Feb. 24, 2003

By Steve Richardson

Kentucky coach Tubby Smith has the Wildcats poised to make their first Final Four since 1998. After four seasons of NCAA Tournament frustrations, Kentucky fans could enjoy mint juleps on Bourbon Street and "My Old Kentucky Home" serenades at the New Orleans' Final Four April 5 and 7.

The reason for optimism is based on a gritty defense. Kentucky has led the SEC in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense and turnover margin. The Wildcats traditionally may recruit high school All-Americas, who were the highest scoring players on their individual teams. But Smith has them playing old-fashioned, hands-on defense.

"They have a blue-collar group," Mississippi coach Rod Barnes said. "They have guys who will get down and defend you. They are not relying on their offense as they have in the past. This year they are relying on their defense to fuel their offense." Kentucky's last loss was to Louisville, 81-63, on Dec. 28. Afterward, Smith sent his players back to the film room to study defensive fundamentals and rededicate themselves to such efforts.

"I have felt all along we could be an excellent defensive team," Smith said. "I felt like we had the type of athletes to play good defense."

Starting with a 74-52 victory at Vanderbilt on Jan. 14, Kentucky's defense has looked especially impregnable. Smith is mixing some zone with his traditional man-to-man defense. But Kentucky's personnel make the defense go.

"I certainly think the biggest problem playing them defensively is how long (tall) they are," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings. "We just missed an inordinate amount of shots because they are so long."

Smith has put together a collection of players who can move well on the floor, jump and anticipate on defense. And they want to play defense.

"They have some tough kids," Barnes said. "Chuck Hayes (6-6 forward) is a tough kid. Erik Daniels (6-8 forward) is one of the better defenders in the league because he anticipates well in addition to his speed, quickness and athleticism.

"Cliff Hawkins may be the best defensive point guard in the league. They have guys who like to play defense and have taken on Coach Smith's philosophy and character. He gets after people."

Other elements to Kentucky's resurgence are scoring balance and depth. For the first time since 1991, Kentucky has four double-figure scorers. Eight players have averaged 10 or more minutes playing time a game.

"Everybody has talked about their defense," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "But you have to have balance. They have an outstanding defense. But they have tremendous chemistry and they are unselfish on offense."

It's certainly possible the Wildcats will go through the SEC regular season unbeaten. They have only two road games of any consequence remaining against No. 20 Georgia and No. 4 Florida. After his team was beaten by Kentucky, 87-67, earlier this season, Georgia Coach Jim Harrick remarked: "I haven't seen a team dominate a good team like that since the '90 Vegas team ( 1990 NCAA title team)."

Romar Playing Freshmen
Washington's first-year coach Lorenzo Romar is not bashful about using young players to rebuild the Huskies' program. During the last four games, freshmen have accounted for 46 percent of Washington's points.

The most intriguing of the group may be guard Nate Robinson, also a 5-9, 170-pound quarterback who joined the basketball team late because of his football duties. Another standout freshman, swingman Brandon Roy, joined the team deep into the season after his eligibility problems were cleared up.

"You run the risk of getting worse before you get better," Romar said of his team struggling to make the Pacific 10 Tournament. "They don't know your system. It is definitely not easy, but is something which will make our team better in the long run.....Robinson has made a tremendous difference defensively."

Chaney: Mr. February
Temple, after some traditionally slow starts, has come on strong this month and made post-season play 19 straight seasons (17 NCAA appearances). That's every year since after Coach John Chaney's first season (14-15) with the Owls in 1982-83.

Chaney has a 138-47 record in the month of February. And the Owls ( 9-13) are 4-1 in February this season. But the post-season string may come to an end.

"We have shown progress," Chaney said of coming back from a 3-11 start. "...But not the progress that leaps right out at you as in the past. I don't expect that to happen."

Female Coach? No Problem
Louisville coach Rick Pitino employed a female assistant coach, Bernadette Locke-Mattox, when he was head coach at Kentucky. And Pitino says a woman could handle a Division I men's program just fine.

Tennessee State athletic director Teresa Phillips became the first woman to coach a Division I men's team on Feb. 13 when Tennessee State lost to Austin Peay , 71-56. Phillips, in a one-game stint, replaced interim coach, Hosea Lewis, who had been suspended for a bench-clearing brawl the previous game.

"I think they are more than capable of coaching men and would be great for the sport," Pitino sad. "...If I was an AD (athletic director) I wouldn't shy away."

Short Shots
Dayton coach Oliver Purnell won his 250th career game on Feb. 15 with a victory over Saint Joseph's, 66-56. Purnell has coached at Radford, Old Dominion and Dayton during a 15-year head coaching career..... Illinois coach Bill Self matched Ralph Jones as the quickest coach to 70 victories when he accomplished the feat in 92 games. He also was looking to notch his 200th career victory (including stints at Oral Roberts and Tulsa) when the Illini played Northwestern in Chicago on Feb. 22.....Arizona Coach Lute Olson has posted his 16th consecutive 20-victory season, which is the longest streak in Division I. It is the 25th time in 30 seasons Olson has posted 20 or more victories. Only Dean Smith (30) and Jerry Tarkanian have posted more 20-victory seasons in Division I. Syracuse's Jim Boeheim and Texas Tech's Bob Knight each entered this season with 24 20-victory seasons.