion, the lasting legacy of Monday night’s basketball game will be Memphis’ failures at the free throw line. All season long, coach Calipari said that his team would make their free throws when they counted. And for a while, that statement looked pretty smart, as the Tigers shot 81% from the line during the team’s Sweet 16, Elite Eight and National Semifinal victories over Michigan State, Texas and UCLA. But when it really, and I mean really, mattered, the Tigers fell flat on their face. All-American’s Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose were a combined one for five at the stripe in the final 75 seconds of the second half. If Memphis just makes one more of those uncontested shots from 12 feet away, they get to cut down the net and go back to Graceland as National Champs.

Yet it is impossible to totally discredit what Kansas accomplished. The Jayhawks were down nine with just over two minutes to go and came back to win. They were able to take advantage of Memphis’ lack of size inside, pounding it to power forward Darrell Arthur after Memphis’ best post player, Joey Dorsey, fouled out. And of course there was Chalmers, whose three pointer sits next to Michael Jordan in 1982, Lorenzo Charles in ‘83 and Keith Smart in ‘87 as the biggest shots in National Championship game history. Still, even with all of that, the Tigers just needed one measly free throw in the final 1:15 to win, and they didn’t get it. That’s a choke job.

The Super Bowl is harder to evaluate. At face value, it is obvious the Giants won it. They played better throughout, got the clutch plays and took the Patriots out of their game plan. But there is more to a game than what is at face value. The Patriots were the team that had the golden boy quarterback, the genius coach, the perfect record and the three Super Bowls in the past six years. On the other hand, the Giants had the quarterback who was looking like an all-time draft bust, a coach nobody on the team liked, and were the last team to make the playoffs in the lesser of the two conferences. So in theory, the Patriots should have won by two touchdowns, which to no surprise was the Las Vegas point-spread before the game.

So how did the Giants end up on top? They played great for all 60 minutes of the game. Sure, New England had some trouble, especially with New York’s defensive pressure. But that’s not a choke job, that’s great game planning. There was no point in that contest where as a fan I said, “Man, the Pats are giving this game away.” Tom Brady might not have had his greatest moment, but that probably had something to do with the guys in white jerseys chasing him around his backfield all evening. At the same time, give Eli Manning, as well as clutch receivers Plaxico Burress and David Tyree, tons of credit. They didn’t make any costly mistakes that would allow New England to stretch out their lead, and then when given the chance on the final drive, they made the big plays needed to win the game. History will remember the great Giants comeback, not the horrible Patriots loss.

There are tons of other examples where the choke versus comeback debate could take place. Did the Red Sox take four straight games to win the 2004 ALCS or did the Yankees give them away? Was the 2006 Rose Bowl, where Texas’ Vince Young scored the go-ahead touchdown with 19 seconds left to defeat USC, a great victory or a horrible loss? How about the epic ToonSquad versus MonStars game in Space Jam, where Michael Jordan’s buzzer-beating half-court dunk won the game for the Looney Toons and got players like Charles Barkley and Mugsy Bogues their basketball skills back? The arguments could go on forever and most likely, there will be some disagreements. But we already agreed on that, so let the debates begin.

Tags: choke, comeback, Kansas Jayhawks, Memphis Tigers, New England Patriots, New York Giants

Eli Kaberon is a 2005 graduate of Evanston Township High School and currently is attending Columbia College in the loop, majoring in print journalism. A life-long fan of the Cubs, Bears and Bulls, Eli also works as a seat vendor at Wrigley Field and has sold hot dogs to everyone ranging from Bears tight end Greg Olsen to Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. His blog, the Hot Dog Guy, can be seen at http://wrigleyvendor.blogspot.com.

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1 Comment

1. Couldn’t disagree more. KU’s obviously amazing performance lessened to a simple Memphis choke job. I think not. Obviously, KU had their minds focused on the game and doggedly pursued their goals. Just because Memphis got scared doesn’t take away the fact that KU staged one of the most amazing comebacks in NCAA history.

   The better team won by fighting and refusing to give up. Perhaps the author of this column should study fact a bit more and quit trying to discredit the very deserving University of Kansas, winners of the Big 12 conference AND not-to-forget–the NCAA Men’s Basketball Champions.

   Comment by JB on April 13, 2008

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