FIBA Basketball
West Coast basketball is finally looking good
Don't touch that dial. Do not adjust your TV set. UCLA was "Survivor" on CBS on Thursday night and, along with Gonzaga, showed what West Coast college basketball is all about.East Coast bias had good cause to stay up late to watch the Bruins and the Zags
From www.marinij.com
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Don't touch that dial. Do not adjust your TV set. UCLA was "Survivor" on CBS on Thursday night and, along with Gonzaga, showed what West Coast college basketball is all about.
East Coast bias had good cause to stay up late to watch the Bruins and the Zags. This was not a WCC, Mountain West or WAC-ky midnight tip-off. This was Gonzaga versus UCLA, two of the most attractive and compelling teams in the land trying to put West Coast basketball back on the map, especially since East Coast darling Duke has been knocked out of the tournament.
Thus, the Zags-Bruins matchup should have swayed the viewing interest of the nation to the Left Coast for a change.
It's about time.
The notion from the Righteous Coast is that the basketball out here is too soft. Our teams won't defend. Our kids can't play.
Well, if you fans and so-called experts back East went to bed after the Texas-West Virginia game in the Atlanta Regional, get a tape of the Oakland Regional semifinal nightcap and see for yourself. UCLA trailed by 17 points in the first half and by nine points with 3:27 to play and won. There have been much better teams in the storied history of UCLA basketball, but this one might be the toughest.
"It's really just a testament to the character, the toughness, the heart of our players to never quit," said UCLA coach Ben Howland.
Howland never panicked, never yelled at his players on the sideline during the game. Neither Holland nor Gonzaga coach Mark Few could find fault with the gutsy effort their players put forth.
"Going into it people had questioned our toughness and maybe how physical we could be and I really thought my guys responded and responded well and they executed the game plan," Few said.
So did Holland's. They played hack-a-stache defense on Gonzaga star Adam Morrison and wore him out. Then they picked him up. At the end of the game, a teary-eyed and exhausted Morrison collapsed near midcourt and rolled over on his stomach. UCLA guard Arron Afflalo, who fiercely guarded the Gonzaga All-American for most of the game, was one of three Bruins players to rush over and help him off the floor.
"That's just a sign of, honestly, a great program and great people," Morrison said. "They had the guts, as men, to come over in their moment of victory to pick somebody off the floor. É That's just a sign of great people and great players. That's more than basketball."
That's mutual respect, something that is lacking substantially toward West Coast teams from the other side of the Continental Divide. The Pac-10 was supposed to be a joke this season and Gonzaga, struggling to the finish line against supposedly weak conference foes, was rumored to ripe for a first- or second-round exit this season.
They proved everyone wrong on Thursday night.
"We beat a great team today," Holland said. "Gonzaga is terrific and Adam Morrison is special."
Now UCLA is one win away from going to the Final Four and restoring recognition of West Coast basketball, which gets little respect. The Bruins have won 11 national championships, the last one coming in 1995. Arizona won the NCAA championship in 1997 and advanced to the Final Four in 2001, but the Wildcats live and play in the desert southwest. Same goes for UNLV, which won the national title in 1991 and got back to the Final Four the next season.
The last time a team other than UCLA from this time zone was in the Final Four was 1998 when Stanford got there. Other than that, you'd have to go back to 1963 when Oregon State joined Cincinnati, Loyola of Chicago and Duke in the Final Four.
The last West Coast team other than UCLA to win the national championship is Cal in 1959. Thus, excluding UCLA, there have been 184 teams in the Final Four since the Bears won it all in 1959 and only two of them - Oregon State and Stanford - have been truly from the West.
All that stands in the way of a West Coast representative in this Final Four is Memphis, a king-sized problem. Bradley came to the Oakland Arena with a band of red-clad fans that flashed more protest signs than a San Francisco anti-war rally. They're mad at the NCAA for banning their nickname and furious with CBS' announcers Billy Packer and Jim Nantz who dissed Bradley on Selection Sunday. If Cinderella-wanna be Bradley carried a chip on its shoulder and glass slipper into the Oakland Arena, Memphis, with fast feet and quick hands, stole it. The Tigers won going away.
"I think it was just the fact that every player they brought in was just as athletic as the last one," said Bradley star 7-foot center Patrick O'Bryant. "I think that presented us with a lot of problems."
Memphis doesn't have a single player on its roster that grew up west of Indianapolis. UCLA starts four players from the state of California. The Bruins present a lot of problems, too.
Download source here
Don't touch that dial. Do not adjust your TV set. UCLA was "Survivor" on CBS on Thursday night and, along with Gonzaga, showed what West Coast college basketball is all about.
East Coast bias had good cause to stay up late to watch the Bruins and the Zags. This was not a WCC, Mountain West or WAC-ky midnight tip-off. This was Gonzaga versus UCLA, two of the most attractive and compelling teams in the land trying to put West Coast basketball back on the map, especially since East Coast darling Duke has been knocked out of the tournament.
Thus, the Zags-Bruins matchup should have swayed the viewing interest of the nation to the Left Coast for a change.
It's about time.
The notion from the Righteous Coast is that the basketball out here is too soft. Our teams won't defend. Our kids can't play.
Well, if you fans and so-called experts back East went to bed after the Texas-West Virginia game in the Atlanta Regional, get a tape of the Oakland Regional semifinal nightcap and see for yourself. UCLA trailed by 17 points in the first half and by nine points with 3:27 to play and won. There have been much better teams in the storied history of UCLA basketball, but this one might be the toughest.
"It's really just a testament to the character, the toughness, the heart of our players to never quit," said UCLA coach Ben Howland.
Howland never panicked, never yelled at his players on the sideline during the game. Neither Holland nor Gonzaga coach Mark Few could find fault with the gutsy effort their players put forth.
"Going into it people had questioned our toughness and maybe how physical we could be and I really thought my guys responded and responded well and they executed the game plan," Few said.
So did Holland's. They played hack-a-stache defense on Gonzaga star Adam Morrison and wore him out. Then they picked him up. At the end of the game, a teary-eyed and exhausted Morrison collapsed near midcourt and rolled over on his stomach. UCLA guard Arron Afflalo, who fiercely guarded the Gonzaga All-American for most of the game, was one of three Bruins players to rush over and help him off the floor.
"That's just a sign of, honestly, a great program and great people," Morrison said. "They had the guts, as men, to come over in their moment of victory to pick somebody off the floor. É That's just a sign of great people and great players. That's more than basketball."
That's mutual respect, something that is lacking substantially toward West Coast teams from the other side of the Continental Divide. The Pac-10 was supposed to be a joke this season and Gonzaga, struggling to the finish line against supposedly weak conference foes, was rumored to ripe for a first- or second-round exit this season.
They proved everyone wrong on Thursday night.
"We beat a great team today," Holland said. "Gonzaga is terrific and Adam Morrison is special."
Now UCLA is one win away from going to the Final Four and restoring recognition of West Coast basketball, which gets little respect. The Bruins have won 11 national championships, the last one coming in 1995. Arizona won the NCAA championship in 1997 and advanced to the Final Four in 2001, but the Wildcats live and play in the desert southwest. Same goes for UNLV, which won the national title in 1991 and got back to the Final Four the next season.
The last time a team other than UCLA from this time zone was in the Final Four was 1998 when Stanford got there. Other than that, you'd have to go back to 1963 when Oregon State joined Cincinnati, Loyola of Chicago and Duke in the Final Four.
The last West Coast team other than UCLA to win the national championship is Cal in 1959. Thus, excluding UCLA, there have been 184 teams in the Final Four since the Bears won it all in 1959 and only two of them - Oregon State and Stanford - have been truly from the West.
All that stands in the way of a West Coast representative in this Final Four is Memphis, a king-sized problem. Bradley came to the Oakland Arena with a band of red-clad fans that flashed more protest signs than a San Francisco anti-war rally. They're mad at the NCAA for banning their nickname and furious with CBS' announcers Billy Packer and Jim Nantz who dissed Bradley on Selection Sunday. If Cinderella-wanna be Bradley carried a chip on its shoulder and glass slipper into the Oakland Arena, Memphis, with fast feet and quick hands, stole it. The Tigers won going away.
"I think it was just the fact that every player they brought in was just as athletic as the last one," said Bradley star 7-foot center Patrick O'Bryant. "I think that presented us with a lot of problems."
Memphis doesn't have a single player on its roster that grew up west of Indianapolis. UCLA starts four players from the state of California. The Bruins present a lot of problems, too.