A LIST OF REASONS THE HOKIES HAVE STALLED

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

DATE: THURSDAY, February 18, 1993                   TAG: 9302180048
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
A LIST OF REASONS THE HOKIES HAVE STALLED
Most observers thought Virginia Tech's men's basketball team would be better than the skeleton crew fielded last year.
Entering tonight's game against East Carolina, the Hokies have a 9-11 record, two games ahead of last year's 20-game record that was accomplished with eight scholarship players. Yet two recent losses - to Florida International at home and at South Florida by 27 last weekend - indicate the Hokies have stalled.
"We haven't made as much progress as we'd like to have made," Foster said Wednesday.
The reasons are easily pegged, but they defy quick fixes.
Tech, which hasn't shot better than 50 percent since 1984-85, is making 40 percent of its field-goal attempts - a worse mark than any of former coach Frankie Allen's teams shot for an entire season.
Foster grimaced watching a videotape of a scrimmage in which one team on one possession missed four shots from three feet or closer. "There are days I wish they'd never invented videotape," Foster said.
Said junior Corey Jackson of Tech's shooting: "If you worry about it, it's just going to make it worse. It's more mental than anything."
The Hokies' upperclassmen have been slow to accept the five freshmen who play, Jackson said. At times, the rookies have been Tech's most effective players. But their tendencies have been uncovered by opponents, and a Tech pump-fake or dribble-drive that worked in December doesn't now.
And, the team has no consistent leadership and probably won't find any this year. The upperclassmen don't produce consistently enough to take over, and the freshmen either are too timid or simply not ready to be assertive.
"Exactly," Foster said.
The average minutes played by five of the six returning scholarship players have dropped by at least four (Jay Purcell) and as many as 16 (Steve Hall). That's because four freshmen average 17 or more minutes per game.
" `Rift' might be kind of a strong word," Corey Jackson said when asked if there was division between the upperclassmen and freshmen. "We have been here longer than they have. It's like any occupation: Whenever new people come in, it just takes time to get used to it. . . . We're getting a little closer as a team.
"We believe in Coach Foster and his style of play. The fact remains we were recruited by Coach Allen. Maybe we're not [Foster's] style of players. [But] if some people feel they haven't gotten a fair chance, it's kind of late now. That's not our decision."
Foster will make some minor changes for the rest of the season, such as playing freshman Shawn Good exclusively at shooting guard when he and Purcell are on the floor together - to get Good more offensive-minded. Foster said the Hokies don't set and come off screens crisply, so this week's practices included those fundamental drills.
He says he's convinced the team will improve. And, although he made clear when he took the job two years ago that he was financially set and didn't need to continue coaching, he said his drive remained high.
"The day I can't see us making progress . . . I'd be better off somewhere else and they'd be better off with someone else [as coach]," he said. "I'm nowhere near that stage."

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB