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Closer Look Hobbled Owens hits the biggest shot of allPosted: Saturday March 22, 2003 11:58 PM
By Brian Hamilton, Special to SI.com SPOKANE, Wash. -- Peering into the sea of red and white that was drowning Freddie Owens on Saturday night, a jumble of arms and legs eliminating him from sight for a minute there, it was difficult to believe that this was hardly the picture the day before. A day before, Freddie Owens looked as if he were a spectator in training. He didn’t practice. He walked off the Spokane Arena floor in wind pants and a team polo shirt. A bulky black protective boot engulfed his right foot and sprained right ankle. Heroes don’t usually bear Handle With Care signs. "I can’t feel any pain right now," Owens said Saturday night, his smile confirming that much after he hit the game-winning 3-pointer in Wisconsin’s 61-60 win over Tulsa. "I know I will later on, but right now I’m enjoying the moment." And he should. It was a moment that was in peril for the past day and a half, as Owens underwent nearly round-the-clock treatment on that ankle, which he sprained late in the first half of the Badgers’ first-round game against Weber State. But play he did. Maybe it was unexpected. But on that last, defining play that sent Wisconsin to the Sweet 16, Freddie Owens was exactly where you’d expect him to be. It’s a play called, simply enough, "One." As Badgers coach Bo Ryan explained it, point guard Devin Harris gets a high screen. He turns the corner looking to drive, and if that’s not there, he can dump it back to the big man up top or see the two-guard -- in this case, Kirk Penney -- coming from the opposite side.
But Tulsa rotated so hard toward Harris after the screen that he had to cross over back to the middle because, as Ryan said, "We had absolutely nothing on ball side." That’s when Harris spotted Owens -- who by design swings from one side to the opposite corner during the play -- with no one in his ZIP code. "Freddie was the guy that was open, because there were five blue jerseys in the middle of the paint, so that means the opposite corner is open," Ryan said. "Devin knew he was going to be there. That’s the play." Said Harris: "I looked cross-court, saw Freddie sitting there, eyes wide as I don’t know what. I gave him the ball, and he knocked it down." Owens was there, too, because that’s his shot. Despite Ryan’s belief that the jumper from the corner is the toughest shot in the game, Owens excels at it. It’s part of the repertoire he goes through in Wisconsin’s "four-spot" shooting drill. "Ever since high school, those are the shots I’ve been getting good looks at, running the baseline," Owens said. "I’m pretty used to shooting the ball in the corner." He got his good look, drained the 3-pointer with one second left and sent the Badgers to the Midwest Regional in Minneapolis next week. Just a day earlier, it wasn’t clear what, if anything, Owens could contribute. But Ryan put him on the floor and expected him to do everything the team asks of a healthy player. The syrupy heroics -- the injured player making the biggest shot of the year -- just added to the picture.
Brian Hamilton covers college sports for the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
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