GO Wildcats. Fight, fight, fight. Arizona shows Kentucky
it is the top ’CatThat might be Kentucky's famous cheer, but Arizona's Wildcats deserved a cheer, too, especially after their 84-79 overtime victory in a thrilling NCAA Championship final in Indianapolis.
Either way, you had to cheer for the Wildcats. Both proved to be worthy finalists and it was a tough game for either team to lose. In the end, Arizona proved to be the top Wildcat.
"Great game, a fantastic finish," said Riley Wallace, University of Hawaii's head basketball coach, who was at the RCA Dome along with 47,027 others. "That game must have kept everybody glued to their TV sets, especially since it went overtime."
He was cheering for the underdog like three-fourths of the fans there, according to Wallace. Even those from North Carolina and Minnesota.
"They all hate Kentucky because they're always there. Everybody likes the underdog," Wallace said.
Except me. I was rooting for Kentucky because of its coach, Rick Pitino. Hey, you've got to cheer for a guy who once coached the Rainbow basketball team. And, yes, I was glued to the TV set -- four slow beers worth -- at one of my favorite watering holes on Keeaumoku Street because KGMB-TV didn't deem the game important enough to show it live. After all, seeing it live on television is the next best thing to actually being there.
The discrepancy at the foul line -- Arizona made 34 free throws to Kentucky's nine -- wasn't so much because of officiating, according to Wallace.
"What causes that? Quickness, Arizona's quickness," Wallace said. Especially its guards, Miles Simon and Mike Bibby. "South Carolina had a three-guard offense and beat Kentucky twice," Wallace added. He thought that was a portent of things to come.
IF nothing else, Wallace was elated that a team that lost nine games this season -- and finished fifth in its conference -- could wind up as the national champion. His way of thinking is that if a nine-time loser can win, there's hope for others, including his Rainbows, who lost eight games this season. And beat two teams -- Oregon and New Mexico -- that beat Arizona this season.
"It shows that we're not far off, just a player here or there," Wallace said about his Rainbows. "I'm not saying we were a top 20 team. But we deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament. I definitely think we were a top 64 team."
That's why Wallace was encouraged by a letter from Minnesota's Clem Haskins, whose Gophers made it to their first Final Four, losing to Kentucky.
"Haskins wrote me a letter and said that we deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament. He told me to follow his team's lead because we were in the same position as they were. They went from the NIT to the NCAA. It was a nice gesture on his part."
WITH that in mind, Wallace plans to visit six recruits from tomorrow through Sunday before returning home. He's optimistic, considering three of them are leaning toward coming here.
His 'Bows had better get ready in a hurry.
They tip off the season in a tournament that includes Bobby Knight's Indiana Hoosiers and there's Kansas -- the No. 1 team in the nation during the regular season -- headlining the Rainbow Classic.
Meanwhile, Chaminade must be happy about its Maui Invitational field in November because both Arizona, which doesn't have a starting senior, and Kentucky are in the 1997 field along with Duke.
Imagine. An Arizona-Kentucky NCAA Championship rematch in the Lahaina Civic Center gymnasium, which has about 45,000 fewer seats than the RCA Dome.