CAN PENNEY FILL THE BRYANT ROLE?
Madison Capital Times
Madison, Wis.
Mar 14, 2001
If you check out ESPN's Web site for information on the NCAA Tournament, you
will find an unlikely source, Quinn Buckner, offering his "take" on
the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team.
Buckner is an unlikely choice for the assignment since he has little working
knowledge of the Badgers beyond filling the analyst's chair during the course
of one or two Badger games each season. Lately, nobody fills up a chair quite
like the beefy Buckner, a walking ad for this state's leading crop.
Here was Buckner's take out, er, take: "If the Badgers don't shoot the
ball exceptionally well from the outside, they are going to run into problems.
John Brien (sic) was a player they relied on last season to make shots."
How soon they forget.
A year ago, Jon Bryant (no relation to the aforementioned John Brien) had
one of those magical runs that helped trigger Wisconsin's improbable dash to
the Final Four.
Kirk Penney hasn't forgotten.
"After watching (Bryant) the whole year and competing with him - and
seeing him just destroy guys with his movement - was something that I took from
last year's tournament," said Penney, reflecting on March Madness through
the eyes of a fellow mad bomber. "Getting out of the Big Ten, he was able
to surprise teams that weren't willing to play the same type of defense that is
played in the Big Ten."
While Bryant's success was partly because opposing defenses were unfamiliar
with Wisconsin's motion game and multiple screens, it went beyond the X's and
O's.
"He just found a rhythm, it seemed, confidence-wise with his
shooting," Penney said. "If he had even the slightest look, it (the
shot) was going up. He just hit the rhythm at the right time and he just kept
it going for as long as he could."
In Wisconsin's first-round game against Fresno State, the Badgers were able
to consistently get Bryant open looks against a very soft zone defense. The
result? Bryant knocked down seven 3-point field goals, tying the school record.
During a furious, if not unconscious 99-second span, he drained triples on four
straight possessions.
Bryant's shooting percentage dipped slightly in victories over Arizona (4 of
8, 3 triples) and LSU (6 of 14, 3 triples). But he turned up the heat again
against Purdue (6 of 12, 5 triples) and wound up being named the Most
Outstanding Player at the NCAA West Regional. Bryant averaged 16.8 points,
while shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc (18 of 36) and the field (23 of
46).
"He became the man,' " Penney said with the utmost respect and
admiration. "He was doing everything that he had to do for us to win.
Watching him do that, I didn't know that he had that in him."
That begs the question, Does Penney have that in him? Can Penney fill the
Bryant role in this year's NCAA Tournament, beginning here Thursday morning
against Georgia State?
"I'm excited, and prepared," he said, knowing full well that he
may not be able to do it alone. "I think Roy (Boone), Ricky (Bower) and
myself are all prepared and ready to see where the openings are going to come.
If the opportunity is there, I'm going to be taking it no matter what. You
never know, they (the shots) could arise as often as they did for Jon."
Penney is coming off an extremely productive sophomore year, during which he
led the Big Ten in 3-point shooting percentage (.478) in conference play. Over the
last nine games, at a time when some of his teammates began to show the wear of
a long, grinding season, Penney didn't fade. Instead, he shot 50 percent from
3-point range and averaged 14 points.
Has Penney envisioned himself with the same shooting rhythm that punctuated
Bryant's NCAA heroics?
"It was kind of different for Jon because you were hardly thinking
about him (going into the NCAA Tournament)," Penney noted. "It was
the biggest step up. You thought about Versh (Mark Vershaw) coming in and getting
the good numbers. It could have been Doc (Duany Duany), too. It could have been
anybody stepping up and it happened to be J.B.
"That's what I'm saying when I said Roy, me and Ricky are all ready.
Who knows? Maybe it will be all of us contributing this year. But if it comes
my way, I'll be more than ready."
More ready than he was last summer representing New Zealand in the Olympics?
"I'm a lot more excited," Penney said without hesitating. "I
feel like I can contribute more in this tournament as compared to the Olympics,
because you had the older guys, the veterans, who got the playing time no
matter how they were performing. You knew it wasn't going to come your way. I
want to contribute a lot more here than I did there. And I think the
opportunity might just be there."
Seizing the opportunity is the key. Hunting the shot is critical. When the
Badgers have the basketball, focus on Penney's movement and you will get an
idea of how hard he must work to get free of the defense. This would be the
game within the game: Penney running a defender on the baseline, Penney running
a defender into picks, Penney running left, Penney running right, Penney
literally running a defender in circles.
"First of all, going into the game I look at the guy who's guarding
me," he said. "And I'm thinking, 'Are you willing to follow me for
this entire game?' Then, I'm just continually moving. I want to work him as
much as I possibly can. If I can get him to foul out, or if I can get him
completely exhausted, then I'm happy. As soon as that happens (his defenders
gets tired), there's going to be some openings and I can get some quick ones
fast."
Not so fast. Certain Big Ten defenses have caught on, and caught up with
Penney, who gets held coming around screens as much as any scorer in the
league. That's a sure sign of respect from the opponent, whether it's Michigan
State's Charlie Bell or Indiana's Dane Fife doing the holding.
"It will be kind of nice to get out of the physical Big Ten for a
couple of games," Penney said with a sigh. "This game
especially."
While a lot of people will be attempting to connect the dots between Bryant
and Penney, there's one significant difference in their games. Penney has the
ability to put the ball on the floor, and draw fouls driving to the rim. Penney
started off the year slowly from the free-throw line. But he's made 32 of his
last 38 (.846). And his percentage would be even higher if Andy Kowske and
Charlie Wills hadn't fallen into the lane against Indiana.
Penney takes the blame here.
"I'm just taking my time with my free throws, that's something I've
noticed," Penney said. "Usually, I'm three dribbles and I shoot it.
Now, I'm three dribbles and I pause and then I shoot it. So there is a
difference from what I was doing earlier in the season.
"We just did it in practice again today and Andy and Charlie stepped
over (into the lane again) and I go, 'Oh, geez.' Afterward, Andy came up and
said, 'Every time you shoot free throws, just say, it's me, it's me.' "
That may have been a reminder for Penney to be himself, and not somebody
else, whether it's John Brien or Jon Bryant.
