"Tell them … tell the team to bear down"

Writer takes look at when Cats snatched win from jaws of defeat

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=545c16b9-3697-4dd1-a10d-fd49d43c02d4" target="_new" title="">Late Heroics Vault U.S. to World Cup Knockout Stage</a>

By Javier Morales

Where were you when Landon Donovan made his game-winning goal against Algeria on Wednesday morning? His 91st-minute goal, which gave the U.S. a 1-0 victory over Algeria in the World Cup, carried the significance of a historical moment caught in time, like when JFK was shot or where you watched the last episode of Cheers.

For the record, I was sitting at my kitchen table watching the game with my daughter running around me. I didn’t jump or scream. I got out of my seat, however, and walked closer to the TV. I looked on not believing the moment. My first reaction: “Where are the refs? What are they going to call now?”

The goal in injury-time allowed the U.S. to stave off elimination and win its group at the same time. Donovan snatched victory from the jaws of defeat — or tie (that does not sound as good).

Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat — the ultimate Landon Donovan moment — is like winning in basketball after trailing by seven points with only 37 seconds remaining without a shot clock and a three-point line.

Please read the rest of this entry at TucsonCitizen.com

Bookmark this post

Hide Sites

Mighty Mouse goes against top women’s golfer

>>May 17: No. 6 Bell vs. No. 3 Udall (with poll)
>>May 16: No. 7 Snow vs. No. 2 Hunley (with poll)
>>May 15: No. 6 Bibby vs. No. 3 Beard (with poll)
>>May 14: No. 8 Dawson vs. No. 1 Kerr (with poll)
>>May 13: No. 5 Hoffman vs. No. 4 Salmon. Winner: Salmon.
>>T-shirt contest (deadline extended to end of first round)
>>Full schedule
>>The Field of 32 bracket
>>Mike Candrea Regional
>>Frank Busch Regional
>>Cedric Dempsey Regional
>>Jerry Kindall Regional

RELATED LINK: Sorenstam will be a guest on the Matt Minkus podcast show, which airs tomorrow

Two of the more influential athletes in their respective sports graced the University of Arizona campus at the same time in the early 1990s.

In 1992, Damon “Mighty Mouse” Stoudamire was at the outset of a career that would ultimately factor into a Final Four run in 1994. Annika Sorenstam was in her second season at the UA, and she almost defended her NCAA individual women’s golf championship with a second-place showing.

If you take a look at the UA men’s basketball record book, Stoudamire’s name is a constant. He was the best scoring point guard among Lute Olson’s stable at that position. Stoudamire, an assistant with the Memphis Grizzlies, has a future as a coach because he played that role well on the court.

Sorenstam, a native of Stockholm, Sweden, became one of the more identifiable women’s athletes in the world while winning 72 LPGA events, including 10 majors. She remains in the public eye, running the ANNIKA golf academy and a charitable founding, designing golf courses, and representing ANNIKA-branded products.

Stoudamire vs. Sorenstam is the next installment of our Bear Down Leader competition as they face each other in the Frank Busch Regional.

A reminder: Our polls are open for five days before determining the winner, so enough voters can get an opportunity to participate. No. 4 John Byrd “Button” Salmon won the first matchup against No. 5 Trevor Hoffman in the Mike Candrea Regional. These matchups are ongoing:

• No. 8 Mike Dawson against No. 1 Steve Kerr of the Frank Busch Regional (poll open until Tuesday)
• No. 6 Mike Bibby against No. 3 Amanda Beard of the Cedric Dempsey Regional (poll open until Wednesday)
• No. 7 J.T. Snow against No. 2 Ricky Hunley of the Jerry Kindall Regional (poll open until Thursday)
• No. 6 Theopolis “T” Bell against No. 3 Mo Udall of the Mike Candrea Regional (poll open until Friday)

Tomorrow: No. 5 Art Luppino goes against No. 4 Jim Furyk in the Cedric Dempsey Regional.

Damon Stoudamire

Annika Sorenstam

Bookmark this post

Hide Sites

Kerrrrrrr and Sorenstam highlight talented field

Click on bracket for enlarged, printable (PDF) view

By Javier Morales

Steve Kerr, or more appropriately Steeeeeve Kerrrrrrrr, takes the top spot in the Frank Busch Regional of our Bear Down Leader competition.

Steve Kerr

Kerr captained Arizona to its first Final Four in 1988 and went on to win five NBA titles with the Bulls and Spurs. He is trying to win another title as the Suns’ general manager and president of basketball operations.

In this bracket, Kerr is poised for a title run but he must first get past the late Mike Dawson, a defensive lineman who was selected in the first round of the 1976 NFL draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. Dawson is a native Tucsonan who was active in the community.

(more…)

Bookmark this post

Hide Sites

Recruit has Florida AAU past similar to Vargas

Damien Leonard/Video of Leonard available at FloridaHoopsRecruits.com

By Javier Morales

The third Rivals.com Five-Star recruit in the last year will visit the UA campus next week, and the reality is the Wildcats might be facing another uphill battle to land such a highly-touted player. Class of 2011 shooting guard Damien Leonard of Greenville (S.C) J. L. Mann — the No. 14 prospect in his class according to Rivals.com — reportedly will take a trip to Tucson on an unofficial visit. Class of 2010 Five-Star recruits Doron Lamb (Mouth of Wilson, Va., Oak Hill Academy) and Josh Selby (Baltimore Lake Clifton) took official visits during the season. Lamb is headed to Kentucky and Selby to Kansas, and by some accounts, they eliminated Arizona from consideration long before they announced their decisions April 17. So why would UA coach Sean Miller want to go through the anguish of yet another high-profile recruit visiting Arizona, possibly all for naught? Moreover, why another shooting guard when the UA will already have Kyle Fogg, Daniel Bejarano, Jordin Mayes and Brendon Lavender when Leonard is a freshman in 2011-12?

The best explanation is Miller does not take into account star systems and rotation issues when the best possible prospect shows an interest in Arizona. Does anybody want a head coach with a defeatist attitude? Memphis coach Josh Pastner, formerly of the UA as a player and coach, has the nation’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class despite operating still in John Calipari’s shadow. Calipari had the No. 1 class last year after moving to Kentucky and his class is second this year to his former assistant at Memphis. Knowing Pastner, he never doubted he could recruit as well as Calipari did with the Tigers. In fact, Pastner takes it as a challenge to be better. “They did not hire me to fill a spot; they hired me to carry on what Coach Cal started, and I intend to build on that,” Pastner told me before his first season started. Pastner has never thought he has to recruit a lesser player because he’s not Calipari. Pastner has enjoyed more recruiting success at Memphis than Miller has at Arizona, based on the Rivals.com recruiting rankings. Pastner inked his first Five-Star recruit — Wolfboro (N.H.) Brewster Academy wing player Will Barton — last June, before he coached his first game with the Tigers. Barton reportedly showed interest in the UA program but he never visited Tucson. … Pastner’s Five-Star success — he has also signed top-notch wing player Jelan Kendrick of Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler — has a lot to do with his recruiting ability but also because of the aura Calipari gave that program. True, Lute Olson created the same type of appeal at Arizona, but by the time Miller arrived, Olson was two years removed the program. If Pastner coached Memphis under the same circumstances with Calipari already gone for two years would he be enjoying the same success? Something to think about. …

(more…)

Bookmark this post

Hide Sites

NEW LINK AT TUCSONCITIZEN.COM: McCallum spurns Arizona for Detroit … what’s next for Wildcats?

SIGNING PERIOD RELATED LINKS:

• Pac-10 teams have kept top talent in region for now (TucsonCitizen.com)
• Mayes is not a McDonald’s All-American but he holds his own against them (TucsonCitizen.com)
• The L.A. Times selects Mayes to their 10-player All-Star team
• Ray McCallum Jr. and (former UA target) Trey Ziegler might play for their fathers in college
• It appears Ziegler is already bound for Central Michigan to be with his dad … will McCallum follow his lead?
  
  Jordan Mayes’ 26-point performance against John Wall last season
• Signing day crucial to both Cats — Kentucky and Arizona — according to Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News
• Kentucky hopes to bring in a big haul
• Clemson contacted ASU about the possibility of hiring Herb Sendek as its new coach
• ASU is expected to sign a JC point guard and high school forward prospect from Iowa today

By Javier Morales

Whether he wears No. 20 for Arizona has yet to be determined, but Jordin Mayes has gained clearance from Damon Stoudamire and his cousin Salim Stoudamire to have the same number they wore during their fruitful Wildcat careers.

“When they heard that Jordin had verbally committed to Arizona, they gave him a call to offer their congratulations,” Mayes’ father Darryel Mayes told me Tuesday night. “Our families are close to each other from when we lived in Portland. (The Stoudamires) really are like family to us.”

Mayes, a 6-2, 190-pound point guard, wore No. 12 (his father’s number when Darryel played at UNLV and El Camino, Calif., Junior College) this season as a senior for two-time state champion Los Angeles Westchester. In his previous three years with Westchester, Jordin Mayes wore No. 20.

“MoMo (Jones) already wears No. 12 for Arizona, so Jordin might wear No. 20,” Darryel Mayes said. “Damon and Salim told Jordin that he could wear their No. 20 if he wants. That would be an honor for Jordin. They are proud of him and excited to see him play for Arizona.”

Mayes officially becomes a Wildcat today on the first day of the spring signing period. Logan (Ill.) Junior College forward Jesse Perry is also expected to sign with Arizona.

Another UA recruiting target — Detroit Country Day School point guard Ray McCallum Jr. — is scheduled to announce his decision at 1 p.m., Tucson time, today on ESPNU. McCallum is also being recruited by Detroit (where his father coaches), UCLA and Florida.

Your Ad Here

FOLLOW US BY CLICKING ON THE LOGOS: Please help this site keep going:

Bookmark this post

Hide Sites

Lamb’s father insists son has Arizona even with other suitors

Former UA assistant Phil Johnson is announced as Tim Floyd’s top assistant at UTEP

• Nic Wise played in his second game in Portsmouth on Thursday and although his team won, he had a subpar game with six points (all on free throws) with two assists and four turnovers in 22 minutes
• Another former UA guard, Damon Stoudamire, is bestowing some of his wisdom on his Memphis Grizzlies players as an assistant coach
• UTEP coach Tim Floyd officially announces former UA assistant Phil Johnson will be his lead assistant at a Wednesday press conference in El Paso. The link also includes information that Floyd and Johnson plan to contact Sabino High School power forward Matt Korcheck, who verbally committed to UTEP last fall. Korcheck was not recruited by Arizona. He chose UTEP over Weber State, Utah State and NAU.
• Video of Johnson’s press conference in El Paso in which the assistant coach is reunited with a fan that he tried to charge in the stands during a 2004 game at UTEP when he coached San Jose State.
• George offered this in the comment section: All-Arizona guard Jahii Carson from Mesa, a Class of 2011 recruit, decommits from Oregon State
• You can hear Washington coach Lorenzo Romar breathe a sigh of relief from Seattle: His promising freshman forward Clarence Trent quits the football team to concentrate on studies and hoops.
• Nevada might play three non-conference games against Pac-10 foes next season (one against ASU is certain as the teams agree on a home-and-home arrangement).
• Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy combo guard Doron Lamb never set up a meeting with new St. John’s coach Steve Lavin despite published reports to that effect, according to his father Calvin Lamb. The elder Lamb also insists Arizona is still even with Lamb’s other suitors. Lamb and Baltimore Lake County point guard Josh Selby will announce where they will attend college April 17 at the Jordan Brand Classic All-American Game at Madison Square Garden.
• Former UA guard J.P. Prince, who came one game away from the Final Four with Tennessee this year, pulled out of the Portsmouth (Va.) Invitational this weekend because he must attend classes to get his degree

Bookmark this post

Hide Sites

Look Ahead and Back: Sun Devils vs. Cats

Compiled by Javier Morales

Arizona 2009-10 schedule
(Full schedule and statistics available at ArizonaWildcats.com)

G.J. FIMBRES VIDEO:

Steve Kerr’s legendary status at Arizona began with his 15-point performance in a win over ASU only two days after his father was assassinated in Lebanon

Nov. 26, 1976: Arizona 91, ASU 90 (OT) – The balance of power in the state started to shift from Ned Wulk‘s Sun Devils to Fred Snowden‘s Wildcats as the UA won its season-opener at McKale Center. The Wildcats played their first game since losing to UCLA in the Elite Eight of the 1976 NCAA tournament. This was Arizona’s second straight win over ASU after the Wildcats had lost to ASU in 10 of 11 games. Herman Harris led the Cats with 34 points. Little-used reserve Tim Marshall, who started only five games in his UA career, made a driving layup with two seconds remaining in overtime to give the Wildcats the victory. ASU and UA played three games during that era, playing an early-season non-conference game before playing each other in the WAC schedule.

Jan. 20, 1984: Arizona 71, ASU 49 – This game is one of the more meaningful games in McKale Center’s history. Lute Olson notched his first Pacific-10 Conference win in an emotional game involving freshman guard Steve Kerr. Only two days previously, Kerr’s father. Malcolm Kerr, was assassinated by terrorists in Beirut, Lebanon. Kerr was given the option of taking the night off, but he suited up saying that’s what his father would have desired. His legendary status with the Cats began as he hit his first shot, a 25-footer, and finished with 15 points. “The first game against ASU was special,” Kerr told Steve Rivera of the Tucson Citizen in 2007. “It was Lute’s first Pac-10 win. And being a huge sports fan, I knew all about the rivalry. So I wanted to beat them in the worst way. They had dominated the rivalry in recent years, so to beat them twice that first year was key. I think it set the tone for Lute’s dominance of ASU over the years.” ASU had a nine-game winning streak against the UA entering the game. Olson won 16 of his first 17 games against ASU and finished with a 43-7 record against the Sun Devils.

(more…)

Bookmark this post

Hide Sites