2000 Ad

Sporting News, The, March 27, 2000

No. 6-seed Miami had just toppled Ohio State last Sunday, advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16. "I think," Hurricanes guard Vernon Jennings said, "we messed up some brackets getting this far."

No sweat, Vernon. Most brackets already had been blown to smithereens. Unless you figured both of the Pac-10's No. 1 seeds would go down, Stanford to North Carolina and Arizona to Wisconsin. Or that Iowa State would be the only No. 2 seed left. Or that 10-seeds Seton Hall and Gonzaga still would be alive, or that LSU and Tennessee somehow would emerge as their region's highest-seeded teams heading into this weekend's run for the Final Four.

Amid all this madness are countless stories. Here are just a few ...

Some heart--not just a heartbeat

You had to smile when North Carolina's Brendan Haywood finally wanted the basketball--actually, craved it--and started abusing people with it.

Haywood, a 7-footer is one of the most maligned players on one of college basketball's most maligned teams, but in a 84-70 first-round victory over Missouri, the baby-faced Haywood stomped out his disaster against Weber State in the Tar Heels' embarrassing first-round loss last year. Then he held his own against Stanford, scoring 12 tough points, grabbing eight rebounds and blocking four shots as North Carolina shocked the top-seeded Cardinal, 60-53, Sunday in the second round.

Haywood's stats a year ago against Weber State? No points, one rebound.

His numbers Friday against Missouri? 28 points, 15 rebounds.

After North Carolina's victory over Missouri, Haywood was at first reluctant to answer questions about what the Missouri game meant to him in light of the Weber Stale debacle, but he soon vented.

"If it wax me playing one-on-one against Weber State. I could see it," said Haywood, sprawled in a chair, ice on his left knee. "But it wasn't just me. It's a team game. It was a lot of unfair criticism."

Haywood may not be as big as Shaquille O'Neal, but he's close. And fair or unfair, the knock on Haywood is that he never got his butt down, seeded off the defender in the low post and demanded the ball.

His freshman year, Guthridge delayed his development by not playing him enough--Guthridge rarely subbed with that great team of Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison. But the last two seasons, when Haywood has been the unquestioned starter, he seemed afraid to dominate. He made more than 72 percent of his field goals, but he averaged fewer than eight shots a game.

Of course, it should be noted Haywood's breakout game came against a small Missouri team that is perimeter-oriented and interior-challenged. The Tigers did have one 6-8 forward--T.J. Soyoye--to guard Haywood, but the Tigers had little other height or muscle. There were stretches when Missouri had no one on the floor taller than 6-6, and Kenge Stevenson, a 6-4 1/2 sophomore backup, was trying to guard Haywood.

But even though he had a comical size advantage, Haywood didn't get caught up about what he was supposed to do, he just did it, making 11-of-15 field goals.

Against Stanford, Haywood didn't get as many looks--much of that due to the ferocious low-post defense of Mark Madsen--and there were times he looked tired or just disappeared, looking like the Haywood of old. One Detroit Pistons scout watching from the third row said the Tar Heels weren't getting him the ball--and that Haywood wasn't moving his feet enough to get position.

"We tried to get him the ball, but we couldn't get him as many looks as we would have liked," Guthridge said.

But Haywood did enough. He took up space and gave the Tar Heels a big boost in the first half with six points when they were struggling from the outside. His biggest moment? Blocking Madsen's shot with three minutes left, keeping North Carolina's 53-47 lead intact.

What does this mean for next season--and next week against Tennessee? Is Haywood a new, meaner man? Perhaps.

But in the final seconds against Missouri, Haywood's gentlemanly ways returned. He had sealed off his man neatly in the low post, but he waved off the entry pass.

"We were up by 14," Haywood said. "There was no reason to score again. Teams remember that years down the line."--Steve Harrison

Miami's fun bunch

Miami was ahead, 71-59, but still things were tense against Arkansas in the first round of the South regional in Nashville.

Still, when Miami center Mario Bland reached down to collect an out-of-bounds ball from an Arkansas cheerleader, he couldn't help himself. "Hey, baby," he says to the petite bleach blonde with the faux tan. "How you doin'?"

Bland is one of three tongue-wagging, smooth-strutting, fun-loving seniors for the Hurricanes, a team that draws from the toughness and swagger provided by the trio of elder members.

After the 75-71 win over Arkansas and its trademark "40 minutes of hell" style, Bland scanned the stat sheet, looked at his playing time and said, "What they got was 28 minutes of Mario Bland."

Four years ago, Bland, swingman Johnny Hemsley and point guard Vernon Jennings were three-fifths of an outstanding recruiting class for the downtrodden Hurricanes, who had gone 17-37 in their three previous seasons. The two other recruits, Lucas Barnes and Jermaine Walker, left the team, but ii hasn't mattered much.