Day at a Glance

Vershaw looks to pretty up his touch, Badgers' chances

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Posted: Sunday April 02, 2000 01:39 AM

Storylines        Dunks & Bricks        The Bottom Line

By John Donovan, CNNSI.com

Getting defensive   If you like defense, the Final Four is always a good place to be. Here are four players you ought to watch in Saturday's semifinals.   For Michigan State, Mateen Cleaves is tremendous. Watch how he pressures the ball. He does it so well. That sets the tone for their entire defense.   For Wisconsin, check out Mike Kelley. He led the Big Ten in steals. He has great anticipation.   For Florida, Justin Hamilton has the freedom to run all over the court. He does a great job of wreaking havoc with the pressure defense.   And, for North Carolina, Julius Peppers does a great job of being active inside. He's a key to that team. -- Northwestern coach Kevin O'Neill analyzes the Final Four for CNNSI.com

INDIANAPOLIS -- This is not going to be pretty. In fact, it may be downright scary ugly.

Saturday's first semifinal game in college basketball's Final Four shapes up to be a real two-bagger, a game of whistles and tangled arms and endless trips to the free throw line.

And Mark Vershaw -- a young man who hasn't exactly been painting a pretty picture himself lately -- may be the one man who can save Wisconsin from complete and utter dog-ugliness extinction.

"I've gone through slumps like this before," Vershaw said Friday, relaxing at his hotel on the night before the Badgers' first Final Four appearance since they won the whole thing in 1941. "It's hard to have two bad games in a row. But we've won. So if I have bad games and we win, I'm happy."

The problem for Vershaw and the Badgers is they're facing Michigan State on Saturday night, the prohibitive favorite and a team that has beaten Wisconsin three straight times in the last month and a half.

It's simple, really. No way can Vershaw and the Badgers play as ugly as they have against Michigan State and expect to win.

"We have to be able to score more. Our defense is there, and we even outrebounded them once," said Vershaw, a 6-foot-9, 235-pound junior forward. "It's just the fact we're putting up 48 [points] a game. We know that's not enough. We know we have to get, probably, into the 60s to have a chance to beat them."

Which means Vershaw, often tagged "the slumping Mark Vershaw" during this tournament, is going to have to get better pretty quickly.

Vershaw was the team's leading scorer during the regular season, at 11.9 points a game, and shot a solid 47 percent from the floor. But his trip through the tournament has spotty.

Wisconsin's Mark Vershaw is averaging 7.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2 assists against Michigan State this season. Jonathan Daniel/Allsport

He's averaging just 8.8 points a game in the Badgers' four wins on 36 percent shooting. He had 15 points against Arizona in Wisconsin's second game of the tournament, but has had only 6, 7 and 7 in the other three. He's shooting only 36 percent from the floor during the tournament.

"I have the feeling it's gonna come back," Vershaw said of his lost touch. "And now would be as good a time as any."

Wisconsin needs him badly to be in top form Saturday, because the Badgers have been befuddled in being swept by Michigan State this season. Wisconsin has averaged only 48 points a game in the three losses, and Vershaw scored 4, 8 and 11 points. He's shooting a paltry 24 percent against MSU.

And he only went to the free throw line seven times in those three games.

"If you're open, you gotta shoot it. Those opportunities don't come that often with their defense," Vershaw said. "If not, you have to take it to the basket -- at them -- and try to force the officials to call some fouls. That's one of the things we haven't done in the past, is get to the free throw line."

Whatever it takes, Vershaw and the Badgers know they simply have to get better Saturday against the Spartans, the sole No. 1 seed remaining in the tournament.

Or ... well, it's not a pretty picture.

On to the Final Four Day at a Glance, which asks this question: If North Carolina falls to Florida in the second game Saturday night, will the more vociferous of the Tar Heels' faithful still be calling for Bill Guthridge's whistle?

The answer: Probably not. They'll wait 'til his first ACC loss next season.

Mr. Red If you're in Indiana, and there's basketball around, the name "Bobby Knight" invariably pops up. Well, this weekend, everyone has something to say about The General and his recent woes. His coaching buddies have closed ranks around him, predictably. But the people in Indiana may be having second thoughts about the sweater-ed one. In an Indianapolis Star poll, more than half of the respondents said Knight should stay. But more than 70 percent said he should be disciplined or investigated further for his recent conduct. And that poll was taken before news broke that Knight ripped into his athletic director after a loss last month.

Mr. and Mrs. Red This isn't going to pass the Gallup scientific test, but it sure seems like there are tons of red-clad Wisconsin rooters in this burg. Either nearly everyone loves an underdog, or nearly everyone from the state made the pilgrimage south to see their Badgers.

Oh, yeah, the games Speaking of 'dogs, Wisconsin and North Carolina are it in this Final Four. Too much experience and talent from Michigan State for the Badgers to handle, the figuring goes, and too much pressure and depth from Florida for the Tar Heels. Is that how it will go? This is for sure: Carolina can't start using a bench that hardly exists, Florida won't go to a five-man rotation for this game and Wisconsin isn't going to suddenly acquire some Final Four know how. And, let's not forget, Michigan State still has more talent than anyone in the field.

The scene The Star called it the "big schmooze," and that's about right. Seen outside the National Association of Basketball Coaches meeting here: A coach from somewhere introducing himself to Virginia coach Pete Gillen and offering up a business card. There's a good breeze in downtown from all logo-laden sweatsuits swishing up and down the streets. The thousands of coaches in town -- a good percentage of them looking for a better gig -- are only part of the deal, though. Corporate sponsors, CBS, the NCAA -- all are busy patting themselves on the back and feeding each other stuffed shrimp to celebrate the biggest show in college basketball. Amateur sports. You gotta love 'em.

Dunk -- Wisconsin: You can take that anyway you want. The Badgers, likely dunkees in Saturday's semifinal against Michigan State, are a sure-fire dunk as most likeable, unlikely, like-heck-they-will choices in this Final Four. And all that's good.

Dunk -- Butler: The little school that nearly knocked off Florida is the official host of this Final Four -- though, really, the NCAA is calling the shots here. Butler lost in OT on a bit of a miracle shot by the Gators' Mike Miller in the first round. It was a bitter loss to swallow. So how do you think the Butler squad felt Friday morning when Florida used its facility, Hinkle Fieldhouse, to practice for Saturday's game against North Carolina? Ooooh, that has to hurt. Way to stand tall, though, guys.

Brick -- Bricks: Oh, you'll see some Saturday night. Between Florida's hassling defense, North Carolina's Brendan Haywood and the two bruising teams from the Big Ten ... well, don't expect any of these four teams to hit 90 points in either of those games. Heck, MSU-Wisconsin may not total 90 points.

Brick -- Schedules: We all know the reasons, and every one of them starts with the symbol $. But, really, would it kill the NCAA or CBS to start this thing a little earlier, so we can all mow the lawn or something first thing Sunday morning? Well, sure it would hurt them. But how about taking one for the fans once in a while guys?

Dunks -- Ed Cota, Mateen Cleaves: When the bright lights are shining, when everything is going to Terre Haute in a handbasket, what you want is a guy who knows what he's doing with the basketball. These two guys -- Cota of North Carolina and Cleaves of Michigan State -- will not be rattled. They may not win (Cota's team actually is an underdog against relentless Florida). They may not even play particularly well. But, without them, those two teams don't even make the Sweet 16.

March has a way of wearing on you, with so much good basketball on so many straight weekends with so many bracket possibilities bouncing around in your head. This weekend, though, is second-wind time, the opportunity to suck it up and watch the best college basketball has to offer. And, if you're hopelessly out of the office pool? Forget the stupid bracket and enjoy the game. There's always next year.

 

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