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| Thursday, January 24 Green's return a win-win situation for Irvine By Ed Graney Special to ESPN.com |
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It can be an advantage to travel cross-country, all those hours to sit and reflect and plan one's future, a time to decide which path to embrace, which advice to accept. Jerry Green found himself there a few times last spring, 30,000 feet in the air and a daunting challenge running through his mind.
"I came back from (NBA workouts and camps) in New York and Chicago knowing I had to get stronger and improve certain parts of my game," said Green. "I had to do things that would help me separate myself from other players the next time."
He is doing so, and UC Irvine's basketball program is benefiting.
It's about time. Nearly half-way through the conference schedule, you will begin to see a separation from pretenders and contenders. Five teams are bunched at the top of the standings with one or two losses, and that doesn't even include Arizona. The Wildcats dropped to 6-3 in league by losing at Arizona State on Wednesday. More numbers to consider: The three teams with the highest rankings -- Arizona (No. 10), UCLA (No. 13) and Stanford (No. 17) -- are not in first place. That distinction belongs to USC and Oregon with one conference loss each. Much will be learned when Stanford and Cal make the UCLA-USC swing this week. "We haven't played everyone yet, but on paper it still looks like if UCLA and USC are not the two best teams, they are among the best," said Stanford coach Mike Montgomery, whose team has yet to beat anyone among the top 41 vote-getters in this week's Associated Press poll. "Getting a road win or two down there will not be easy. "But something has to give soon. The race can't stay (this close) for long." Cal could go either way over the next week. The Bears (13-3, 4-2) now face consecutive games against USC, UCLA and Arizona. Five teams could make the NCAA Tournament, a sixth will not. It's about time this race heats up. Parmer Fallout The player says this, the coach says that, the truth can probably be found somewhere in the middle. What's done is done and junior point guard Marlon Parmer has quit New Mexico's team, accusing Fran Fraschilla of intimidation and verbal abuse. Fraschilla says such things are ludicrous. Again, search for the middle. But what does it mean for the Lobos in the Mountain West Conference? Said one person close to the program: "We run a one-dimensional offense and (Parmer) is the only dimension. Everything starts and goes through him. That offense will be lost without him. This could easily mean New Mexico now battling Colorado State and Air Force for sixth place." Maybe, maybe not. But the Lobos (12-5, 2-1 MWC) are certainly not the same. They played Air Force at home without Parmer, scored 50 points and won by three. Junior guard Senque Carey doesn't penetrate near as well as Parmer (worth much more on the floor than averages of 12.8 points and 5.4 assists) and a young inside game hasn't become stellar overnight. Opposing coaches can now concentrate most of their defensive strategy on Lobos guard Ruben Douglas. Sixth place? It's highly doubtful New Mexico slips that far. But know this: Coaches at BYU and San Diego State and Nevada-Las Vegas are smiling behind closed doors today, knowing the pursuit of a top tier conference finish just became easier. WAC Happenings Utah: Head coach Rick Majerus calls it "fool's gold." Most teams would kill for such fortune. The Utes are scorching from the outside, hitting a nation's best 44.8 percent from 3-point range. The Utes have won 11 straight and are rolling along despite the absence of leading scorer and rebounder Chris Burgess (foot). Get this: Utah missed 11 of its first 12 shots at New Mexico and still won by 30. Wow. Pepperdine: Most NCAA Tournament projections are now saying the West Coast Conference will earn two bids this season with Gonzaga and these Waves. First-place Pepperdine (11-5, 4-0) took the Zags out 88-79 in Malibu last week and now face a key road trip against Santa Clara on Thursday and San Diego on Saturday. It's important for Paul Westphal's team to continue distancing themselves from everyone except Gonzaga. In other words, don't give the committee any reason to think twice come Selection Sunday. Who's Not Oregon State: It's a bit of a mystery, this overall record of 8-9 and Pac-10 mark of 1-6. The Beavers -- with players like Brian Jackson, Philip Ricci and Adam Masten -- are certainly skilled enough to win more games. But success hasn't found OSU, which is shooting 36 percent on 3s and averaging just 27 rebounds. Road games against the Washington schools this week should go a long ways in determining who will finish eighth and clinch the final Pac-10 Tournament berth. San Diego State: The Aztecs (11-7) have dropped three of four to open Mountain West play, including very winnable games at Utah (76-70) and home to Wyoming (88-85 in overtime). Confidence is the key to success, and the Aztecs need to prove the close defeats haven't climbed inside their heads. If Steve Fisher's team intends on making a run for a top No. 3 conference tournament seed, it needs to beat visiting UNLV on Saturday. Quote to Note "He is playing with tremendous confidence. I think in the last three weeks all of his skills and abilities have been on display. He has had as impressive a run of any UCLA player in a long time. You probably have to go back to Ed O'Bannon in 1995, when he had that six-week run all the way to a national championship, to a find a player who has had this kind of impact on both ends of the floor." -- UCLA coach Steve Lavin on the recent play of senior forward Matt Barnes, who's averaging 14.7 points and 6.2 rebounds. Thought for the Day We hear Marlon Parmer has a car with a television in it. Man, if we could have only learned to go to our left better as a kid. Ed Graney of the San Diego Union-Tribune is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at ed.graney@uniontrib.com. |
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