Plus, Bibby added, four television timeouts per half in NCAA Tournament games give players a chance to rest. Kids are not going to get tired playing three or four minutes at a time. Yet Southern Cal will not have the luxury of having an Estill on its bench. Estill, who did not score in the first-round victory over Holy Cross, made what Iowa Coach Steve Alford called the critical difference in the second round. Estill's play filled the head of fellow reserve J.P. Blevins with dreams of what might have been last year and what could be this year.
People talk about last year's team.
We didn't have that on last year's team. We didn't have 10 guys who can step up on different nights and contribute like that. That's a huge difference between this year and last year's team. The challenge this season has been to meld a collection of heralded high school stars into an effective unit. Some players had to become reserves, valued reserves, but reserves just the same.