Memphis Commercial Appeal 11/14/05

[uofmbrad]

Article from the morning Commercial Appeal in Memphis:

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U of M's opposition not just a nice story
Wisconsin-Milwaukee boasts talent, experience

By Gary Parrish
Contact
November 14, 2005

There were lots of things the University of Memphis had to do to position itself to host a possible second-round game in the NIT Season Tip-off.

Secure a building was one.

Successfully lobby was another.

Guarantee tickets sold was another.

The list went on and on and on and on.

Meanwhile, amid all the politicking on the business side of basketball, it seems something may have gotten lost. None of it will matter unless the Tigers defeat Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Tuesday night inside FedExForum.

Which is no simple task.

So before Memphis fans turn their attention to Thursday in anticipation of a potential second-round game with Alabama, perhaps they should check the most-recent NCAA Tournament bracket and realize that Milwaukee actually beat Alabama last season, effectively ending the Crimson Tide's year.

After that came a victory over Boston College, and the kind of glory related to any Sweet 16 appearance. And though it's tempting to cast all this as yesterday, and point out that North Carolina also did some nice things last season that won't be duplicated, consider that Milwaukee returns four starters from that team, and seven seniors in all.

In other words, this is an experienced group experienced in winning.

"They have all seniors," said Memphis coach John Calipari. "It's going to be a hard game."

A hard game, no doubt, but one in which the Tigers will be favored because 12th-ranked teams playing at home aren't supposed to lose to mid-majors, regardless the circumstances. The logic is that simple.

Still, nothing is guaranteed.

Except for that Milwaukee doesn't plan on losing.

The Panthers won 26 games last year. They intend on winning at least one this week.

"Most definitely," said Milwaukee forward Joah Tucker. "We're at the level where we're not just coming in and trying to compete and lose by seven on the road. We have a lot of older guys, and we're past that point in our careers."

If Tucker sounds like a man with a chip on his shoulder, it's because he is a man with a chip on his shoulder, and for good reason.

He's the Preseason Player of the Year in the Horizon League, a part of a program that's won three consecutive conference titles and one of four starters back from last season's Sweet 16 squad. No matter, on a national level he and his teammates remain nothing more than a fluky, cute, little story.

How else to explain the preseason rankings that omit the Panthers completely?

Yes, Milwaukee lost its coach, Bruce Pearl, to Tennessee.

Yes, Milwaukee lost its best player, Ed McCants, to the NBDL.

But again, four starters are back, and Tucker believes that should be worth something.

Consider this comparison:

The Villanova Wildcats return four starters from a Sweet 16 team. They're ranked fifth in the nation.

The Panthers return four starters from a Sweet 16 team. They got just two votes in the Top 25.

"If you're at a mid-major, there's no point in getting mad because this is just the way it's going to be until you're a mid-major who has been doing it for 10 years like Gonzaga," Tucker said. "Gonzaga moved out of the mid-major category because they consistently got to the first, second and third round of the NCAA Tournament. But besides them, mid-majors never get respect."

Not that it bothers Rob Jeter, the first-year Milwaukee coach still adjusting to having his own team after 11 years as an assistant. Best he can tell, respect will come in due time.

Or is that overdue?

"It doesn't matter, because it's all about what we do on the floor," Jeter said. "We're just going to have to prove ourselves every time we play."

-- Gary Parrish: 529-2365


Tigers vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee

What: First round of Preseason NIT

When, where: Tuesday, 7 p.m., at FedExForum

TV: WLMT (30)

[Pantherholic]

wow, how often do u see an underdog given an article like this? although based on how we've played so far i'm very skeptical about tomorrow

[BBFran]

Unfortunately, I agree with you Pantherholic -- we didn't look anywhere near ready for Memphis in our exhibition games. Now having said that, there's no substitute for seniors.

Having said THAT, there's also no substitute for big athletic guys. We are in short supply down low. James Wright was a much bigger loss than many people realize.

We're going to have to play our tails off to make this competitive. But as the year goes on, I expect us to get tougher and tougher.

[itsasekritt]

Guys do you think that Memphis will overlook us based on who they think they are? Would love to get your take on this.

[Pantherholic]

i think they will to some degree simply b/c they are so highly ranked but I think Calipari is doing his best to make sure these guys know we're no pushovers. i think its safe to say our guys will be pumped up for this game but if we make the same dumbass mistakes like we did vs. Platteville then we're screwed. just make sure dewayne washington is at the free throw line if he's relied upon to win the game for them .

[dutchpthr]

maybe this is my panther bias coming thru here but i truly see no reason why we can not beat Memphis tomorrow.

To me we are going agaisnt a team that is over-rated every year, they always seem to have great talent but don't use it to its full capcity(just my opinion), and i think we are a very good team, and that we are still a team that doesn not get some of the recogition that we deserve and that is soemthing that we need to utilize, play tough play angry, play with a chip on your shoulder, but play the way you know you can.

you guys are right that we lack bigs, but lets not forget the fact that Joah plays like he is 6'10" sometimes, and Tigert is able to bang with people to. i know this was said a lot last but this should be D-Ford's coming out party, i hope. I really don't think that it is going to come down to the play our either teams bigs though, it will be in the guard play i think.

but like i said maybe its just my panther bias....but im ok with that

[uofmbrad]

pantherholic said:

just make sure dewayne washington is at the free throw line if he's relied upon to win the game for them .

interesting read in Saturday's Commercial Appeal on "Dewayne" Washington ;D

It's kinda long, but if you've ready any of the Sports Illustrated or ESPN the Mag articles on it, here's the same story but with a local spin on it.

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On the rebound
Last season's negative becoming positive for Tigers' Washington

By Zack McMillin
Contact
November 13, 2005

Darius Washington has reason to smile. He's the focal point on a University of Memphis team projected to accomplish big things this season. But maybe even more than that, Washington knows a great many basketball fans in the city, and likely even nationally, are in his corner.

Duane Erwin walked into the Larry O. Finch Center, saw the cameras and klieg lights positioned around the basketball court and looked to Darius Washington Jr.

"What magazine is this for?" Erwin wanted to know.

It was a reasonable question for Erwin, now graduated from the University of Memphis, to ask Washington, now a sophomore point guard.

Already, Sports Illustrated, USA Today and ESPN: The Magazine had been to Memphis to spend a large amount of time with Washington, so Erwin figured it must be another crew in town to chronicle how, as teammate Rodney Carney put it during this shoot: "You got the whole city behind you, D-Wash."

"Out of the Darkness," was the title of the SI feature story.

"Memphis guard starts anew," it said in USA Today.

As the 2005-06 college basketball season prepares for tipoff, one of the primary storylines involves Washington and the UofM basketball team. One fateful trip to the free-throw line last March pushed Washington into the national consciousness and into the hearts of UofM fans.

Had he succeeded, Washington would have become a momentary hero, the clutch freshmen who saved a doomed season.

But by failing, Washington became a hero of another sort, and the spotlight now shining on him and the UofM is much brighter because of what happened at that free-throw line.

Rarely has an athlete ever gained so much acclaim -- positive acclaim -- from losing.

"Missing those free throws," says his father, Darius Washington Sr., "probably brought him more fame than if he would have made them."

Or, as Darius Jr. says: "It's like, if I had made them, would I have gotten this much attention? We will never know."

On Tuesday, the lights and cameras were not for a magazine but for a video the Tigers will play before every home game, featuring all the players.

But Washington and Carney, the team's stars, will be most prominent, and the Running Pony production crew brought Washington onto the court for what will be the establishing image: Washington, lights shining down on him, standing at the free-throw line.

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He who has never failed somewhere, that man cannot be great. Failure is the true test of greatness.

- Herman Melville



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Darius Washington has gotten plenty of media attention already this season. But had he made all three free throws against Louisville, would the sophomore still be commanding so much press?

Darius Washington Jr. failed.
He doesn't mind saying this. He says he's over it now, that what happened on March 12, at FedExForum, is well behind him.

"That's something I'm going to have to live with the rest of my life," Washington says. "I'm not mad. I'm not sad. It's just something that happened, and we had to deal with it."

He is not suppressing the memory. He can recall as clearly as anyone what happened in the final moments of the Conference USA Tournament championship game against Louisville, how he rose to shoot a 3, got fouled and went to the free-throw line with nothing -- 0.0 -- left on the clock.

With the final horn's red light still illuminating the backboard, with nobody else at the line, with Keith Lee, one of Memphis's all-time greats, sitting under the goal, Washington faced the kind of moment he always wanted.

Make all three foul shots, and the Tigers win it to earn an unlikely trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Make two, and the Tigers force overtime.

Make one or none, and the Tigers lose, go to the NIT and spend the offseason wondering what went so wrong with such a promising season.

He made the first. Of course, he did.

Then he looked to his teammates on the bench. Then he winked.

Then he missed.

When he missed the next shot, the Tigers had lost, Louisville had won and the game was over.

But this story was just beginning.



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We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success.... He who never made a mistake, never made a discovery.

- Samuel Smiles



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Darius Washington (flanked by his father, Darius Sr. and coach John Calipari) was distraught after his failure at the free-throw line against Louisville last March. But time has a way of healing wounds, and the Tiger star says the experience has helped him grow.

Darius Washington Sr. remembers watching that final shot glance off the rim, then seeing his son, his best friend, collapse onto the court.
He was behind the opposite goal, and so he ran down and demanded that a security guard allow him onto the floor.

Washington's coach, John Calipari, got to him first, followed by teammate Jeremy Hunt. Washington was sobbing, in utter despair, and this moment would be played over and over on ESPN and CBS in the coming days and weeks.

"No matter how you felt about the kid, whether you liked him or hated him or didn't know him, the expression he had on his face, you had to have compassion for the kid," says his father, a director for a recreation center in Orlando. "I don't care what you thought about John Calipari or the University of Memphis or whatever, when he turned to face the bench, you had to feel for him."

Wally Juraschka is a psychiatrist with the Healing Arts Medical Group in Memphis, and he specializes in helping patients deal with trauma. Juraschka was at the game and could not help but apply his training while watching the scene unfold.

Like Washington's father, Juraschka believes the key moment came when Washington looked to the bench and gave his wink, as if to say: "It's over."

"When he did that, he may have influenced his entire emotional and nervous system, where he's now like he's already made the shot, where he is so sure of himself," Juraschka said. "He's beyond confident. In his mind, he's already made the shot and his body, unbeknownst to him, is already feeling like he's made the shot. But he's got another shot to make.

"It's almost like he's in a different body. It wasn't the same intensity level he was experiencing when he made the first shot. Now, when he misses the second one, panic sets in because it's like he doesn't understand what's happening.

"So now it's do or die. It was a different kind of pressure, and so he misses that one, and then came the terrible collapse."

Darius Sr. describes it less clinically.

"He took his eyes off the prize," he says. "He got to his dessert before he got his meal finished. 'No, no, son. We celebrate after you make all three.'"

When Darius Jr. fell apart, Juraschka says, he was actually already beginning the healing process.

"He was obviously very emotional, which was also a very positive sign," Juraschka says. "Typically, athletes don't show emotions. Men aren't programmed that way. But he was able to let go of a lot of emotion, and he got a lot of support from his teammates."

Juraschka also applauds the way Darius Sr. helped his son afterward, first by taking Darius Jr. into a private room to let him scream and yell and throw things -- whatever it took to exorcise his frustration and disappointment.

"I let him shout it around for five or 10 minutes," Darius Sr., says, "and then I said, 'Look man, deal with it. My name is Darius Washington, too. When I show my license, I'm gonna be saying I'm the father of the kid who missed the darn free throws.'"

The father also made the son watch the clip over and over on "SportsCenter," and then took him for a stroll down Beale Street, to show his face to the crowds.

That's when Darius Jr. began to realize that fans weren't angry at him. They seemed to embrace him more because of the misses and the emotion that followed.

Over the ensuing days and weeks, he began receiving e-mails, letters, phone calls and postings on his personal Web site, Dwash.net.

"I think people always looked at me as a player, but now they love me more as a person," Darius Jr. says. "Even if they never met me, now they feel like they know me as a person."

This summer, the family printed up a thank you letter to send to fans, and Darius Jr. signed all of them personally.

"It was 400 to 500 letters, maybe more than that," Darius Jr. says. "I couldn't sit down and write every person, or I would still be writing to this day."



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Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.

- Truman Capote



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If there are any lingering scars, emotional, psychological or otherwise, they are hard to detect. Washington likes to point out he hit 23-of-26 free throws in the NIT run that followed the Louisville game, and the Tigers' three NIT wins -- all at home -- contributed to the healing.

Calipari arranged for Washington to be the last player introduced in the first NIT game, and Washington received a long, rousing ovation from the FedExForum crowd.

"People told me, 'Don't let it break you; let it make you,'" Washington says.

Washington concerns himself these days with becoming a leader on a team dominated by freshmen. Though Carney, a senior, is considered the preseason Player of the Year in Conference USA, it is Washington's maturation as a point guard that could well determine how good the Tigers, ranked No. 12 in the preseason, can become.

"I'm just focused on running the club the way Cal wants me to," Washington says. "I mean, definitely, I'm kind of a veteran, so I know what to expect. My whole key is to share my knowledge with the younger guys."

During that video shoot on Tuesday, Washington showed another side to his personality -- laughing and joking with teammates and with the production crew as they filmed snippets that will run during games.

After Carney finished a message where he exhorts the crowd, Washington said: "Whew, dog. Denzel Washington couldn't do that."

After Washington finishes, administrative aide Andy Allison comes into the locker room with one more request.

He asks if Washington would mind "putting on a blue afro" for one more clip.

Washington obliged, and to the great delight of his teammates -- and, presumably, the Tiger basketball crowd at some point during Tuesday's opener against Wisconsin-Milwaukee -- faced the camera wearing his jersey and a fake blue afro.

"Blue Crew," he yelled, invoking the name of a new student spirit group at the UofM, "I can't hear you!"

Shawne Williams, a talented freshman from Hamilton High, can't stop laughing.

"You a good actor, boy," Williams said. "You going to Hollywood, too."

Except, on this day, so many months removed from that moment of despair in March, Darius Washington Jr. wasn't just acting.

He was happy. He was filled with joy. He was ready to create some new memories.

"That's something that Darius Washington Jr. is going to have to live with the rest of his life," he says. "You ain't ever going to be able to take it away because people are always going to remember that moment.

"This season will be great, and I'm ready to get started because we done worked so hard this summer. We are ready to showcase our skills and our team."

-- Zack McMillin: 529-2564

[pnthr30]

dutchpthr said:

but lets not forget the fact that Joah plays like he is 6'10

I agree, but through the exhibition games, JT has played like he is 5'10" (hanging out around the arc).......he needs to go claim the block back (like we all know he can).

[Kingsbury]

Coach Cal will be playing a lot of youth tomorrow, so who knows how they will react when the lights are turned on. That being said, this will be one tough game tomorrow. Our boys are going to have to come to play tomorrow. UWM is going to need 5 guys crashing the glass tomorrow otherwise we are going to get destroyed on the boards. Young and Messiah may be the key tomorrow. I don't know why, but I just have a feeling that one of these guys will step up and have a big time impact tomorrow. As for 3 point shooting, if we shoot 2 - 17 tomorrow, we will get blown out of the water tomorrow.

[Hack]

kingsbury said:

Coach Cal will be playing a lot of youth tomorrow, so who knows how they will react when the lights are turned on. That being said, this will be one tough game tomorrow. Our boys are going to have to come to play tomorrow. UWM is going to need 5 guys crashing the glass tomorrow otherwise we are going to get destroyed on the boards. Young and Messiah may be the key tomorrow. I don't know why, but I just have a feeling that one of these guys will step up and have a big time impact tomorrow. As for 3 point shooting, if we shoot 2 - 17 tomorrow, we will get blown out of the water tomorrow.

Is the game tomorrow?

[Ron Diaz]

That's 8 tomorrow's for those counting. LOL

[uwmfootball]

Young needs to kick it into an extra gear.

What is the rotation? My guess....

Starters
Tigert
Tucker
Davis
Hill
McCoy

Bench
Markie Mark
Young
Ford
Hanson (I still believe that Avery will be redshirted)

Any thoughts?

[pnthr97]

Call me a pessimist, but after the Platt game, I don't feel very good about tomorrow.

If the game comes down to Young stepping up, we lose, badly.

If JT and AT don't get at least 8 rebounds each, we lose.

If Boo can't hit the three, we lose.

If we get outrebounded by more than 5, we lose.

In other words, we need to play a near perfect game. Then again, doesn't that sound familiar?

[BBFran]

First, I expect nothing from Young tomorrow. I know that sounds harsh, but that's what he contributed against Platteville. You play like you practice. I'd like to be surprised, but he needs to prove it -- and he needs to prove it in the context of our game, not by taking foolish shots outside the offense, whether he makes them or not. And he needs to play defense with intensity.

With respect to Derrick Ford, he's made sporadic good plays for us, but to expect more than a couple minutes of competent work would be foolish based on past performance. I think he's a player who tries hard and works hard, so I like him despite his limitations. But while Derrick has good instincts, he has hard hands and slow feet. Not a great combination.

The bench players who could make a significant difference, I think, are Kevin Massiah, who will give up nothing athletically to Memphis, Mark Pancratz, who delivers high energy and looks to be a little more aggressive offensively this year, and -- if the shirt comes off -- Avery Smith. Smith was extremely impressive against Platteville.