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Final Four notebook Don't judge Marquette guard Diener by his looksPosted: Friday April 04, 2003 6:23 PM
By Albert Lin, SI.com NEW ORLEANS -- If you put the 20 starters from the four teams in New Orleans on the Superdome floor, one would look out of place: Marquette point guard Travis Diener. The baby-faced sophomore with the disheveled hair just started shaving last week (we think). His thighs are not much bigger than handrails, and his arms have no definition. "I've heard that my whole life, how I'm the skinny white kid who weighs 165 pounds," said the 6-foot-1 Diener. "But if they're going to come in and underestimate me, that just motivates me. I know I can play at this level and I'm very confident." Indeed, no player may have more responsibility come Saturday evening. Diener not only has to run his team's offense, but he also has to score his share of points and defend against Kansas' quick guards, slowing the Jayhawks' high-powered transition game. Diener's value to Marquette never was more evident than in the NCAA tournament's opening weekend, when he scored 29 points against Holy Cross and followed with 26 against Missouri, hitting a combined 10 of 17 3-pointers. He averages 12.1 points and 5.7 assists on the year; his size, grittiness and shooting ability have drawn comparisons to Mark Price. "Diener's a killer," Missouri coach Quin Snyder said. "He has a gait, a swagger. You look at him, and he's got that competitive fire in his eyes. He's got a level of toughness that his team feeds off of." Toughness runs in the genes. Diener comes from a remarkable family that produced three other Division I ballplayers, coincidentally, all in Conference USA: Travis' cousins Drew (Saint Louis) and Drake (DePaul), and his sister Rachel (Saint Louis). "It was very beneficial for me having cousins who played the same sports and were the same age as me. We always competed hard against each other, and it's paid off now. I use what I learned growing up in what I do now," Diener said. "We were pushed hard to be the best -- not the best athletes, but the best people we could be." If there is a Cinderella at this Final Four, it is Marquette, a small (10,600 enrollment) Jesuit school from a non-BCS conferenc. Marquette hasn't been a player on the national scene since winning the NCAA title in 1977, when the team was known as the Warriors, Al McGuire was alive and Rick Majerus had hair. This club always will have the 1977 team's legacy to fall back on, but it hopes to create one of its own. "We know we're not going to be separated from that team, even if we win a national championship," Diener said. "That was a special team with a special coach. But we believe we have a special team and a special coach, too. We're trying to be mentioned in the same breath as them, and if we can win two games this weekend, I think it will be very similar to the way people look at that team."
Carolina on the mindRoy Williams has had it up to here with questions about the North Carolina opening, yet he refuses to say that he's not interested because he feels such statements mean nothing. Williams even cited Ben Howland as an example; shortly after reaffirming his commitment to Pittsburgh, Howland was introduced as UCLA's coach. "I didn't think this decision would ever come up again, but it has," said Williams, who turned down the Tar Heels three years ago. "And it's already been a pain in the rearend. "Before you make every decision in your life, you ought to think about it. And, by god, I'm not going to think one second about something that's going to take away from Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich." Kansas sophomore Keith Langford said his coach has maintained tunnel vision. "He hasn't brought it to our attention, so our focus is just on Kansas," Langford said. "He hasn't said anything about the North Carolina thing. Every word that has come out of his mouth is about Kansas and has been directed toward the tournament, the Final Four and our goal." The other head coaches here have had a little more fun with the situation. Marquette's Tom Crean smartly pointed out that he'd rather his name be mentioned in conjunction with other jobs than in speculating that he's going to be fired. And Syracuse's Jim Boeheim joked that he doesn't understand what Williams is going through because "nobody wants to hire me."
One-man gangHow important is Syracuse freshman Carmelo Anthony to his team's success? "I've seen every defense there is that a team can actually throw at one person," he said. On Saturday, Texas will start its toughest defender, junior Royal Ivey, on Anthony. Ivey gives up five inches and 30 pounds, but he's had success slowing down opposing stars all season: Georgia's Jarvis Hayes, Texas A&M's Bernard King, Texas Tech's Andre Emmett, Purdue's Willie Deane and Connecticut's Ben Gordon. "I know that Ivey's going to come out and play me tough," Anthony said. "It's just a matter of who else they're going to send at me when I have the ball." Texas sophomore T.J. Ford thinks his backcourt mate is up to the challenge. "I assume he's going to do the best job he can do," Ford said. "Whoever Royal is going with, that person is going to have to work for every shot he gets. Royal is going to help make fatigue become a factor, because he is going to get out there."
Wade-ing inEveryone remembers the 29 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists and four blocks Dwyane Wade unleashed on Kentucky last Saturday, the fourth triple-double in NCAA tournament history. The Final Four brings Wade back to a city where he recently enjoyed success: On Jan. 14, he tied his career high with a 35-point (13-for-16 FG) effort against Tulane, albeit it at the Green Wave's Fogelman Arena, not the Superdome. "You shouldn't compare anybody to Michael Jordan, but it was scary all the things [Wade] could do," Williams said. "I looked a couple times to make sure it was still No. 3 I was watching on tape and not No. 23." Kansas sophomore Keith Langford will start the game on Wade, but senior Kirk Hinrich probably will see his share of time on him as well. "When I think of Dwyane Wade, a lot of times you get ready to play against somebody, you try to take something away from them -- maybe he favors his right hand, he favors the jump shot. But I don't think you can say that about him," Hinrich said. "He's just so versatile." The Marquette junior married his high school sweetheart, Siohvaughn, last summer and is the father of 14-month-old Zaire Blessing Dwyane Wade. "I think it changed me a lot, to know that my family is always watching, to know I'm not only needed on the court, I'm needed at home," Wade said. "It makes me feel good. It makes every day worthwhile."
Late Night with Jimmy B.When Boeheim made his second trip to the Final Four, in 1996, much was made about his transformation. The once dour, whiny coach had met a new love, and suddenly he was Mr. Personality. With three young children (a 4-year-old son and 3-year-old twins) now in the fold, Boeheim has turned into a middle-aged Mr. Mom. And his joie de vivre has not abated. Here's Boeheim on:
Loose ballsIn an unusual move two years ago, Crean took senior center Robert Jackson as a transfer even though Jackson had only one season of eligibility remaining. The decision clearly has paid off, with Jackson (15.4 ppg, 7.5 rpg) giving the Golden Eagles a much-needed inside presence. "I don't think we'd be talking right now if he wasn't with us," Crean said. Jackson, who wears No. 55 and also has the long, gangly build of Dikembe Mutombo, is a Milwaukee native who felt he hadn't improved in three years at Mississippi State. ... Contrary to what we generally hear come tournament time, Williams would rather have talent than experience. "Is [experience] a help? Yes," said Williams. "But is that going to be the determining factor in a game? I'd say I don't think it is." Of course, Williams has talent and experience in Collison and Hinrich, and a team that was in the Final Four last year. ... Barnes is a new-age kind of coach. Don't look for what just happened with Matt Doherty to happen with him. "There's a stigma sometimes when you're the head coach that maybe players don't feel like they can come to you. I've always tried to work really hard to break that stigma down because I think communication is the key," Barnes said. "I've learned over the years that players play better when they can play relaxed, too." ... A regular subject at every Final Four is how players have to adjust to shooting in a dome. Marquette, though, has had plenty of experience this year, playing at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis the first weekend and then the Metrodome in Minneapolis at regionals. "That's a myth to me, and I think it's a myth to everyone else," Diener said. "The rims are a little tighter here than they were in the past two domes. But we're used to playing in domes, and I don't think the background is different from anywhere else." ... Both Big 12 teams love to run, run, run, and their opponents have two strategies to slow them down. Syracuse will use its youth, energy and athleticism to get back on defense, and then will throw its 2-3 zone at the Longhorns. Marquette will try to control the boards against Kansas, and will mix and match perimeter matchups. ... Ford isn't backing down from the challenge of Syracuse's zone. "I'm pretty sure they're going to try to keep me out of the paint," he said. "But I'm going to do what I do best, which is to get in the lane and create for my teammates." Barnes echoed that sentiment. "T.J. is good pretty much against any defense," the coach said. "He will throughout the course of the game settle into what he thinks is the most effective way for him to play against it." ... Asked whether he would favor a rule that prevents schools from making coaching changes before the Final Four, Williams lightened up: "You're talk to a guy who almost dislikes all the rules in that NCAA rule book. It's so big now, I need a weightlifter to carry the sucker." ... Texas will always be thought of as a football school, but both its men's and women's basketball teams are in the Final Four this year. How strange would it be if Barnes or Jody Conradt won a national championship before Mack Brown? |
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