LAS VEGAS — Like a single hand reaching toward the heavens, the Luxor Sky Beam uses 39 xenon lamps to emit 42.3 billion lumens, viewable from 275 miles away by aircraft. Since it first shot into the sky in 1993, the light has been a focal point of Las Vegas.
Somehow, the Pac-12 beamed even brighter on Friday night at T-Mobile Arena.
As late as 2014, Sin City used roughly 5,600 megawatts of electricity on a summer day.
The collective stardom of Arizona and UCLA, and Oregon and Cal on Friday doubled that number.
College basketball’s best and brightest collected in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament, where no fewer than 11 projected first- or second-round picks lit up the night sky.
UCLA’s Lonzo Ball, T.J. Leaf and Ike Anigbogu; Arizona’s Lauri Markkanen, Allonzo Trier, Rawle Alkins and Kobi Simmons; Oregon’s Dillon Brooks, Jordan Bell and Chris Boucher; Cal’s Ivan Rabb.
And that’s not even including Markelle Fultz. Washington’s magnificent guard sat out the tournament, but is projected to go No. 1 overall in June’s NBA Draft.
There was a moment on Friday when Arizona’s Markkanen drove the ball up the right side of the lane on UCLA’s Leaf, only to have his shot rejected by a soaring Anigbogu.
All three are projected to be lottery picks — Markkanen and Leaf this year, Anigbogu in 2018.
When Trier took on Ball, it was as if two supernovas collided.
It was enough to make ESPN college basketball writer Myron Medcalf shake his head.
“Definitely, there is a lot of star power and talent,” said Medcalf, who travels the country checking out the best college hoops has to offer. “I don’t know how many leagues can really compete with the collection of talent we’ve seen here.”
You think that’s something?
How about the row of luminaries seated opposite the team’s benches, both in premium courtside seating, where two of the NBA’s legendary nicknames — “Dr. J,” Julius Erving, and “The Glove,” Gary Payton — sat equidistant from Bill Walton, announcing the game for ESPN.
With 9:37 left in the first half, Erving — the 76ers icon and 1993 basketball hall of fame selection — craned his head back to watch the replay of Markkanen getting his revenge on Leaf, first hitting a 3-pointer over the large outstretched arms of the UCLA freshman to tie the game, then outdueling him with a beautiful kiss off the backboard for a bank shot to give the Wildcats a 2-point lead.
On the ensuing play, Leaf would regain the upper hand, grabbing his own rebound after a miss and putting the ball back in with a follow up.
Jeff Eisenberg, Yahoo.com’s college basketball writer, has covered the west coast for years, at UCLA just before their Final Four run of the mid-2000s, until now. He’s seen the best the west has had to offer for a decade-and-a-half.
“I don’t think this is the best Pac-12 we’ve seen — I don’t think it’s particularly deep this year — but I think it’s as (good as) it’s ever been at the top,” he said. “I don’t remember a year where there were three teams better than Arizona, UCLA and Oregon this year. The closest to me was probably 2008.”
Nearly a decade ago, the league may have been at its peak in terms of NBA-ready talent. USC’s O.J. Mayo, UCLA’s Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love, Stanford’s Brook and Robin Lopez, Arizona’s Jerryd Bayless and Cal’s Ryan Anderson all went in the first 21 picks.
The Bruins would advance to their third straight Final Four that season. That’s the last time a Pac-12 team made it.
The almost decade-long drought is not lost on anyone. Nor is the two-decade NCAA title gap.
“It’s really, really hard to win a national championship,” Medcalf said. “A lot of time it’s the hottest team, who has the most momentum. Look at that Arizona team — in back-to-back years it had to get through Wisconsin, a Wisconsin team with Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky.
“Jeff and I were talking about it yesterday: Markelle Fultz is a really good player, (Kansas’) Josh Jackson is a really good player — this is a strong draft — but Lonzo has something that’s hard to describe. He has this gift to accelerate the play of everybody around him. Make it so seamless.”
It’s almost hard to notice, if you’re not paying attention.
Except in Las Vegas, where the stars were shining so bright you would’ve had to wear an eye mask to miss any of them.
