DC Metro Sports - NCAA Bracketology: The Point Guard Rules

Written by Wendall Stevens
Friday, 16 March 2007
If you like millions of others across the country who partake in the greatest three weeks of sports know the fun and excitement of bracketology. You frantically fill out, scratch out, white out, mark out, and hold out until the last minute to submit your picks. Just when you think, yea, this looks good; Duke loses in the first round. I guess everyone should know this one. You say to yourself, Maryland won, I'm good, Georgetown, check, Ohio St, a gimme, but when it comes to the round of Sweet Sixteen and beyond do you know how to pick em' or are you cheating off your sports fanatic colleague’s paper in the other cubicle? See that’s the fun of bracketology, an educated guess based on well, nothing more than the fact that the TarHeels should win. Why? Dah, because they're the Tarheels and they got that kid, what's his name? Hansbrough. Ok, well, generally it’s a little more involved than that. When filling out your bracketology sheet look no further than the point guard. Throughout the last thirty years of NCAA tournament play, the point guard has played a major role in the fortunes of their teams. While history shows Wilt Chamberlain, Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabbar), Patrick Ewing, and lately Carmelo Anthony dominated their way to glory, future fame, and fortune, its the point guard that controls the tempo under the white hot lights of the big stage of the Elite Eight to the final two. Let’s look at a few examples to give some credence to my thesis statement. 1979 - Earvin "Magic" Johnson (Michigan State) - brought showtime to America with fancy no look passes and a flare and charisma rarely seen before. Magic did his tricks on every team including Larry Bird's Indiana State Sycamores in the most widely viewed NCAA championship game in history. Magic controlled the flow and the show. 1981- Isiah Thomas (Indiana) - navigates the Hoosiers of Indiana to the national title as a 6'1" point guard. This wasn't even Coach Bobby Knight’s best team. 1983 - Whittenberg and Lowe (NC State) - The two guard combo control the Wolfpack offense and capture the National Championship over the the Houston Cougars with Akeem "The Dream" Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, one of the most athletic and dynamic teams in NCAA history. 1985 - Gary McClain (Villanova) - Gary McClain led the Wildcats of Villanova in one of the best point guard performances in probably the biggest upset in NCAA history over the Hoyas of Georgetown. 1997 - Mike Bibby (Arizona) - Although Mike was just a puppy, he calmly led the Arizona Wildcats over the Kentucky for the title. Bobby Hurley years (Duke) - Although he didn't pan out well in the NBA, Hurley led the Blue Devils to those back to back championships. 1999 - Khalid El-Amin (Connecticut)- point guard that lead the UConn Huskies team that upset the Duke Blue Devils who were loaded with Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, Trajon Langdon. 2006 - Taurean Green (Florida) - Joakim Noah? Factor, yes. Horford? Definitely. Brewer? Most definitely. Green, however, was the man. No Green, no title. UCLA was led by now Laker Jordan Farmar. Get the picture? Who are names to look for this year? Look no further than Darren Collison of UCLA,Oregon's Aaron Brooks, UNC's Tywon Lawson, Ohio St's DJ Augustin, Kansas's Mario Chalmers, & Ohio St's Mike Conley. These are the guys who will be in the spotlight and should be taken into consideration on your bracketology sheets. Greg Oden, Roy Hibbert, Kevin Durant all need someone to get them the ball, right? Tournament expansion? Good? Bad? Ugly? Stay tuned for this piece and others as we roll thru the action. All this and more from the guys who brought you the ACC Oscars.DCMetrosports.com!

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