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View Full Version : UMKC's Watson believes he can star in the NBA



KoriEllis
03-09-2003, 10:07 PM
www.kansascity.com/mld/ka...349268.htm (http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/5349268.htm)
By JOE POSNANSKI
Columnist

This is the one time of year Michael Watson longs, really longs, for the bright lights. Most of the time, he's pretty good about playing in the shadows at UMKC. Hey, he's had one wild year. He scores 25 a game. He's taken more shots than any player in college basketball. So what if ESPN doesn't call? So what if the people are scattered in the stands? So what if Billy Packer doesn't know his name? So what?

"I can score on anybody," he says. "No doubt in my mind."

See, this is what he believes: Basketball is basketball. It isn't like boxing. There are no weight classes. If you can play basketball at UMKC, you can play at Arizona. If you can score 54 in front of 6,400 at Oral Roberts, you can score plenty in a packed Cameron Indoor Stadium too.

"I don't need all those cheers," he says, "to tell me I can play basketball.'

That confidence roars. A guy doesn't fire up 605 shots in a season -- 50 more than anyone else in America -- without having loads of nerve. Ask him about Kansas' All-American Kirk Hinrich. "He doesn't want to guard me," Watson says. Ask him about the 36 he scored on Colorado. "We should have won that game," he says. "We're better than Colorado."

Ask him about the NBA. "I'm going to play in the league."

Ask him about any disappointment he feels about playing in front of a few scattered thousand at UMKC.

"None," he says. "Absolutely none. Thing about basketball is, you can either play or you can't. I can play. I don't care if people around the country don't know it. I know it."

He smiles. "Except..."

And here it comes: The one exception. See, there is one thing he misses. One thing he has wanted ever since he was a kid growing up in Kansas City. You know those corny little March Madness videos they show on television? They're the ones where some sappy song like "One Moment In Time," or "We Are The Champions," plays, and you see a bunch of moments -- a guy dunking, a coach waving his arms, a team hugging after pulling a big upset.

Watson has always wanted to be in one of those videos.

"This time of year," he says, "I think a little bit about what it might be like at one of those big schools. But it's like I tell our guys. We need to make our own dreams come true."

III

Michael Watson will shoot today. That's the one sure bet. UMKC plays Oral Roberts, first round of the Mid-Continent Conference tournament at Kemper Arena, and there's no doubt Oral Roberts will throw all sorts of double- and triple-teams at Watson. He scored 54 on the Golden Eagles barely two weeks ago.

Still, he will shoot. It's what he does.

"A scorer has to shoot," Watson says without apology. Watson is fifth in America in scoring. He slashes hard to the basket. He goes to a spot and shoots jump shots with hands in his face. He spins off a pick and fires up a three-pointer. He scores 37 percent of the Kangaroo's points.

In UMKC's recent surge -- the Kangaroos have won six of their last nine -- he has averaged 31 points a victory.

That means shooting. That means missing. Watson has missed 378 shots this year, far more than anyone else in the country.

Watson has fired it up there 211 more times than anyone at Kansas, for instance. That leads to Kansas' Keith Langford's remark that anyone who shoots the ball that much ought to average 40 or 50 points a game. (Which led Watson to respond: "Yeah, it's easy to talk when you're playing with two All-Americans.")

"I tell Michael, `Look, I'm the coach, and I'll tell you when you're shooting too much,' " UMKC coach Rich Zvosec says. "What people don't understand is that what might be a bad shot for someone else isn't necessarily a bad shot for Michael Watson."

That's because Watson is gifted. At 6 feet 1, he has an ability to get his shot off against taller defenders. He's quick enough to create space to score. He has that scorers knack of getting himself into the right position to put the ball in the basket. He has the scorer's conviction that the next shot, no matter what, will go in.

So, he will keep on shooting. Deep down, he feels this might be his last go around. He's only a junior, but Watson thinks about the NBA. He thinks about it all the time. He wants this tournament to be special.

"In our league, it doesn't matter how you start," Watson says. "Only one of us is going to the Big Dance. Only the one who wins three games in March."

"And after that," he says, "who knows?"

III

Watson knows that the New York Knicks will need a guard. That's how closely he follows the NBA. He knows that Charlie Ward is near the end, and the Knicks will need someone like, well, someone like him.

"I mean, I don't know what they think of me," he admits. "But, you know, well, we'll see what happens."

He thinks about leaving UMKC after this season, his junior season, to try out for the NBA. At first glance, it seems pretty ludicrous -- a player leaving UMKC early to go to the NBA. But as you talk to Watson, you realize he's not going at this blindly. He knows he's fighting uphill. He knows that he needs to get stronger and work on his passing and many other things. He has a good idea of what's going on.

Still, he realizes that it's different at UMKC than it is at bigger schools. Nick Collison could come back to Kansas his senior year and be absolutely certain that no one would forget about him. He could improve his draft status. He could make himself more valuable.

But it's not that way at UMKC. Right now, Watson is at least on some NBA radar screens. A few scouts have seen him play. He might get a few extra looks because he is among the nation's leading scorers. There might be a small opening for Watson now.

He knows that if he comes back next year, well, he might average 18 or 19 a game -- a fine season -- and fall completely out of the NBA picture.

"I have to strike while the iron is hot," he says. "Look, I would like to come back to UMKC, you know, be a kid for one more year, get my diploma, all that. But I need to see what kind of opportunity I might have."

There are other factors too. He has a daughter, Jordyn, who is 1 and named after the only person Watson ever wanted to be like: Michael Jordan.

"The NBA has been my only dream all my life," Watson says. "If this is my best shot, then I've got to take it. If not, then I'd love to come back and try to lead this team again."

He wants to find out. He does not want to go play in Europe or Puerto Rico, not yet. He's focusing entirely on the NBA. Zvosec is pretty plugged in -- he knows a couple of NBA general managers -- and he hopes to give Watson a good sense of his chances.

"Without a doubt," Zvosec says when asked if Watson can play at the next level. "Without a doubt."

"What we need to talk about after the season is over is what's the best way for that to happen. I know how much he wants to play in the NBA. I want that for him too. Would I like him to come back? Of course, I would. But I want what's best for Mike."

III

Watson has a definition for what makes a good shot.

"A good shot," he says, "is one that goes in."

That simple, really. He hears people make all of this so complicated. If he can just hit shots today, and again tomorrow, and one more time in the championship game Tuesday night, well, it won't be complicated then. All the other stuff -- the missed shots, the NBA, the small school -- will fade away.

"I've always loved those videos, where they show all those teams celebrating in March," Watson says. "Maybe it's our turn. Anything can happen in March. Anything."