|
 |  |
|
AD PARTNERS
|  |
Dominating presence Haywood stifles Missouri with Mikan-like performance
Posted: Saturday March 18, 2000 11:07 AM
By Ivan Maisel, Sports Illustrated BIRMINGHAM -- So this is what it must have been like to watch George Mikan play. Mikan was the first great modern center, for DePaul in the 1940s, the man who proved that very tall men could be athletic. Meet Brendan Haywood, the 7'0" junior center at North Carolina. Missouri, with a 6'9" center and no other starter taller than 6'6", had no answer for Haywood. To tell you the truth, the Tigers played as if they never understood the question. Haywood finished with 28 points, a career high, and 15 rebounds in a remarkably easy 84-70 victory. By my count, five of his nine field goals were putbacks. Missouri, unlike virtually every one of North Carolina's previous 31 opponents, chose not to double down on Haywood. Tigers coach Quin Snyder chose instead to defend the perimeter. Guards Ed Cota and Joseph Forte penetrated into the lane time after time and threw up any manner of shot. They knew that Haywood would be there to clean up their mess. "I don't think I was different tonight," Haywood said. "How many times have I not been double- or triple-teamed?" Haywood dominated the game, and that's a sentence that Tar Heels fans feel as if they don't read often enough. Haywood is no fan favorite, not since North Carolina's stunning 76-74 first-round loss to Weber State a year ago. Haywood scored one point, which is one more point than he had rebounds. Not since King Rice was booed for not being Bobby Hurley has the Tar Heel nation come down on one of its own the way they do Haywood. "I know I didn't lose that game by myself," he said in the postgame locker room Friday night. Still, the onslaught of criticism hit hard. It wasn't until he made the U.S. World University Games team last summer that his confidence began to mend. He was the second-leading scorer and rebounder behind Kenyon Martin on that gold-medal team. Of course, he still disappears occasionally. Surely Stanford, with Mark Madsen and the Collins twins inside, will not give Haywood the room to roam that Missouri did. But for one night, Haywood reminded everyone that basketball is a big man's game, a lesson Mikan first taught more than half a century ago. Ivan Maisel is a Sports Illustrated senior writer. The opinions
expressed here are solely those of the
writer.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
