Michigan State Needs Point Guard To Answer Bell
3/21/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 21, 2001
By LARRY LAGE
AP Sports Writer
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Michigan State will need a little luck and a lot of players to play well to repeat as national champions.
But there's one player in particular who must be consistently good over a six-game period.
Charlie Bell.
Teams usually go as their guards go in the NCAA Tournament.
Tony Delk led Kentucky to the title in 1996. Mike Bibby did it with Arizona in 1997 and Wayne Turner helped Kentucky cut down the nets again in 1998. The following year, Khalid El-Amin led Connecticut over Duke.
Last season, Mateen Cleaves refused to let the Spartans lose during the NCAA Tournament.
The Detroit Pistons' rookie has and will continue to call Bell, his fellow Flintstone, with tips and words of encouragement as Michigan State attempts to become the first team to repeat since Duke did it in 1992 and only the second since UCLA's streak from 1967-73.
"We're not going to win another championship if Charlie doesn't play really well," fellow senior Andre Hutson said.
It's tough to predict much about the NCAA Tournament, except the fact that there will be drama.
There will be times when a shot has to be made or an opponent has to be stopped.
Such pressure will rest on Bell's shoulders at both ends of the court as the team's point guard, one of its best scorers and its best defender.
He knows that his days of being just a role player, supporting Cleaves and Morris Peterson, are gone.
"In the Big Ten Tournament, I didn't play too good and we suffered," said Bell, who scored just six points and made six assists in Michigan State's loss to Penn State last week. "I have to be aggressive and I have to be good in this tournament."
When Bell is at his best, the 6-foot-3, 200-pounder is one of the best all-around players in the country.
The third-team All-American and All-Big Ten player opened the season with a triple-double. Magic Johnson is the only Spartan to accomplish the feat.
He then scored 15 points and suffocated Joe Forte defensively in a win over North Carolina. He scored 20 in a win against Florida and 17 in a victory at Seton Hall.
Bell led the Spartans in scoring in five of the first nine games, but has only done it twice over the last 17 games. He has made just 13 of his last 45 shots.
"I definitely haven't been playing like I did before the Big Ten season," Bell admitted. "I haven't been as aggressive because J.R. (Jason Richardson) and Andre (Hutson) have been playing so well. As our point guard, I have just been getting them the ball and haven't looked to score as much. I'll need to now."
Bell was asked to focus on defense as a freshman, to rebound and run as a sophomore, and to play point guard as a junior when Cleaves broke his foot before the season.
This year, he was asked to do all of that along with being a vocal leader, a role that hasn't come easily for the soft-spoken person.
"I've done it all," Bell said. "I think all of it has made me a better player."
That's an understatement.
Bell has helped Michigan State win a national championship, advance to two Final Fours, capture four straight Big Ten titles and win a conference-record 111 games.
"When I look up in the rafters at the Breslin Center and see all those banners, it's amazing," Bell said. "I just want to make sure we add one more banner in a few weeks."
