Marquis Navarre choking on a Nike sneaker
Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 10:30 am
Enough said: Johnson’s watershed performance speaks volumes (Opinion)
by Matt McLeod | March 12, 2010 | Montana Kaimin
If you try to have a conversation with Marquis Navarre this week, you might have trouble understanding him. You’ll have to excuse him, he’s choking on a Nike sneaker, still trying to pry his foot out of his mouth. Or maybe it’s a nice, thick slice of humble pie he’s trying to stuff down.
The Bobcat guard called out Montana senior standout Anthony Johnson during the Griz’s loss at Montana State this year, whispering in Johnson’s ear that he didn’t show up in the big games, that he wasn’t clutch in the big moments.
Big mistake.
Johnson did something Navarre didn’t see coming. He agreed with Navarre, using the goading as bulletin board material and responding by roaring down the stretch. He averaged a sizzling 25 points per game after the insult and, with his Bobcat counterpart watching at home, capped his Big Sky career with one of the most memorable performances in conference history in the limelight of the league’s biggest stage.
The show that Johnson put on at Ogden’s Dee Events Center Wednesday night was almost too gaudy, too over-the-top, too mid-80s Hollywood to be believed. It was like a scene ripped out of “Teen Wolf,” only in this movie, the hero didn’t sprout hair and do front-flip dunks.
The way he intimidated Weber defenders, he might as well have.
To say that Johnson helped Montana secure its 66–65 Big Sky championship win over Weber State Wednesday is like saying Paris Hilton’s celebrity helped her get a record deal.
He lifted the listless Griz onto his square shoulders and dragged them up the steep path to glory.
With Montana trailing 40–20 at halftime, Johnson decided he’d seen enough. He’d led the team with eight points in the first half, but was far from satisfied with himself. Just as he had in another eight-point performance (his game in Bozeman) Johnson vowed to Griz coach Wayne Tinkle that he was about to see a new man.
New man indeed: A man of steel. Johnson stepped into a phone booth and emerged donning his red cape and blue tights, his chest puffed out and eyes scanning the horizon. In front of a national ESPN2 audience, a new man — a superhero — swooped in and saved the day.
The stats were staggering: Johnson poured in 34 of his 42 points in the second half; he railed off Montana’s final 21 points, finishing 13–22 from the field, 14–14 from the charity stripe. As the minutes ticked down, he wasn’t just unconscious, he was in a coma, with family and friends blowing tears and snot into tissues and an ashen-faced priest solemnly reading him his last rites.
And when it mattered most, with everyone on the court, on the bench, in the gym and sitting in front of a television screen knowing he’d take the final shot, Johnson channeled the ice water pumping through his veins, stepped up and nailed it. His game-winning bucket with 10.4 seconds to play put the Griz on top for the first time all night, and brought Montana the most improbable of comeback triumphs.
Needless to say, Johnson walked away with the conference MVP award. How couldn’t he? His performance broke the conference tournament scoring record and toppled the single-game Montana scoring record set by Bob Cope in 1948 and tied three decades later by the greatest Grizzly ever to don a maroon jersey: former NBA All-Star Michael Ray Richardson.
It’s appropriate. Richardson and Johnson are two names Griz fans will be mentioning in the same sentence for years to come, and for good reason.
Johnson was the real deal, all bite and no bark. Though he finished only 16th on the list of Montana’s career scorers, he did all his damage in two years, a pair of jaw-dropping seasons that cemented his legacy in the highest echelon of Griz lore.
For one brief moment, the program joined him in his blastoff into the stratosphere. For one glittering night, Montana basketball thrust itself into national attention.
The shocking comeback stunned ESPN2 color man Bob Valvano, who drooled into his microphone courtside and scrambled to find appropriate synonyms for “unbelievable” to describe the spectacle. It bounced around national blogs and garnered a shout-out from “Pardon the Interruption” hosts Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon Thursday.
And all because of one man.
Marquis Navarre.
After a home win against Idaho State, when he learned that Navarre had missed a pair of late free throws that would have tied Montana State up against Weber the same night, Johnson said he’d save his response until after his team beat the Bobcats.
That never happened. Despite Johnson’s 31 points, the Griz lost to Montana State a second time, in a game where Navarre posted a goose egg. Ever the team player, Johnson never took the chance to crow.
He didn’t get the last word until Wednesday night, as the final buzzer sounded and an ecstatic Brian Qvale lifted Johnson into the air like a conquering hero. Still, Johnson didn’t have to say anything.
Like usual, he let the rest of us do it for him.
http://www.montanakaimin.com/index.php/ ... pinion/911" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
by Matt McLeod | March 12, 2010 | Montana Kaimin
If you try to have a conversation with Marquis Navarre this week, you might have trouble understanding him. You’ll have to excuse him, he’s choking on a Nike sneaker, still trying to pry his foot out of his mouth. Or maybe it’s a nice, thick slice of humble pie he’s trying to stuff down.
The Bobcat guard called out Montana senior standout Anthony Johnson during the Griz’s loss at Montana State this year, whispering in Johnson’s ear that he didn’t show up in the big games, that he wasn’t clutch in the big moments.
Big mistake.
Johnson did something Navarre didn’t see coming. He agreed with Navarre, using the goading as bulletin board material and responding by roaring down the stretch. He averaged a sizzling 25 points per game after the insult and, with his Bobcat counterpart watching at home, capped his Big Sky career with one of the most memorable performances in conference history in the limelight of the league’s biggest stage.
The show that Johnson put on at Ogden’s Dee Events Center Wednesday night was almost too gaudy, too over-the-top, too mid-80s Hollywood to be believed. It was like a scene ripped out of “Teen Wolf,” only in this movie, the hero didn’t sprout hair and do front-flip dunks.
The way he intimidated Weber defenders, he might as well have.
To say that Johnson helped Montana secure its 66–65 Big Sky championship win over Weber State Wednesday is like saying Paris Hilton’s celebrity helped her get a record deal.
He lifted the listless Griz onto his square shoulders and dragged them up the steep path to glory.
With Montana trailing 40–20 at halftime, Johnson decided he’d seen enough. He’d led the team with eight points in the first half, but was far from satisfied with himself. Just as he had in another eight-point performance (his game in Bozeman) Johnson vowed to Griz coach Wayne Tinkle that he was about to see a new man.
New man indeed: A man of steel. Johnson stepped into a phone booth and emerged donning his red cape and blue tights, his chest puffed out and eyes scanning the horizon. In front of a national ESPN2 audience, a new man — a superhero — swooped in and saved the day.
The stats were staggering: Johnson poured in 34 of his 42 points in the second half; he railed off Montana’s final 21 points, finishing 13–22 from the field, 14–14 from the charity stripe. As the minutes ticked down, he wasn’t just unconscious, he was in a coma, with family and friends blowing tears and snot into tissues and an ashen-faced priest solemnly reading him his last rites.
And when it mattered most, with everyone on the court, on the bench, in the gym and sitting in front of a television screen knowing he’d take the final shot, Johnson channeled the ice water pumping through his veins, stepped up and nailed it. His game-winning bucket with 10.4 seconds to play put the Griz on top for the first time all night, and brought Montana the most improbable of comeback triumphs.
Needless to say, Johnson walked away with the conference MVP award. How couldn’t he? His performance broke the conference tournament scoring record and toppled the single-game Montana scoring record set by Bob Cope in 1948 and tied three decades later by the greatest Grizzly ever to don a maroon jersey: former NBA All-Star Michael Ray Richardson.
It’s appropriate. Richardson and Johnson are two names Griz fans will be mentioning in the same sentence for years to come, and for good reason.
Johnson was the real deal, all bite and no bark. Though he finished only 16th on the list of Montana’s career scorers, he did all his damage in two years, a pair of jaw-dropping seasons that cemented his legacy in the highest echelon of Griz lore.
For one brief moment, the program joined him in his blastoff into the stratosphere. For one glittering night, Montana basketball thrust itself into national attention.
The shocking comeback stunned ESPN2 color man Bob Valvano, who drooled into his microphone courtside and scrambled to find appropriate synonyms for “unbelievable” to describe the spectacle. It bounced around national blogs and garnered a shout-out from “Pardon the Interruption” hosts Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon Thursday.
And all because of one man.
Marquis Navarre.
After a home win against Idaho State, when he learned that Navarre had missed a pair of late free throws that would have tied Montana State up against Weber the same night, Johnson said he’d save his response until after his team beat the Bobcats.
That never happened. Despite Johnson’s 31 points, the Griz lost to Montana State a second time, in a game where Navarre posted a goose egg. Ever the team player, Johnson never took the chance to crow.
He didn’t get the last word until Wednesday night, as the final buzzer sounded and an ecstatic Brian Qvale lifted Johnson into the air like a conquering hero. Still, Johnson didn’t have to say anything.
Like usual, he let the rest of us do it for him.
http://www.montanakaimin.com/index.php/ ... pinion/911" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
