Larry Brown Sports

Louisville may have done Kevin Ware wrong by attempting to profit off his broken leg while he couldn’t get a cut of the proceeds, and it looks like the sophomore guard got them back (intentionally or not).

Ware, on crutches, came out of Louisville’s tunnel inside the Georgia Dome to join his team for the national championship game Monday. He was shown wearing his jersey, sweat pants, and pink Nike Foamposite shoes.

Just when Adidas was catching a huge break by having two of its schools play against each other in the national championship game, Ware got the swoosh a moment of unexpected air time on TV.

H/T CJ Zero

Chris Webber ended all the suspense. The former Fab Five member showed up at the national championship game Monday in Atlanta to root on the Michigan Wolverines as they took on the Louisville Cardinals.

Webber had a falling out with Michigan after losing the 1993 national championship game to North Carolina. Not only was he ridiculed for calling a timeout the team did not have, but he was later banned from associating with the school’s athletics programs because of a booster scandal that caused the basketball team to get sanctioned. Matters between him and the school got particularly nasty; they moved to no longer recognize the accomplishments of the Fab Five, and they sought money from Webber for lying to a grand jury.

Webber refused to participate in Jalen Rose’s “Fab Five” program for ESPN 30 for 30. Rose and Jimmy King had said Webber wasn’t in contact with them. But C-Webb changed his mind and decided to get back in with his school.

Webber later shared a note on his Twitter account to explain why he was attending the game:

Webber’s appearance at the game was something Jimmy King hinted at earlier in the day.

King implied to “Under Center” with McNabb and Malone on NBC Sports Radio that they would be sitting together for the game.

“The five of us sitting on the side plus other members of past team members will keep that energy level up for the kids,” King said.

Tony Parker was disgruntled during his freshman season for the Bruins and seemed like a lock to transfer schools. But it looks like that is no longer happening.

The big man from Atlanta tweeted Sunday night to say he’s a Bruin:

UCLA I’m a Bruin

— tony parker (@tonyparker32) April 8, 2013

The tweet seemed like a strong sign that Parker would be staying in Westwood, as did his appearance at UCLA’s football practice over the weekend.

Georgia 247 Sports reporter Gentry Estes says Parker’s father confirmed the forward would stay with UCLA. Estes also says new UCLA coach Steve Alford met with Parker’s family over the weekend at the Final Four, which helped convince the big man to stay.

The news seems good for UCLA on the surface, but Parker really needs to show he can play. Despite being a top recruit entering the season, Parker only averaged 2.4 points and 1.2 rebounds while playing 6.3 minutes per game. He was hardly a factor for the Bruins.

Getting Parker to stay is a good sign, but the real trick would be if Alford could get Parker to produce.

There is a slight chance that all of the members of Michigan’s notorious ”Fab Five” team will be in attendance to watch the Wolverines take on Louisville for a national championship on Monday night, but chances are Chris Webber will be absent. Jalen Rose is trying to change that.

During an interview with Bill Simmons for the “B.S. Report” on Sunday, Rose talked about the strained relationship between Webber and Michigan. He believes there are two things that have caused Webber to abandon his former team — the infamous timeout Webber called when the Wolverines were trailing by two in the 1993 national championship and didn’t have any, and the booster scandal that resulted in Michigan’s banners being taken down and wins being vacated.

“The elephant in the room has been Chris Webber,” Rose explained. “While he loves us like brothers, and vice versa, there has been a communication separation that has basically taken place since we all were teammates. I think the timeout had a lot to do with it.”

“I think he wants to disassociate himself with that moment and with that school — in theory — with us, to kind of rebuild his life mentally to say, ‘My career really started my rookie year in the NBA.’ But that’s not really how it works. It’s sad. It’s unfortunate.”

Webber is banned from making contact with the program until later this year. In 2002, he was charged with lying to a grand jury about his involvement with a gambling scandal that centered around Michigan booster Ed Martin. Rose mentioned how he believes that incident has soured Webber’s relationship with the school, but he also said he is hoping Webber will swallow his pride and join his former teammates at the game.

“It would mean so much to the university, so much to the current players — especially since he lives in Atlanta and the network that he actually works for (in Atlanta) has a show Tuesday night,” Rose said. “So therefore Monday night, the world knows he’s going to be in Atlanta. So it’s almost like a flagrant omission if he decides not to come.”

It would make for a great storyline if Webber was in attendance along with Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson. But it would be a surprise. Webber has alienated the program for years and chose not to participate in the filming of the “Fab Five” documentary. Monday would be a great time to begin reconciling — especially if the Wolverines end up cutting down the nets.

Jim Boeheim getting testy with reporters has become a postgame tradition. Saturday was no exception.

Boeheim fielded a question from CBS Sports’ Gregg Doyel after his team’s 61-56 loss to Michigan and did not like it. Doyel who is known for stirring it up, asked Boeheim if he was planning to make an announcement about his future. The two then sparred over the question for about a minute.

Here’s the text of the full exchange via ASAP Sports:

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Michigan was on the verge of blowing a lead against Syracuse in the Final Four Saturday, but they benefited from controversial calls by the officials and held on to win 61-56.

The controversial call that stood out was a charging foul called on Brandon Triche with 19.2 seconds left in the game. Syracuse was down 58-56 at the time and Triche drove to the hole looking to tie the game. Just as Triche was elevating for a layup, Jordan Morgan appeared to shuffle into defensive position in front of him.

The referees called a charging foul on Triche, giving the ball to Michigan. Based on the NCAA’s charging vs. blocking rule, a blocking foul should have been called on Morgan.

Here is the applicable guideline from the NCAA Rules Committee:

Before the offensive player (with the ball) becomes airborne, the defender must have two feet on the floor, be facing the opponent and be stationary to draw a charge. Otherwise, it should be a blocking foul.

That wasn’t the only call to go in favor of Michigan in the final two minutes.

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Final Four referees took away what could have been an even more exciting finish to the Louisville-Wichita State game by calling a controversial jump ball (technically a held ball) with 6.3 seconds left.

Luke Hancock was fouled in the open court with Louisville up 70-68 with 8.8 seconds left. He made the first of two free throws and missed his second off the iron. The Shockers’ Ron Baker fought for the rebound, but Hancock got his hands on the ball for a brief moment. The referees called a held ball and, because of the college rules, possession was determined by the arrow. Since Wichita State got possession on the double-foul a few minutes earlier, this time it went to the Cardinals.

Louisville inbounded the ball up 71-68 with 6.3 seconds left. Russ Smith was fouled, made one of his free throws, and Louisville won the game 72-68.

Was it the right call? Here’s the NCAA’s definition of a held ball (via the NCAA rule book PDF link)

Section 37. Held Ball

Art. 1. A held ball occurs when an opponent places his or her hand(s):
a. So firmly on the ball that control cannot be obtained without undue
roughness; or
b. On the ball to prevent an airborne player from throwing the ball or
attempting a try and both players return to the playing court with
both hands on the ball or (men) the airborne player returns to the
playing court never losing control of the ball.

The referees made the call way too early in my opinion. It should not have been called and the Shockers should have been given a chance to tie the game.

Full video of the play is below:

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