Oklahoma Ruins Big East Party

There was not going to be an answer for Blake Griffin. Rick Jackson and Arinze Onuaku did everything they could. Jackson in particular player a very tough first half, but Griffin was just too much, as he has been for everybody all year, and Jim Boeheim doubtless knew he would be before the game ever began.

Thing is, Syracuse could have survived an unstoppable Griffin if it had been able to do something else exceptionally well. Something they'd done all year. Something that takes place far away from the spot on the court where Griffin spends most of his time. Yeah, that's right. We're talking about 3-point shooting.

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Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins could not find their shot in the first half. The Orange missed their first 10 three-pointers, and by the time they started knocking them down in the second half, it was just too late. And to make matters worse, Tony Crocker and Oklahoma were hitting their threes -- beating the Orange at the Sooners' game as well as their own.

So the Big East will not have the whole Final Four. Either Oklahoma, North Carolina or Gonzaga will come out of the South and hold down a non-Big East spot next weekend in Detroit. Syracuse's 2008-09 season will always be justifiably remembered for the performance it put on in the Big East tournament. Jonny Flynn is as tough and dynamic a player as there is in the country. But the Orange have come up short.

So, whither Griffin and Oklahoma?

Well, first, we all have to be rooting for North Carolina tonight, right? Can there be anybody outside of Washington State who doesn't want to see Griffin against Tyler Hansbrough with a Final Four berth on the line? But regardless of who wins the nightcap in Memphis, it'd be foolish not to think Oklahoma has a shot.

Griffin is a monster. The way he plays, honestly, is stunning. You see play after play on which he appears done -- on which almost any other player would be done, lose the ball, get the shot blocked, dribble off his foot...something. But on play after play, Griffin keeps going. He outlasts the play, and gets the bucket. He outlasts the chaos, and gets the rebound. He is huge and strong and quick and smart, and probably, as much as anybody can be, unstoppable.

And if any non-Griffin Sooner is having the kind of game Crocker had tonight to complement Griffin, the Sooners might turn out to be unstoppable too. And that's the key. If Oklahoma wins three more games, the comparison is going to be to Danny Manning in 1988. But I'll wager that can't happen unless he gets some kind of help from somebody else on the floor.

Whoever plays Oklahoma the rest of the way will know there's only so much they can do about Griffin. They'll just have to make sure they shut down his teammates, or else he's going to take them apart.