|
|
|
On guard
Key to winning national title lies in strong backcourt
Posted: Sunday November 10, 2002 4:47 PM
| |
Jason Gardner made 38 percent of his 3-point attempts last season. Harry How/Getty Images |
By Mark Button, CNNSI.com
So the 2002-03 college basketball season is going to be all Jason Gardner, all the time.
Like it or not, the world will revolve around the Arizona senior point guard this year.
He’s the best player on the best team, playing the game’s most critical position. He’s this year's Juan Dixon, this year's Ja-son Williams.
America will fall in love with Gardner this season, and even though it seems as if he’s been in college for seven years, he deserves all the attention he'll get. Logging heavy minutes (38.2), the 5-foot-10, 181-pound Gardner averaged 20.4 points and 4.6 assists, making 106 3-pointers at a 38 percent clip as he guided a freshman-loaded Wildcats team to the Pac-10 tournament title and NCAA West Regional semifinals last season.
In addition to all that, Gardner is a microcosm of how college basketball has changed during the past several years. It hasn’t evolved overnight, but it is clear that today guards are the most vital ingredients for a successful team. They are college basketball's version of baseball's aces.
Only they play every game.
“Great guard play is the key to winning championships,” said Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, whose Spartans won the 2000 national championship. “All of the championship teams that we’ve had have been led by great guards. Just like a championship football team needs a great quarterback, championship basketball teams need great guard play.”
Care to debate Izzo on this? Give it up. The past four tournament champions have had All-Americans in the backcourt: Dixon at Maryland, Williams for Duke, Michigan State’s Mateen Cleaves (granted, a second-teamer) and Rip Hamilton at UConn.
Of course, those teams had competent -- if not dominating -- big men, too. But guards win or lose games. Period.
“Everyone wants to be a guard in the college game,” Gardner said. “We have the ball in our hands 90 percent of the time, and in the college game, the way you win is you need great perimeter players.”
It’s not like big men don’t have their place. Gardner said when his frontcourt -- Arizona’s Luke Walton (6-foot-8), Channing Frye (6-foot-10) and Rick Anderson (6-foot-9) -- gets its game going, defenses must pay more attention to shutting down the interior. When that happens, perimeter space increases and so do Gardner’s chances to hurt opponents with his patented NBA-range-and-beyond 3-pointers.
| |
| Don't forget about us |
|---|
|
There are some dominating big men
|
| Name |
Team |
Ht. |
| Nick Collison |
Kansas |
6-10 |
| Erwin Dudley |
Alabama |
6-8 |
| Chris Marcus |
W. Kentucky |
7-1 |
| Emeka Okafor |
UConn |
6-9 |
| Mike Sweetney |
Georgetown |
6-8 |
| Luke Walton |
Arizona |
6-8 |
| David West |
Xavier |
6-8 |
| |
|
If the frontcourt is slacking, however, most great guards think -- often correctly -- that they can win games on their own.
Or, as Gardner politely put it: “The guards are always gonna get their shots.”
Recently, the guards also have gotten the most tournament hardware. Save Shane Battier in 2001 (a swingman who played much more like a guard than a forward), the last big man to win the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award was Ed O’Bannon in 1995. In fact, only two players -- O’Bannon and Corliss Williamson (Arkansas, ’94) -- have been named MOP because of their back-to-the-basket play during the past 10 years.
“Coaches talk about the big players on the team, but I think every coach would like to have the little guys who understand what he wants to do,” Kansas coach Roy Williams said. “I think a coach feels more comfortable with better guards. You very seldom see on the college level teams winning that don't have a really good point guard."
This is the time of year for predictions, and if you want to predict the next national champion, start with the teams on this list:
CNNSI.com’s Top 10 Backcourts
| 1 | Oklahoma: Hollis Price and Quannas White are the best combination of flammable scoring potential, harassing defense, hustle, desire, intelligence and experience. A third-year starter, Price (16.5 ppg., 2.6 apg.) will hurt teams most when he has time to set his feet. White is one of the most underrated players in the country. |
| 2 | Arizona: No backcourt is better than Gardner and Salim Stoudamire at shooting the deep 3. They’re both quick, and Gardner is a senior who simply won’t let his team lose. |
| 3 | Kansas: Kirk Hinrich might be the nation’s most complete player overall. Deadly from behind the arc (career 45 percent from 3-point range), Hinrich has sneaky speed and the strength to go strong and dunk in traffic. If sophomore PG Aaron Miles matures with his decision making and improves his shooting, look for Kansas to exceed last year’s postseason success. |
| 4 | Texas: Shooting guard Royal Ivey may be as good on defense as T.J. Ford is with ball distribution -- and don’t forget that Ford led the nation in assists last season as a freshman. This summer he snipped off the braids and worked on his jumper. We loved the braids, but the jumper definitely needed attention (15 percent from 3-point range). If Ford produces a reliable shot, Texas will challenge for the Final Four. |
| 5 | Duke: Though he slumped a bit last year (his FG and 3-point percentages dropped from his freshman year), Chris Duhon will benefit from Jay Williams’ departure. Shooting guard Daniel Ewing showed last year as a freshman (32-of-70 3-pointers, many of which were in clutch situations) that he is ready to become a star. |
| 6 | Maryland: You can’t argue against national championship experience at the point guard position, and Steve Blake certainly ranks in the top 10 at his position, but dead-eye shooter Drew Nicholas (who waited patiently for three years behind Dixon) puts the Terps in position to threaten for back-to-back national titles. |
| 7 | Oregon: Luke Ridnour is a magician with the ball, and his run-at-full-speed-then-stop-on-a-dime 3-pointers conjure memories of a young Mark Price. Ridnour shot 47 percent from the field last season as a sophomore and 44 percent from 3-point range. Ridnour’s floppy-haired cohort, Luke Jackson, is scrappy but streaky. |
| 8 | Pittsburgh: Brandin Knight is the Big East’s best point guard (sorry, Troy Bell) with 2001-02 averages of 15.6 points, 7.2 assists, 2.3 steals. Lefty shooting guard Julius Page is an explosive highlight reel waiting to happen. |
| 9 | Alabama: Arguably the SEC’s best point guard, Maurice Williams will score more than his 10.4 average from a year ago without Rod Grizzard around to take seemingly 90 percent of the shots. Terrance Meade, a streaky 3-point shooter, will get more open looks because of Williams’ penetration. |
| 10 | Texas Tech: It’s not a misprint. Shooting guard Andre Emmitt may be the best player you haven’t heard much about -- yet. Bobby Knight keeps saying he expects Emmitt (18.7 points, 6.7 boards last year) to mature into "the best player" he has ever coached. Remember, Knight coached Isiah Thomas, Calbert Cheaney and Steve Alford. Along with pass-first point guard Will Chavis, Tech’s backcourt will get the Red Raiders and Knight back to the NCAAs. |
| • Backcourts capable of playing their way into the top 10: Georgia: Rashard Wright, Ezra Williams; Tulsa: Dante Swanson, Antonio Reed; Florida: Brett Nelson, Justin Hamilton; Michigan State: Chris Hill, Kelvin Torbert. |
|
Mark Button covers college basketball for CNNSI.com
|
|
|
