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Tuesday, November 28, 2000
Season gets off to sizzling start in N.Y.
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
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NEW YORK - Mike Jarvis had a question for the media first.
"What day is this?" The 10th, someone blurted out.
"What month?" November was the answer.
"I've never felt like this on the 10th of November before," the St. John's coach said Friday night after the Red Storm lost the Coaches vs. Cancer title game 82-74 at a raucous and partisan Madison Square Garden.
"This was one of helluva tournament, a great tournament with four unbelievably intensive games," Jarvis said. "This feels like January or mid-February."
And to think the commissioners in major conferences like the Pac-10,
Big Ten, SEC and Big East are actually pursuing getting rid of exempted
events like this one. The proposal making its way through the legislative
process would make it almost impossible for the events to attract teams if
the tournament has to count against the maximum 28 regular-season games.
In case the commissioners, who want control of matchmaking and money, weren't watching, here's what they missed:
four games that had more of a look of March than November, as Kansas fought off two major comebacks from UCLA and St. John's to prevail for the title,
an improbable St. John's five-point swing to beat Kentucky in the final 22 seconds Thursday,
overtime UCLA victory over Kentucky in, yes, a consolation game.
This comes a year after what seemed like an unrivaled Coaches vs. Cancer tournament saw Iowa upset then-defending national champion Connecticut in the first round, Stanford shock Duke and then Connecticut beat Duke in, yes, a consolation game, to send the Blue Devils to an 0-2 start. That was last year's opening weekend!
Meanwhile, in Chapel Hill, N.C., at the NABC Classic, college
basketball continued its 2000-01 debut Friday with North Carolina's frenzied five-point win over Winthrop in Matt Doherty's unveiling as coach at his alma mater. That was just the prelude to a two-point, last-minute win for Tulsa and its new coach, former Doherty Tar Heels' teammate Buzz Peterson, over Arizona State.
While both of those games might have been just as exciting, the four games Thursday and Friday in New York did wonders for giving a legitimate gauge on all four teams. And it's not bad at all, especially if Kentucky leaves here with the worst record. Why? The Wildcats can recover easier.
Here's a team-by-team look at what we learned in New York:
Kansas
This isn't the Kansas team that waxed a weaker Great Alaska Shootout field last Thanksgiving, only to end up losing 10 games and exiting in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
That team was flawed, mainly because it couldn't score as easy as it wanted to on the break or in the halfcourt. The Jayhawks proved in New York that if teams want to run with them, they'll be in for a dead sprint.
"If they score on us, we've been told to get the ball out quickly
and go right back at them instead of lowering our shoulders and sulking,"
Kansas senior center Eric Chenowith said. "(Coach Roy Williams) always prided himself on running in his early years and he got to two Final Fours."
Williams disputes the charge that they didn't run the past few years. What he does say is that they ran, but couldn't score. Now they can score, but don't play defense -- yet.
"It's such a misconception because we always ran," Williams said.
"Opposing coaches like to say we're under control. We run under control. We
never work the clock. We've got more gifted offensive players but sorrier
defensive players and our focus is trying to outscore them. We've got the
ability to score but we've got to get somebody who can guard."
Kansas answered when UCLA and St. John's penetrated or hit 3s by racing back
the other end for transition baskets. When they had to go halfcourt, they were able to survive.
The reason are simple: The players improved.
Drew Gooden is now a legit scorer on the wing or posting up inside
(he had a game-high 22 off the bench Friday). Nick Collison continues to be
a capable scorer. And senior guard Kenny Gregory not only beat his opponents
down court, but he also crashed the backboard (17 rebounds overall in two
games), especially at the offensive end.
Gregory, the tournament's most
valuable player, scored 24 in the first win, 17 in the final. Chenowith
fouled out of both games but still proved to be effective when he had to
score inside, finishing with 20 points in two games.
If there's a flaw, it's that the Jayhawks are still thin in the
backcourt behind the streaky Kirk Hinrich and Jeff Boschee -- at least until
Luke Axtell returns. Axtell, the team's top scorer in two exhibitions and its best
shooter, missed the tournament with a sprained left ankle.
With Axtell out, Gregory logged more minutes and will continue to do
so until he returns. But even when Axtell is back, the Jayhawks will play
more zone, something Williams said he needs to improve on coaching. But this
team is a worthy work in progress.
They responded to two serious challenges, the first from UCLA after
putting the Bruins down 16-2 to start the game. The second obstacle came
against a pesky Red Storm team that didn't quit and fed off a hostile home
crowd.
"The atmosphere was real tough, like a road game, like March
Madness," Gregory said. "We had to adjust and show our composure after
having two big leads each night."
Kansas was hurt by the aggressive board work of St. John's, especially at the defensive end. Omar Cook's penetration bothered them, too. There were times when UCLA's perimeter shooting shook its defense down, as well. But they didn't fold and ended up looking like a legit title contender, on yes, the opening weekend.
"This one is much bigger an accomplishment than winning Alaska,"
Gregory said. "This was in New York, the mecca of basketball. There were
more quality teams in this tournament and we were poised down the stretch.
We're a tougher team and one that's going to stick together as one more
often."
Kentucky
If any team can handle being 0-2 out of here it's Kentucky.
Remember Duke? The Blue Devils left the Garden winless after two games last season and ripped off 18 straight wins to eventually become the No. 1 team in the country. Kentucky's schedule is harder over the next month -- trips to Michigan State and North Carolina should be tougher than Duke beating USC in Anaheim or at Michigan last season.
But the Wildcats were within one call of being in the championship
game after losing their composure in the final few seconds against St.
John's.
UCLA seemed to play with more urgency Friday night. But, for all the Wildcats' talent on the floor, they're still relatively young and inexperienced. The backcourt shouldn't be that way, with senior Saul Smith and sophomore Keith Bogans, but the monster threesome in the middle (Marvin Stone, Jason Parker and Marquis Estill) have played a total of one year of college basketball and it's all Stone.
The key will be for this team to mesh and not sulk, or not let the Kentucky faithful bear down on them too much.
"We've got four months before the NCAA Tournament," Kentucky coach
Tubby Smith said. "We can correct some of the mistakes and problems we had.
We'll be good with some seasoning. We beat kids down quite a bit and it can
be pretty tough in Kentucky on a young man or on a coach but I'm a bit more
hardened to it."
Smith's biggest chore is massaging the egos of a team of hyped up
stars who haven't had to realize that they haven't arrived yet. Parker might
end up being one of the most dominant post players in the game - but he has
to learn that his shot will get blocked like it was against UCLA. He'll also
have to rebound better than twice in 25 minutes. Smith and Tayshaun Prince
saw their shooting fall off. But in the decisive minutes, Smith had
seldom-heard of but promising guard Gerald Fitch on the floor, taking
critical shots.
"It's not just one thing," Saul Smith said. "We gave up too many
second-chance points, too many offensive rebounds 24 (actually 22) and
that's unacceptable. Our free-throw percentage was atrocious (62.5 percent)
and we've got to work on that. We felt in the two games that we lost that
we're a much better team."
St. John's and UCLA
The Red Storm and Bruins leave this tournament knowing they can
compete on the national stage.
The Red Storm got a sensational debut from New York City point Omar
Cook. He was instrumental in beating Kentucky on Thursday with five 3s, and then
proved it wasn't a fluke with four more against Kansas. He backed up his jawing with Gregory by jettisoning any Jayhawk defender when he had to get to the basket.
St. John's perfect storm was to have Cook create havoc on both ends of the court, or with his mouth, by getting his teammates and his opponents jacked.
On paper, the Red Storm looked like they had no business beating
Kentucky and nearly upsetting Kansas, but they continued to be a scrappy, old-school team. Anthony Glover simply outworks other players to get to the
basket for second-chance points, and the newcomers like Willie Shaw and Kyle
Cuffe are better shooters than anyone imagined.
"As usual, our guys showed up to play and never gave up," Jarvis
said. "I see a group of guys here who compete, really compete. I see a team
with unbelievable potential. We're America's team and we're trying to prove
that. They play with so much heart and passion that I see the makings of a
great basketball team."
Steve Lavin isn't that bold yet, but the Bruins could have swept through this tournament had it not been for a few missed free throws by Matt Barnes and a poor start Thursday night.
Barnes made up for his miscues with a solid nine-point, seven-rebound game Friday. Just as Barnes was off Thursday, Dan Gadzuric looked like he didn't start the season until Friday. His no-show Thursday was offset by a banner day from freshman T.J. Cummings, who blitzed onto the scene with 24 points.
And just when it was safe to call the Bruins toast when maybe the country's best 3-point shooter, Jason Kapono, fouled out Friday, Ray Young started to rainbow 3s. Young finished with two 3s to help the Bruins upset Kentucky and return with a split that sends a message to the rest of the Pac-10 that the Bruins should stay in the top four all year long.
"We're an old-style college basketball team," Lavin said. "I think
we showed that we can compete with anybody."
After two days, four games, and playing in as lively an arena as maybe any four-team tournament will be this season, college basketball got under way in sensational fashion.
Officials let the teams play. The games were high scoring. The
action was fast-paced and the tournament ended with four certain facts:
Kansas is a contender; Kentucky got a needed gauge that it's not as good
yet; Cook is the real deal; and Cummings could be one of the better big men
on the Left Coast.
Not bad for two days. Still want to start the season later and without these types of games? Don't think so.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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ALSO SEE
Kansas tops St. John's, wins Coaches vs. Cancer Classic
Bruins survive late-game collapse, top Kentucky in OT
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