Hey Baby, Give ‘Em One More Chance

They could be ready to become PTPers, baby!

Detroit Mercy has a past that includes Dave DeBusschere, Spencer Haywood, John Long, Earl Cureton and a coach named Dick Vitale, and a future that includes UCLA, Thursday night in Indianapolis in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Detroit Mercy has a roster that includes a 6-foot-7 guard from the Lansing, Mich., high school that produced 6-foot-9 guard Magic Johnson, a Jermaine Jackson who isn’t involved in the music world, and a Michael Jordan who is involved in the basketball world. So this is a big-name team after all.

It’s also a dangerous one for the Bruins, one with more tournament experience and the potential to get back on defense and force UCLA into a half-court offense, which has been a weakness. Plus, a chance to make its own name.

“I think the word is out that Detroit is a solid team,” Titan junior guard Rashad Phillips said. “But when a smaller-conference school plays a bigger-conference school, the smaller school always has something to prove.”

Or as Bruin forward Sean Farnham said, “It’s an opportunity for them to put their program on more of a national map than it already is.”

The topography started to change last season, when the Titans of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference completed the transition from a 13-victory team in 1994-95 by finishing 25-6--including a first-round victory over No. 7-seeded St. John’s. It was their first tournament berth in 19 years. Jackson--the basketball player--was invited to the Team USA tryouts.

What followed was a 24-5 record this season--one of those losses by a point at Iowa, No. 5 in the West Regional--and a seven-game winning streak to close. That made them a No. 12 in the South.

That’s where the Bruins come in.

“UCLA is a large program with big-name players,” Jackson said. “This is the type of competition I have been looking for.”

That it’s sometimes missing on their schedule has not stopped Jackson from building his resume. But each member of the Titans’ three-guard alignment comes with credentials.

Jackson, a 6-5 senior, was named Midwestern Collegiate player of the year and was also selected to the conference’s all-defensive team.

“I think the big thing is, he’s a rarity,” Coach Perry Watson said. “He’s a four-year starter. You look at UCLA, there’s a lot of youth there.”

Desmond Ferguson is a 6-7 junior, adding even more size to the backcourt.

Phillips, a 5-10 junior, was selected to the all-defensive team, along with forward Bacari Alexander.

Of the four players averaging more than 25 minutes a game, none is taller than Ferguson, who will play outside despite his size. Only one Titan taller than 6-8 averaged 12 minutes a game, 6-11 center Walter Craft.

“Early in the season, you’ve got to play to your strength,” Watson said. “We really had four veteran players back and three of those players happened to be our perimeter guys.

“We have a great staff here and we knew that if we had any chance of winning our conference and getting to the tournament, we were going to have to be as balanced as possible.”

So, with assistant David Greer working with the big men, they force-fed an inside game. Craft, who started every game but almost always played less than half of it, developed. Top reserve Daniel Whye--a Maryland native and the only player not from Michigan--developed.

By the end of the season, including the Midwestern Collegiate tournament, teams had shot only 37% against the Titans, failing to routinely get inside for high-percentage shots.

Detroit won three of five games this season scoring less than 50 points. Only Iowa and Massachusetts managed to break 45%.

Even though this was not a team that would slow the ball down to control the tempo, its athleticism and ability to get back in transition stopped easy baskets. That same defense would then ratchet up in the half court, something that could cause UCLA problems.

“UCLA is a good team that likes to run a lot,” Phillips said. “We will have to play solid transition D. They are offensive-minded and we are defensive-minded. Something will have to give.”

Added Watson, in his sixth year at Detroit, “If you take the top 10 teams in the country in terms of scoring defense, you have three from our conference--[Wisconsin] Green Bay, Butler and ourselves. So you definitely have to play defense to win in this conference.

“[But] We don’t try to hold the score down. We’ll score if we can.”

And the Titans can. They are averaging 64.2 points, but scored at least 72 in three of their last four.