Monday, April 2, 2001
[AT THE FINAL FOUR]
Editor's note: University of Hawaii basketball coaches Riley Wallace, Bob Nash and Scott Rigot are at the Final Four in Minneapolis. They have agreed to provide the Star-Bulletin with their insights from one of the biggest spectacles in sports. Arizona’s Jefferson can
handle Duke’s BattierBOB NASH
Today, with a team from the west, Arizona, making the championship final, Nash addresses the "East Coast Media Bias" phenomenon, and gives us his pick to win tonight's championship game:
"IF YOU'RE AN EXECUTIVE looking at a team for TV, the east coast time slot just makes more sense because of economics. The bias exists because the eastern teams get more TV games and the west teams get less exposure and coverage.
"Our conference (Western Athletic) is rated the seventh toughest in the nation, but a lot of people back east don't know about it. And Tulsa was a great representative winning the NIT. That might prove that we need more representation in the NCAA Tournament.
"It's a very tough conference, not just because of the quality of play, but the travel considerations. Nobody else has to cross the big pond and so many time zones. I don't think that's taken into consideration. In the ACC, you just ride a bus for a couple hours, or get on a plane for a couple hours and you hit all the spots where you need to be. Our travel is a little more involved.
"I thought the semifinals were decent games, but not great games. Of course, Duke coming back from 22 down was pretty incredible. But I give the edge to Arizona. Jason Williams is the controller for Duke, and he's going to be a great pro guard. But the key is (Shane) Battier and (Richard) Jefferson. I think Jefferson is big enough, strong enough and can jump well enough to slow down Battier."