NDIANAPOLIS - Isn't it nice to know that in an NCAA tournament where your brackets could just as easily have been filled out by your faithful golden retriever, you at least got one thing right?
On behalf of about 37 million of my fellow Americans, I therefore accept your congratulations for having the wisdom and foresight to identify Michigan State as the 2000 national champion. For most of us, that's about the only one of the Final 16 we correctly figured out.
It all came true, just the way we sages figured it would. Tom Izzo's Spartans had the answer to anything Florida did, leading from a Charlie Bell tip-in 10 seconds into the game until the final buzzer, when reserves were flooding the floor, the 89-76 victory totally secure. Michigan State led by a solid 11 (43-32) at the half and boosted the lead to as many as 20 with a devastating display of all-around basketball to win the second NCAA title in school history.
And we even had a little second-half melodrama to spice up the plot.
That came about with 16:18 to play when senior leader Mateen Cleaves, playing exactly the kind of ''prime time'' game predicted by Izzo, went down on the baseline after a tangle with Florida's Teddy Dupay. He limped off in pain, unable to put much pressure on his right ankle. The lead at the time was 6 (50-44), that being as close as the game had been since 21-17.
Try to imagine what was going on in the minds of Izzo, his staff, his team, and everyone who cares about the Spartans. The season had begun with Cleaves rehabbing a broken right foot. He didn't get into a game until the Big 10 season began in January. The team was 9-4 without him, and 22-3 with him. From the moment Cincinnati's Kenyon Martin broke his leg, this had been Michigan State's tournament to win or lose. Now, with 16 minutes to go, it just didn't seem fair that Michigan State's great run should be in any kind of jeopardy.
Oh we of little faith.
The Spartans came out of the timeout with a purpose. Forgotten Duke transfer Mike Chappell drilled an immediate straightaway three, and that was the trigger for a 23-14 run over the next 6:53. It was as close as 6 only one more time, when Kenyon Weaks hit a Florida three, and that lasted precisely 21 seconds, or as long as it took poised senior A.J. Granger (19 points, 9 rebounds) to nail an answering three, one of 11 the Spartans made on an overall great shooting evening (55 percent).
Cleaves came back, too, reappearing with 11:51 remaining, along with boyhood pal Morris Peterson, the guy who sounds like someone who should be doing your taxes but who has a jump shot even a hard-hearted IRS man would envy. The score was a still-inconclusive 68-60 at the time, so it was reassuring for Michigan State to again have at the controls the player Izzo has referred to as his own version of Magic Johnson (who, you won't be surprised to hear, was proudly dispensing pearls of alumni wisdom at halfcourt following the game).
Cleaves isn't Magic, OK? But he is that modern rarity, an NBA-bound star who passed up an opportunity to grab the big bucks after his junior year in order to accomplish the goal of winning a national championship. He, Peterson, and Granger had come to East Lansing to make Michigan State, not Michigan, the school of hoop record in the state.
Izzo knows how tough life after Mateen is going to be.
''I just think Mateen has been the next-closest thing [to Magic] because of his personality and his will to win,'' maintained Izzo, a kid from the much-abused Upper Peninsula who has now climbed to the peak of the college coaching profession at age 45. ''I mean, a lot of guys have it. Scott Skiles had it, but Mateen shares it with everybody and he is the reason we are a great family.''
Cleaves was put off his game by Wisconsin Saturday, his only basket coming on a sneakaway layup. A huge question prior to this game was whether or not he could guide his team through the famed Florida press. A secondary question was whether or not this career 40 percent shooter would make some shots.
So let the record show that with Cleaves in control the Spartans didn't turn the ball over in any fashion until the game was nearly 12 minutes old. Florida had 20 points off turnovers against North Carolina, but just 2 in the first half against Michigan State.
As for Part B, Cleaves came up with 18 points, all before hurting his ankle, and swished three of four 3-point attempts. In so doing he made a prophet out of his mentor, who on Sunday had said the following: ''A lot is going to fall on Mateen's shoulders, but he's got big shoulders, and he, I think, relishes the opportunity to be the focal point. I think tomorrow's his time. I tell him, it's like Deion Sanders; it's prime time, and he's a prime-time player.''
Ya think?
Some day in the very near future Mateen Cleaves is going to sign a contract that gives him enough money to get his patient family in Flint into some nice digs. Everyone knew that day would come. And he will do so with a sense of pride and an inner glow that the Iversons and Marburys will never know. Setting a goal, working through physical adversity to accomplish it, and then being able to share that indescribable feeling of accomplishment with people who will always be your friends is something no amount of Benjamins or Hamiltons could ever buy.
''Oh, my God!'' he exclaimed. ''This is what I came back for.''
Oh, yeah, Mateen Cleaves was the MVP. Tell us something we didn't know.
Player audio
