DawgBytes March 20, 2000 

Let's see, UCLA's Steve Lavin and UNC head coach Bill Guthridge were on the ropes back in February. Now both coaches are in the NCAA's Sweet 16 after taking down top teams.

I'll start with Lavin. John Calipari was plotting behind the scenes to get the job. Before the NCAA's Calipari took over at Memphis because he found out UCLA was not going to buy Lavin out.

The Bruins were given up for dead after getting roasted by the Arizona schools last month. The Bruins got JaRon Rush back and went on a tear that UCLA hasn't been on since the 1980 Bruins snuck into the Tournament and ran all the way to the final game.

The Bruins dusted off Ball State in the first round and delivered a knockout punch to Maryland that reminded my of Ali's phantom punch on Liston. The Terps never saw it coming.

Let me say this right now, Steve Lavin has earned the right to keep his six year rollover contract. He can coach the game of basketball.

The kids have gotten better. They may wait a little too long in the season, but heck, they got farther than Pac-Ten Co-Champs, Arizona and Stanford. Both schools had top seeds in the Tournament.

Earl Watson was incredible. Earl's 17 points and a school record 16 assists made their game against Maryland a practice game. The 105-70 win over the Terps sent a wakeup call to the rest of college basketball, "Look out, UCLA is dangerous for the rest of the way and just wait until next season!"

Dan Gadzuric and Jerome Moiso look like the two monster 7-footers Lavin claimed they could be two years ago. Rush hasn't even played the entire season and he's their most intense two way performer on the court.

Lavin's staff should remain intact as well. Michael Holton, Jim Saia, and Jim Spencer have earned the right to come back and coach again.

Oh yeah, the web site, www.firelavin.com, was taken down after the Maryland victory.

In Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels didn't have a friend in town. All Bill Guthridge had was his wife and the support of former coach, Dean Smith.

Carolina limped home to a fourth place finish in the ACC. Wake Forest bounced them out of the ACC Tournament in the first round. Virginia finished third in the conference and swept Carolina during the season. Most critics felt the NCAA robbed the Cavs of a bid and gave the Heels an at large bid as a gift.

Well down goes top seed Stanford to North Carolina 60-53. It was the biggest win in Chapel Hill since winning the 1993 national championship.

How good was Stanford? The only lost to UCLA and Arizona all year. This was a very good basketball team.

So what do we know in the media? Nothing. What good are the chat rooms? A waste of good time.

Stanford forward Mark Madsen said it best, "They're (UNC) doing just like UCLA--coming together under pressure. You could see it in them out there on the court. Those programs like UCLA and Carolina never give up on themselves."

It doesn't matter how much further Lavin and Guthridge go, they threw all the venom back at their critics.

I'm still waiting on David Stern to bring Shaquille O'Neal the MVP trophy. I think it may be a unamious vote. It's just so clear cut.

He torched up Patrick Ewing Sunday at the Garden for 43 points. Well, it wasn't all Ewing, he didn't have the courage to guard him most of the game. Kurt Thomas did.

Have you seen how bad Ewing and Hakeem the Daydream are now. Get these geezers off the payroll now!

Shaq and the Lakers won 92-85. The Lakers improve to a league best 55-12 and 26-8 on the road.

Shaq has hit 40 points or more in his last seven games, all on a bad hamstring. I fear for the NBA once he gets healthy.

Stern, just send the trophy on down now!