Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 2, 1991 TAG: 9104020161
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: BILL BRILL/ EXECUTIVE SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Medium
That was the word Monday from Kentucky athletic director C.M. Newton, vice president of USA Basetball, speaking at the annual meeting of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
For the first time, professional players will represent the United States. Coach of the U.S. team will be Chuck Daly of the two-time defending world champion Detroit Pistons.
While college players will be included, Newton said no number officially had been decided, although he indicated that three on the roster of 12 sounded reasonable.
Also for the first time, there will be no trials. The team will be selected, including the collegians, whom Newton implied might be selected for their willingness to be bench-warmers.
"In something like the Olympics, you have to have those players who are willing to sit. It's almost impossible to get [many] playing minutes beyond eight or nine players," Newton said.
Newton said the players would be selected soon "so that they can clear their agendas."
For the millionaires from the NBA, playing on the Olympic team will require a 40-day commitment. They will not be paid.
Perhaps an even stickier issue is that the United States, which lost in 1988 at Seoul, will have to qualify for the first time.
The zone qualifying will be held in the United States, either at Indianapolis, Seattle, Hartford, Conn., or Portland, Ore.
The qualifying, in which four teams will advance out of 10 to 12 entries, begins in late June, no more than a week after the NBA ends its championship series.
Since it is virtually certain that some of the stars in that series also will be Olympians, they will be asked to go into practice after just one or two days off.
Newton said the pressure on Daly, who conceiveably could be coaching in the NBA Finals, will be immense.
"Everybody just thinks we should win easy," Newton said, "and if you know anything about international basketball, that isn't the case."
Having to shift gears so swiftly may be a problem for the pros. And, apparently, the college players will be chosen even before they play next season.
NCAA Tournament Committee chairman Jim Delany said Monday that the process whereby officials are selected will continue to be studied and changes made.
Delany, who leaves the committee after a six-year term, was sensitive to criticism after the media was unable to interview official Pete Pavia, who ejected North Carolina coach Dean Smith Saturday night with 35 seconds left against Kansas.
Although the word from officials supervisor Hank Nichols was that Smith received a second technical because he left the coaching box, a story in Monday's Indianapolis Star, quoting unidentified sources, said Smith had been "on the officials the whole game and deserved to be thrown out."
The tournament starts with 96 officials, is reduced to 36 for the regionals, then trimmed to 10, including a standby, for the Final Four.
Until 1990, the officials were in competition to advance, just like the teams. But that was changed.
ACC supervisor Fred Barakat said the committee wanted to be certain that there was regional representation among the officials, meaning the best men didn't necessarily advance.
Pavia, who also ejected Oklahoma's Billy Tubbs in the first half of the NIT final last week, reportedly is retiring to become supervisor of officials for the Atlantic 10.
There were several unconfirmed reports that Pavia, who has battled cancer for several years, was given the assignment as a reward for his past service rather than for his current work.
Barakat said the committee also was concerned because the ACC had two teams in the Final Four in different brackets.
Although in 1983, three ACC officials, including Roanoker Paul Housman, called the championship game involving North Carolina State with no complaints, this time only Gerry Donaghy was selected.
Mickey Crowley, who called the Duke-Kansas final, and Pavia work in the ACC, but their primary league is the Big East.
Delany said there was a possibility that officials might be pre-assigned in 1992 for the entire tournament.
by CNB