Memphis gets motivation
SAN ANTONIO – Motivational speeches before big games are a staple, and Memphis certainly was inspired by a talk from Rev. Jesse Jackson earlier this week.
Jackson spoke to the Tigers on the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination and left a lasting impact on the team.
"We were speechless," Chris Douglas-Roberts said. "Usually we joke around. But no one in there was joking when he was speaking. We were all focused in. It was a great moment. This is something that I will never forget. I'm pretty sure none of my teammates will either."
Jackson didn't talk basketball. Instead he spoke about life, the importance of graduating and the struggles faced by King and himself.
"It was very inspirational," Antonio Anderson said. "It was just great to learn and get to know a little bit more information about what Dr. King did for us."
Joey Dorsey also came away impressed but was a little disappointed by one part of Jackson's visit to practice.
"He got to wear Antonio's jersey," Dorsey said. "I was mad about that. I was hoping he would wear mine so I could get him to sign it. It was nice taking pictures with him, though."
TARK'S TALK
Memphis coach John Calipari also had former UNLV and Fresno State coach Jerry Tarkanian speak to his team. Tarkanian, who led the Runnin' Rebels to the 1990 national championship and went 990-228 in the college and junior college ranks, compared the Tigers to some of his great teams in Sin City.
"Coach Tarkanian is a Hall of Famer," Anderson said. "It means a lot to be mentioned in the same breath as guys like Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony and Stacey Augmon. The last two days, we got to talk to Jesse Jackson and then Coach Tarkanian. It's special."
LOVE AND THE WIZARD
UCLA center Kevin Love proved long ago he's not your ordinary freshman. He reached out to legendary Bruins coach John Wooden upon his arrival on campus, eager to learn lessons from the man who won 10 national championships in Westwood.
Love was asked why he decided to try and pick Wooden's brain. He said he did it for himself and his dad, Stan, who played against UCLA at the University of Oregon. Later the elder Love played in the NBA for the Los Angeles Lakers.
"I've always tried to be a historian of the game," Love said. "In my situation, coming into UCLA, being a big recruit, I felt it was only right to reach out to Coach Wooden. Not only is he one of the greatest human beings I've ever met, he's also the best coach."
Current Bruins coach Ben Howland said Love's actions are just one more sign of how inquisitive his phenom has become.
"He has a great appreciation for the history of college basketball," Howland said of Love. "Knowing all the players, being exposed to film at an early age.
"He really, really cares about it. He gets how great it is for him to be able to know and have a relationship with Coach John R. Wooden, the greatest coach in the history of all sport, in my opinion."
Junior guard Darren Collison has been blown away by Love's gumption and drive to seek out Wooden.
"I can't remember the last time a player has done that," Collison said. "He just wants to learn so much about the game, he's going to do whatever it takes and ask whoever to learn."
LOVE LONGSHOTS
Love got the Alamodome crowd going by knocking down one of his famous full-court shots during the Bruins' practice session. He nearly made another before shutting it down.
"I wanted to make two in a row actually," Love said. "I hit the rim a couple more times after that. It's all fun and games. We're going out there trying to dunk, trying to make halfcourt shots. But come game time tomorrow, we'll be focused and ready."
CAL'S CONFERENCE CALL
Calipari was asked about the difficulty of leading two teams from non-power conferences – Massachusetts and Memphis – to the Final Four.
The coach who is never short on opinions didn't disappoint.
"For any team from any league to get to a Final Four is very hard," Calipari said. "What's happened for me, I've been very fortunate. I happened to go to two schools that made commitments to play basketball at the highest level and to support the student-athletes."
Calipari said that when he took over at UMass, the graduation rate was 15 percent and when he left, it was 80 percent. Memphis had a zero graduation rate for the six years prior to Calipari's tenure. Now the Tigers have graduated 15 of their past 17 players.
"We have an athletic director in R.C. Johnson that understands how you have to travel, their diets. In the BCS league, you have a training table because of football and your players eat that training meal. You have to figure out, 'How do we feed these guys and make it right? How do we travel so we don't eat up their bodies?'
"In the non-BCS leagues, it takes a village. It's not just the basketball coach."
WAIT A MOMENT
UCLA got a preview of "One Shining Moment," the song that CBS has played with a tournament video montage in the wake of the title game for the past several years.
Love loves it. Collison hates it.
"That gave me chills," Love said, turning to Collison. "But you've been here how many times now, three?"
Collison fired back.
"The video itself was cool, but personally, I'm kind of tired of the music."
Collison recommended a switch to a hip-hop theme, with rapper Jay-Z at the mic.
Love started belting out the lyrics off key, "The ball is tipped and there you are."
"As you can see I didn't get the signing gene from my uncle Mike."
Mike Love is an original member of the Beach Boys.
THE LAST WORD
Memphis' Douglas-Roberts on him and his teammates playing with a chip on their shoulders: "We are Memphis, and we are not a prestigious program like North Carolina, Kansas and UCLA. We are Memphis from Conference USA. That is how everyone views us, so we all have go out and prove them wrong."
