Now, who’s
the Pac-10’s
best guard?
Random reflections and ruminations on the most satisfying
weekend road trip of the Jim Harrick era …
Before the UCLA men’s basketball team had even boarded the
airplane en route to Tucson, Arizona head coach Lute Olson had
already managed to run his usually mild-mannered mouth. Responding
to an L.A. reporter’s question about the magnitude of a potential
desert sweep by the Bruins, Olson quickly retorted, "It’d be big. I
don’t think anybody will."
Perhaps the coach would’ve been better served if he had
qualified his remarks  something along the lines of " …
anybody except the team with that Tyus Edney dude." Because two
nights after Olson had spouted (probably innocently) his completely
unprophetic prediction, Mr. Edney totally dominated the McKale
Center court, leading the Bruins past the supposedly
infallible-at-home Wildcats, 72-62.
Oh, yeah, and then they went out and whipped Arizona State,
85-72. Last time I checked, that was called a sweep. Some mustard
with your crow, Lute?
* * *
Now it can be told: Before the Bruins’ monumental achievement in
the state of Arizona, I concurred with just about every other
opinionated screwball (yes, even Dick Vitale) on the Damon
Stoudamire-Tyus Edney deal. Edney’s fabulous, no doubt the most
vital player on UCLA’s team, and certainly one of the top two point
guards in the conference. But Stoudamire is just awesome, capable
of 45 points one night and 15 assists the next. That’s how the
argument went.
Emphasis on the word "went." As in, "went out the window," or
"went into the circular file." As of Jan. 18, 1995, the Damon Rules
Tyus point of view is null and void.
It took Tyus about 45 seconds to prove to me and the world that
he’s just about had it with all that "second-best point guard"
garbage. A refresher course: UCLA possession No. 1 Â Edney
takes ball on right wing and drives around Stoudamire for lay-up;
UCLA possession No. 2 Â Edney takes ball on right wing and
drives around Stoudamire for lay-up.
Oh, excuse me, Mr. Stoudamire, is this your jock?
Edney poured it on for the entire 40 minutes, totally dominating
the match-up of the two point guards Olson labeled "the class of a
very classy conference." Don’t forget, not only did Tyus Edney
outshine Damon Stoudamire, but he also helped shut down the Wildcat
wonder. It was a tremendous defensive effort, bolstered by bench
assistance from Toby Bailey and Cameron Dollar.
Of course, Stoudamire really showed ’em up with a long-range
bomber in the first half. Wooooeee, was that a beautiful shot.
Three points, crowd goes wild, Dick Vitale jumps from his chair. It
even got onto the Sportscenter highlight reel.
Too bad Stoudamire missed all 11 of his other three-point
attempts.
Tyus Edney, who so often before has come up huge in big games,
may have outdone even himself last Thursday. He certainly made me
rethink my opinions. Best point guard in the conference? I know who
my pick is now.
* * *
Edney’s performance Thursday night becomes even more amazing
when you consider that a number of his teammates  starters,
even  were virtual no-shows in Tucson. George Zidek continued
his slump. J.R. Henderson was so off, he only played 12 minutes.
Even Charles O’Bannon wasn’t much of an offensive presence.
This is not to say Tyus had no help whatsoever. No way. He got a
bundle of it from Ed O’Bannon  Ed plays well in a big game,
now there’s a shocker  and, most notably, Toby Bailey, who
used the weekend as his personal coming-out party. Twelve rebounds
and nine points in Tucson, 19 points and six rebounds in Tempe, and
a whole big bunch of verbal pats on the back from ESPN’s Barry
Tompkins and Vitale.
Despite Henderson’s return-from-the-dead performance against
ASU, Bailey is this close to starting in his spot. And who could
blame Harrick for such a move? From this observer’s standpoint,
Bailey has not had a bad game in six Pac-10 tries.
Thursday night, it wasn’t difficult to discern the best guard on
the court (Edney). The real dilemma was determining the
second-best. Again, you know my vote.
* * *
ESPN’s Barry Tompkins offered this cute little anecdote Thursday
night: "Damon Stoudamire has done a great job of hitting the weight
room since he came to U of A. When he first got here, he was pretty
skinny. See that ‘DAMON’ tattoo on his arm? Back then, there was
only room for ‘DAM.’"
Oh, you mean, as in "Dam(n), I sure wish I could hit a shot when
my team needs it." Or, "Dam(n), that Tyus Edney dude is pretty
good."
And this, from Vitale, after Stoudamire had torn up the mighty
USC Trojans in the first half Saturday: "Where were you Thursday
night, Damon? Where were you?"
* * *
Edney picked up where he left off two days later in Tempe. He
drove right past Isaac Burton, again on the first play of the game,
for a lay-up, setting the tone and inspiring what was just a week
ago a poor first-half team.
Boy, how long ago does that ridiculously bad first half against
Washington feel now?
* * *
Have you ever seen a team shoot free throws with as little
ability as Arizona State? They were throwing up so many bricks, it
looked as if the Sun Devils were trying to injure the rim. Hey,
fellas, what did it do to you?
* * *
And finally, at halftime of the ASU game, I had this
conversation with a good friend of mine: I said to him, "Man, how
about that Bruin defense, huh? Two straight games, too." He
responded, "Yeah, but I’d like to see how we do against the
powerhouses."
Hmmm. Coulda sworn Arizona made the Final Four last year.
Thought I read somewhere how ASU was 5-0 against ranked teams this
year.
Hello! These are powerhouses. Anybody with a semblance of
basketball expertise will tell you that Arizona is a legitimate
Final Four prospect again, and most self-respecting coaches,
Harrick included, claim that ASU has top 10 talent.
A road sweep in Arizona. We’re talking about a major achievement
here. I don’t think I could name a bigger accomplishment for this
burgeoning basketball club.
A bigger January accomplishment, that is.