Mar
6
by Chris Maynard, chris@hoops4thesoul.com
Hoops 4 the Soul Southeast Regional Breakdown
#1 1996 Kentucky Wildcats vs. #4 1995 UCLA Bruins
(remember to click on pictures)
Point Guard:
UK Tony Delk (17.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg) vs. UCLA Tyus Edney (14.3 ppg)
A shoot first point guard, Delk is an assassin beyond the three-point line who will hit the big shot time and time again. Delk single handedly shot down the Syracuse Orangemen during the 1996 title game with his seven three-pointers. He is one-dimensional on the offensive end and not much of a threat to take it to the basket. Speaking of being clutch, the diminutive senior Edney may be small in stature but he’s certainly big in heart. The 5’7” Edney dashed from coast to coast, 94 feet in four seconds, to beat the Missouri Tigers with a buzzer-beating lay-up in the second round of the 1995 NCAA Tournament. The speedster is playing with a severely sore right wrist, which will hamper his dribbling and passing ability. The Bruins may have to lean hard on backup Cameron Dollar. Advantage: Kentucky
Shooting Guard:
UK Derek Anderson (9.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg) vs. UCLA Toby Bailey (10.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg)
The junior Anderson, a transfer from Ohio State, can get lost in the shuffle on this team, but he’s a real solid player who can score inside and outside. The exciting freshman Bailey is erratic from the outside but fantastic on the break. Bailey and Bruins small forward Charles O’Bannon love to get up and down the court. Bailey will need to be a safety valve bringing the ball up against the Kentucky press. A case of freshman jitters will doom UCLA. This is a very interesting match up, as both talented players are wildcards for their respective teams. With Anderson’s experience and trapping ability in the Kentucky press, the edge goes to the Wildcats. Advantage: Kentucky
Small Forward:
UK Antoine Walker (15.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg) vs. UCLA Charles O’Bannon (13.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg)
Walker, a svelte sophomore from Chicago, loves to shake and bake, and stutter step his way into the lane for easy buckets. Walker, along with senior Walter McCarty, key the Kentucky press with their length, athleticism and interchangeability. Overshadowed by his big brother, O’Bannon is a riser who loves to run – the Wildcats must contain Charles from taking charge on the wing during the Bruins fastbreak attack. O’Bannon is also a fabulous defender, especially from the help side, where he is more than capable of coming out of nowhere and plucking the ball out of the sky. Walker is the more skilled player, O’Bannon is the better athlete who will need to tire out Walker with his constant movement. Another interesting match up, especially if O’Bannon can get inside and grab some garbage points. Got to like Walker, though, with his size and inside-outside shooting ability. Advantage: Kentucky
Power Forward:
UK Walter McCarty (11.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg) vs. UCLA Ed O’Bannon (20.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg)
The 6’10’’ McCarty doesn’t mind hitting the three ball out of the corner pocket, but his impact is on the defensive side of the ball. McCarty is the point man in the Pitino press, harassing the inbounder and then trapping the opposing point guard. McCarty’s wingspan could mean trouble for Edney, especially if the tiny UCLA leader gets trapped in the corner. The senior O’Bannon may have wobbly knees but he’s a strong inside and midrange scorer who also hounds the glass. Not as athletic as his younger brother, O’Bannon is a savvy scorer with a high basketball IQ. The Bruins will need O’Bannon to get 30 and 20 to beat this Kentucky team. Advantage: UCLA
Center:
UK Mark Pope (7.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg) vs. UCLA George Zidek (10.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg)
A battle of big, slow white men. In the game for his solid low-post defense, Pope will float to the top of the key and keep Zidek honest with the occasional three pointer. The Czech Zidek is a big body down low whose offensive game is unrefined. His scoring ability consists of putting the ball hard off the glass. Zidek’s a banger whose impact will come from being physical with Kentucky’s bigs. Advantage: Negligible
The Bench:
There’s a reason Kentucky’s bench is called the Dazzlin’ Dozen. The rich get richer as stud freshman Ron Mercer (8.0 ppg) provides instant offense. Anthony Epps (6.7 ppg, 4.9 apg), Jeff Sheppard (5.5 ppg) and Wayne Turner are all solid guards off the bench who would be surely starting for other schools in the country. Kentucky is so deep that guys like Nazr Mohammed, Allen Edwards and Cameron Mills get no time. As for UCLA, the Bruins are young and thin. The sophomore point guard Dollar (3.4 ppg, 1.9 rpg) will need to appreciate ten times in ability to match up with Kentucky’s guards off the bench. Talented big man freshman J.R. Henderson (9.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg) is extremely long down low but is not ready to go up against Kentucky’s big-men athletes. Advantage: Kentucky
Coaching:
UK Rick Pitino vs. UCLA Jim Harrick
Pitino has assembled one of the deepest teams in recent memory. Combine Kentucky’s athletes with Pitino’s attacking defensive philosophy, and you have a force to be reckoned with. Pitino’s got a plethora of NBA talent at Kentucky; imagine what he could do with a NBA team full of NBA players. Jim Harrick is already feeling the heat and is enticing the nation’s best junior college talents with flat-screen televisions in exchange for playing as ringers in this game. Harrick’s got to do something to match the Wildcats’ depth. Even John Wooden would bend the rules going against this Kentucky team.
Prediction: If UCLA can break the press, make this a running game on the playground and hit its shots, the Bruins might stand a chance for about 30 minutes. Kentucky’s thoroughbreds will be too much for the creaky legs of O’Bannon, who may need to go to the glue factory after this game. Kentucky.
Coming Tomorrow: Southeast Regional Game Preview
#2 2000 Michigan State vs. #3 2002 Maryland Terrapins
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A shoot first point guard, Delk is an assassin beyond the three-point line who will hit the big shot time and time again. Delk single handedly shot down the Syracuse Orangemen during the 1996 title game with his seven three-pointers. He is one-dimensional on the offensive end and not much of a threat to take it to the basket. Speaking of being clutch, the diminutive senior Edney may be small in stature but he’s certainly big in heart. The 5’7” Edney dashed from coast to coast, 94 feet in four seconds, to beat the Missouri Tigers with a buzzer-beating lay-up in the second round of the 1995 NCAA Tournament. The speedster is playing with a severely sore right wrist, which will hamper his dribbling and passing ability. The Bruins may have to lean hard on backup Cameron Dollar. Advantage: 
The junior Anderson, a transfer from 
Walker, a svelte sophomore from 
The 6’10’’ McCarty doesn’t mind hitting the three ball out of the corner pocket, but his impact is on the defensive side of the ball. McCarty is the point man in the Pitino press, harassing the inbounder and then trapping the opposing point guard. McCarty’s wingspan could mean trouble for Edney, especially if the tiny UCLA leader gets trapped in the corner. The senior O’Bannon may have wobbly knees but he’s a strong inside and midrange scorer who also hounds the glass. Not as athletic as his younger brother, O’Bannon is a savvy scorer with a high basketball IQ. The Bruins will need O’Bannon to get 30 and 20 to beat this 
UK Mark Pope (7.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg) vs. UCLA George Zidek (10.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg)
There’s a reason 
Pitino has assembled one of the deepest teams in recent memory. Combine 
Prediction: If UCLA can break the press, make this a running game on the playground and hit its shots, the Bruins might stand a chance for about 30 minutes. 
I loved ‘96 Kentucky. I’ve felt they were the best team of the last 20 years for some time, but the other teams that year so seem a little week in hindsight. They did beat some teams with great players though. Utah with Van Horn and wake with Duncan to make the final 4. UMass was so sleazy and great on the floor and the semi with UK was the true national championship game. Cuse deserves credit for having a great tournament and not getting run over in the final. This was freshman year at Illinois, and the Big 10 was a screaming joke. I think only 2 teams got to the 2nd round, and one was 1-seed Purdue, who nearly lost at the buzzer in the 1-16 game and got beaten handily by Georgia in the next round. I was at the Indy region with my dad and we saw a bunch of duds on the first day before the amazing Princeton-UCLA game. The buzz in the dome was remarkable for a game between two schools that very few had ties to (except Reggie Miller, who was roundly booed by his adoring fans when he turned his hat around to reveal a UCLA logo.) 98% of the dome left happy that night.
The Cuse-Georgia game was a true classic with both teams making great shots culminating with John Wallace’s winner. Darvin Ham broke the backboard in Texas Tech’s big 2nd round win over UNC.
All in all, I think there was a clear #1 team and a clear #2 team this year and they got to play each other, so the deserving team definitely won and we as fans were fortunate to get the matchup.
I went to the ‘95 Final 4 in the Kingdump in Seattle. Seattle is very nice, that dome was not and it was not money well spent. None of the games were terrible good and only UCLA played decently and won the title with ease.
I don’t remember many things from the earlier rounds. Defending champ Arkansas made the final 4 after coming back to beat Texas Southern by 1 in a 2-15 game and they beating Syracuse in large part due to Lawrence Moten “Webbering” in the last moments when Cuse had a chance to win. There was a real good 3OT game with Kerry Kittles and Villanova losing in a 3-14 game with ODU. Wake and Duncan blew their best shot to make the final 4 when they lost as a 1 seed to Bryant Reeves and OK State in the Sweet 16. I was at MJ’s first home game upon his return to the Bulls that night. I spent most of my time watching score updates at the UC as the Bulls game was a disaster.