BURROUGH READY TO ASSERT HIMSELF/ WHEN VIRGINIA HITS THE COURT AGAINST

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 18, 1993                   TAG: 9303180125
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                                LENGTH: Medium
BURROUGH READY TO ASSERT HIMSELF/ WHEN VIRGINIA HITS THE COURT AGAINST
Virginia was struggling to hold off Florida State and Junior Burrough, plagued all night by foul trouble, was aching to get back in the game.
Assistant coach Dennis Wolff leaned toward Burrough, sitting beside him, and told him to be ready to report to the scorer's table.
"You need to get your head in the game," Wolff instructed Burrough.
"Coach," Burrough replied, "if my head was any more in the game, it would explode."
By his admission, Burrough plays his best basketball when he remains focused, but the only explosion Virginia wants to see out of him Friday is in points and rebounds.
"I just want to be there for our basketball team, be the kind of scorer they can go to," said Burrough, a 6-foot-8 sophomore forward. "Of late, I've been doing it off and on. I just think I need to be more assertive."
The Cavaliers (19-9) can use the added productivity as they enter NCAA Tournament play against Manhattan (23-6) in the first round of the East Regional at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y.
"We have an awful lot of confidence in Junior's ability," UVa coach Jeff Jones said. "Sometimes we just see a brief glimpse here and now of the things he's capable of, but if he can play at or near the top of his potential, it bodes well for our basketball team."
Burrough, who averaged 15.9 points over the first 20 games of the season, has scored 12.0 per game over the past eight. He scored a total of 19 points in two ACC Tournament games, making only five of 17 shots from the field.
"I felt pretty good going into the games," Burrough said. "I did everything, basically, that I wanted to do. Played hard. Took good shots. The ball just didn't go in."
However, this has been going on for almost two months. Burrough's only recent game of note was when he had 17 points and 13 rebounds in the Cavaliers' 88-74 victory against Maryland in UVa's final regular-season game.
"It's not them," said Burrough, referring to the UVa coaches, who admittedly have high expectations for him. "I think all the problems lie within myself. Coach Jones told me, `We're looking for you and we're going to keep looking for you, whether you think we're looking for you or not.'
"He said, `Sometimes, you've got got to be a little selfish. You've got to grab every rebound. You've got to demand the ball in the post. When you get the ball, do what you do best, then crash the boards like you've been crashing, and you'll get what you want.' "
Burrough is preparing to declare a major in psychology and never has there been a more suitable candidate for a self-study. He has great strength at 235 pounds, good ball-handling skills for a big man, a soft touch on his jumper and an even disposition. Yet, he doesn't always come to play.
"I'm always going to be up for a big game, a North Carolina," Burrough said. "[but] when we play Charleston, you've got to watch out for Junior. His head's not in it. You can definitely believe that. Last year, it happened more than it did this year."
Nevertheless, when the Cavaliers played North Carolina in the ACC Tournament semifinals, Burrough had nine points and a season-low four rebounds in a 74-56 loss. He was 1-for-5 from the field in UVa's 61-57 victory over Wake Forest.
"Maybe I'm not trying hard enough to get the ball," Burrough said. "Maybe the defense is playing me to the point where it's hard for my teammates to get me the ball. I think they're looking, but the amount of concern they have for me is sometimes a question to me.
"At first I thought it could have been them, but of late I think it's just a fact of how defenses are playing. It's probably a combination of all three factors. You're definitely not going to score a lot of points when you take five shots."
When the All-ACC teams were announced last week, Burrough received four votes, tied for 25th place. Another also-ran in the voting, Georgia Tech sophomore James Forrest, took note of the slight and led the Yellow Jackets to the ACC championship.
"You can always say, `It's about time,' " Burrough said. "He didn't make any teams, just like me. A lot of players didn't make all-conference. That's sometimes overrated because, if teams didn't respect me, why would I still get the best defensive [post] player every game?"
Yet, here is a player who was rated among the top 20 prospects in the country when he signed out of Oak Hill Academy in Grayson County in 1991.
"You don't settle [for mediocrity]," Burrough said, "but I know I'm going to have is some bad days and I accept that. What I can't accept is losing. If I can get focused, I can put up some big numbers, but I really don't care [about those] if we're winning."

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB