On Game’s Biggest Stage, the Players Are the Thing

It’s about the players.

While the debate rages on--Steve Lavin can’t coach, Steve Lavin can coach, Lavin, Lavin, Lavin--let’s pause to remember.

No matter how many sideline shots you see of Mike Krzyzewski, Lute Olson or Tubby Smith, keep in mind that the closer we get to the Final Four, the more it is about the guys who dribble the balls and not the ones who roll them out.

Don’t misunderstand: Krzyzewski is in the Hall of Fame and Olson belongs there, especially after this season.

Oregon and Pittsburgh are in the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16 for the first time in eons because Ernie Kent and Ben Howland have shaped those programs with sharp, analytical minds.

And UCLA is going to San Jose because Lavin gets talented players and gets the best out of them come March. (As they say, “scoreboard:” At the moment, Lavin’s .688 NCAA tournament winning percentage is better than Jerry Tarkanian’s .679.)

But it is about the players.

Even Krzyzewski could not get to the Sweet 16 with Siena’s team.

What’s odd about this season is how wrong so many have been about so many players.

The Associated Press preseason All-America team consisted of Jason Williams of Duke, Casey Jacobsen of Stanford, Kareem Rush of Missouri, Frank Williams of Illinois and Tayshaun Prince of Kentucky.

Not one of them was the player of the year in his conference--though it’s worth noting that all but Jacobsen are still alive in the tournament.

The honors went to Maryland’s Juan Dixon in the Atlantic Coast Conference, USC’s Sam Clancy in the Pacific 10, Kansas’ Drew Gooden in the Big 12, Indiana’s Jared Jeffries in the Big Ten and Alabama’s Erwin Dudley in the Southeastern Conference.

Of the five players on the preseason All-America team, only Jason Williams made the postseason team. The others were Gooden, Dixon, Cincinnati’s Steve Logan and Gonzaga’s Dan Dickau.

As the tournament goes on, you’re going to see more players who were very little talked about during the season--spectacular athletes such as Maryland’s Chris Wilcox, Missouri’s Rickey Paulding and Oregon’s Frederick Jones, who is only now being discovered east of the Willamette Valley.

There’s Oklahoma power forward Aaron McGhee and Connecticut shot-blocker Emeka Okafor, and that’s assuming you know the Sooners’ Hollis Price and the Huskies’ Caron Butler.

It might be that when careers are shorter and there are fewer great players, it is easier for surprises to emerge.

Talk of the Bruins having the most talent is a stretch.

“They are not the most talented, by far,” one prominent NBA talent evaluator said.

“At least five programs have talent equal to or better than UCLA’s talent.... Yes, they are talented. The most? I don’t think so. Maryland, Duke, Kansas, Arizona for sure.”

Who would you want?

Cedric Bozeman? Or Duke’s Chris Duhon?

Billy Knight or Jason Williams?

Jason Kapono or Mike Dunleavy?

Matt Barnes or Dahntay Jones?

Dan Gadzuric or Carlos Boozer?

Only Barnes comes out ahead.

Try it with Maryland, Kansas, even Arizona.

Who would you want?

Bozeman or Maryland’s Steve Blake?

Knight or Dixon?

Kapono or Byron Mouton?

Barnes or Wilcox?

Gadzuric or Lonny Baxter?

Maybe you’d take Kapono and Barnes, though Wilcox gets more NBA buzz.

Who would you choose?

Bozeman or Kansas freshman Aaron Miles?

Knight or Jeff Boschee?

Kapono or Kirk Hinrich?

Barnes or Gooden?

Gadzuric or Nick Collison?

If they played the way they did against Cincinnati, maybe Bozeman and Gadzuric.

Try Arizona, even.

Bozeman or Jason Gardner?

Knight or Salim Stoudamire?

Kapono or Luke Walton?

Barnes or Rick Anderson?

Gadzuric or Channing Frye?

Barnes and Gadzuric, maybe.

It generally takes two to three great players--great by college standards, not necessarily NBA potential--to win the NCAA title. (Villanova in 1985 was probably the last exception.)

Duke, Maryland and Kansas all have that.

Arizona, UCLA, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Missouri and Oregon lead everybody else in the maybe category.

Throw all the coaches’ names in a basket and give them a new team in the Sweet 16.

There are four who’ve won a national championship: Krzyzewski, Olson, Smith and Jim Calhoun.

No one would be betting on them if they had Southern Illinois.