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Day at a Glance
All four teams have shown the ability to bounce back
Posted: Friday March 30, 2001 9:13 PM
By Albert Lin, CNNSI.com
MINNEAPOLIS -- As one might expect, Duke senior Shane Battier made perhaps the most insightful comment during Friday's press conferences. When asked if one thing stuck out in his mind about the three previous times the Blue Devils have faced Maryland this season, Battier noted that in all three games the team that eventually won came back from a double-digit deficit. "So the winner of [Saturday's] game is going to be the more resilient team."
Resilience is a word you don't hear much in sports, but it's particularly appropriate this Final Four. All four of these teams have had to overcome significant setbacks, and -- as their presence here would attest -- each has emerged stronger because of the experience.
Arizona, as has been well documented, has had to deal with the death of Bobbi Olson and all the subsequent questions about how it has affected the team. The Wildcats also have had to rely a player, Loren Woods, who started the season on an NCAA suspension, then was suspended by the team for an attitude problem, and has also questioned his own ability. Arizona, the preseason No. 1, went 8-5 to open the season and seemed to be sliding to oblivion. But Lute Olson's return energized the team, which is now on a 19-2 tear.
Duke was faced first with bench players who didn't produce as hoped, and then with a devastating foot injury to center Carlos Boozer, the Blue Devils' only effective post player. Rather than folding, coach Mike Krzyzewski morphed his team into a fast-paced, 3-point-shooting machine that didn't need an inside presence. Plus, sophomore Casey Sanders -- who had barely gotten off the bench most of the season -- suddenly showed signs of being an effective Division I player. The Blue Devils didn't miss a beat, winning all six games Boozer missed. Duke looks even better now that he's returned.
Maryland, the lowest seed here at No. 3, has been the most resilient of these clubs, a preseason top-five team that lost three of four games in November and then dropped five of six in the middle of the ACC schedule -- the last to Florida State. At that lowest point, the Terrapins appeared to have squandered all the talent and depth on their roster. Instead, coach Gary Williams got the team to regroup, and it has since won 10 of 11 contests, the only loss coming on a tip-in just before the buzzer.
Michigan State hasn't faced the same type of adversity, but the Spartans have had some growing up to do. Michigan State lost three senior starters off last year's national champions and had two heralded freshmen to incorporate into the lineup (ask Tommy Amaker how hard that can be). Plus, the Spartans played the entire season with a bulls-eye on their backs. Still, the team lost only four games and battled its way back to the Final Four for a third straight season, a feat that by itself demonstrates a steely resolve.
"Sometimes it's a blessing to have adversity during the year because kids listen better," Krzyzewski said. "Kids don't listen as well when you keep winning."
This weekend, the players will have to listen in order to keep winning.
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| The quest for perfection |
| Michigan State is 16-2 in the NCAA tournament during Tom Izzo's tenure, but 16-0 when it is the higher seed. Since the No. 1 Spartans face No. 2 Arizona in Saturday's semifinals, the Wildcats have to battle a tough team and a lot of history. |
| Familiarity breeds ... |
| Arizona hasn't played Michigan State, but the Wildcats went 2-1 against Big Ten co-champ Illinois, which plays a similar style. The Wildcats noted, however, that while the Spartans may not be quite as tough as the Illini, Michigan State is quicker and more athletic, hence their leading the nation in rebound margin yet again. But Arizona's game plan won't change much. "I think we just kind of proved to ourselves [in the Midwest Regional final win over Illinois] that we could play a tough, slow-down-type of game and still come out with a victory," Arizona junior Richard Jefferson said. On the other side, Maryland and Duke are facing off for the fourth time. Duke has a 2-1 advantage, but Maryland could've won all three meetings. "We know what it takes to beat this team," Maryland senior Terence Morris said. "We just have to do the things we need to do to win this game. It's going to be a war, no matter what." |
| First-time jitters |
| Maryland is the only program here that has never been to the Final Four; the other three clubs all have players with Final Four experience. How will the New Kid on the Block handle the atmosphere? |
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| Bill Hancock: The Final Four's director of administration is hard at work even though a familiar face, son Will, is not by his side. Will Hancock was Oklahoma State's basketball SID, and he was one of the 10 members of the Cowboys basketball family who died in the January plane crash. Will had always helped his father during the Final Four. |
| Steve Wojciechowski: The Duke assistant worked up quite a sweat running the team through drills. If it weren't for his golf shirt and sweatpants, Wojo could've passed for a player. |
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| Maryland: We know the open "practices" are really anything but, but the Terps' glorified shootaround was disappointing. "It's hard to practice in front of a lot of people," coach Gary Williams said. "It's noisy, the players are distracted." Hmmm, none of the other teams seemed to have a problem. |
| Sentiment: The loss of Bobbi Olson has been a persistent topic all year for Arizona. No more. "The team and the coaching staff decided not to really go into that subject," sophomore Jason Gardner said. Ditto, said Maryland junior Juan Dixon, who lost his parents in a car crash. "I'm getting really tired of it now," he said. "We've been talking about it for a couple years. Hopefully, everybody that wanted the story got it done." |
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| Fighting words? Arizona sophomore Gilbert Arenas on Michigan State: "[The Spartans] don't really execute that much on offense, but there's no secret to that. They pound the boards, and that's where they get all their points from." |
| Arizona and Michigan State ended their 50-minute public workouts with dunking exhibitions. Duke just shot around. Maryland, meanwhile, chose a peculiar finish: halfcourt (and longer) shots. Basketball's version of the Hail Mary pass, perhaps? |
| Michigan State's Jason Richardson clearly was the dunk king, tossing the ball into the air and then slamming off the bounce several times. The three best: a left-handed finish from at least four feet away; a 360 after the catch; and he just missed the Vince Carter, between-the-legs jam. Arizona's 5-10 Jason Gardner had trouble completing his jams. So as the Wildcats left the floor, two teammates lifted him up for a rousing dunk. |
| Both Arizona and Duke ran five-person weaves rather than the traditional three-man drill. For what it's worth, the Blue Devils seemed a lot smoother. |
| During Arizona's press conference, a writer asked about the NBA's new developmental league. Neither Loren Woods, Richard Jefferson or Jason Gardner was even aware of it. Jefferson, though, asked, "You got the phone number?" |
| Duke assistant Johnny Dawkins, a former national player of the year, stood quietly waiting to say hi to Bill Walton while Walton chatted with Bucky Waters. It was several minutes before either noticed the comparatively tiny Dawkins behind the giant Walton. |
| Arizona fifth-year senior Eugene Edgerson was a member of the Wildcats' 1997 national champions (Justin Wessel redshirted that year), so you'd think people would know how to pronounce his name by now. But his teammates say Edgerson with a soft g, while coach Lute Olson and CBS' Jim Nantz, among others, use a hard g. For the record, the retro forward says his teammates are right. |
| Duke radio sideline reporter Matthew Laurance played Dr. Mel Silver, father of David Silver and stepfather of Kelly Taylor, on Beverly Hills 90210. |
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| Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, on new wrinkles in his game plan |
| "It's not going to be anything tricky. We won't be in a triangle-and-two or a box-and-one. We're going to start the same guys and our heads won't be shaved -- at least mine won't. I know what I look like with hair, and I look a hell of a lot worse, probably, without." |
Check back for a new Day at a Glance every day during the Final Four.
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