Sunday, February 20, 2000
Temple star may miss UC
Sanchez likely will rest injured ankle
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Temple point guard Pepe Sanchez rested on the floor, on his back, his bare left foot perched on a wooden chair. This is not the recommended means of preparing to play against a team coach John Chaney calls, “one of the best teams ever, that I have seen, in NCAA basketball.”
|
TEMPLE at UC
|
• When: 1:30 p.m. today
• Where: Shoemaker Center
• Records: UC 24-1; Temple 19-1
• TV: Channel 9
• Radio: WLW-AM (700)
BY THE NUMBERS
• 5-3: UC's record against Temple under coach Bob Huggins.
• 0-2: UC's record in the past two games against Temple.
• 7: UC's winning streak against Top 25 teams.
• 4: Blocks needed by Kenyon Martin to reach 100 for the season.
|
Chaney permitted Sanchez to talk about how he sprained his ankle in Thursday's game against Dayton, but not about the repercussions for today's 1:30 p.m. game against the No.1-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats at the Shoemaker Center.
There's a simple reason for that, according to Chaney: “He's crazy enough to say, "I'm going to play.' ”
Chaney insists he's not foolish enough to play Sanchez, who hurt himself by jamming his foot against the basket support late in the Dayton game. With the first game of the NCAA Tournament just 18 days away and the No.15 Owls (19-4) already assured of an invitation, and with Sanchez prone to ankle problems throughout his career, Chaney said he could not imagine a circumstance that would change his conviction about resting Sanchez against the Bearcats (24-1).
“I'm not going to play him,” Chaney said. “Even if the swelling went down and if it became a miracle, I wouldn't play him, because I'd really be throwing away my whole season. If it was a tournament game and he showed dramatic progress, that would be different. I might think about it.”
So it's unlikely the Bearcats will be playing Temple at its best; the Owls are 14-1 with Sanchez, but went 5-3 when he missed eight games with an injury to the right ankle. This is not the situation UC is hoping to encounter.
“I don't want anyone to say, if we beat them tomorrow, that they didn't have Pepe or whatever,” said Bearcats center Kenyon Martin. “I want them to be at full strength. I don't want anyone to say they were wounded.”
With a winning streak that has reached 16 games, all but one by double-figure margins, UC needs a challenge more than it needs another victory, not that victory would be assured without Sanchez in the lineup.
The Owls still have their matchup zone, which is dangerous because it's unfamiliar to the opposition and Temple plays it so masterfully. There's the imposing front line of 6-foot-10 Lamont Barnes and 6-9 Kevin Lyde, although Lude has been bothered by nagging back spasms. Mark Karcher is one of the nation's most gifted offensive small forwards. And they conceivably might stitch together an outsized effort because of the adversity they face in preparing to meet the nation's top team.
“At this time of year, normally I get a better feeling about our team,” Chaney said. “But I'll tell you, I've been up and down all year not knowing what kind of team we could be, with Pepe's health and also Kevin Lyde. That is very frustrating.
“But here again, it offers us an opportunity to teach a lot of lessons about what happens in life. When you lose one of your most important players, everybody's got to draw strength from that situation as much as you can.”
Although Sanchez averages only 6.4 points per game and shoots .313 from the field, Chaney considers him the nation's best point guard. Sanchez is valuable because he creates extra possessions for the Owls, averaging 3.6 steals and 5.7 rebounds, and because no one else on the roster is as comfortable running the offense.
Sanchez averages 8.0 assists. The rest of the team averages 8.1.
Senior shooting guard Quincy Wadley moves to the point in Sanchez' absence. Position shifting diminished him as a scorer (10 points per game, down from 13) and shooter (.280 on threes, down from .351) because he was forced to focus on running the offense and did not benefit from the high-quality shots Sanchez creates.
“Early in the season, when Pepe didn't play, our roles changed,” Karcher said. “During this part of the year, our roles are going to have to stay the same and we'll have to step our game up a notch. If we don't come out and pass on the ball, the guards will have to bring the game out by themselves. That can't be the case.
“This was a game that everybody as a team had talked about since the beginning of the year. Pepe's a soldier. If it comes down, Pepe's going to lace the shoes up tomorrow and want to play. But coach being coach, he's going to look at the big picture, not one game.”
Bearcats Stories
Stadium looks better from Kentucky
We'll all pay for rushing stadium
Readers blame commissioners, voters
Pokey plays hard, works harder
Reds want more of same from bullpen
McKeon doesn't worry about Griffey Sr.
Virginia Tech 73, Xavier 65
Williams treated for dehydration
Tracy trains Olympians for life
Tracy's Olympic hopefuls
Ball State 60, Miami 57
Kentucky 70, Georgia 64
Ohio State 82, Indiana 71
Huskies have hunted feeling
NKU 68, IPFW 63
Stuff 102, Richmond 88
A Winston Cup race in Kentucky? Don't hold your breath
Cyclones 3, Kalamazoo 1
Mighty Ducks 5, Syracuse 3
Kroger names French tournament director
Piecoro pressed into Cyclonesduty
Cincinnati boys basketball roundup
Cincinnati girls basketball roundup
Ohio boys basketball scores
Ohio girls basketball scores
titles each for Ursuline's Ransom, Myers
Carey leads Indian Hill to title
Cincinnati wrestling roundup
Highlands hopes to avoid realignment to Class AA
N.Ky. boys basketball roundup
N.Ky. girls basketball roundup
Kentucky boys basketball scores
Kentucky girls basketball scores
Scott swimmer takes 3 state titles
Two N.Ky. wrestlers win state titles
