Bibby, Just a Kid, Learned How to Look After Others

A kid who learns early to look after himself learns how to look after others.

That’s why Arizona coach Lute Olson left the ball in Mike Bibby’s hands on a night when experience was screaming for something else. The Wildcats’ best defender was in foul trouble early, their most reliable scorer couldn’t get started, and still he left the 18-year-old freshman in charge.

“I guess I was timid early. But I knew once I got into the flow,” Bibby said, “my shot would fall. I knew we’d find a way to take care of the rest.”

Arizona did that Saturday night, finally slip-sliding away from North Carolina 66-58 to claim a spot in Monday night’s final. But it wasn’t until Bibby strung together four consecutive 3-pointers over a span of some 4 minutes, 40 seconds late in the second half that anybody believed it would end the way it did.

Olson was no exception.

“I thought our guys did a good job of getting North Carolina overconfident in the first eight or so minutes,” the Arizona coach said.

He was smiling when he said this after the game, but it is easy to imagine Olson doing anything but grinning when he faced his team in the locker room at halftime. The Wildcats led 34-31 at the time, but Bennett Davison, who was supposed to help seal off Carolina’s inside game, already had three fouls. Michael Dickerson, whose 19.8 points-per-game average fueled the Arizona offense all season, had five points. Bibby’s running mate at guard, Miles Simon, was the only reason the Wildcats were even close. He had 15 points.

Yet everyone in the room knew it was Bibby, ultimately, who would have to make Arizona go. Olson turned the team over to the kid the day he showed up for practice, but it wasn’t until that moment that he probably had second thoughts. Bibby was 1-for-7 at that juncture.

“I’m sure I was more nervous then than he was,” said Bibby’s mother, Virginia. “He’s got so much confidence in himself that I’m sure he wasn’t worried -- even then.”

He had plenty reason to be. This week has not been an easy one. A quarter-century after his father, Henry Bibby, helped guide three UCLA teams to national championships, his kid showed up in charge of an Arizona team trying to win just one.

But instead of celebrating, the event is dividing the family. Henry and Virginia Bibby are in the second year of messy divorce proceedings and he hasn’t been a factor in his son’s life for several years. The national spotlight has brought attention to Bibby and his father, now the coach at Southern Cal, for reasons that neither wants to discuss.

“Mike doesn’t focus on that,” Virginia Bibby said, then bit her lower lip.

Yet, whatever else the absence of a father has taught him, it has taught Mike Bibby how to look after himself. It shows in the way he carries himself, maybe even more clearly in how he handles others.

“As young as he is, you can see the calming effect he has on the rest of the team,” said UCLA coach Steve Lavin, who was on hand Saturday night and whose team faces Arizona twice each season in Pac-10 conference play.

“We knew he had great skills way back in high school. What makes the great players great is how they adjust to the next level. You can literally see this kid grow with each game.”

In this one, it began with a fairly routine assist that set up a Simon jumper to give the Wildcats a 36-33 advantage barely five minutes into the second half. Bibby followed that up with a mid-range jumper. In the stands, his mother could sense his confidence growing. Truth be told, even she didn’t know how much.

“My mentality is shoot,” Bibby said. “That’s the way our offense is running. If we have an open shot, we’re not supposed to pass it up. And that’s what I was doing.”

He brought the ball up the floor against the Tar Heel defense and looked around. Did anyone else need the ball? Did anyone else want it? He read his teammates’ eyes. He read his coach’s eyes. He had no doubts.

He chucked the shots -- one, two, three, four. Each one fell. It was Arizona 64, North Carolina 55. There were less than two minutes left. North Carolina coach Dean Smith looked off in the distance. Like everyone else in the arena, he knew it was over.

Earlier in the week, Smith, whose tenure has spanned the playing days of both father and son, mistakenly referred to Mike Bibby by his father’s first name. Saturday night, there was no making the same mistake.

“Mike,” Smith said, “is a remarkable player.”