| | We all know Duke-North Carolina on a Thursday night in the middle of the ACC
season is a pressure situation.
Playing Temple on national television was a butterfly game for
Cincinnati. No one is arguing that regular-season games for the elite in
college basketball aren't filled with tense moments.
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“ |
The pressure is enormous. You're trying to do what
the Miamis of Ohio and Gonzagas have done. You're trying to
do it for your school, but if you slip up in the first round, all the
dreams go down the drain. ” |
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— Akron's Jimmal
Ball |
But first-round games in the Big Ten tournament for Purdue or
Indiana? Come on. No pressure. Both teams know they're in the field of 64.
The only thing up for grabs is a slightly better seed in the Big Dance.
"There's pressure when you're playing Kansas or Oklahoma in the
season, but going into the conference tournament, there's more of a relaxed
feeling," said Butler's Scott Robisch, a former Oklahoma State center. "You
know you don't have to win it all and you can still get a seed from five to
eight."
Now that Robisch is at Butler -- where nothing is guaranteed, even
with the Bulldogs winning the Midwestern Collegiate Conference -- he's hooked
on the pressure of conference tournaments.
"We're feeling the pressure now," Robisch said. "We're thinking
about that conference tournament."
Try to imagine playing in a conference tournament in a league that
is considered mid- to low-major (10 and below on the power ratings). Feel
what Akron's Jimmal Ball experiences when he steps on the court for a
first-round game in the Mid-American Conference tournament. Lose and you're
done. The NIT may not even come calling.
"The pressure is enormous," Ball said. "You're trying to do what
the Miamis of Ohio and Gonzagas have done. You're trying to do it for your
school, but if you slip up in the first round, all the dreams go down the
drain."
Regardless of what occurred in the non-conference or conference
season. Only a few mid- to low-major teams -- Pepperdine, Gonzaga, Kent, Utah State and,
maybe, Bowling Green -- have a better than 50-50 chance to earn at-large
berths, regardless of winning their conference tournaments. For everyone
else, the highs of winning a regular-season title, earning 20 or more wins,
even picking off major upsets (Indiana State over Indiana) may not matter in
March.
Ball said the pressure weighs on players mentally, as if they were
shouldering a ton of bricks. Akron lost in the first round of the MAC tournament
a year ago and an 18-win season -- the most in the '90s by the Zips -- wasn't
rewarded with a postseason berth.
Is it fair? Hardly. But it's a reality that players have accepted at
that level, especially the ones who transferred to a mid-major after playing at
a school in a major conference.
"You have to accept it but it's hard to think that we're 21-6 and
teams with worse records may go to the NCAA Tournament over us," said
Maine's Nate Fox, a former Boston College player. "The only reason is
they're in major conferences."
Maine was in a precarious position prior to losing to Hofstra on Saturday, losing the No. 1 seed in the America East tournament to the Dutchmen. While the first two rounds of the tournament are played in Delaware, the top remaining seed hosts the title game -- a huge advantage (potentially for
Hofstra) in an attempt to earn the automatic NCAA berth.
"Everyone starts out 0-0, but it's bad enough to worry about those
two games, because the final is at a home site," Fox said. "You play your
whole season and it still may come down to that one game. We wanted that No.
1 seed to bring the game back to Maine. Now, our nerves are heightened."
But many teams can't feel safe just with a decent record, a conference title or an above-average power rating. Teams such as Bowling Green are beginning to feel that they have to win convincingly in
the tournament, let alone get to the title game.
"We've got to impress the NCAA Tournament committee to let us into
the tournament," Bowling Green senior Dave Esterkamp said. "It would
definitely be disappointing to work so hard in the pre-conference, win some
decent games, go 11-4 and be tied for first in our league and not get hot
for three days. Some schools like North Carolina can still get in without
having a good season."
Last season, Bowling Green won seven of its last 10 games to finish with an 18-10 record but were denied an NCAA or NIT berth.
Accepting their lot in the tournament is harder for some players to
swallow. Southern Illinois' Chris Thunell and Indiana State's Nate Green
have a realistic view. Thunell is banking on a regular-season title in the
Missouri Valley as proof that they belong in the tournament. Beating Green's
Sycamores on Wednesday may help the Salukis secure that goal. But Thunell still
knows that losing in the conference tournament doesn't guarantee a bid.
"The pressure will come, but you can't give yourself a shot without
winning the conference first," Thunell said.
For Green and the Sycamores, being in a position to earn a NCAA
berth is new enough. The pressure is expected. But it will sting if
the Sycamores will be left at home without the NCAA berth.
"You'd feel like it's punishment," Green said. "It's definitely
motivation right now. We beat Indiana. We've had two seven-game win streaks.
But it's not enough for the NCAA Tournament. We know that. If we had more
tradition of winning then we would have more pressure. We haven't been in
this position before."
Not Good enough
Former Maine Central Institute coach Max Good, now an assistant at
UNLV, is furious. He's upset over the insinuation that he ran a crooked
program. The NCAA has suspended two of his former players -- Oklahoma State's
Andre Williams and Cincinnati's DerMarr Johnson -- and is looking into a
third (Erick Barkley of St. John's) for having a portion of their tuitions paid
for by either AAU coaches or benefactors.
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“ |
There was no school that was as straightforward where kids busted
their ass as ours. They're making it look like a bandit program. ” |
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— Former MCI coach Max Good |
Williams was suspended for five games and forced to repay $5,000 of
the full $22,500 tuition that was paid for by Kansas City-based benefactor Tom
Grant.
Johnson just served a one-game suspension (Cincinnati's win over Southern Miss on Wednesday) for having his AAU coach, Curtis Malone, pay $7,500 of the
$22,500 tuition. Johnson will have to repay the money, but won't be
obligated if he leaves for the NBA.
The NCAA is also looking into who paid a portion of Barkley's MCI tuition two years ago. He was suspended for two games (originally three) for an unrelated violation earlier this season after he exchanged cars with a friend.
"There was no school that was as straightforward where kids busted
their ass as ours," Good said. "They're making it look like a bandit
program. Kids could have gone to places like Oak Hill or Mt. Zion for
nothing. Yet, they came to MCI where they had to pay a portion. I didn't
know how much anyone paid. I didn't recruit DerMarr. He recruited us."
Good, known to be a tough disciplinarian, said he got Johnson and
Barkley back on track and resents any inference that they were involved in
NCAA violations. Yet, under the NCAA's new quest to track down extra
benefits received prior to players enrolling in college, all three cases are violations of the amateur
rules. Under the NCAA's interpretation, players cannot receive any extra
benefit after ninth grade.
MCI doesn't give full scholarships.
"I'd welcome the NCAA to come and talk to me, I've got nothing to
hide," Good said. "The Andre Williams case is heinous. Tom Grant was just
helping him. Andre was an innocent bystander. Curtis Malone was Johnson's
guardian. Will Caron Butler (a Connecticut signee) be next? Who knows. There
are a lot of guys who could be. MCI is getting targeted because it has
high-profile players and because we charged them (tuition)."
Good is convinced that these suspensions and investigations will
drive Barkley and Johnson to the NBA, possibly earlier than they would have
gone had this not occurred.
Weekly chatter
Connecticut's Khalid El-Amin isn't a lock to declare for
the draft. Poor play of late may have him returning to Storrs for his senior
season, joining incoming recruit Taliek Brown in the backcourt or in a
point-guard rotation.
If you're looking for college coaches who might be interested in testing the NBA
waters, the three names that come up in NBA circles are Kentucky's Tubby
Smith, St. John's Mike Jarvis and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim. The two likely
openings where a college coach could land are Washington and Atlanta.
Expect Fresno State director of basketball operations and
former USC assistant Jack Fertig to be a serious candidate at Cal
State-Fullerton, along with Utah assistant and former Fullerton assistant
Donny Daniels, Eastern Washington coach Steve Aggers and UCLA assistants Jim
Saia and Michael Holton.
The list, with the addition of Metro State (Colo.) coach Mike Dunlap, is almost the same for the Loyola-Marymount opening.
Fullerton coach Bob Hawking resigned Wednesday. Loyola coach
Charles Bradley resigned earlier in the week. Both resignations will take effect at
the end of the season.
If American coach Art Perry doesn't keep his job, expect
former Virginia coach and present Rhode Island assistant coach Jeff Jones to be at the
top of the school's list. If he's not the choice, St. John's assistant Mike
Jarvis II, Connecticut assistant Karl Hobbs and Cal assistant Scott Beeten
could be in the mix.
If Minnesota wins the Big Ten tournament title, the league
will give up its automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. The Gophers are
ineligible for the postseason due to a school-imposed ban, but are allowed to participate in the Big Ten
tournament.
The Big East could face a tiebreaker situation for its
conference tournament. The first factor is obvious: head-to-head record. If that doesn't
work, then the two teams match wins against the top seeds. If three teams
are tied, the teams are looked at as a mini-conference, comparing records
against each other. The next tiebreaker goes to the best records against the
other top seeds. The last tiebreaker is a coin flip. The Big Ten essentially has the same procedure.
Rhode Island forward Leroy Womack will likely have surgery
on his foot this spring and be back next season. Meanwhile, one-time signee
Tony Cole, now at Community College of Rhode Island, won't be a Ram next
year or in the future. The Rams have cut ties to the former signee, who
must earn an A.A. degree before he can play at a Division I school. The
depleted Rams are hoping to get Luther Clay back for the March 3 game
against Fordham. He's out with an eye-socket injury.
Appalachian State coach Buzz Peterson tried an odd way to
get his team loose last week. He had them play kickball.
"We had to do something to get their emotions back," Peterson said.
"They were in a rut. Then I had them write on a piece of paper something
funny and stand up and say it. We had a great time."
But the Mountaineers weren't smiling by week's end, losing to VMI and
Davidson.
Six NBA scouts were at the Indian Hills-Iowa Western (Iowa)
Junior College game last week. Most were there to check out Indian Hills'
Ernest Brown (Iowa State signee) and Cory Hightower (TCU signee). Brown
isn't ready for the NBA, let alone to be a factor in Division I. But family
financial pressures may drive him to the league early. Hightower is better
prepared athletically and could declare this May.
Saint Mary's coach Dave Bollwinkel received a new
three-year contract last spring. He said he has two more seasons left on
the deal, even though it was reported that he only received a one-year
contract extension. Meanwhile, troubled and oft-injured center Brad Millard
is likely done for the year. His latest foot injury has kept him out of all
but 10 games this season. He's been an albatross for Bollwinkel and the
program of late. The Gaels need to move on with life after Brad.
The McDonald's All-American roster will be released
Monday. The game is March 29 at Boston's Fleet Center.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. His Weekly Word on college
basketball runs Thursdays throughout the season. | |
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Conference tournament schedule
The Word's Answer Man
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