From the website Overheard in Minneapolis:

It Should Work That Way

Little boy to his mother: Oh yes, he broke his bat!  Now the other team doesn't have as many bats as the Twins!

Section 127, Row 119, Metrodome
Overheard by Happy that the innocence isn't lost.

Oh, son...if only it were that easy.

I didn't watch the Twins game last night. I came home and got started immediately on some projects in the garage and the front entryway, which desperately needed a fresh coat of paint.

Instead, I switched gears for a bit and took in the battle between Kansas and Memphis. I found it rather refreshing to see a Final Four filled with #1 seeds. I felt in a way it gave the proceedings an air of legitimacy - no Cinderellas making mad runs to a title that will seem like a blip on the screen in retrospect. Everyone there competing for the championship truly seemed like one of the 4 best teams in the land, and that, to me, added excitement.

I think it's good in sports to reward dominance. Granted, it's up to the players to play like dominant teams, but when the teams who lead all year make it to the end, it feels right somehow. Last night, that game felt very right.

All the headlines will go to Mario Chalmers for nailing that huge three to send the game into overtime and Memphis choking at the free throw line in the last couple of minutes of regulation, which allowed Kansas to stay alive and give Chalmers that chance at the end. But that does not tell the whole story of every minute of this great championship ballgame. To me, the game really came down to which team owned the paint.

In this contest, Kansas clearly had the advantage. Note that over their first 34 games this season, Kansas averaged attempted approx. 17 three point attempts per game and cashed in on 39.8% of those attempts. Against Memphis, however, they only attempted 12 three pointers and made only 3. In watching the game it seemed clear that Kansas' players simply were not comfortable taking the three point shot. Some of it may have been due to Memphis' defense, but sometimes they clearly were flat out off. That Kansas eventually eschewed the three may have been part of the game plan all along and became even more important once Memphis' big men got into foul trouble - a situation I believe was the entire key to the game, missed free throws and all.

Long before Chris Douglas-Roberts even had a chance at salting the game away at the free throw line, the big three of the Memphis front line was in foul trouble to close the first half, with each of their major minute guys up front carrying at least 2 fouls into the locker room. Eventually, the much talked about Joey Dorsey would foul out of the ballgame, with just 6 points and 2 rebounds to his credit, leaving him unavailable for the overtime period. His final foul was particularly frustrating, as he was over-aggressive in trying to hedge on a pick and roll situation above the three point line. This was a perfect example of the sometimes poor decision making Dorsey exhibits, one of the reasons NBA scouts may think twice about using a first round pick on the obviously talented big man.

For all the showboating and borderline taunting Dorsey engaged in throughout the course of the game, his performance certainly didn't warrant the cockiness. His seemingly quieter frontcourt teammate, Robert Dozier, was the one saving grace for the Tigers down low, with 11 points and 10 rebounds on the night. But the Tigers got killed inside by Kansas Forward Darrell Arthur, a player not nearly as hyped as his adversaries. Arthur grabbed 10 rebounds and dropped in a team leading 20 points. All told, Kansas' big men combined for 32 points and 20 rebounds while Memphis' put together a 19 point, 15 rebound effort. On the whole, Kansas as a team took the rebounding battle by +11.

That Memphis lead late in regulation was due in large part to point guard Derrick Rose getting aggressive in the second half - creating his own shot, attacking the basket and knocking in one improbable, long 2 that somehow dropped in off the backboard. That the original ruling that the shot was a 3 was overturned was a key call in the ballgame, and kudos to the refs for taking the time during a break to get that right.

(Granted, that's their job, but I digress...)

This weakness inside allowed Kansas to attack the rim instead of trying to live and die from outside, which was fortuitous, since the threes they did attempt weren't falling (unless they were in key situations late in the ballgame, of course). Even in the final minutes, during Kansas' big comeback, the story of the game held true. What really hurt Memphis was the fact that it couldn't even come away with ANY points at the line on a couple of those trips Kansas gave them, allowing Kansas to attack the rim for a two instead of trying to go for the three every time down.

But this game may simply have come down to which team was more mentally tough. In spite of everything Memphis threw at Kansas - Derrick Rose's game-changing dynamics, Anthony Anderson's solid perimeter defense and the old school style of CDR (sans the old school style of making a damn free throw) - Kansas won because they were simply the more mentally tough ballclub.

Fundamentals of basketball displayed by Kansas:
Creating foul trouble on Memphis' big men 

Attacking the rim to take advantage of that weakness 

Leading the rebounding total 

Not letting up regardless of the score

In all these areas and more, Kansas proved the superior ballclub.

On the other end, Memphis missed key free throws down the stretch, had major foul problems in their frontcourt and folded it in after the regulation period ended. It was clear that Memphis lost a lot of wind in their sails after Mario Chalmers hit that three to send the game into OT, and it showed as Kansas won the extra frame by a score of 12-5. This win for the Jayhawks was not a miracle. It was more about the grind. For Chalmers to even have a chance at that three, so many things had to go in their favor, and Kansas acted like a team that expected those things to happen and thus was ready to take advantage when they did. Could experience have been a factor? Perhaps. Could Derrick Rose's game day illness have been a factor? It may have been, especially early in the game when Rose clearly was unable to get himself going offensively. But the big factor was their relentlessness. Derrick Rose might want to take that lesson with him to the next level.

Speaking of the next level, things could be changing quickly on the Jayhawk horizon. This Kansas team relied heavily on experienced players, several of them seniors and a couple of them players good enough to test the NBA waters this summer. But a bigger loss might be looming.

Over the next couple of days, amidst all the celebration, Kansas fans will hold their breath until Oklahoma State calls head coach Bill Self and offers him all the money Bedlam can buy. In turn, Kansas AD Lew Perkins will probably offer Self a Coach K-like "lifetime deal" and if Bill Self is as smart as he seems, he'll stay. But it'll take even more toughness to ensure they give themselves a chance to be back here in 2009. Here's hoping Bill Self is in Lawrence to take that challenge.

It's good for college basketball for the storied programs to be the ones standing at the top. Because of the nature of the sport, the way kids leave school after just a few years, the name on the front of the jersey is what matters, and it moves the needle more when the "great" programs are cutting down the nets and it brings more tradition to the proceedings. College basketball is just better when the Dukes, North Carolinas and Kansases of the world are leading the way. It gives the rest of college basketball the big targets to gun for.

Now, bring on the NBA!!

I made it to my first game of this season Friday night, taking in the Twins narrow escape of the KC Royals in the first game of a 3 game set. It was also my first foray into the cheap seats for a Twins game. Given that I now have a house to pay for, I think it'll be a rare occasion when I get any closer than that any time soon. It was good to see Morneau get off the 0-fer the season train and drive in a run in the process. However, he killed a potential big inning with yet another double play...however, a win is a win.

The thing about sitting in the cheap seats, at least where we were, is that some of the view is obstructed. In our case, we couldn't see anything that happened in at the wall in CF or any of RF, but the infield, LF and Left Center were all within view. Still it was a decent view of the action, though it did annoy me that I couldn't see everything.

I did see Cuddyer hurt himself sliding into third. I really thought that might have serious repurcussions. Luckily, the Twins escaped that game with a "W", but Cuddyer's dislocated finger may mean more woes for the Twins offense in the near future. This does not bode well, as the Twins take to the road to face the Chicago White Sox, a team that kicked around the supposed world's greatest offense last night in a 13-2 beat down. The Twins, on the other hand, wasted yet another quality start from Boof Bonser, a waste of a good outing made even more frustrating when you take a close look at the box score.

In particular, the Twins have had issues scoring runs. This we all know. But if you look at how the Twins fared at the plate vs. Brett Tomko, several things come clear. According to the numbers, at least, Boof pitched a better game than Tomko. Each pitcher ended up with an almost identical pitch count, but the balls to strikes ration clearly favored Boof. Plus, Boof pitched into the 7th inning, whereas Tomko only pitched 5. That the Twins got the opposing starter out of the game earlier and still only managed to put up 1 run on the game means either the Royals have a really solid bullpen, the Twins can't hit the broad side of a barn, or a little of column A and a little of column B. Frankly, I feel it's a lot of column B.

Without Cuddyer in the lineup, Manager Ron Gardenhire will either have to go with both Kubel and Monroe in the lineup at the same time, or he'll do like he did in yesterday's game and trot AAA callup Denard Span, one of the odd men out of the spring training CF competition.

All you need know about why Span is an unfortunate beneficiary of this situation can be found here.

Again, I turn to the pitching stats to further illustrate. While Tomko pitched only 5 innings, he managed to keep the ball on the ground, giving up just 7 fly balls to Boof's 12. Plus, Tomko was the beneficiary of two double plays in the ballgame, while the Twins had none to their credit. Some of this can be attributed to the tendencies of each pitcher, but I think it further illustrates the Twins' inability to get any lift on the ball. Plus, it's easy to figure out how to pitch to a club that's already doing a good job of mashing the ball into the ground - keep pitching down. But that's just good pitching.

I've been a fan of Ron Gardenhire since I started following the Twins in earnest back in 2005. It's hard to argue with the success on the face of it, and I think his handling of the media is pretty solid. That's the kind of guy you want as the face of the franchise in terms of making decisions and standing behind them. However, Gardenhire seems to rely too much on gut instinct and makes moves that almost seem to be done to spite those of us out here watching who actually pay attention to things like statistics.

I think all has been said that can be said about Gardenhire's decision to start Craig Monroe at DH to start the season. While I realize it's merely one game, one must take Gardenhire's tendency to fall in love with a certain player in spite of their actual production into account when expressing concern over such a decision and what it could potentially mean for this team as the season progresses.

The fact is, Gardy had no qualms whatsoever when it came time to can Tony Bautista back in 2006 in favor of Nick Punto. Of course, he was a free agent signee and was severely overweight. Easy call there. Gardy was rewarded when Punto had a mind-blowingly out-of-the-norm year at the plate and was a sparkplug for the Twins surge to the playoffs.

However, when Punto had the bizarro version of that same kind of year in 2007 Gardy absolutely refused to consider other options. He would not even to use Punto as a defensive sub just to get him some action and some ABs to see if he could work out of the funk without the pressure of being an everyday player. Plus, nobody within the system got a chance to show what they could do until after the season was essentially lost. Of course, Gardy had no problem throwing Rondell White under the bus when calling for the front office to spend more on free agents, but he never once admitted his own bullheadedness when it came to playing Nick Punto every day.

Gardenhire's jones for batting Mauer in the 3rd spot in the lineup is also a concern, as it opens the door for him to put someone in the 2nd spot who simply can't hit, as Gardenhire loves to do. This means the guys behind Mauer have less of a chance of coming to the plate with a runner on and also limits the number of ABs the "big hitters" behind Mauer will get over the course of the season. It is especially vital to Carlos Gomez's development that Joe Mauer remain in the lineup directly behind him. Gomez should see more strikes, as opposing pitchers will want to get him out lest he get on base ahead of Mauer, but they'll try to be selective because he doesn't have great plate discipline yet. If Gomez can learn to lay off some of those pitches they'll try to make him chase, he could see a lot of favorable counts and even draw some walks. Without good protection, opposing pitchers will attack him and force him to make the play with his bat. Why tiptoe around a guy when there's nothing to fear behind him? Just get him out.

Gleeman's article also takes on this point and makes more hay out of the addition of Denard Span to the lineup. The fact that this organization's only alternative in the outfield is a weak hitting center fielder forces Gardy's hand...right into what he prefers to do anyway. Nick Punto, Justin Tyner, etc, those are guys Ron Gardenhire loves. Good defense? No bat? Come on in, boys! There's a spot in the #2 hole for ya. I won't even make you bunt.

Hopefully, Gardenhire keeps Span at the bottom of the order until Cuddyer returns and tries to ride Matt Tolbert's hot start at SS and the #2 spot in the lineup, if he must bat Mauer third. Of course, Mike Lamb and the great and powerful UNIBROW have yet to get hot, so you'll probably see Punto in the everyday lineup faster than you can say "Mendoza Line". Yuck.

Of course, it's early and all indications are that Cuddyer's stint on the DL will be brief. We can only assume at this point that the lineup changes are due to the injury and Gardenhire's just trying to play with the hand he's dealt. I have a scary suspicion that this may be more the norm than the rule in Ron Gardenhire's clubhouse.

This is the thing about living in the cheap seats. You tend to try to make the best with what you've got, but you always feel like you're missing something. It looks like both myself and the Twins will be missing something from RF for the time being.