Closer look shows value of Dingle and Bright

Sporting News, The, Jan 15, 1996 by Mike DeCourcy

Through the early stages of the season, college basketball's most rigorous nonleague schedule relented only twice upon the Massachusetts Minutemen. There was that cozy home game against UNC Wilmington and a full day off in Hawaii after they had won the championships of the Rainbow Classic.

So how does a guy celebrate an undefeated record, a major holiday tournament championship, a No. 1 ranking? Sand? Surf? Uh-uh. Sweat. That's what Donta Bright wanted. He started asking around to find a gym in which to lift weights and ultimately spent his free time working out at the University of Hawaii.

"We had fun, but we were on a mission," says Bright, a 6-foot-6 senior forward, the second-leading scorer for UMass. "We went there to win a championship."

The 12-0 Minutemen understand there is no time to relax. They understand this because their greatest gift as a team, aside from the presence of center Marcus Camby, is an acceptance of their individual limitations, which are many.

Guards Edgar Padilla and Carmelo Travieso can't shoot and, for that matter, aren't especially creative on offense. Power forward Dana Dingle, at 212 pounds, doesn't bring much power to his position. Bright is the most talented of Coach John Calipari's "other" guys, but his offense is largely dependent on little sneak attacks he launches when opponents become mesmerized by Camby.

Camby's impact on this collection is rarely underestimated, except by the program. The Minutemen are telling everybody he is 6-11, but don't believe it On videotape, opponents see this thin, agile center make a stunningly quick move, then nail a running jumper as the defender struggles to recover. What they don't see is he's probably closer to 7-1; combining that with his quickness and ball skills, it is nearly impossible to prevent him from getting the shots he wants.

Not much depth on this club, by the way.

So this is college basketball's dominant team, at least for now. Among its victims are four teams ranked in last week's TSN Top 25 (Kentucky, Memphis, Syracuse and Wake Forest) and two others (Maryland and Georgia Tech) that drifted through the polL

"I don't think we're good," Bright says. "Right now, we're not playing great on offense. The reason why we've won is that we've played great defense and everybody is helping each other out. Our defense is at another level right now. On offense, sometimes we just stand, don't move, don't execute our plays the way we should."

Through 13 games, the Minutemen topped 80 points just once. The offense sputters primarily because of the guards, who, frankly, are getting too much credit for not getting enough credit. Watch the Minutemen play on television, and the analysts keep insisting Padilla and Travieso are underrated -- so much so, they become overrated.

Indeed, they are durable, and they are devoted to Calipari's defensive teachings. In a difficult 64-61 victory over Memphis, then a Top 5 team, Padilla and Travieso refused to permit the ball reversal across the top of the key that is fundamental to the Tigers' system. Memphis shooting guard Mingo Johnson, one of the country's best from 3-point range, wound up 1 for 9.

"I think it's the way we practice," Travieso says. "Sometimes, when we're out there, we just take it personally."

The players who really are being ignored are Dingle and Bright, who fill their responsibilities both on defense and offense. Although both stand 6-6, they overcome Camby's distaste for the boards well enough to make UMass a productive rebounding team.

Dingle is a defensive demon who will guard any sort of player. At various times this year, he's gone after Georgia Tech guard Stephon Marbury and Memphis center Lorenzen Wright. In that Memphis victory, Bright nailed a clutch 3-pointer and beat the press for a layup in lifting the Minutemen from two one-point deficits in the final three minutes.

"He's as good a finisher as there is in the country," Calipari says of Bright, "but he's also a guy who is unselfish and has a lot of courage."

If it seems to be a happy accident that the Minutemen have players so committed to forming a cohesive, competitive whole, perhaps it is not. During the summer, looking at potential recruits who were participating in the Nike All-American camp in Indianapolis, Calipari had this observation about what he wants in a player:

"The biggest thing we look for is competitiveness. Is the guy a warrior? Will he compete, will he battle? Does he have a burning desire to win? Then you can overcome the other scars in their game."

What's that smell?

Success has followed Coach Jerry Tarkanian to Fresno State ... but that's not all.

The Runnin' Raisins, 8-4, became the first team to beat New Mexico, a healthy start in their first WAC season under Tark, but that came only two days after a hotel room rented by point guard Dominick Young was trashed following a New Year's Eve party. No charges were pressed, but Young was ordered by Fresno's interim athletic director, Ben Quillian, to pay restitution of $1,500. Young said neither he nor the other half-dozen members of the Fresno team who attended the party were involved.