Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 13, 1994 TAG: 9403120074
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
For freshman Jamal Robinson, the Virginia basketball coach's choice of words was even more accurate than the Cavaliers' second-half shooting in an ACC tournament quarterfinal.
"My insides were going crazy," said Robinson, whose first UVa start was a 69-63 victory over Maryland. "I just wanted to try to relax. That's one thing I can say I never did."
Robinson missed a first-half dunk. "You don't know how terrible I felt," he said.
He committed six turnovers. "They say you learn from mistakes," Robinson said. "At least, that's what Harold kept telling me."
That would be Harold Deane, who remembered when he was forced to become a freshman starter in the second game of the season. He only had to replace a preseason second-team All-America pick, injured Cory Alexander, and run an offense with a missing engine.
"I was just trying to tell Jamal to calm down," Deane said after the freshman pair ran the Cavaliers past the Terps and into a certain NCAA Tournament bid and UVa's seventh ACC semifinal appearance in nine years. "I told him I had been in his shoes.
"You just have to try to play like you do when you come off the bench. I know that's kind of hard to do when you're out there at the start for your first time."
A swingman most often as a sub, the New York City native spent most of the afternoon in the backcourt with fellow freshman Deane. They combined for 38 points, 29 of those in the final 20 minutes - Virginia's highest-scoring half of the season.
Center Yuri Barnes said he was benched after "I broke a minor team rule, nothing major." Jones didn't disagree. The move worked wonders against the Terrapins (16-11), whose tough full-court pressure actually aided the Cavaliers (16-11).
"It speeded us up, and we needed it," said Deane, who scored 17 of his season-high 22 points in the second half. "We look forward to playing against the press, because if we can get past it, we get better shots."
Virginia certainly needed that after a first half that had to be one of the worst in the 41 years of this tournament. The Terps led 23-21 on 26.7 percent field-goal shooting and 12 turnovers. The Cavaliers were worse - 23.5 percent with 14 turnovers. UVa's half-court offense? Well . . . it had no half-court offense.
"We didn't get enough good shots, and the good ones we got, we couldn't make," Deane said. "Maryland turned up the pressure in the second half with a 55 [full-court man-to-man], 1-2-2 [zone] and 1-3-1 [zone]. We got a lot of breaks behind it."
The Cavaliers can beat the press because, although they can't shoot, they do handle the ball well. The Robinson-for-Barnes switch gave UVa more quickness and even better ballhandling.
"We knew we played bad in the first half," Deane said. "Nobody had to tell us."
With the Cavaliers' upperclassmen missing in action, Deane took control of the game from the Terrapins early in the second half. Maryland led 32-25 with 17 minutes left. Deane scored 13 points in the next five minutes, including a pair of 3-point goals and an old-fashioned hoop-and-harm three-point play.
Virginia was up 46-40 when another play involving Deane could have turned on a whistle. The freshman drove and scored and official Karl Hess made the call. Offensive foul. No basket.
Not only did it prevent UVa from taking a potential nine-point advantage with 11 minutes, 19 seconds left, it also was Deane's third personal. He and scoring leader Junior Burrough each picked up his fourth foul in a 43-second stretch with more than seven minutes to play.
Jones began juggling his personnel even more. Robinson had to handle the ball more. He found it easier to sink two clinching free throws with 20.2 seconds left.
"That's about the most calm I was all day," he said.
In today's 1:30 semifinal against fifth-ranked Duke, Robinson expects to start on the bench. UVa will need Barnes' size against the bigger Blue Devils, who in Friday's victory over Clemson started twin towers Cherokee Parks and Erik Meek.
Robinson won't soon forget his first college start in the ACC tournament.
"That's nice," said the 6-foot-6 freshman. "What I'm most glad about is that my first time here, we won. Harold was right. Starting is different."
by CNB