Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 26, 1993 TAG: 9303260245
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY and JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
RIVAL COACH SAYS BEARCATS ARE 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 in East Rutherford, N.J., 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."
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."
\ 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."
\ 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."
\ 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 at the East Regional 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."
In the Carolinas, few hoop heads were shocked either.
"I wouldn't have been surprised no matter what Bobby decided," said Wake Forest coach Dave Odom, who won't be coaching against Cremins in the ACC anymore. "In 12 years, he did a great job. Nobody could have done a better job at Tech than Bobby did.
"South Carolina's gain is definitely the ACC's loss. Sometimes you need a freshness, and South Carolina certainly offers that to Bobby. He probably has one lifetime job left in him. I think that's why he took it."
Odom's former boss at Virginia, ex-Cavaliers coach Terry Holland, said he was surprised Cremins, 45, made the change.
"Leaving Georgia Tech had to be a gut-wrenching decision," said Holland, the Davidson athletic director who is one of the NCAA Basketball Committee's on-site representatives at the Southeast Regional. "But, Bobby was at South Carolina during the great years, and he obviously has a soft spot in his heart for that school.
"He does bring them instant credibility."
Florida State coach Pat Kennedy said the Gamecocks' new coach "certainly climbed the mountaintop at Georgia Tech. I guess he's looking to climb another mountain."