Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 11, 1992 TAG: 9201110168
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
VCU COACH RETURNS TO FACE OLD TEAM AFTER BIG VICTORY
With the withdrawal of Gov. Doug Wilder from the presidential race, perhaps folks in Richmond needed another issue to argue.Some picked Sonny Smith, Virginia Commonwealth's basketball coach. In the week since a story appeared in the Richmond Times-Dispatch evaluating Smith's program, Smith said, radio talk shows and even his office have received numerous phone calls from fans "either taking a stand for me or against me."
In two-plus years, Smith is 32-38 at VCU with no postseason appearances and has said he isn't satisfied with those results. It wears on the former Virginia Tech assistant, who went to VCU after having seven winning seasons and five NCAA Tournament bids in his last eight years at Auburn.
"I have too much pride to deal with not getting the job done," Smith said.
Smith, whose Rams play Virginia Tech at 3 p.m. today in a Metro Conference game in Blacksburg, may have won some votes Thursday night when VCU upset league-favorite Louisville at home in the Rams' first Metro game.
"It helped us to establish we can beat a name team, something they all wanted and needed," he said of VCU supporters. "It's upped everybody's morale."
Work remains, however.
"It shows me it can be [done]," Smith said. "It certainly isn't a cure-all."
Smith would like a miracle cure for VCU's free-throw shooting - 64 percent on average but, Smith said, "Late in the game you can put us in the 30 percent range. We miss 'em all." The bench is shallow. Otherwise, Smith praised his 7-4 team, which would be 10-1 with an extra basket in three of its losses.
Smith said he hopes the Rams won't be thinking of Louisville today, and he worries about the Hokies' 75-4 record against state teams in Cassell Coliseum.
"They're the biggest team in the Metro," Smith said. "You're talking about an undersold basketball team in my opinion, much undersold. Bill [Foster] and his staff have done a good job of putting in a style of play to fit these kids. They're dangerous."
\ One of Foster's tasks is akin to convincing the Rolling Stones to record a Muzak album. Foster is trying to take the playground spirit out of Steve Hall.
"Coach Foster wants me personally to tone it down a little bit," Hall said after he had scored six points in Tech's victory over Old Dominion on Jan. 4. "Sometimes, he feels like I could make a more basic play."
Basic has been a four-letter word to Hall, a 6-foot-4 guard who was selected Detroit's player of the year as a senior in high school by the Detroit Free Press after averaging 30.7 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals that year. He played at the University of Washington for two seasons, then transferred to Tech.
Foster has said Hall sometimes seeks "style points" - that is, the more flair the better.
"It's like a little bit of a battle between us," Foster said.
It's important that Hall succeeds because he is point guard Jay Purcell's only experienced backup. Next in line is walk-on sophomore Mike Davis. Purcell is averaging 38 minutes per game; at times, he and Hall have played together and Purcell has switched to shooting guard.
Hall, who hasn't started a game, still seems more comfortable without a point guard's worries. Foster said Hall is making progress.
"He can learn to play the point the way I want it played if he'll work on it," Foster said.
Hall is agreeable.
"I don't have a problem with it," he said of Foster's desire for more generic basketball. "I want to play. I have to do what's going to get me on the court."
Hall already is doing some things Foster likes. He is shooting a team-high 52.3 percent from the field, and his 6.9-point average is the best of any non-starter. And he has made 10 of 22 3-point attempts for a team-high 45.5 percent.
"I guess [Foster] has a little confidence in me shooting the three," Hall said after the ODU game. "He hasn't told me not to."
\ Walk-on guards Vere Anthony and Todd Hutson didn't make the Hokies' holiday trip to Florida, weren't on the bench against Old Dominion and didn't travel to UNC Charlotte. Foster said as of now neither will be included on the 12-man traveling roster and said he will meet with both soon to see "whether the time commitment is something they want to do."
\ Foster said he will meet with forward Johnnie Tooley and Tech doctors when the second semester begins to determine if Tooley's injured ankle needs surgery. A recent report from Tooley's mother, Foster said, indicated the ankle remained swollen during Christmas break.