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Friday, March 10, 2000

Pirates' showtime drops curtain on Bears' state run

By Matt Young

AUSTIN - How long did it take for West Oso to turn into Oh No?
   About as long as it took Waco La Vega to attempt a bounce-pass alley-oop.
   Go back and re-read the end of that last sentence. It's not a misprint. All you need to know about West Oso's 75-62 loss to La Vega in the state semifinals Thursday is that the Pirates attempted a play generally reserved for NBA All-Star games. Not only that, the Pirates had the gall to try it in the second quarter.
   Leading 35-19 midway through the second quarter, La Vega point guard Don Hooks spotted Mario Kinsey on the wing on a two-on-one fast break. The only problem: West Oso's Lydell Anthony was standing in the way.
   Apparently, if you have Hooks' imagination, that's not a problem.
   Hooks threw the ball hard off the free-throw line and watched as it hopped over the 5-foot-7 Anthony's head and into the arms of a leaping Kinsey. Kinsey, perhaps as shocked as everyone else, didn't finish the dunk, but no one seemed to care.
   Passing fancy
   The crowd of 10,392 "oohed" and "aahed" as if James Naismith had just risen from the dead. Or maybe all the commotion actually was Dr. Naismith rolling over in his grave.
   Who says the bounce pass is dead?
   "I was pretty surprised, because that's never happened to me before," Anthony said. "I thought I was going to get the steal and all of a sudden it jumped over me. I'm just glad it didn't work."
   Whether it worked or not seemed to be mere details. By the time the game was over, more reporters wanted to ask Hooks about his Jason Williams imitation than about how his team blew the doors off West Oso with a 20-3 run that started the game.
   "It was all instinct," said Hooks, who had a game-high eight assists. "I saw him open and I decided to get fancy. I don't think any of those West Oso players thought I would dare try something like that, especially in the first half. I guess they just don't know about La Vega."
   Texas Showtime
   Although Waco and Los Angeles might as well be on opposite ends of the earth, La Vega has carved out its niche as the Showtime school of Central Texas.
   "Our offense sells tickets and the defense wins championships," said La Vega coach Kevin Gill. "All of our games in Waco are sold out, because the fans want to see all the flashy things our offense does.
   "Just because we made it to Austin doesn't mean we're going to stop doing what got us here," he said. "All these fans didn't come to Austin to see 15 passes on every possession. They came here to see some exciting basketball."
   That's why Gill took it all in stride when his team blew its easy fast-break opportunity, because Hooks tried a pass that would make traditional point guards blush.
   "I'm still young enough that I like to see that kind of stuff also, so I didn't mind," the 34-year-old coach said.
   That would explain the chest bumps Gill gave several of his players as they celebrated their win.
   "We're a 'Showtime' team and that's how we'll always be, no matter what the situation or how many fans are in the stands," Hooks said. "I hope all those people come back Saturday for the finals and see what we try next."
  

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Staff writer Matt Young can be reached at 886-3702 or by e-mail at youngm@caller.com

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