■ SPORTS EXTRA BASKETBALL
Trevor Kearney
O»tf0in ! li»«, tiimU
Whilst the N't.AA basket bn 11 tournament pits the (rest
t>4 learns in the nation against mi h other in a quest for
arguably the most < o voted title in < o I logo sports today, it
shapes up to he mm h more than |ust a national cham
pionsliip tournament It serve* as a < h<m«o (or the l«",t
individual players to ihtne Ban theii talent in the nation
ni spotlight, and most of the < onntry s top player* will bo
partn ipaling
PLAYERS TO WATCH
■
oil as one
o< If* t»S!
piayo<s tfi
cooego
ban Res
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pOtniot', a
game in.t
RESPERT
24
4«f>
I •( dj\ s star forward
I d (TBannon will be
thure. And, pending
Arizona's petition of
his NCAA suspension,
so wilt guard Damon
Stoudamiro Sport s
lllustmttvts I’UyM of
the Year Jerry Star k
house and his North
Carolina teammate
Rasheed Walhn e will
be at the tourney,
while renter Jue Smith
and his Sins land Ter
ropins also represent
the Atlantic (’.oast
Conference in N< A A
post season action
Arkansas Rn/ofhn< k
forward Corliss
tiiianiMirt nop*** 10
help hts twain regain the championship they won only a
veer ago. while Mn higan State guard Shawn Res[>efl looks
to show the country that his team is mom than just an
average tourney twain
Morn than tust a bum h o( above averm >• athletes, this
group of individuals is < onsulered th« host of the Ivest
in college basketball this year, and makes up tin* list of
< amlidati'. for the 100 It ! SliWA H( A Player of the Year
rhe ft-foot'd O'Bannon averaged 20 5 points and M 1
rebounds per game while shooting 541 from the field
and 400 from lieyond the an His numbers, whliJi got
bolter as the season progressed. earned him the i o l’o< d
u to t.onferemi! Player of the Year award with
Stoudamire and has helped the Kmins boutu« Uk k from
a first-round loss to Tulsa in last year’s tournament
PLAYERS TO WATCH
■
SONQf A.15,
<•.,»! UK) IN
eo Pac to
Kay<w <>!
I ha Year SQf
NS efforts
in (0*isng
iho Bruins
lO ffte No
! ranking
O 8ANN0N
■ i'. f
g&rw tfns season inciiKi.s>y a
■h ) ol.p Irixn o®»> <■■,) ir-'i-..
pO«nl hrw
■
H'tupiWy's pi.tyi-t at the
yoa»
umi thing annul
this i on in is that we
all understand what
our roh*»4 are and
what we are capable
of doing," O'Hattnun
said ! feel that if we
continue to work as
hard as we ( an m
practice and in
games, then good
tilings will happen.
"I think last v«ar late
in tin* season wo
started to lose a lot of
games and we
weren't sure of what
we were capable of
doing ft showed ill
otir last game against
Tulsa Hopefully this
\ ear we i an play up
to our capabilities,"
he said.
As of late, O Hannon has heated up, pouring in 24
points and 10 rebounds against Oregon on Saturday Hut
O'Hannon, a three-time all-conference player, is no
stranger to strung play late in the season Last year, he
st ored 30 points and grabbed 10 boards against Tulsa,
and he averaged 19 5 points and eight rebounds in
UCLA's two post season games in 1993.
"I think, it is just my time of the year,” he said
With a No 1 ranking, he said, the Bruins fate constant
pressure to win. but a l*>-2 conference record and a 2fi
2 mark overall shows the team's ability to cope
"It is a nice problem to have as far as the pressure and
to have teams gunning for you." he said, adding that the
team's focus wasn't changing going into the post season
"I think we are going to try to force our type of game and
play our type of basketball Hopefully things will work
out for us."
North Carolina is represented in the player of the year
race t>\ sophomores Star khouse and Wallai <>. both of
whom are in the top ei helon of the college basketball
world
Star khouse averaged 19.3 points and H 1 relmunds j»*-r
iu PHOTO
Averaging 23 points a game and over seven assists per contest, Arizona guard Damon Stoudamlre could be one of
the biggest impact players In the tournament. But It remains to be seen It he will be able to play after a recent suspen
sion from the team and NCAA Investigation for suspected Involvement with a professional agent
game as a forward while shoot mg 51.3 percent from the
field and 71.3 percent from the line this season His play
in the ACC tournament last year earned him the tour
nev’s MVP.
Wallace. a ( enter, has a 66. l field goal percentage and
an average of 2.9 blocked shots per game — good for
third and 16th in the nation, respectively — to go along
with a 17.7 point scoring average
The duo is part of a North Carolina team that was
favored to go into the Final Four last year, but was upset
by Boston College. According to Wallace, however, this
year’s team has become more unified, and that unity has
translated into not only more success, but more fun.
"The team this year is more team oriented." Wallace
said "We sin k together, and each player knows their
role on the team. We go out there and have fun."
Michigan State's Resport ended what he called a sn
ond-half slump by scoring 31 points in his team's 97-72
whipping of Wisconsin Saturday
"1 was doing realls good early on. hut the defenses
have adjusted to me in the second half." Respert said
Bui Michigan Slate's opponents didn't do enough to
deflate his H.7 point storing average, nor did opponents
phase his 3.9 three-point field goal average or his 48 per
cent three-point percentage.
"What I have done is just do a good job of being
patient and looking for my shots." he said “I think 1 can
gel a shot pretty much anytime, it's just whether if* a 30
percent shot or a six percent shot."
However, the pressure that opponents put on him late
in the season, he said, doesn't really carry over into the
tournament.
"It's so much tougher the second half of the season."
he said "Teams know what your strategies are. they
know what you are going to do offensively When you
get into the tournament, the first or sin;ond game you are
facing somebody new, and they kind of have no idea
about you and you kind of have little or no idea about
what they are going to do "
And in terms of the tournament. Respert feels that just
■ ’ TALENT.