ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 30, 1996 TAG: 9604010123
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: EAST RUTHERFORD, N. J.
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
There are other coaches John Calipari would rather face in the NCAA semifinals than Rick Pitino, the man to whom he owes his professional livelihood.
``I'm the head coach at Massachusetts because he was on the committee and he thought I would be good on the job and he made the calls to make sure it would get done,'' Calipari said.
``That will always be with me and my family. My wife knows it, my children know it. We're in a position right now as a family because of what Rick Pitino has done for me.''
Now, it is Pitino who stands in Calipari's way as the Minutemen (35-1) play Kentucky (32-2) in the second NCAA men's basketball semifinal tonight at 8 at the Meadowlands Arena.
``I would rather not play Rick Pitino unless it was the very last game for us,'' said Calipari, 37, who is in his eighth season at UMass. ``We have to do this, so we're going to play.
``Between now and game time, he's the other coach. When the game ends, I'll hug him, win or lose, and tell him how much I appreciate what he's done for me and my family. But, until then, we're both going for the jugular.''
Calipari never played or coached for Pitino, with whom he became acquainted at the Five-Star Basketball Camps, but Pitino is a Massachusetts alumnus and former player who was eager to see his alma mater prosper.
``It was fascinating to go through that experience,'' said Pitino, 43, of his duties on the search committee. ``I was positive [Calipari] would be terrific. I wish he wasn't as terrific as he'd been, because then we may have a chance of winning a national championship.''
Kentucky and Massachusetts had met three times - all in the 1990s and all Kentucky victories - before the Minutemen upset the top-ranked Wildcats 92-82 in the Great Eight Invitational in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Never mind that Massachusetts won its next 26 games and, after dropping out of the top spot for two weeks, regained the No.1 loss when Mississippi State beat Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference championship game. Oddsmakers have made Kentucky an 8 1/2-point favorite.
``None of you guys picked us to win,'' said Calipari, referring to media predictions before the tournament. ``We're big-time underdogs; we know that. And the good news for us is, I've got a group that's met every challenge.''
There was no greater regular-season test than Kentucky, with a bench the envy of any program in college basketball. Massachusetts seldom uses more than eight players, but the Wildcats were unable to wear down guards Carmelo Travieso and Edgar Padilla, who both average more than 36 minutes.
``We tried,'' Pitino said. ``We tried to get them to play our style and they played it and scored 92 points. If they had to go eight-, nine- or 10-deep, they would lose a lot. But, so far in two years not many teams have been able to do that.''
Plus, the Minutemen have the great equalizer in 7-foot junior Marcus Camby, who has won all of the national player-of-the-year awards announced to this point. Camby is averaging 20.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.8 blocks.
``He's played his best games in our biggest games,'' Calipari said. ``What I've told him is, "If you score, we'll be in pretty good shape, but don't worry about that. As long as you defend and rebound and block shots, we'll be OK.'''
The same goes for the Wildcats, whose early loss to Massachusetts prompted a re-evaluation by Pitino. Pitino inserted Anthony Epps at point guard and moved senior Tony Delk to shooting guard, where he would have more freedom as a scorer.
``I made up my mind early on that we were going to play it like a professional team with two units,'' Pitino said. ``I think typical of the second game of the season was the difficulty I had in finding who would mesh the best together.''
The Wildcats proceeded to win their next 27 games, heightening the expectations of fans who might be the most rabid in college basketball. Anything less than a championship might be a disappointment.
``Kentucky has five championships - four in the '40s and '50s - and the people are starving for another one,'' Pitino said. ``I just don't think you can hide from it.
``I've told the players that you can't say there's no pressure. We have to make it good pressure. You don't know if it's ever going to happen, a championship. It may happen, it may not. So you have to enjoy what you have when you have it.''
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: 1. chart - Massachusetts APby CNB2. chart - Kentucky k AP>