|
|
 |
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE | |
Gilbert is key to Mizzou's hot start Posted: Wednesday November 28, 2001 11:51 AM
Sports Illustrated senior writer Grant Wahl answers your college basketball questions every Wednesday. Click here to send him a question. Fairness being what the 'Bag is all about, the time has come to praise a guy who has given us more material than any other player the last couple years. We're talking about Missouri's Clarence Gilbert, of course, and so is Brett Williams of Olathe, Kan., who asks: "What's up with you giving no love to Clarence Gilbert? 'The albatross around Kareem Rush's neck'? Gilbert is the only senior on a young Tigers team and has provided both leadership and production in big wins this year. Poor shot selection? Sometimes. Streaky? Maybe. Mizzou a Top 25 team without him? No way. Time to eat your words and give it up for Clarence, Kareem Rush and Mizzou." OK, I'll say it: Clarence Gilbert is having an excellent start to the season. It's true. The Artist Formerly Known as the Nation's Most Shameless Gunner has helped the No. 3 Tigers get off to a 4-0 start, including W's over Iowa, Alabama and Xavier. Gilbert is averaging 18.8 points a game, shooting a solid 45.5% from the field (the same as Rush, it should be noted) and leading Mizzou down the stretch in games with clutch shots. (Gilbert's 27 points against Iowa earned him MVP honors in the Guardians Classic.) When I talked to Tigers coach Quin Snyder about Gilbert recently, he recounted a conversation the two had earlier this year. "I said, 'Why are you doing things that cause people to call you a gunner? You go out and do that. That's you,'" Snyder recalled. "He says, 'I don't want to be that.' Well, sometimes it comes when he gets going too fast. He's worked on changing speeds and tempo so that his decisions will be better. The other situation is when he's trying to save the day, just trying to will something to happen. That impulse has to be channeled differently. We're trying to figure out ways for him to compete without just using his jump shot." And while you may want me to eat my words for not picking Missouri in my top five early on, you'll have to tell Snyder to do the same. Before the season, when I brought up my pal Albert Lin's No. 3 preseason ranking for the Tigers, Snyder didn't want to hear it. "I just don't think that's who we are right now," Snyder told me. "I tell our guys, 'Let's aspire to that.' Maybe that possibility exists, but the last couple years we weren't good enough to beat the upper-echelon teams in our own league." Why has Missouri started so well? Credit stars Rush and Gilbert for co-existing just fine, with bonus points to Gilbert for taking the leadership role that the quieter Rush tends to avoid. The supporting cast has been steady, too, from sophs Wesley Stokes, A.J. Johnson, Rickey Paulding and Travon Bryant to freshman starter Najeeb Echols. The crazy thing is that the Tigers' look might completely change by January if 6'11" Nigerian juco transfer Uche Okafor gains his eligibility. The latest news out of Columbia is ... no news. Word has it, though, that the NCAA thinks granting Okafor eligibility (despite his signing with a Russian pro team a few years ago) would lead Louisville Nigerian Muhamed Lasege (ruled ineligible by the NCAA after a similar situation) to sue the NCAA yet again for the chance to play. If Okafor can suit up, Snyder says, "that changes our whole team, because [the 6'7" Echols] could move to the perimeter, which would give us added depth out there and allow us to defend more like we want to." In other words, stay tuned. Missouri has four relatively easy games before meeting Iowa (Dec. 15) and Illinois (Dec. 22) in border wars that should give us a full idea of what the Tigers are bringing to the table. On to your questions ... Do you see any other programs out there, like Louisville, that have the ingredients (fan support, facilities, recruiting base, etc.) to turn around quickly and be major powers?
I'll throw six at you. Not surprisingly, three of them have coaches on the hot seat, while the other three have first-year coaches. DePaul. If only Pat Kennedy could really have landed Eddy Curry ! (Whom are we kidding? The Curry-led Demons would have found a way to underachieve again, just as DePaul did with Quentin Richardson, Bobby Simmons, Steven Hunter and Paul McPherson. ) How can you not win with the Chicago recruiting base? North Carolina State. Yes, Carolina and Duke snap up a ton of talent. Still, Herb Sendek should still be doing better than he has done. Florida State. The Seminoles are a non-factor in the ACC under Steve Robinson. Oh, for the glory days of ... Pat Kennedy? Villanova. New coach Jay Wright has the Wildcats 2-0, but a tough date at Penn looms on Dec. 5. Massachusetts. If Steve Lappas couldn't do it at Villanova, why should he be able to in Amherst? Michigan. Forget another Fab Five. We'll settle for a Fab Two. After a bitter departure from Seton Hall, Tommy Amaker still needs to prove himself. Tom Izzo can't get every good Michigan prepster, can he? What's your take on the experimental rules in this year's preseason tournaments?
Well, Alicia (do your friends call you "Al Groh"?), I'm all for the widened lane. I didn't see any more three-second calls than usual, but a lot of that is up to the refs to whistle. In fact, I'd have no problem with adopting the trapezoidal lane used in the international game -- anything to decrease all the banging inside. The center-court jump ball didn't work for me, simply because it had the effect of an NFL instant-replay delay, which is the last thing basketball needs. Marquette defeats Tennessee, Indiana and Gonzaga to win the Great Alaska Shootout and is left out of the rankings. What gives and what type of miracle do the Golden Eagles need to pull in order to get into the Top 25?
Relax and quit paying attention to the coaches' poll (where Marquette was No. 26). The AP poll got the Golden Eagles in at No. 23, which is probably too low, given the display that Dwyane Wade & Co. put on in the Great White North. Sophomore forward Odartey Blankson is out for at least a couple weeks with a stress fracture in his foot, but thanks to a lull in the schedule, look for Marquette to cruise until it has to play at Wisconsin and Wake Forest in late December. By the way, you have to love a coach like Tom Crean, who as a Michigan State assistant once motivated the Spartans by showing them Jerry Springer tapes. Morris Brown updateMy favorite team in the country is in the midst of a rough stretch, but ... the Wolverines did win their home opener last week. Overall record: 1-4. Current RPI: 264 (ahead of No. 296 North Carolina!). Last week: 1-1. After edging provisional D-I school Lipscomb 71-70, the Wolverines came thisclose against Tulsa, getting edged 88-41. Next up: at Ole Miss on Wednesday, at Boston College on Dec. 4. (Ugh.) Back to regular programming Why does Steve Lavin have a Division I coaching job? "Experts" proclaim him to be a great recruiter, but the name UCLA sells itself. Furthermore, if you ever watch him on the sidelines during a game he acts more like a cheerleader than a coach. Unlike Lute Olson or Mike Montgomery, Lavin is not respected as a teacher or leader by his players. No wonder UCLA talked to Rick Pitino last year.
Here's some food for thought: If you're talking about coaches who act more like cheerleaders on the sidelines, you'd have to include Pitino in that category as well. Second, if you're going to bring up the no-respect theme, I suggest you reconsider, given the respect Earl Watson had for Lavin last year (and vice versa). The fact is, Lavin has kept his job by winning -- under conditions in which he's held to a higher standard than about any other coach in the country. At some point he's going to have to start going to Final Fours, but you don't see Kansas fans clamoring for Roy Williams' head after eight years without a Final Four appearance. The Best (Blank) in (Blank)Let's start out with "Best Sushi in the United States," for which we have a tie! I dare anyone to give me a better option than: Shiro's: Talk about Seattle's Best. Shiro Kashiba is the Emerald City's grandmaster. My wife, Celine (dare we call her the 'Bag Lady?), will be accompanying me here for my birthday on Sunday. Sushi Sasabune: Hawaii's version of the Soup Nazi will point to the door if you ask for a California Roll, but if you mind your P's and Q's and put your faith in chef Seiji Kumagawa (the sign behind him says, "Today's Menu: Trust Me") he'll feed you like a king. Uche, Uche, UcheBack to Missouri's Uche Okafor for a second, Goran Spanic of San Diego wants to know: "Can you tell me if Missouri center Uche Okafor is related in some way to the Uche Okafor who played in Major League Soccer for the Kansas City Wizards? There can't be that many Uche Okafors running around Missouri, right?" Strange but true, Goran: I've met about 10 Nigerians in my life, and two of them are named Uche Okafor. When I met Uche the Hoopster in Idaho two years ago, I asked him about Uche the Footballer, and he said they weren't related. It's back! Where Are They Now ...Returning to popular demand, WATN wants to know: Where in the world is Dale Brown's Dutch Dynamo, Geert Hammink ??? Any ideas? Both fact and (creative) fiction are welcome. See you next week. Click here to send your college basketball question to Grant Wahl.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
