Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 5, 1993 TAG: 9304050064
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS LENGTH: Medium
NCAA FINAL WAS BORN A FEW YEARS AGO
The 55th NCAA Tournament championship game will be played tonight. However, it may have been won two or three years ago.The trips of North Carolina and Michigan on the road to this Final Four began when the Tar Heels and Wolverines brought in what were judged the best recruiting classes in history.
In tonight's 9:22 tipoff at the Superdome, UNC's junior class, led by 7-foot Eric Montross, will meet Michigan's Fab Five, who as sophomores have repeated the championship-game appearance of their rookie season.
"I really am amazed that could be done," Carolina coach Dean Smith said of Michigan's youthful NCAA final repeat performance. "To get here, you have to be very lucky and very good.
"They've done a tremendous job coming back. Most people don't get two Final Fours in a lifetime. Most college players don't go to one."
UNC (33-4) is the tournament's top seed. Michigan (31-4), which was seeded No. 1 in the West Region, is the No. 4 seed from the original 64-team field. The Wolverines have the nation's longest winning streak - 12 games.
For Smith, tonight's appearance is a repeat, too. It was in the massive dome a few blocks from Bourbon Street where the Tar Heels won the 1982 title - Smith's only championship in nine Final Fours.
"Our goal wasn't to play in the national championship," Smith said. "Our goal is to win the national championship."
In Montross - who has several family ties to Michigan - and inside tough guy George Lynch of Roanoke, the Tar Heels will be able to match Michigan's front line when push comes to shove.
"It's going to be as brutal under the basket as the officials let it be," said Lynch, the only senior starter in the final. "We're both physical teams. We won't back down."
The finalists were two of the six teams that were ranked No. 1 at various times this season. Michigan handed UNC its first loss of the season, 79-78, on Dec. 29 in the semifinals of the Rainbow Classic. The difference was Jalen Rose's rebound basket at the buzzer, and Michigan played most of that contest without starting small forward Ray Jackson, who dislocated his left shoulder early in the game.
"One thing I'm sure of," said Michigan coach Steve Fisher. "Both teams are better now than we were then."
The Tar Heels also see a revenge opportunity.
"Of the four teams that beat us," Lynch said, "this is the only one we haven't beaten."
While ACC champion UNC lost to Wake Forest, Duke and Georgia Tech as well as the Wolverines, Michigan was the Big Ten runner-up with two one-point losses to Indiana, an overtime defeat at Iowa and a December loss to Duke in the rematch of last year's NCAA final won 71-51 by the Blue Devils.
"I never want to feel that way again," said Rose, the 6-8 point guard, describing the Wolverines' emotions after losing the final as freshmen. "It felt like the world had fallen on our shoulders."
The Fab Five have played much of this season - particularly their first four NCAA games - straining under the burden of expectations. They've been portrayed as the bad-mouth bullies of basketball.
"They wear black sneakers, and they don't show their socks, and they wear baggy shorts," Lynch said. "A lot of guys would love to do that."
The championship won't be decided with words or attire, however. Smith, who has a record 54 NCAA victories, said Michigan is "underrated defensively."
"They're a little bit like Virginia, with more and better athletes," he said. "They let you handle the ball outside, but it's hard to go inside."
Michigan is making its third NCAA championship appearance in five years. Carolina last was in the final when it beat Georgetown in 1982 on freshman Michael Jordan's jump shot, then a pass by Hoyas guard Fred Brown to James Worthy in a case of mistaken identity.
If the inside force becomes a standoff, Carolina appears to have an outside edge in sophomore Donald Williams, whose clutch shooting down the stretch in consecutive wins over Arkansas, Cincinnati and Kansas has been crucial in UNC's advancement.
"Carolina is not a team where you can say if you stop Montross, you'll stop Carolina," said Fisher, whose team's defense in Saturday's semifinal win over Kentucky was superb. "There's more to it than that.
"If we defend the way we can, the way we have, we'll have a great chance at success."
Smith sees this game reflected in the backboards.
"We have to keep them to one shot," said the Tar Heels' coach. "They're a terrific offensive rebounding team. We can give them a few second shots, but not too many."