Saturday, March 25, 2000
Fizer wears bullseye
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Iowa State's Marcus Fizer is the reigning star of the NCAA Tournament. He has been discovered. And he is not pleased.
Fizer was nearly anonymous through most of the season, making first-team All-America more by the strength of his production and Iowa State's achievements than eyewitness accounts of his greatness. The Cyclones appeared only twice on national TV.
“A lot of teams still believe if you stop me, you're going to beat the Cyclones,” Fizer said. “It feels great to know that I don't have to do everything. I feel really good when I look at the box score and see a teammate that has more points than me.”
It doesn't happen often, not even Thursday, when he scored a mere 16 in an 80-56 rout of UCLA. Fizer was matched in that game by teammates Stevie Johnson and Michael Nurse, but it was the 30th time in 36 games he topped the team in scoring.
A wide-bodied power forward listed at 6-foot-8 but probably closer to 6-6, Fizer is being favorably compared to Charles Barkley. Fizer can score in the post and also makes 39 percent of his 3-point shots.
With a 23-point average, Fizer is by far the leading scorer left in the NCAA Tournament. The top man for Michigan State, the Cyclones' opponent in today's 7p.m. Midwest Regional final, is forward Morris Peterson at 16.5 a game.
“He is incredibly gifted on the floor,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said of Fizer. “He has an incredible feel for the game. I watched him on one tape where he was surrounded by three guys and just turned and shot it in. He never panics.”
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