ESPN Men's Basketball

Lute Olson didn't have to think twice about sitting Salim Stoudamire against Marquette.

He just did it.

When you're a Hall of Fame coach, taking your best player out of the lineup for a game to make a point shouldn't be a question.

You do it because you know it's right. Olson wasn't pleased with Stoudamire's role as a senior. Translation? Stoudamire wasn't showing leadership.

The Wildcats won an ugly, low-scoring game against the Eagles in Milwaukee, with Stoudamire cheering from the bench.

Boy, was that a great call by Olson. Stoudamire has been one of the nation's most prolific shooters (insert gratuitous J.J. Redick comparison here) from late December to the Sweet 16.

The move to sit Stoudamire was one of the most decisive decisions in Arizona's season. Making that call paid off for the Wildcats. Olson got the attention of his best player and Stoudamire ultimately might have earned himself a ton more money because his attitude, behavior and overall production changed the way the NBA looked at him.

Arizona is now in the Sweet 16 with a legitimate shot to get to the Final Four, and it's not a stretch to credit Olson's benching of Stoudamire against Marquette.

Yes, it helped when the Cats took Kirk Walters off redshirt to help alleviate pressure on Channing Frye, but the Stoudamire move was key. We're not sure he would have bought into the overall plan if he hadn't been disciplined.

Here are the significant moves made by the other Sweet 16 teams that helped them reach this stage:

West Virginia
Coach John Beilein didn't mean to take center D'or Fischer out of the starting lineup. But Fischer was sick, so Beilein had to insert Kevin Pittsnogle in his place.

The Mountaineers are 11-3 since that occurred, as Pittsnogle has averaged 15.7 points on 47 percent shooting from 3-point range in that span.

Fischer is a strong defensive presence and is one of the country's top shot blockers, but Pittsnogle is much more of a matchup problem for the opposition as a 6-10 shooting forward who can stretch the defense out to the 3-point line.

The only losses for the Mountaineers during this stretch were to Georgetown, Seton Hall and then Syracuse in the Big East tournament title game. Pittsnogle has been a key scorer in wins over Boston College and Villanova in the Big East tournament and Creighton and Wake Forest in the NCAA Tournament.

Villanova
Jay Wright had no choice with injuries to his team, but putting Will Sheridan in the starting lineup Dec. 11 seemed to give Sheridan confidence throughout the season.

Wright had to be flexible with injuries to Jason Fraser and Curtis Sumpter, but he was able to get his reserves, like Sheridan, much-needed experience. The move also allowed Fraser to come back from his knee injuries without feeling the pressure to do too much.

The latest injury to Sumpter, which keeps him out of the NCAA Tournament, doesn't decimate this team. The Wildcats feel they can handle a quick change in the lineup.

Texas Tech
Pat Knight said the staff lit into senior Ronald Ross after the Red Raiders lost by 30 to Iowa in Chicago.

The coaches implored Ross to become more of a vocal leader. They encouraged him to take the team out bowling or simply do anything that bonded them.

Ross took their heed and began to be an aggressive leader. The Red Raiders formed a hierarchy system under which the senior led and the freshmen followed. The chemistry worked and the Red Raiders became ready to scrap down to a game's final possession.

It's not a surprise, at least to the staff, that they've been able to win two games so far in the tournament because the cohesiveness of this team hasn't been in question.

Illinois
Bruce Weber called Jack Ingram's number and told him to go ahead and take a 3-pointer if he had one. He took two and made them both against Wisconsin.

That move in January helped the Illini remain undefeated at the time and snap Wisconsin's 38-game home-court winning streak. Ingram became much more confident in a role as a scoring forward. It also helped the Illini find another scoring option if the guards aren't always on their mark.

There wasn't much the Illini had to change this season, but they needed to get a little bit more of a pop from their bench. They did in that game and ultimately that made this team more formidable down the stretch.

Michigan State
Putting freshman Drew Neitzel in the starting lineup at the point in place of senior Chris Hill after the Spartans lost to Illinois at home. That move has picked up the pace of the Spartans' offense and freed up Hill to concentrate on shooting.

Duke
Mike Krzyzewski's decision to put in a walk-on to hack and/or harass Wake Forest's Chris Paul at the beginning of the game at Cameron. Duke was fired up and ended up outlasting the Demon Deacons. Krzyzewski, like Olson, wasn't afraid to sit a veteran to make a point. The team responded and continues to reflect the personality of its coach.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee
The Panthers didn't have complete control over the scheduling of a Bracket Buster road game at Hawaii, but they could have tried to get out of the gig.

Instead, the Panthers went to Hawaii late in the Horizon League season and won. UWM coach Bruce Pearl said that taking that trip, winning and returning without a hitch was one of the most significant developments of the season.

Kentucky
Tubby Smith's decision to hold his ground with freshman Joe Crawford and not release him to transfer without a penalty.

Crawford split for a few days but then returned to the team once he realized that he would have to sit out a year and lose a year of eligibility.

That move showed how much in control Smith is with this team. It could have been a distraction and a divisive issue. But Smith wouldn't let it be a distraction. In another move, to take pressure off his freshmen, he wouldn't let them talk with the media.

Wisconsin
Whether Bo Ryan had a choice in the Boo Wade situation is still unknown, but Ryan has never been one to wait around for a player to get on board.

Wade was on and off the team for personal reasons. But Ryan wouldn't let it become a distraction and Wade's gone. Instead, Ryan focused on getting his collection of point guards ready.

They had their moments this season but they were able to coexist without incident.

Louisville
Taquan Dean's decision to play with mono. We're not kidding here because Dean could have shut it down for the season. But he made it clear that he wasn't going to wilt just because he had a recurrence with the illness. He practiced as soon as he was cleared. And he's been on fire from the perimeter ever since, shooting 40 percent on 3s and maintaining a 13-points and 5-boards-a-game average.

NC State
Few coaches dealt with injuries and illnesses as well as Herb Sendek. He was able to maximize his role players and cultivate Andrew Brackman's game with various players battling odd illnesses and common injuries.

Sendek never complained or whined about how the season had turned on him in the ACC. He was calm, cool and collected throughout the season. His demeanor helped the Wolfpack maintain a confidence that carried through the first two rounds.

Washington
Lorenzo Romar monitored Brandon Roy's progress from a knee injury very carefully. He had Roy take practices off and played him against only the toughest competition from mid-December to early January. He wanted Roy to be fresh for the stretch run in February and March

Oklahoma State
Using JamesOn Curry as a reliable option to Daniel Bobik or anyone else in the starting lineup certainly worked for the Oklahoma State coaching staff.

They weren't afraid to sit someone on the bench because they had Curry to use as a legitimate scoring option.

The Cowboys didn't always have this luxury a year ago. They used it judiciously this season until it was too obvious that Curry had to be on the court.

North Carolina
Roy Williams didn't want to push Marvin Williams too much. He made sure that the freshman maximized his minutes off the bench.

Marvin Williams ended up doing plenty for the Tar Heels, but he wasn't thrust into the spotlight. That allowed him to breathe easier and adjust to college life without having to be the focus.

He ended the season as one of the top scoring options for the Tar Heels, especially when Rashad McCants was out with an illness. Williams entered the NCAA Tournament fresh instead of wearing down after an intense and draining freshman season.

Utah
Utah coach Ray Giacoletti made the most significant move of any Sweet 16 coach before the season.

That's when Giacoletti flew down to Australia in the spring and then to Athens in the summer to visit with Andrew Bogut and ensure that he would return for his sophomore season.

Those two moves proved to Bogut that Giacoletti cared and was genuine in his approach to him.

For Utah to reach the Sweet 16, the coach-player relationship had to be strong. It has been from the beginning.

Giacloetti has complete confidence in Bogut and vice versa. That's why Giacoletti wasn't panicking when Bogut didn't score well against Oklahoma. He cut the Sooners up with his passing.

Giacoletti's offense helped accentuate Bogut's scoring abilities and ultimately instilled trust and confidence from Bogut to Giacoletti. That's ultimately the difference in the Utes' being in the Sweet 16.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.