Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 10, 1991 TAG: 9102100085
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Brill
DATELINE: CHAPEL HILL, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Within four days, Virginia has been forced into an impossible situation, playing at Duke, North Carolina and Wake Forest.
The result Saturday - UNC 77, UVa 58 - was predictable, and, as first-year coach Jeff Jones said, "No fun."
But the Cavs are not alone, although they are the only team asked to play three on enemy courts.
North Carolina and N.C. State played a Wednesday-Thursday twin bill, necessitated because they postponed their first game from the night the war began and the 9 p.m. tipoff coincided with President Bush's speech to the nation.
After a brilliant contest in Raleigh, the deep team - Carolina - won easily the second time.
Duke played with no precision - 33 turnovers - Saturday against Maryland, 40 hours after beating UVa. And the Blue Devils must face Shaquille O'Neal (plus the rest of 19th-ranked LSU) today.
State's six-man rotation must play at Clemson today, and even Wake Forest, buoyed by the comeback victory against Georgia Tech on Saturday, faces a back-to-back situation against UVa.
It was significant that Virginia's only good performance against UNC came in a stretch early in the second half when the Cavs had their three stars on the bench.
The unit of Doug Smith, Matt Blundin, Terry Kirby, Ted Jeffries and Cornel Parker outscored the Heels 15-3, cutting into a 20-point deficit.
Fresh legs, especially freshman Parker (15 points after intermission) and football star Kirby. But that unit collectively averages 16.7 points.
UVa's normal good providers - Bryant Stith, Kenny Turner and John Crotty - scored all of their team's field goals in the first half. In the last half, they combined for four points.
Turner's jumper, after a career-high 28 points at Duke, came up short all afternoon. He was 2-of-11. Stith, in foul trouble two games in a row, had no spring.
Crotty's difficulties were not surprising, because he has leg problems anyway. Duke harassed him every second.
Coach Dean Smith expressed amazement at the schedule that has put a dent in UVa's season. "How in the world did that happen?" he asked. Kidding, he said, "That must have been Terry's parting shot," referring to former UVa coach Terry Holland, who left to become athletic director at Davidson after last season.
In fact, UVa's desire to play a national TV game with Notre Dame and Maryland's probation, which keeps the Terps off the tube, was a major factor.
Duke also wanted the TV date with LSU, because coach Mike Krzyzewski wants to see how his team stacks up against national foes in February. The Blue Devils play at Arizona in two weeks.
A more intriguing question is why a well-conditioned college athlete can't play two or three games in a row?
"I did see a lot of tired signals out there," Dean Smith said.
Smith insisted that by playing tenacious defense, and by moving without the ball on offense, teams like UNC and Duke work harder than most. Fortunately for them, each has a lot of depth.
UVa plays equally hard, but doesn't have the bodies and can't come close to Carolina's size. That was particularly noticeable with the officials allowing a lot of contact.
Jones was disturbed because the Tar Heels were the aggressors from the get-go, and, if anything, UVa backed down. "Their defense generated things," the UVa coach said. "And we weren't sharp enough."
Jones said he didn't anticipate fatigue being the factor that it was, but conceded he was wrong.
With a subtle reference to the officiating, Jones said, "The way the games are played took a lot out of the players." Both Duke and UNC came at the Cavs in waves of strong bodies.
Assistant coach Tom Perrin was more blunt. "No chance," he said, "if that's the way it's going to be called."
There's no question the deeper, physical teams have an advantage if finesse isn't a factor. UVa's most physical players are Parker and the football guys, and they were bothered the least.
The big week opened a gap at the top of the ACC race, although, as Dean Smith said, "At tournament time, nobody will be talking about that." Smith is usually notorious for placing more credit on the regular season.
But by overworking the players, for whatever reason, perhaps the fans were the biggest losers.
Thus far, the only scintillating performance was State's classic 97-91 win against UNC on Wednesday. Since then, it has been more a case of survival; not necessarily the fittest, but surely the deepest.
What should have been the most exciting week of the season thus far hasn't worked out that way.
by CNB