Another look at 'Cooby'Written by: Todd RosiakDuring an interview with sophomore guard David Cubillan following practice on Friday, I asked him whether he was excited about the start of spring training.
"It's here," he said with a smile. "I'm excited."
A of Maracaibo, Venezuela, Cubillan is a diehard baseball fan, and actually played the sport throughout his youth before finally settling on basketball -- an unusual choice considering the strong ties his native country has to America's pastime.
"I was a shortstop and I used to pitch, too," he said. "I probably shouldn't say this, but I was a really, really, really good baseball player."
If he was so good, why didn't he stick with baseball then?
"I'm too energetic. I used to be in the field...I'd quit. I'd go to practice for like two weeks, I'd do great in the games, and then I couldn't do it," he said. "They used to come to my house and were like, ‘Come on, man.' When I was on the team I used to have scouts that wanted me to go to an academy or whatever. But it was too slow for me. I need to be moving and stuff."
I asked him if he ever second-guesses his decision.
"Not really, because (basketball's) been great. I don't regret anything," he said. "I'm getting an education through basketball, I'm learning a lot of stuff. So I don't regret it."
Maracaibo is also the birthplace of Hall of Fame shortstop Luis Aparicio, a fact Cubillan noted with pride. He added Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera is his favorite player, but also mentioned New York Mets pitcher Johan Santana and New York Yankees outfielder Bobby Abreu as other native Venezuelans he follows.
Indiana fallout: Not surprisingly, there was some interest at the Al McGuire Center on Friday regarding the situation of coach Kelvin Sampson, who at that point was still in limbo as far as his status at Indiana.
Three members of MU's staff have close ties to Sampson. Bennie Seltzer played for Sampson at Washington State back in the early 1990s and later was an assistant under Sampson at Oklahoma, as was MU's director of basketball operations Jason Rabedeaux.
Coach Tom Crean also counts Sampson as one of his closest friends. He was asked about Sampson on Friday following practice, again before Sampson resigned after agreeing to a contract buyout.
"We've had a chance to speak. We've been very good friends for a long time," Crean said. "He's one of my closest friends. We've worked together; I was a part of his staff on the USA team a few years ago, and we won a gold medal. Anything that's going on with him, I view it from a personal, that's-my-friend standpoint. How is he, how's his wife, how's his kids. I don't view it like everybody else.
"I have unconditional support and care for him. Hopefully we all have a few people in our lives that, no matter what, we have that unconditional feeling for. I know we have it with our children, we have it with our spouses, but we've got to have some friends we have it with too, in my mind. He's one that I do. I've never tried to be judge and jury on any of that; I've just tried to listen to him and let him know that he is an outstanding coach.
"No matter what happens...he is an outstanding basketball coach, and anybody would say he's not needs to be put to a lie-detector test. He's won everywhere that he's been. And what all coaches have to remember, because I think he's seen throughout this thing, too, there's been a lot of people (who've) run and hide when Kelvin's around -- and that's a sad thing. Because this was a man that was the president of our coaches' association a few years ago. We can't all be wrong, now.
"I've been disappointed in the profession from that standpoint. Whatever happened, happened. That's not our responsibility. It's not anybody's responsibility. It's Indiana's and the NCAAs and his. But he is an outstanding human being who is a great basketball coach, and I hope that he can recover from this."
Looking at Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights enter this afternoon's game with MU tied for last place in the Big East with South Florida.
Crean is well aware of the week they had about a month ago when they knocked off a pair of ranked teams in Villanova and Pittsburgh, with the Pittsburgh victory coming on the road, and has informed the Golden Eagles thusly.
"All we've got to tell them is what they've done against the Top 25, the best teams in our league, and they're well aware," said Crean. "When you go into Pittsburgh and win the way they did, out-rebound them by 16. When you beat Villanova the way they did, that's enough to get their attention. They bring it when the stakes are at their highest, and that's what we're prepared for."
Crean said on film, Rutgers appears to be a balanced team.
"J.R. Inman kind of plays the 4 position the way Lazar (Hayward) plays it for us, and he's outstanding," said Crean. "Their freshman guards Corey Chandler and Mike Coburn have done a great job, I think Anthony Farmer's one of the best guards in the league and probably one of the most unheralded players in our league.
"And (Hamady) Ndiaye, it's not every day that you've got two people in the same building from Dakar, Senegal in Milwaukee, Wis., but we'll have that tomorrow. They've got a lot of talent, a lot of good players. We'll have a lot of respect for them, I don't have any worries about that."
Shooting around: In the no-brainer category, MU wrapped up its third consecutive berth in the upcoming Big East Tournament after knocking off St. John's on Wednesday.
Georgetown, Louisville, Connecticut and Notre Dame have also clinched spots in the 12-team extravaganza that will be expanded to include all 16 next season.
Also, junior Dominic James is one of 16 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, which is presented annually to college basketball's top point guard. James is the lone finalist from the Big East.
http://blogs.jsonline.com/muhoops/archive/2008/02/22/another-look-at-cooby.aspx
