Love this photo. Paul Sancya of the Associated Press got the shot Saturday night.
The game is nearly here. Some things to eye:
• Will Lucas be guarding Lawson? Would love to see this. Lucas is a future pro, and I wonder if this one-on-one will be more balanced than it appears at first glance. Carolina
• UNC and the 3′s. The Heels have been ridiculous from behind the arc. It’s imperative that Michigan State extend itself and guard 20 feet away from the hoop.
• Michigan State had no problem running with both Louisville and UConn, but UNC is a different kind of animal. You wonder if that kind of thinking will backfire on the Spartans in a third go-around.
• UNC’s height underneath. Ed Davis and Deon Thompson have been superb and come of age in this Tournament. Goran Suton won’t have a lot of help down there. So maybe UNC won’t try and win it from deep, but rather take its chances underneath.
•Will emotions get the best of Michigan State? It’s going to be a great scene inside Ford Field. You just wonder if MSU will have too much anxiousness in the first five or 10 minutes. You let Carolina get ahead of you by double digits and it’s over.
9:00: Green Day! They’re so old! yeah! I remember when Dookie was the absolute shit. I was in seventh grade.
9:06: I still don’t understand why CBS names its 15-minute lil’ pre-game show “Prelude to a Championship.” Uh … sure. If you say so. Let’s just show the player introductions and get this damn thing started.
9:08: And we’ve gotten our first Masters promo of the night. The over/under is at a firm 14.
9:11: Another inside look at the Michigan State locker room. “I don’t want to have to use timeouts early. Handle. These. Runs.” Good little peek.
9:19: Good to see they locked up Michigan State in a factory for this little team promo. And Jim Nantz does not sound nearly as into it as he should.
9:23: All right. Magic and Larry. Yada yada. Let’s do this!
9:24: And we’re off! We’ve go ta jump ball on the jump ball! Of course, Hansbrough’s involved and we’ll jump it again. And Carolina has it.
9:26: Danny Green hits a 3. Again. He’s been ridiculous early on. 5-3, Heels.
9:30: The game is favoring Carolina right now. Everything’s hectic and the Spartans aren’t containing themselves right now. Deon Thompson hits two free throws to give UNC as 12-5 lead with 16:29 to go.
9:36: UNC is everywhere. 21-7 with 14:23 to go. Steal from Lawson leads to an easy basket by Ellington.
9:40: Michigan State is starting to draw some fouls, but it’s by way of the jump shot. 24-8 and North Carolina is cruising.
9:43: 24-11 at the under-12:00 timeout. UNC is shooting 60 percent. Par for the course for this team this Tournament.
9:49: We’re already at 20 points. My god. 31-11.
9:57: 38-18. Grease fire.
10:06: So. Many. Turnovers. Yet, despite that. Hansbrough still manages to lok awkward around the rim. I’ll miss that. 43-22.
10:12: Ah. Magic Johnson decided to go with the blazer tonight. That’s why this is happening. Need that warmup gear, Earv!
10:16: Lawson hurt. What is it. Poked in the eye. Agh. And I thought we’d have a chance at a game. But he’ll be right back.
10:20: Jim Nantz loves his records and UNC just gave him one: most points in a half of a title game. Also the biggest lead in title game history. We go to the locker rooms with the score 55-34. That’s North Carolina with the lead, by the way.
10:27: “You’ve gotta give the credit to North Carolina,” says Greg Anthony. Yeah … there’s not really any other place it can directed at.
10:32: Jeez, even Magic Johnson has buried this team at halftime. “You’re watching the team that supposed to win the championship … and they’re playing like the champions right now.”
10:45: Oh … they decided to plan the final 20? I guess I’ll stick it out then. “SportsCenter” might actually open with baseball highlights rather than this.
10:50: Lawson’s already broken the title game record with eight steals, just for the record.
10:53: With a game this bad, Nantz is going to have plenty of time to write up perhaps his corniest cliche to date.
10:56: I have that chord progression from the Masters stuck in my head. You’ve won, CBS.
11:03: I wonder where the NCAA gets those stools on the sidelines from. It’s come to these kinds of questions. 65-47, UNC. MSU has 18 turnovers. UNC is 18 for 24 from the line.
11:07: Michigan State is now over the limit after the Tar Heels just came up with yet another loose ball. It’s easier said than done, but UNC has just gotten the loose balls and made teams pay for turning the ball over.
11:16: And it’s time to do celebrity cutaways. Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison have made the trip. Hasheem Thabeet is wearing those insufferable huge sunglasses indoors.
11:21: Tyler Hansbrough just moved into fourth all-time in Tournament scoring. He will not be catching Mr. Laettner. Who would you prefer to hold that record?
11:26: This state refuses to sit down. It’s 76-63 and now Korie Lucious is down on the floor. It’s a foot injury. He was tied up with Hansbrough and Lawson.
11:30: Ty Lawson with another strong take to the rim to get this game to 80-65. We’re at the final TV timeout.
11:38: We’re just minutes away from the Tyler Hansbrough fellatio fest!
11:39: And we’re reminded that Barack Obama correctly picked the national champion. Frontrunners, follow suit next season.
11:41: More Jim Nantz records! Danny Green has been a part of more victories and played in more games than any Tar Heel EVER.
11:44: It’s a timeout called for UNC so the scrubs can get on the floor. And Hansbrough is going quite awkward on the sidelines. Yes! I think the question we all have to begin to ask ourselves now is: How does the state of Michigan recover from this tragedy?
11:46: Aaaand, that’ll do it. 89-72. “North Carolina is the 2009 national champion.” That’s it, Nantz? Wayne Ellington gets the MOP. Interesting.
11:48: By the way, we had a near white-out at the end, as seven of the 10 scrubs playing garbage time were caucasian.
11:50: The UNC celebration is so awkward I can hardly bare it.
11:58: Predictably, Roy Williams is crying, and that’s just fine. Ellington gets his brief little speech for MOP, but this is HANSBROUGH’S MOMENT DAMMIT. Eloquent? Nah. Surprised? He always looks surprised! “The nets belong to you and so does one shining moment!” That’s coming up, and it’s time to put a bow on this blog and the season.
