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The Lineup

Departments

6 Leading Off

14 Catching Up With ...

16 Letters

19 Air and Space

John Isaacs, 89, of Harlem's fabled New York Rens, is on the NBA Hall of Fame ballot by Steve Rushin

22 Scorecard

• Congress steroids hearings loom

• Teens get Tommy John surgery

• Coaches, players scalping tickets

39 Faces in the Crowd

41 Players

104 The Life of Reilly

Introducing the Whackit Bracket, an NCAA pool in which you (and, of course, Duke) lose by Rick Reilly

2005 NCAA TOURNAMENT

46 THE FINAL FIVE

To win, teams must execute in the last five minutes of games

by Alexander Wolff

• Five good-hands people

• Five last-shot specialists

• Five tough decisions

• Five great late plays

59 FIERY FIVE

Baylor's Lady Bears are the team no one wants to face

by Kelli Anderson

• Five emerging women's stars

62 FIVE-MINUTE GUIDE

A quick look at the trends, teams and players to watch

by Seth Davis

65 THE BRACKETS

SI's 65-team breakdown

by Grant Wahl

PRO BASKETBALL

72 Being Gilbert

How did eccentric Gilbert Arenas get to be the driving force of the Wizards?

by Chris Ballard

BASEBALL

76 Land of Rejuvenation

Is it something in the water? The Braves have an uncanny ability to revive waning careers

by Albert Chen

TRACK AND FIELD

80 Ready for the World

Dathan Ritzenhein could be the first Yank in 23 years to win a medal at cross-country's worlds

by Tim Layden

BOOK EXCERPT

86 To Bean or Not to Bean

Managers and pitchers usually refuse to talk about plunking batters. Tony La Russa didn't

by Buzz Bissinger

Inside ...

97 Baseball

• Astros will need healthy Pettitte

98 The NBA

• Yao Ming keeps improving • Sixers' real problem is defense

SI Extra

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COVER: PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ED TRUSCIO

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROBERT BECK (3); JOHN BIEVER (3); BILL FRAKES (1); DAVID E. KLUTHO (3); JOHN W. MCDONOUGH (3); MANNY MILLAN (14); BOB ROSATO (11); DAMIAN STROHMEYER (1); AL TIELEMANS (4); AP (15); DAVID BENYAK (1); DAVID BERGMAN (1); MATT A. BROWN (1); LOU CAPOZZOLA (1); DARREN CARROLL (2); CHRIST CHAVEZ (1); RICH CLARKSON (2); BOB DONNAN (1); SCOTT GARDNER (1); GETTY IMAGES (3); JOHN D. HANLON (1); ICON/SMI (7); MIRKO ILIC (1); JOSE JUAREZ/DAILY OAKLAND PRESS (1); NEIL LEIFER (1); RICHARD MACKSON (1); JAMES P. MCCOY/BUFFALO NEWS (1); GREG NELSON (6); OLD DOMINION ATHLETICS (1); SHEEDY & LONG (1); CARL SKALAK (1); GEORGE TIEDEMANN/GT IMAGES (2); TONY TOMSIC (2); UCF ATHLETICS (1); US PRESSWIRE (5); WIREIMAGE.COM (10)

PLAY THE SI COVER CHALLENGE

HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR HOOPS?

GAME 1 ( EASY! ) Find and identify the 1982 starting five NCAA national champions

GAME 2 ( HARD! ) Find and identify 16 former NCAA Most Outstanding Players

TO PLAY: GO TO SI.COM/BASKETBALL/NCAA

• Seth Davis, Stewart Mandel, Grant Wahl and Luke Winn break down the NCAA tournament brackets, and SI's experts provide instant analysis from each venue.

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED (ISSN 0038-822X) is published weekly, with an extra issue in February and two issues combined in July and at year end, by Time Inc. Principal Office: Time & Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, NY 10020-1393. Ann Moore, Chairman, CEO; Richard Atkinson, Executive Vice President. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40110178. Return undeliverable Canada Addresses to: Postal Stn A, PO Box 4322, Toronto, ON, M5W 3G9. GST #122781974RT. U.S. subscription: $81.95 for 55 issues. SUBSCRIBERS: If the postal service alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within two years. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, Post Office Box 30602, Tampa, FL 33630-0602, MAILING LIST: We make a portion of our mailing list available to reputable firms. If you would prefer that we not include your name, please call or write us. ©2005 TIME INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF TIME INC.

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COLOR PHOTO

JOHN BIEVER (BROWN)

The Illini are SI's pick to win it all

COLOR PHOTO

CHUCK SOLOMON, BACKGROUND EXTENDED BY SI IMAGING

FIELD OF PLAY

Chipper (in hat) and Andruw Jones horse around at spring training (page 76).