Sunday, April 01, 2001
Arizona's talent rises to top
MINNEAPOLIS — They are frighteningly good when they want to be, when all that NBA-in-waiting talent collaborates as one. In spurts, they'll drop your jaw and leave you wondering what's the use.
One of Arizona's spurts doomed Michigan State Saturday. The Wildcats went from the Saturday night shakes to the Monday night party, from suspect to stunning. All it took was six minutes.
They led 32-30 at half, which didn't seem good enough against the muscular Spartans, who push and shove until opponents take a standing eight count. “About the middle of the second half, you start to see us get a lot of easy rebounds” was how center Andre Hutson had explained
it.
Over in a blur
But Michigan State discovered something about the Wildcats, along with the rest of the country: You cannot bump what you do not see. For six minutes in the second half, the Wildcats were a decisive blur.
They started the second half with a 21-3 cloudburst. Loren Woods, who ended the first half by blocking a shot, began the second by stroking a light-as-air 15-foot jumper. What happened next explained why Arizona will play Monday.
Richard Jefferson stole a lazy Spartans pass near midcourt and went in for a jam. Gilbert Arenas stole the next Michigan State pass, in nearly the identical spot, and converted a slam of his own.
A minute later, Jefferson muscled an offensive rebound, calmly dribbled outside the arc and dropped a three-bomb into Michigan State's season. That made it 53-33. Arizona had scored 21 points in six minutes. Michigan State was warming up the bus.
How could this happen? The Spartans played harder, longer than anyone. They were the last man standing in the tough guy contest. Weren't they? In four previous tournament games, they'd outrebounded their opponents by an average of 18 a game, even though their tallest starter was just 6-foot-8.
“People talk so much about their rebounding,” Jefferson said. “We're not that bad of a rebounding team ourselves.”
But this was supposed to be a physical game. In a physical game, how do you pick against a team coached by Izzo, a man from Iron Mountain, Mich.? What do they do in Iron Mountain, pound nails with their foreheads?
Too much quickness
If you want to pick against a team that treats every rebound like a bouncer's night out, have at it.
You'd be right. Arizona won because their guards were embarrassingly quick. “One step quicker to the board than we were,” said Michigan State's Charlie Bell.
Compared to the Michigan State guards, Arenas and Jason Gardner were Gretzky on skates.
The Wildcats won because the real Loren Woods stood up. Woods was the X-factor. He'd been suspended twice at two schools, once this year, for indifferent play.
Woods had five of Arizona's first seven points. He was active enough on defense to hold Hutson to just three points in the first half. Woods finished with just 11 points and eight rebounds. But his defensive presence — including three blocked shots — changed the game.
The Wildcats have one game to go to fulfill all that pro promise. Keep your eyes on them. If you can.
E-mail: pdaugherty@enquirer.com. Past columns at Enquirer.com/columns/daugherty.
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