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Wednesday, March 21
Book smarts, hoops IQ not the same
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The excellent grades required to get into
Stanford don't necessarily make players geniuses on the basketball
court.
"There's definitely some guys on our team who made 1,400 or
1,500 on the SAT and you ask them to run a play and sometimes they
have no idea where to go," forward Ryan Mendez said. "Other guys
aren't so smart and just seem to get it done on the court."
Coach Mike Montgomery said basketball requires quick reaction
time compared to the analyzing and evaluating that goes into
classwork.
"We've had some really bright kids who really didn't understand
the game at all," he said. "Book smarts and basketball IQ can
definitely be different things."
A loss that lingered: Maryland's Gary Williams, completing his
12th season at his alma mater and 23rd as a college coach, said
Duke's 98-96 victory over the Terrapins on Jan. 27 was extremely
difficult to get past.
"It was an amazing thing. I've never had one game have such an
impact," Williams said Wednesday. "That game wouldn't go away, it
was devastating. It became an instant classic."
The Blue Devils rallied from a 10-point deficit in the final
minute to force overtime. And in College Park no less.
"We turned it over three times, we shot 1-of-4 from the foul
line, Duke made three 3s from distance," Williams recalled of the
final minute of regulation.
The loss triggered a stretch where the Terps lost five of six
games. They've rebounded to win eight of nine including two in the
NCAA tournament.
The lone loss during that time? An 84-82 setback to Duke in the
semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
"We played Duke three times, we lost two by two points, we won
one by 10," Williams said. "That game wasn't an instant
classic."
Another explosive Bob: This Bob doesn't wear a red sweater,
but Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins can be as explosive as the Bob who
used to coach at Indiana.
Animated is a polite way to describe Huggins's sideline
behavior, which often includes screaming and some profanity.
"I hope I bring some passion to what I do," he said. "I think
everybody should care about what they do and care about the people
who are there doing it with them."
Before he signed with the Bearcats, guard Steve Logan believed
Huggins' public image as an angry man.
"People tend to see coach as a maniac on the sideline, but
actually he's a great person and he has a big heart," Logan said.
"When you see him off the court, he always asks how you're doing,
how your family is doing."
Huggins describes himself as "pretty laid back" off the court.
"I know that surprises a few people," he said, adding that he
couldn't maintain his on-court intensity for 24 hours.
Offense vs. defense: Maryland is one of the country's
highest-scoring teams, averaging 85.5 points. Georgetown has a
different approach, holding teams to an average of 67.3 points.
"We won't try to outscore them," Georgetown's Kevin Braswell
said. "We've had uptempo games. We just want to focus on our
defense right now. We try to disrupt teams' offenses. When we do
that, that's how we have our best success."
Said the Hoyas' Ruben Boumtje Boumtje: "It won't be a
one-on-one shootout, that's not our style. We believe in our
defense. If we play smart and make some shots, we'll do fine."
Best friends, different schools: Maryland's Juan Dixon and
Georgetown's Kevin Braswell have been best friends since meeting as
sixth-graders in Baltimore.
But now they play for different schools. And those schools meet
Thursday night in the West Regional semifinals at Anaheim Arena.
Dixon said he thought it was possible the two would play
together in college. However, it didn't work out that way.
"He just decided to go to Georgetown," Dixon said. "I thought
he was coming (to Maryland), but he didn't. I had my eyes on
Maryland since I was in high school; no chance I would go to
Georgetown."
Gon, but not forgotten: Marvin O'Connor, the St. Joseph's
guard who scored 37 points against Stanford, hasn't been forgotten.
The Hawks went back to Philadelphia after losing 90-83 in the
second round, but O'Connor's gutsy performance was still being
talked about Wednesday as the West Regional moved to Anaheim.
"I'd like to trade for him," Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins
said. "I was one of the people giving him a standing ovation. I
thought he was terrific."
O'Connor received a standing ovation from 11,000 fans in San
Diego, including Stanford's supporters.
"Marvin O'Connor did a great job," Stanford's Ryan Mendez
said. "He got hot."
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