It's a tough Knight for Cal

Frank Blackman 

Friday, Jan. 20, 1995 

BERKELEY -- It doesn't take a genius to figure out a strategy to
defeat Stanford. Every opponent knows the key is stopping Brevin
Knight.

Cal apparently decided its best hope was to attack the point
guard. Get a man in his face and make him work all the way up the
court. Bump him, rough him up, do whatever it takes.

There is, however, an inherent problem in this approach. 

"To get physical with Brevin, you've got to touch him first," Knight's
teammate, Dion Cross, explained.

And as hard as they tried, the Bears couldn't stay close enough to the
ridiculously quick Knight Thursday night. The result was a 78-73
victory for the No. 21 Cardinal at Harmon Gym.

The Bears tried three guys on Knight -- Anwar McQueen, K.J. Roberts,
and, briefly, Randy Duck.  While the trio did their best, there were
times when Knight abused the man guarding him.

When Cal tried to crowd him on the dribble, Knight's explosive first
step would put him past his man and on the way to the hoop, where he
would corkscrew through the big bodies and either get off a shot or
find an open teammate -- sometimes with passes so good they weren't
expected.

"If he (the defender) is gonna keep getting up on me," Knight said,
"then I'm gonna keep going by him until he stops me. If their coach
doesn't see that as long as he's getting up, I'm going by, then I have
to keep doing it."

Knight loves challenges like this. He thrives on proving people
wrong. And he's merciless. He'll embarrass them if he can.

Some of his motivation is simple to understand. He was, after all,
passed up by every major college program in the East when he graduated
from a New Jersey high school. Recruiters felt that at 5-foot-10, 155
pounds, Knight just was too small.

To pump himself up, Knight even will take offense at imaginary
slights.

After a game earlier this season, he suddenly announced he was playing
with a chip on his shoulder because he'd decided Stanford wasn't
getting the respect it deserved.

Nor had it escaped his notice that the Bears have dominated the
coverage in the Bay Area media the past two years.

"That's why I'm glad we came in and won, " Knight said. "I'm tired of
hearing Cal this and Cal that.  Now it's Stanford this and Stanford
that."

What Knight demonstrated against Cal is that he can play the point as
well as just about anyone in the country not currently employed in the
NBA.

"He's awfully good," said coach Mike Montgomery after watching his
star score 20 points and deal off six assists. "When you look at guys
playing on all the best teams in the country, there aren't many who do
more than Brevin does."

Nothing stopped Knight against the Bears, not even the stress injury
in his right leg that was supposed to limit him to 28-30
minutes. Because the Cardinal don't play again until next week,
Montgomery was able to play the guard 35 minutes, including all 20 in
the second half.

While Knight was brilliant, especially in the first half, his
performance wouldn't have been enough to defeat Cal. Although
disorganized at times, the Bears have so much raw talent one player
couldn't hold them off.

"Obviously, Brevin couldn't do it every time," Montgomery said. "We
needed somebody else to do it. Dion had some big ones. Tim (Young) had
a couple. Even (David) Harbour's charge takes away a layup. That stuff
has to be done. You just can't not do that stuff and expect to win."

Ahead by seven at the half, Stanford (12-2, 3-2 in the Pac-10) would
lead by as many as 11, 60-49, with 11:55 left. But with 2:08
remaining, the teams were tied at 70.

That's when Cross came up huge. The off-guard, who finished with a
game-high 22 points, worked his way into the paint and lofted a shot
that floated tantalizingly over the outstretched hands of defenders
into the hoop.

"I'm little, I can't dunk on anybody," Cross said, grinning. "So I
have to invent shots."

At the other end, Jelani Gardner banged in a jump shot to tie the
score again. But with 56 seconds left, Cross went to the hoop again,
was fouled, and put his team in front for good by calmly hitting both
free throws.

Stanford closed out the Bears from the free-throw line. After a
terrible possession by the Bears that resulted in a forced shot, Andy
Poppink was fouled and made two more. The Cardinal made 19 of 22 free
throws and Cal just five of 13.

"Practice makes perfect," Cross said when asked to explain why
Stanford is tops in the Pac-10 in free-throw shooting.

So that's the secret.