Bibby Gets a Tie on Sidelines

A lot of people laughed when Henry Bibby declared earlier this week that nobody could outcoach him. Even if he really believes he can match Xs and O’s with every Dean, Rick and Bobby, it takes a lot more brass than USC has in its band to say it.

But after watching Bibby coach his first game in the NCAA tournament, I’ll give him this much: No one yet has proved him wrong.

Bibby’s only problem Friday in the first round of the Southeast Regional at the Charlotte Coliseum was timing. If only his Trojans could have played Illinois a year ago, he would have been coaching against Lou Henson.

Almost to a man, the Illini said they would have found a way to lose Friday under Henson, whose teams usually started with great promise and then spent the season breaking it.

Henson’s successor when he retired last season was Lon Kruger, who has proved at Kansas State, Florida and now Illinois that he can squeeze every ounce of talent out of his players. I’m not sure anyone can outcoach him, either.

So let’s call it a tie between Bibby and Kruger.

Almost to a man, the Illini said the final score, 90-77, was in their favor because they had better players. The Trojans didn’t argue.

Still, after falling 15 points behind at halftime, the Trojans composed themselves, came back to tie and could have won. For that, give Bibby credit.

I’m not sure what he told them at halftime.

Maybe he reminded them that they fell 18 points down at halftime against North Carolina Charlotte the last time they played in this building, in December, and came back to win.

Maybe he reminded them of the adversity they had overcome this season. With seven transfers, three freshmen and two new assistant coaches joining veterans of an 11-19 team, they probably were overrated by experts who predicted them to finish ninth in the Pacific 10 Conference. Remarkably, they finished tied for second.

More likely, he merely reminded them of the game plan. It was so simple that a sportswriter could figure it out. The Illini have excellent shooters. Don’t give them open shots. The Illini are small inside. Work the ball down low.

Neither of those instructions did the Trojans follow in the first half. When they did in the second, they turned it into a game I’m guessing they would have won if senior guard Stais Boseman hadn’t fouled out with 4:54 remaining.

As USC’s best defensive player, one of the best anywhere, his assignment was to check Illinois’ quick, creative point guard, Kiwane Garris. Boseman did that, limiting him to a couple of good looks at the basket and three first-half field goals.

Boseman, however, paid a price for the energy spent chasing Garris. Offensively, Boseman connected on only one of six shots in the first half and three of 10 for the game, finishing with 10 points.

More damaging to the Trojans, fatigue caused him to commit three foolish fouls in the second half. When he went to the bench with his fifth, the score was 69-69.

It was as if Garris had been released from a straitjacket. All Trojan guards Gary Johnson and Danny Walker could do to slow him was foul him. He made 10 consecutive free throws in the next four minutes as the Illini pulled away, into a second-round game here Sunday against Tennessee Chattanooga.

“I really like his game,” Garris said of Boseman.

So did the Trojans. Unfortunately, he won’t be back. Neither will Rodrick Rhodes. Nor David Crouse. Nor Jaha Wilson.

The four seniors should be proud. They became the nucleus of a team that was as successful as Kansas or Kentucky or UCLA, if success can be defined as realizing potential.

“These guys have been pushed as much as they can be pushed,” Bibby said. “They didn’t have a lot more to give. What they’ve achieved this year is unbelievable.”

At the same time, Bibby is now free to proceed with building a winning program without any players recruited by predecessors George Raveling and Charlie Parker.

Bibby wasn’t complaining, just stating a fact when he said Friday that he never knew from one game to the next who would come to play. The seniors were among the leaders in inconsistency, perhaps having heard too many instructions from too many coaches over the years to know what was expected of them.

For instance, I wonder whose voice Rhodes was hearing at a crucial point in the second half Friday when he inexplicably hurried a three-point shot that turned into an air ball.

“I think you want a better shot than that,” Bibby said, sighing.

It’s possible that by the time the Trojans open conference play next season, they will be relying primarily on freshmen and sophomores. They will be young. But they will be Bibby’s.

Presumably, they will be taking only the shots he wants. Then we’ll find out if he’s as good as he thinks he is.