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Tuesday, November 28, 2000
Round table talk: Non-conference tournaments
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Kentucky went 0-2 in New York, but may have gained more out of losing twice in the Coaches vs. Cancer IKON Classic then beating a few creampuffs to start the season. The Preseason NIT and Maui Classic feature top-25 teams who could see their rankings slip, but confidence soar with good performances in losses to high-quality teams.
So, we asked ESPN's experts:
What are the advantages and disadvantages of teams playing in tournaments such as the Preseason NIT, Maui Classic or Coaches vs. Cancer Classic?
 Andy Katz
Ask Tulsa what exempted tournaments mean to a team. Tulsa beat Tennessee last year in Puerto Rico, giving the Golden Hurricane the confidence that they could compete deep in the NCAA Tournament. The win also gave them enough power rating points to get a decent seed (seventh) in the South Regional. Teams not only get a barometer on where they're at, but also what they need to become to compete the rest of the year. In last week's Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, St. John's learned that it has a gem in Omar Cook, but can't solely rely on him to score. UCLA discovered that it can survive without Dan Gadzuric playing well, if T.J. Cummings is on. But the Bruins also saw that they're not that deep inside. Kansas found out its zone defense can be effective and that the Jayhawks can run against the best teams in the country. Kentucky learned that its famed frontcourt isn't mature enough to carry the Wildcats to a win. Trying to get a gauge on these things is actually easier in big-time games than playing a low-profile Division I school in a blowout. Getting rid of exempted tournaments would not only hurt the teams, but would be one of the worst decisions the NCAA or its commissioners could make in regards to the future of college basketball.
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 Jay Bilas
The advantage is a coach can find out exactly how good his team is right away and what it needs to work on. It gives an accurate gauge of where you are as a team and where individuals are. Another advantage is, especially if you lose, the players listen a little bit better when they get back to practice. They're more willing to take instruction after they've had it handed to them by a good team in an early-season game. You learn exactly how hard you need to work. Players and coaches will go on about how they have to "play every play," but not everybody understands it early in the season. Sometimes winning these early-season games can mask problems. When a good team plays against a lesser opponent, they can play poorly and still win. Sometimes that is not as good as playing a really good team and taking a loss. On the other hand, if your team loses a few games early, there is a chance their confidence will drop. Instead of taking the loss for what it's worth, players often begin to question their abilities. Some teams, especially young ones, are more fragile than others and need positive reinforcement. Early losses can hurt. Good teams aren't supposed to have early losses, and a team with high preseason expectations can run into problems if they do. Kentucky, for example, started 0-2 in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic; but they're not an 0-2 team. Now the Wildcats can either take the losses for what they're worth and use them as a yardstick to get better, or they can worry unduly. It's possible they could lose sight of what's really important. The truth is, if Kentucky had won both games in New York, which it easily could have, it wouldn't mean the Wildcats deserve the national championship. Just because they lost two games -- one by a point and the other in overtime -- doesn't mean they're not capable of being a really good team. One or two plays out of those 85 minutes could mean the difference between 0-2, 1-1 or 2-0. It's up to the coach to point that out and it's up to the players, especially the older ones, to keep each other on the same page. Believing in themselves is a choice they make.
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 Digger Phelps
A lot of coaches like playing these games early in the season. The Coaches vs. Cancer might be a little earlier than some coaches like. Even before the tournament, Tubby Smith, presciently expressed concern that a team would come out 0-2 and it might negatively affect team chemistry. But overall these games provide coaches a chance to build from either a win or a loss. Coaches expose their teams to good competition in November and December, they can judge what condition their teams are really in and what it will take to move forward. Last year, Duke lost two games in a preseason tournament and ended up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. When you look at the big-time matchups that result from many of these tournaments, it's good for college baskeball. It's good for the fan who gets to see some great early-season games. It's good for the coaches to have an opportunity to show their teams what weaknesses they might have against quality opposition. It also prepares them for the tough games they will face during their conference seasons. Teams know what it's going to take to be successful and they have a barometer for what they have to work on to get to the conference tournament and, ultimately, the NCAA Tournament. Having the heavyweights go at it early has far more positives than negatives.
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 Len Elmore
The greatest advantage of preseason tournaments go to teams with real potential to do some "damage" in the postseason. They allow coaches to expose teams to different styles of play and gauge his teams' ability to matchup and, or, adapt. The tournaments also helps a team begin the season with that NCAA Tournament feel thus giving a team a chance to practice the type of preparation necessary in March. These games serve as dress rehearsals for the Dance in March. Coaches also gain an opportunity to try unit combinations against different scenarios to see who and what works best as well as when and how. Poll fluctuations notwithstanding, for those contending teams that are confident and emotionally prepared, I see no downside. For the teams not as blessed to be a true contender for the national championship, aside from a nice trip, a decent payday and the ability to use the participation as a recruiting tool, the only advantage I see might be
to get lucky and knock off someone big and thereby develop a true sense of competitiveness with the big boys that can carry a team well into the season. But for the most part in these games, coaches of teams in the middle of the pack or below use it as a barometer to measure what they need to compete on the elite level. They use the games as a teaching tool and to get the players' attention especially when some delude themselves into thinking they are better than they really are.
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 Dick Vitale
These early season tournaments are important to teams because they give a coach the opportunity to truly evaluate his players. You can only learn so much through practices and scrimmages. The competition is usually good with high-quality opponents, like the teams at Madison Square Garden in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic this year. A young team like St. John's, for example, gained valuable experience in pressure situations against Kentucky and Kansas. It had to make Mike Jarvis happy to see his team respond to the challenge.
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