Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Sports & Recreation NCAA Championship NCAA Championship -- Gilbert Arenas' first shot tonight will be scrutinized. It could be the biggest shot any Arizona player takes against Duke in the NCAA Tournament national championship game. Arenas injured his shoulder cutting through a screen during the semifinal win over Michigan State. He left the game but returned and ended up with an NCAA Tournament semifinal record of six steals. Arenas said he could have played if needed Sunday, but he was walking gingerly into the locker room and around the Metrodome. Arenas' presence Monday night is imperative for the Wildcats. Not just his offense, but also his defense. His long reach is a must in defensive assignments against any one of three players he could guard in Chris Duhon, Jason Williams and/or Mike Dunleavy. Just how effective Gilbert Arenas can be is a key to tonight's title game. Arizona shot for only 15 minutes during its NCAA mandated one-hour practice Sunday, but that wasn't enough for Arenas to test his ailing right shoulder. So, with the help of assistant Jay John, Arenas, John and his son, went to De La Salle High School in downtown Minneapolis at 10:30 p.m. ET for a private session. Arenas took 3-pointers, 30-foot shots, mid-range shots and even kept throwing the ball up to the basket for rebounds to check his reflexes and range of motion. Everything checked out OK. At least well enough for Arenas to feel better about playing a key role against Duke. "He needed and wanted to test it," John said Monday afternoon, a few hours before the Wildcats were set to tip off against Duke for the national title at the Metrodome. "He kept getting better with each shot. A friend of mine did me a favor (by opening the gym) and it worked out for us." Arenas told reporters Sunday that he felt better every time he moved and that was certainly the case Sunday night, according to John. He was injured when he broke between 6-foot-8, 240-pound Andre Hutson and 6-9, 270-pound Zach Randolph to make a steal during the Wildcats' 21-3 run to start the second half. Randolph banged into Arenas as he picked off the ball. "I thought he had separated his shoulder,"' Arizona assistant coach Jim Rosborough said. Arenas managed to dunk at the end of the play, then left the game. He came back later but was in obvious pain after the game and unavailable for interviews. Arenas finished making 4 of 7 shots, 3 of 4 free throws for 12 points. But he had seven assists and only one turnover to go with his six steals in 27 minutes. "There are other things you can do besides shoot," Arenas said in reference to his intangibles that helped the Wildcats win. Arizona coach Lute Olson played down the significance of the injury on Sunday. "He should be fine," Olson said. "He came back in the game and it didn't seem to hamper him." Arenas, a sophomore, averages 16 points a game. He told reporters Sunday he was glad to have another day to recover. "It will help me a lot," he said. "Right now I'm a little sore, but going into tomorrow I think I'll be 100 percent." Monday night's game figures to be a thriller. Duke and Arizona are the two best teams in America. Here's my breakdown for the championship clash: The Wildcats hadn't decided, or were saying, what kind of defense they would use against Duke as of Monday afternoon. But one thing they're certain of is they've got to mix up their approach like they did to Michigan State. "We've got to keep them off balanced," John said. "We'll probably play a little bit of everything (man, zone, fullcourt press)." The tough thing for Arizona is where to put Loren Woods and Michael Wright. Duke makes matching up with it difficult because only one player -- Carlos Boozer or Casey Sanders -- will play inside exclusively. The other four -- Shane Battier, Duhon, Williams, Dunleavy or Nate James -- will be facing the basket most of the time. Battier poses the toughest matchup. The athletic 6-7 Richard Jefferson might start out guarding the 6-8 Battier, but so too might 6-7 Michael Wright or even 7-1 Loren Woods. The problem with Wright or Woods playing Battier is Battier's ability to shoot the 3-pointer. Neither Woods or Wright is used to playing so far from the basket. If the game is played in a halfcourt pace, which Arizona will want at times, then Duke will have problems. The Blue Devils don't have the size to continuously battle inside for the boards. But the team that can get the rebounds, especially on the offensive backboard, will likely win. If Duke is missing its 3s (the Blue Devils have taken more 3-pointers than any Final Four team), then Woods and Wright must cheat back inside to get the rebounds and start a fast break. Arizona has scored 212 of its 407 points inside, mostly on layups and dunks. The Wildcats scored 13 layups and seven dunks against Michigan State. Most of those were "easy" baskets on transition and off turnovers. They must do that to beat Duke. Wright said roaming outside to the 3-point line is out of his comfort zone but he can do it if he has to Monday night. Jefferson said he wasn't worried about Woods being able to get back to the basket if he has to go out and chase Battier because he's so long that in two steps he can be back to the basket. "They're going to shoot a lot of 3s, so you have to defend real well their 3-point shooters and their second chances," Wright said. "We can't let them get a lot of transition baskets and a lot easy baskets." Duke will look to push the basketball at every chance, just like Arizona. But they will lean heavily on the 3-point shot. Duke has taken an amazing 1,030 3-point shots, that's just shy of the total overall shots Duke has made (1,187) and a little less than half (2,466) of its attempted field goals. Williams said he anticipates the matchups to be just as tough for Duke as it will for Arizona. Woods, while leaner, has four inches on the beefy Boozer (6-9). If Arenas is healthy, he's long enough to get his shot off either Williams or Duhon. Wright is an athletic force inside if he takes Dunleavy down in the paint. The other possible intangible is a deficit for Duke. The assumption is that Duke will come back if it gets down by double digits. Why? Well, they always seemed to do it against Maryland. But the Wildcats aren't Maryland and the Blue Devils know it. "Maybe they're the team that can put us away that we can't come back on," Williams said. "Who knows?" That's right. The only thing that seemed automatic Monday afternoon was Arenas was definitely going to play and shoot after getting an assist from a coach and a local high school. Bibliography: Site Espn.com Word Count: 1181
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