With game plan in mind, nothing distracted Brown
USA Today, Tuesday April 5, 1988
Kansas City Mo - Kansas coach Larry
Brown didn't notice anything unusual about the second half of
his teams' 83-79 national title victory against Oklahoma. He
was so involved in keeping his Jayhawks focused on
"Using the clock" -- so intent on his goal, staying
within range of Oklahoma until the final five minutes -- that
he never noticed the famous Oklahoma full-court press had
vanished.
Stung partly by the foul trouble of guards Mookie Blaylock and Ricky Grace, but mostly by Kansas' 71 percent first half shooting, Oklahoma coach Billy Tubbs pulled back the pressure in the second half. "They did a good job against it in the first half," said Tubbs. "They got a lot of good shots and they were knocking them down."
Said Brown: "I didn't even recognize that they'd stopped, and that's the truth. I just wanted us to keep attacking, and keep using the clock." Kansas did just that, especially in the final three minutes. And they did it with a different look -- 6-10 center Danny Manning, and 6-8 forward Chris Piper handling the ball.
"The big thing was the clock and the big people," said Brown. "We thought their guards might have more trouble pressuring Danny and Chris, and those guys just did a phenomenal job."
In addition to slowing the pace, Brown substituted freely -- he made 42 changes to Oklahoma's 12. "We knew we couldn't run with them the whole game," said Jayhawks guard Kevin Pritchard..
In addition to slowing the tempo, Kansas' defense also tightened in the second half. Oklahoma's Dave Sieger, who had 18 first half points, wound up with 22. And Oklahoma's inside combination of center Stacey King and forward Harvey Grant got only eight second half points.
"It's a credit to Larry Brown's coaching," said Grant. "He's watched a lot of film and he knows how Stacy and I like to post up. Sometimes I felt like I was getting the ball eight or nine feet from the basket and that's frustrating."
Brown's goal all along, he said, was to make sure his team stayed in striking range. If it did, he thought Manning -- "the best player I've been associated with" - would make the difference. "We got unbelievable performances from a lot of guys - Milt Newton, Clint Normore, Scooter Barry." Brown said. "But Danny made it easy for everyone.."
