Bibbys to square off Thursday

Wednesday, Jan. 15, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

"I just have to think about playing my game," the younger Bibby said.

Arizona coach Lute Olson banned media members this week both locally and nationally despite requests from CNN, Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports and the Los Angeles Times, to name just a few of the interested media outlets.

When Mike Bibby sees his father, Henry Bibby, across the court, there will be little affection between the two. In fact, Henry Bibby saw only one of his son's high school games at Shadow Mountain in Phoenix.

Henry Bibby was nowhere to be found in the Bibby household throughout most of Mike's life.

Henry Bibby spent most of his time either playing professional basketball or coaching. Mike's mother, Virginia, emerged as her standout son's role model and coach.

"My mother is the one who raised me," Bibby said before the ban. "She is the one who deserves the credit."

He considers himself more "Virginia Bibby's son" than "Henry Bibby's son."

"It really is amazing all the things she had done for us," Bibby said of himself, his two brothers and sister. "It's unrealistic, really, to see my mother do so much so right. And that's one of the reasons I love her so much. She has always been there."

As for his father, he said it upsets him that their names always are linked, as in "Henry Bibby's son."

Henry Bibby refused to comment on the matchup at his weekly news conference on Monday, but he could not escape questions last week during a Pac-10 coaches teleconference.

Did he try to recruit his son to USC?

"I asked him one time if he had an interest in SC and he said, 'No,"' Henry Bibby said. "I would have loved for him to come here."

He said he had no idea how he would feel seeing his son on the opposite side of the court.

"I have never (faced) that before," he said. "It is another basketball game for us. That is how I have to look at it. That is probably how he is looking at it. I'm sure he wants me to do well and I want him to do well. It is another basketball game. We have to do whatever we can to win."

Bibby said he is pleased his son is doing well at Arizona.

"He is at a very good school and with a very good coach," he said. "I'm pleased to see him progress in the way I knew he would."

Mike Bibby had little to say about playing his father's team.

"I really don't want to talk about him. I'm not going to talk about him. So I won't," he said.

Virginia Bibby deplored the situation but had faith in her son.

"I'm pretty confident Mike can handle that situation," she said. "I'm sure it will be tough for him. We don't talk about it at all."

Both Bibbys probably will be instrumental in the outcome. Henry Bibby needs to find a way to shut down the Wildcats' starting point guard.

Mike Bibby is averaging 12.7 points per game and is third in the Pac-10 with 6.3 assists and fourth with 2.6 steals.

"Mike Bibby will play regardless of the level of competition," Olson said. "There are going to be times he is still going to be a freshman, but he has so much confidence in his ability. It is not a cockiness. He just knows he can get it done. Mike doesn't care who he is playing against. He has such a great demeanor."