Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 26, 1993 TAG: 9303260061
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: EAST RUTHERFORD,N.J. LENGTH: Long
RIVAL COACH: BEARCATS IM-PRESS-IVE
Take it from somebody who knows: Virginia has not seen defensive pressure to match Cincinnati's."They beat the hell out of you in transition," said Pete Gillen, who coaches Cincinnati's crosstown rival, Xavier of Ohio. "I just think they're tremendous physically."
Gillen's teams have lost three straight games to Cincinnati,including 78-67 in January.
"Once they get you in those traps, they mug you," said Gillen in a telephone interview from his office. "If the refs let a lot go, that's a big disadvantage for Virginia. That's [officiating] a real key."
The Cavaliers (21-9) are an eight-point underdog to the Bearcats (26-4), who come into tonight's NCAA Tournament East Region semifinal at the Meadowlands without starting guard Allen Jackson, who suffered a knee injury in practice.
"That's not a factor," Gillen, a former VMI assistant, said. "It's like a pimple on the back of your foot. They've just got waves and waves [of players] they send at you."
The only irreplaceable Bearcats' player is All-America guard Nick Van Exel, who has scored more than 30 points in four games and is averaging 18.1.
"Van Exel is just an unbelievable player," said Gillen, whose Musketeers were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by Indiana. "He has no conscience.
"If he's on, forget it. He's got the guts of a burglar. There can be a crowd of 15,000 rooting against him and he'll hit a jumper and shake his fist at them."
Virginia has had trouble with traps in three losses by a combined 60 points to top-seeded North Carolina, but Gillen cautioned against comparing the Tar Heels' press to Cincinnati's.
"Virginia has never seen the pressure it will be hit with," Gillen said. "[Cincinnati is] a team that's a lot more physical, a lot stronger."
However, the Bearcats, who failed to shoot 40 percent in six games, do have a weakness.
"Scoring," Gillen said. "Other than Van Exel, they do not have anybody who is a great, consistent scorer."
\ NOT ONE-DIMENSIONAL: Virginia coach Jeff Jones said the Cavaliers practiced against six players to get some feel for Cincinnati's press, but he didn't want to overdo it.
"Everybody wants to talk about their pressure," he said, "but the thing that impresses me most - that I didn't realize before we watched their films - is how solid they are in every other area."
\ SAY WHAT? "We're not worse; we're just not as good as last year," said Cincinnati senior Erik Martin, explaining that last year's Final Four team was deeper.
\ COWBOY DEAN: Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson said North Carolina coach Dean Smith is "one of the last cowboys," a throwback to an era when coaches were hired by handshake.
"I have ridden a horse once," responded Smith, whose Tar Heels face Arkansas in tonight's second game, "[but] I'm from Topeka, Kan. I'm a city guy. I did not grow up near Dodge City. I think Nolan's the cowboy."
\ 7-FOOTER CORRAL: Richardson, who starts a 6-7 center in freshman Corliss Williamson, was marveling at North Carolina's inventory of four 7-footers.
"I saw three 7-footers in the game and one more [Serge Zwikker]in a suit, which means he'll play next year," Richardson said. "I tell you, I've seen five cowboy rodeos, eight ropings and two calf castrations, and I've never seen anything like that."
\ HOPING FOR A SKINNING: Richardson said he gets extra motivation when he faces the so-called "establishment coaches" such as Smith and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, which he pronounced Sh-KES-ka.
"I came to this stage late in my career," Richardson, 51, said. "I want to play the big guys as much as I can, as soon as I can. I want to show we have a pretty good way to skin a cat."
\ NOT A PRETTY SIGHT: Although Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins has vowed to shave his head if the Bearcats make the Final Four, Smith is making no such guarantee. "I don't think it would look good with my nose," he said.
Several Cincinnati players shaved their heads in a show of unity right after the first of the year.
\ ON CREMINS: Rumors that Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins would resign and take the South Carolina job have been swirling for a month, so nobody was surprised with that announcement Wednesday.
"I was asked, `Don't you hate having an excellent coach leave the conference,' " Smith said. "I said, `I hope they all leave.' I talked to Frank McGuire yesterday and he said he's not so sure it's a good decision. . . . I was one of those who recommended Bobby for the Tech job. I thought he'd do a great job because he'd hustle and recruit well."
\ PHELPS KEPT OUT: Derrick Phelps didn't practice Monday in what Smith called "a precautionary measure." Phelps did participate in the shoot-around.
"But to tell you the truth," Smith said, "I'll take him the way he was Saturday."
Phelps made all seven of his shots from the floor, scored 15 points, and had two rebounds, two assists and one turnover in 19 minutes against Rhode Island.
Phelps, who has missed two practices this week, will be the focus of Arkansas' so-called "40 minutes of hell" defensive pressure tonight.
"He basically controls what they do on offense and defense," Darrell Hawkins said. "And he's playing for a team on a mission. He'll probably have to break his foot to get him out of the game."
Landmark News Service contributed some information to this story.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL