Text messages from press row . . .

That was the shot of a lifetime by Mario Chalmers, but Memphis should have tried harder to foul before the former Alaska state high school player of the year launched the three-point rainbow that capped a remarkable Kansas comeback and sent Monday night’s NCAA championship game into overtime. . . .

Chalmers is part of a short list of Division I college basketball players from the least densely populated state, a group that includes Kentucky sophomore Ramon Harris and former Duke stars Carlos Boozer and Trajan Langdon. . . .

Langdon, a sharpshooter known as “The Alaskan Assassin,” was the first player from the 49th state to play in the NBA but didn’t last long. . . .

Chalmers, by the way, is a cousin of former Clippers point guard Lionel Chalmers, who led Xavier to the Elite Eight in 2004, was a second-round pick in the NBA draft a few months later and was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2005 deal that sent Sam Cassell to the Clippers. . . .

Lionel Chalmers’ weakness was that he couldn’t shoot. . . .

Before Monday night, even with four top-seeded teams involved for the first time, “history’s greatest Final Four” was a bore. . . .

Monday’s game saved it. . . .

Kevin Love just now realized he needs to be in better shape? . . .

Like Rick Neuheisel, Ben Howland could use an offensive coordinator. . . .

Hakeem Olajuwon, whose election to the Basketball Hall of Fame was announced Monday, knows how Howland and his players feel because “The Dream” also made it to the Final Four three years in a row without winning. . . .

When Derrick Rose signs his first NBA contract, probably this summer, the candy-craving Memphis point guard can stock up on all the Gummi Bears, Starburst and Twizzlers his tender stomach can handle. . . .

But he’ll still have a bitter taste in his mouth from Monday. . . .

Home-court advantage in the playoffs is the carrot, of course, but Kobe Bryant says of the Lakers’ bid to secure the top seeding in the Western Conference, “We want to be No. 1 just for the sake of being No. 1.” . . .

The Lakers won their two most recent NBA titles -- in 2001 and 2002 -- after finishing with the second-best record in the West. . . .

In seven previous title runs, the Lakers were No. 1 in the West, never entering the playoffs with worse than the NBA’s third-best regular-season record. . . .

Before he was sidelined in January, Andrew Bynum was on track to possibly become the first Laker to win the NBA’s most-improved-player award. . . .

Injuries probably knocked Chris Kaman out of the mix too. . . .

The Clippers’ Bobby Simmons won the award in 2005, then bolted to sign a multiyear, multimillion-dollar contract with the Milwaukee Bucks. . . .

Tuesday night was “Fan Appreciation Night” for the Clippers, who were playing Carmelo Anthony and the (possibly) playoff-bound Denver Nuggets, but $100 tickets could be had for only 10 bucks at goldstarevents.com. . . .

No surprise that the Kings failed to win the draft lottery too. . . .

The Kings have won one playoff series since 1993, while Scott Niedermayer and the defending Stanley Cup champion Ducks won four last season. . . .

Judging by the early contributions of Torii Hunter and Andruw Jones, the Angels got the better of the Dodgers in the winter free-agent market. . . .

When converted third baseman Kevin Youkilis of the Boston Red Sox set a record last week for consecutive errorless games by a first baseman, he broke a mark previously held by Steve Garvey, who also started out as a third baseman. . . .

In a Sports Illustrated listing of the 25 toughest athletes, two-time Iditarod winner Lance Mackey ranks No. 2 because of his “caginess and steadfast refusal to quit in the face of throat cancer, hostile terrain and 40-below temperatures.” . . .

Dogs weren’t considered, apparently, but Tiger Woods was. . . .

The world’s greatest golfer topped the list, cited for his “otherworldly talent, determination and focus that enables him to dominate his sport.”

Sounds like Candace Parker.

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jerome.crowe@latimes.com