On Game's Biggest Stage, the Players Are the Thing

While the debate rages on--Steve Lavin can't coach, Steve Lavin can coach, Lavin, Lavin, Lavin--let's pause to remember.

No matter how many sideline shots you see of Mike Krzyzewski, Lute Olson or Tubby Smith, keep in mind that the closer we get to the Final Four, the more it is about the guys who dribble the balls and not the ones who roll them out.

Don't misunderstand: Krzyzewski is in the Hall of Fame and Olson belongs there, especially after this season.

Oregon and Pittsburgh are in the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16 for the first time in eons because Ernie Kent and Ben Howland have shaped those programs with sharp, analytical minds.

And UCLA is going to San Jose because Lavin gets talented players and gets the best out of them come March. (As they say, "scoreboard:" At the moment, Lavin's .688 NCAA tournament winning percentage is better than Jerry Tarkanian's .679.)

But it is about the players.

Even Krzyzewski could not get to the Sweet 16 with Siena's team.

What's odd about this season is how wrong so many have been about so many players.

The Associated Press preseason All-America team consisted of Jason Williams of Duke, Casey Jacobsen of Stanford, Kareem Rush of Missouri, Frank Williams of Illinois and Tayshaun Prince of Kentucky.

Not one of them was the player of the year in his conference--though it's worth noting that all but Jacobsen are still alive in the tournament.

The honors went to Maryland's Juan Dixon in the Atlantic Coast Conference, USC's Sam Clancy in the Pacific 10, Kansas' Drew Gooden in the Big 12, Indiana's Jared Jeffries in the Big Ten and Alabama's Erwin Dudley in the Southeastern Conference.

Of the five players on the preseason All-America team, only Jason Williams made the postseason team. The others were Gooden, Dixon, Cincinnati's Steve Logan and Gonzaga's Dan Dickau.

As the tournament goes on, you're going to see more players who were very little talked about during the season--spectacular athletes such as Maryland's Chris Wilcox, Missouri's Rickey Paulding and Oregon's Frederick Jones, who is only now being discovered east of the Willamette Valley.

There's Oklahoma power forward Aaron McGhee and Connecticut shot-blocker Emeka Okafor, and that's assuming you know the Sooners' Hollis Price and the Huskies' Caron Butler.

It might be that when careers are shorter and there are fewer great players, it is easier for surprises to emerge.