Role Players Keep Arizona on a Big Roll

In basketball-addled Tucson, where U. of A. groupies treat run-and-gun stars Mike Bibby and Miles Simon like rock ‘n’ roll heroes, following them to their cars and lying down in front of them so they can’t drive away, A.J. Bramlett and Bennett Davison are roadies.

While Bibby and Simon soak up the spotlight and bask in the roar from the mosh pit, Bramlett and Davison are hidden deep in the wings, fiddling with the amps, tightening guitar strings, checking electrical connections.

“We do all the dirty work,” says Davison, the 6-foot-8 senior forward usually assigned to defend against the opposition’s best front-line player.

“We do the little things that help the team win,” says Bramlett, the 6-11 junior center who leads Arizona in rebounds and blocked shots and draws the tall assignment of tangling with Utah’s towering fountain of Ute, Michael Doleac, in today’s West Regional final at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.

Once in a great while, Davison reports, someone in a shopping mall will point to him and call out, “Hey, you’re A.J. Bramlett!”

And Davison will smile and politely correct the stranger.

No, I’m Bennett, he’s Bramlett.

“We kind of look alike,” Davison says with a shrug. “A.J. even grew a mustache the same time I did, so I guess people can get us mixed up.”

It can be trying, working on the cleanup crew behind the three-ring circus. While Bibby, Simon and Michael Dickerson set up outside the three-point arc with the nation’s photographers zooming in on their every move, Bramlett and Davison are anonymously backing in and boxing out, scuffing knees and trading elbows under the basket.

But, on the plus side, there are perks.

Both of them made the cover of the March 16 issue of the Sporting News--that’s them in the back, behind Simon, Bibby and sixth man Jason Terry--and they appear prominently in the team photo of the 1997 NCAA champions.

According to Arizona Coach Lute Olson, that famed team photo could never have been taken without them.

“These two guys, they’ve done a great, great job for two years,” Olson says. “I think they’re the most underrated defensive players in the country.

“If you look at the guys they go against, like [center Todd] MacCulloch of Washington, for example, they’ve had big games against some of the best big men in the country. What did MacCulloch get, one field goal, two, against these guys?

(On Jan. 10 in Seattle, MacCulloch went two for six from the field in a 110-91 Arizona victory.)

“It’s probably difficult for them, with all the attention that’s focused on our perimeter people, but you saw [Thursday] night how valuable they are--not only how they shut down Maryland’s 4 and 5 men up front, but also how they shot a combined 10 for 13 from the field.

“In my opinion, they are a talented twosome you just don’t hear enough about.”

In Arizona’s 87-79 victory over Maryland on Thursday night, Bramlett and Davison took turns terrorizing Terrapin center Obinna Ekezie, who wound up fouling out with only three points and three rebounds. Another Maryland starter, forward Rodney Elliott, fouled out trying to keep up with Bramlett and Davison, who finished with 11 and 16 points, respectively.

Those 16 points amounted to a season high for Davison, but left him four shy of a personal milestone.

Midway through the Pac-10 season, Davison made a deal with his chain-smoking father, Al. If Bennett scores 20 points in a game, any game, Al has to quit smoking.

“I’m still looking to get it,” Davison says, figuring that if Arizona proceeds through the tournament according to his expectations, “I’ve got three more games.”

Bramlett says he is willing to conspire with Davison if the goal is within range late in a game.

“If I have a layup but Bennett has 18 points, I’m passing the ball to him,” Bramlett says. “I looked up in the stands [Thursday] night and his dad was smoking two at a time.”

Davison leads the Wildcats in friendly wagers, believing that, among his list of odd jobs and little chores, keeping the team loose is an important responsibility.

So, while waiting for their luggage at the airport in Eugene, Ore., Davison told his teammates he would take a lap on the baggage carousel if every member of the team paid him $2.

“I was supposed to make $18, but I only wound up with $4,” Davison said. “Coach [Phil] Johnson refused to pay up. He said, ‘I’m not giving you money for doing something stupid.’ ”

So, for those scoring at home, that’s one more difference between Arizona and Utah.

While Doleac and his Utah teammates pass the time on trips engaged in studious games of chess--or is it poker?--the Wildcats, well, one of them, takes dare rides on the airport baggage-claim conveyor belt.

“I’m a big Jim Carrey fan,” says Davison, which comes as no surprise to anyone reading the Arizona media guide. Among Davison’s responses to a sports information department questionnaire:

* The Thing I Will Always Remember About Winning the NCAA Championship: “Messing up Coach Olson’s hair.”

* If I Was President of the United States For a Day, I Would: “Have a nationwide day off.”

* If I Won $20 Million in the Lottery, the First Thing I Would Buy Is: “The Ultimate Surround Sound System.”

Davison admits this kind of hang-loose attitude sometimes rankles Olson, whom he describes as “uptight.”

“Maybe we goof around too much for him,” Davison says. “But on the court, we’re all business. I think he’s seen that often enough the last two years. I think he’s getting used to it.”

As Bramlett points out, “The bigger the game, the bigger we play.”

And if the spotlight doesn’t always fan out as far as Bramlett and Davison would like, they, too, have gotten used to it.

“We’re in the shadow of Mike Bibby and Miles Simon, we know that,” Davison says. “Offense always gets the publicity. But defense wins championships.”