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CNN Live Today

Interview With Michael DeCourcy

Aired March 29, 2002 - 14:53   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to talk hoops right now. We have Michael DeCourcy, a senior writer and columnist with Sportingnews.com, joining us from -- just over my right shoulder -- the Georgia Dome, here in Atlanta.

Lucky you, covering this weekend's tournament. One of the most coveted tickets in sports, the final four. Good to have you with us.

MICHAEL DECOURCY, SPORTINGNEWS.COM: Thank you, Daryn. Nice to see you.

KAGAN: Let's go right to the match-ups. First to the game that a lot of people think looks like what should be the championship game, and that is Kansas versus Maryland. I have a very bold prediction for you, Michael. A coach named Williams will win this game.

DECOURCY: Well, that's a good point. I think that you've got that all nailed down, and I think we can all go home now.

KAGAN: Give me a little bit more insight past that. Roy or Gary?

DECOURCY: I think that it will probably be Gary, but Maryland has to play much better basketball than they've played to this point in the tournament. Kansas is by far the best team they've played. And really, Maryland hasn't played great to this point. They haven't run their offense as tightly as they usually do. They haven't hit the ball inside the line. If you see that from Maryland tomorrow and if you see Chris Wilcox rebound great, I think you'll see Maryland on Monday night.

KAGAN: It is the one team in the final four that does have final four experience, however, so that could help them in this pressure cooker situation.

DECOURCY: I think that's a very important factor, because the other three teams are fairly new to this. Kansas hasn't been this deep in the tournament. Maryland understands what it can be like on Saturday afternoon, when there's the pressure of being 80 minutes away from a national championship.

KAGAN: The other game that we've been watching, Indiana, Oklahoma. Indiana, the Cinderella team of this final four. How many people have them picked to go this far in their brackets? I think very few people across America did.

DECOURCY: Not many at all, considering Duke was in that bracket and they were a very popular favorite to get here. And of course, they had that great comeback victory to beat Duke, and then defeated Kent State to be here. A lot of people think they're just a three- point shooting team, but forget that against Duke, they only made two threes and still beat the No. 1 team in the country.

KAGAN: Well, and who really cares how you score the points, right? Winning the game -- I don't think they deduct points for how you score.

DECOURCY: That's right. And Jared Jeffries, who plays for Indiana, is a tremendous player. Probably the best player that fans will see tomorrow night -- a great talent. And the more they get the ball to him inside, I think the better chance Indiana has to upset Oklahoma.

KAGAN: And I have to say, I'm really happy to see Mike Davis find success in Indiana. He's had a tough road gaining respect, as Bobby Knight so unceremoniously ran out of town. You would think that perhaps a lot of people would be more kind to Mike Davis. But nothing like winning to gain respect.

DECOURCY: That's true. And Mike's had -- you're right. He's had a very difficult time. A lot of Hoosiers fans, or ex-Hoosiers fans, still are out there sniping at him, and basically saying he had very little to do with this. Believe me, Mike Davis had everything to do with this. He recruited players like Jared Jeffries for Bob Knight, and he's done a spectacular job of coaching them to this point in the tournament.

KAGAN: And then a different kind of recruiting in Oklahoma. This could be the junior college team, you could call it, because there are so many junior college recruits that have led Oklahoma so far.

DECOURCY: Yeah. A lot of people overlooked Oklahoma this year because they weren't paying attention to how good (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was, and how good Jason Dietrich was. And of course, Aaron McGhee, who was a junior college player last year, having the time to develop as sooner, and build his game. I think all those players, those junior college players, have played a very important part in Oklahoma getting to here. And honestly, playing as well as anyone in the country has played.

KAGAN: No pressure, Mike. But who are you picking to win it all?

DECOURCY: Well, we picked Maryland at the start of the tournament and they're here, so we're not going to go away from that now. But again, the Terps really have to play better basketball. And I would put a special bit of pressure on Chris Wilcox to rebound the way he can. He has not been as good the last month as he should be. So if that happens, I think you'll see Maryland cut down the nets on Monday. KAGAN: All right. Well, that's who I picked as well. So we will watch and see. And if you see any spare tickets, cheap tickets floating around there, let me know.

DECOURCY: I've been asked a lot but I haven't seen any.

KAGAN: Popular guy with that press pass. Michael DeCourcy of Sportingnews.com, enjoy the weekend. I know it's going to be a lot of fun.

DECOURCY: Thank you.

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