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Final Four Special Edition
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Brilliant Arizona backcourt keys rare postseason success**
This has been a different kind of season for Lute Olson's Arizona basketball team.
For starters, the Wildcats actually made it out if the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In the two seasons prior to this one, Arizona had been stunned by East Tennessee St. and Santa Clara in opening-round games, leading many to label Olson and his players as chokers.
And secondly, Arizona has made a pronounced departure from Olson's old "Tucson Skyline" teams of the late 1980s and early '90s. Those teams -- which include the ones Duke went 1-3 against from 1987-91 -- won with dominant inside play. Brian Williams, Sean Rooks, Anthony Cook and Ed Stokes, to name a few, battered many an opponent in the paint.
This season however, Arizona has won with its guard play. Junior Damon Stoudamire and senior Khalid Reeves make up one of the most dominant backcourts in recent college basketball history. Stoudamire and Reeves lead the nation in combined points per game for starting backcourts (42.0) and are third in assists (8.9).
Without this dynamic duo leading the team, the Wildcats would probably not be heading for their first Final Four since 1988. Arizona plays Arkansas at the Charlotte Coliseum in a national semifinal Saturday at 5:42 p.m.
"This has been a very unusual team for us," Olson said Wednesday.
Indeed, the most unusual moment came last Saturday when Arizona won the West Regional with a resounding 92-72 win over top-seeded Missouri. Following the game, Olson lashed out at critics who had been skeptical of Arizona's NCAA track record. But now that the Final Four has arrived, Olson has put that episode behind him and is concentrating on bringing the Wildcat program its first national title.
"I just got something off my chest that had been there for the last couple of years," Olson said. "What I said needed to be said for my players and for me. They were thankful and are also thankful that I said, `That's it.'
"We'll talk with how we play on the court."
To put the ghosts of NCAA Tournament failures-past behind the Wildcats, Olson enlisted the help of the best player to ever wear the Arizona uniform, Sean Elliot.
The current Detroit Pistons player was the national college player of the year in 1988 when he led the 'Cats to the Final Four in Kansas City. That trip to the promised land ended in disappointment for the Wildcats, who had been ranked No. 1 in the nation most of the year: Arizona was upset by Oklahoma in the semifinals.
When the Pistons were on a recent road trip in nearby Phoenix, Elliot made the trip down to Tucson to give the Wildcats some advice to make their road to the Final Four smoother.
"He visited the players to give them a feel for what the Final Four's all about, for what it's like to play in a Final Four," Olson said. "He did a great job of focusing our guys on what was at hand."
Based on their play, Stoudamire and Reeves have been focused since last November. Their startling quickness and deadly long-range bombing have made Arizona a tough opponent to beat. When a team has players that can take care of the ball and make clutch three-point baskets, that team is extremely dangerous, especially when the stakes are high at NCAA Tournament time.
"All I have to do is look at teams that have made it to the Final Four and won a national championship," Olson said. "Teams may have a big guy and maybe a forward, but there's usually a constant of good guard play. You don't get here without great guard play."
"Guards that make plays and shoot three-pointers are more important these days," said Arkansas head coach Nolan Richardson, who must find a way to contain Stoudamire and Reeves Saturday. "With the 35-second shot clock, it's ball-handling that takes place and you need somebody who can do it."
Arizona may be mostly a two-'Cat show, but the Wildcats are more then capable of taking the title. Olson's team has already reached a plateau -- the Final Four -- that has proven difficult for Arizona, so the pressure's off. Olson has ended his feud with the media and has his team thinking about satisfying its own goals rather than anyone else's expectations.
"We're going to try to keep as much of the hoopla away as we can, but we want to give the players the reward they deserve," Olson said.
If Damon Stoudamire and Khalid Reeves can say anything about it, that reward could be a national championship.
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