ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The matchup that's providing all the laughs at the Final Four involves the two Jims, Calhoun and O'Brien.
The matchup between the two point guards is a lot more important in Saturday's semifinal game between Connecticut and Ohio State.UConn's Khalid El-Amin and Ohio State's Scoonie Penn don't know each other from way back, the way their coaches do. They do know how to run a team, motivate everyone who crosses their path and turn 5-foot-10 bodies into catalysts that seem perfectly built for the last weekend in March.
"He could play basketball at 5-6 or 6-4," Calhoun said of his star point guard. "He's a kid with some great ability as far as quickness, shooting strength. But the greatest asset for him is his character and mind-set. He wants to win every single drill, every single scrimmage and every single game he plays in."
Sure enough, there was El-Amin during the shootaround on Friday, urging his teammates on in a mock 3-point shooting contest. "C'mon, y'all! Two more!" heshouted, raising his arms in triumph when his group won.
"Anybody looks forward to a matchup with another great guard or another great competitive person," El-Amin said.
Penn, the transfer who followed O'Brien from Boston College, shot only 37 percent in the Buckeyes' eight losses this season. He is nearly single-handedly responsible for Ohio State's emergence from the wreckage of an 8-22 record last season.
While at BC, Penn played UConn twice and had mediocre games. He was 4-for-10 with 12 points in a loss in 1997 and 3-for-9 for 10 points in 1995.
"I like the matchup between Khalid and myself," Penn said. "I don't see it as an advantage because I've been hot lately."
Calhoun has a major decision to make when it comes to guarding Penn and Michael Redd, the Buckeyes' leading scorer. Which one should defensive stopper Ricky Moore defend?
Calhoun would be crazy to tip his hand, but one scenario has Moore, who is 6-2, guarding Redd, who is 6-6. His other option is to put the 6-foot-6 Richard Hamilton on Redd. But Hamilton is the Huskies' leading scorer, and asking him to shut down the Buckeyes' top scoring threat might be too much.
Moore held Michigan State point guard Mateen Cleaves to six points on 2-for-15 shooting in an 82-68 UConn victory in the Great Eight in December.
"In 27 years, I've never had anybody -- and I've had some great defenders -- that could literally tear the head off a dragon," Calhoun said. "He's played kids from 5-6 to 6-8, and he's done an incredible job."
El-Amin is coming off an 0-for-12 catastrophe in the Huskies' victory over Gonzaga in the West Regional final. Like any big-game shooter, El-Amin didn't need long to wipe the game from his memory.
"When he walked off the floor, he hugged me for 10 seconds," Calhoun said. "Never, ever has there been even a hint of him ever caring about himself and not the team."