Dorsey paints work of art - Commercial Appeal (3-18-2006)

[ORUTerry]

Dorsey paints work of art

Photo Mark Weber

The Commercial Appeal

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/tigers/article/0,2844,MCA_25363_4551460,00.html

Joey Dorsey (right) and Oral Roberts star Caleb Green went toe-to-toe all afternoon Friday.

Inside play vs. Eagle star Green sets punishing tone

March 18, 2006

DALLAS -- It started with a push, escalated with a shove and ended with mutual admiration having been firmly established.

University of Memphis forward Joey Dorsey and Oral Roberts forward Caleb Green didn't just jostle and jaw with one another during Friday's NCAA Tournament first-round game at the American Airlines Center.

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They engaged in a joint investigation into each other's physical and emotional constitutions in a bid to see whose would break down first.

"We were going back and forth with each other, just talking," said the 6-9, 265-pound Dorsey after the top-seeded Tigers' 94-78 victory over the 16th-seeded Golden Eagles. "He started calling me by my nickname, Joey. He said, 'I'm taking letters away from you. I'm gonna call you 'J.' I said, 'Yeah, well, I'm getting ready to dunk on you.' I had a chance but it slipped out of my hands."

Green, eager to let Dorsey know the lightly regarded Golden Eagles weren't in Dallas to act as fodder for the Tigers (31-3), started the festivities with a premeditated push.

Dorsey was game, and not even four minutes had elapsed when officials stopped play to tell them to cut down on the rough stuff.

Fat chance.

"I had to let them know we made it here for a reason," said Green, the two-time Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Year. "I had to let them know we're not soft. I came down and I pushed him one time, and he pushed me real hard back, and that's when we started talking. I was trying to let him know we weren't going down without a fight."

Green made his point, scoring 19 points on 6-for-14 shooting for the obstinate Golden Eagles (21-12). But it was Dorsey and the Tigers who had the last word.

Much maligned for their reliance on the 3-pointer, the Tigers dispelled the idea they might be allergic to paint by scoring a whopping 46 inside points against an Oral Roberts squad with three regulars 6-8 or taller.

While Dorsey managed just five points, his efforts down low helped pave the way for the likes of Rodney Carney (19 points), Shawne Williams (14) and Robert Dozier (nine) to get to the basket.

After a four-game stretch last month in which he managed a meager total of 14 points and nine rebounds, Dorsey is averaging nine rebounds in the seven games since.

"With Joey playing the way he's playing and people still say Memphis has no post presence, how can you say that?" UofM coach John Calipari said.

"How can you say that?"

The Tigers, who will face ninth-seeded Bucknell in a second-round game Sunday at 3:45 p.m., were devastating from 3-point range against the Golden Eagles, hitting 11-of-22 from beyond the arc.

But the Tigers were also determined to take the ball to the basket, something they have often struggled to do when presented with a zone defense, as they were at times by Oral Roberts.

The Tigers' 60.7-percent performance from the field was in large part the product of attacking the likes of Green, 6-11 center Mickey Michalec and forward Larry Owens.

With 12 offensive rebounds, including four by Dozier, the Tigers more often than not were able to clean up any rare misses.

Green was suitably impressed.

"I don't think there's any team in America they couldn't have beat the way they shot the ball," he said. "They shot the lights out."

While Dorsey didn't have his best offensive night, he helped hold Green to eight points in what was otherwise a tumultuous first half for the Tigers.

After Green picked up two cheap fouls in quick succession guarding Dorsey, the Tigers' sophomore responded by thumbing toward the bench and saying, "Get out."

In the second half, Green gained a measure of revenge by plowing through Dorsey en route to the basket.

"Coach said he probably had only one move, but he gave me about six in one motion," said Dorsey, who fouled out with 6:09 still to play. "I think that's one of the best big men I've ever faced."

While Green was dissatisfied with the result, he enjoyed his physical and verbal duel with Dorsey.

"It was fun. He's a cool guy. He's a competitor," Green said. "When you're talking on the court, you find out about somebody's heart. It's fun to play against someone who loves the game that much, who loves it as much as I do."

[Ting]

yep, aint that right. We knew Caleb was bigtime. Now the whole world knows it too.

www.sportsline.com has some video highlights of the first round game, but they were pretty much skewed towards Memphis. They did show Larry's alley oop and Yemi's swat. If we won, Im sure Caleb's early spin layup, Tutt's around the basket lay-in, and the whole Chello-Larry Sequence of block-alleyoop wouldve made it. At least we have it recorded.

thanks for the memories 05-06 Eagles. You are Golden in my books.

[Ting]

Here's the link if anyone is interested.

http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasket ... 7_ORAL@MEM

Oh yeah, I cant forget about Larry's flush from the in-bounds. Those CBS commentators were impressed with our athleticism. I think Memphis probably was too....but why'd they have to shoot it so darn well...

[MrsSmith]

That was a good article. I wondered what Caleb and Dorsey were talking about.