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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 1997)
Young talent growing at Arizona ■ DIAPER DANDY: Wildcats’ freshman point guard Mike Bibby is turning heads as he leads Arizona By Chris Hansen Sports Reporter What do Damon Stoudamire, Steve Kerr, Khalid Reeves and Reggie Geary all have in common? For starters, they are all currently on NBA rosters. And secondly, they all played point guard for the Arizona Wild cats. So it should be no surprise that one of the Pac-lO’s most talented players is once again a point guard at Arizona. But what might be surpris ing, however, is that this point guard is an 18-year old true-freshman. In the 11 games that the Wild cats have played this season, Mike Bibby has started, and turned heads, in them all. Not only has Bibby put up some pretty decent numbers, 13n* points and six assists per game, he has already established himself as shooter who can hit a shot when it matters the most — when the game is on the line. In the Wildcats’ conference opener, Bibby nailed two free throws with just seconds left on the clock to give Arizona an 81-80 victory over California. “It comes from practice,” Bibby said, referring to the confidence he has in his shooting ability. “I prac tice a lot. I’m out there shooting every day, every time I get a chance.” “He has great composure and poise on the court,” Arizona head coach Lute Olson said. “He has outstanding basketball ability and Oregon daily emerald worldwide http://darkwing. uoregon.edu/~ode .A /:•- S s he is not a young man who thinks he knows it all. He came in with a great attitude.” With the success Bibby and the rest of the Arizona team is having comes the comparisons to all the former Wildcat standouts at point guard. But Bibby, whose father is a former UCLA and NBA player, and now the head coach at USC, just takes it all in stride. “I like it,” admitted the McDon ald’s and Parade Magazine All American. It builds up my confidence and I like it when people think highly of me." Bibby, who is a Phoenix native and has been a fan of Wildcat basketball all BIBBY ms lire, most enjoys watching for mer California Golden Bears’ guard Jason Kidd. “I don’t model myself after anybody,” Bibby said. “But I do like to watch the way Kidd pass es because 1 like to pass too.” His love for passing is much to the delight of his Wildcat team mates. Bibby’s passing ability has been one of the leading fac tors in the team’s success. But even a kid this cool under pressure and this confident in himself has to be in awe of his environment occasionally. For Bibby, that time came against the then 7th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels at the beginning of the season. "I’m never intimidated be cause I think I can play with any body if I put my heart into it,” Bibby said. “But I was real ner vous, probably as nervous as 1 have ever been. But when I got out there, it was just like another game.” Too bad for the Tar Heels. With a national television au dience watching at home, Dick Vitale screaming Bibby’s name from the courtside broadcast table, and 9,000 fans packed into the stands, Bibby pushed his ner vousness aside and introduced himself to the world of college basketball. He scored 22 points, dished out five assists and grabbed two rebounds in the up set of North Carolina, prompting Vitale to proclaim Bibby as a"dia per dandy” and a “prime-time player.” “The North Carolina game was sort of his coming-out party,” Ol son said. "And there is no ques tion he played even better than what he displayed to us in prac tice. He is an unusually talented young man and I don’t really think the job that he is doing is surprising to the people that know him or watch him play.” He didn’t have the same suc cess in Arizona’s victory against Stanford on Jan. 4 when Brevin Knight came to town and taught Bibby a thing or two about de fense, holding him to four points and three assists. But for Bibby, it is all part of the learning process. The bottom line was that Arizona won the game. “We have a great team,” Bibby said. “We come at you from dif ferent angles. We have shooters, inside players, and great drivers.” And once again, the Wildcats also have a great point guard. It doesn’t have to be dirty to be good... ^ if all else fails... Enjoy Yourself! EXCL VELY. 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