Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 16, 1994 TAG: 9401160107
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Stopping four-fifths of Duke's attack wasn't enough for UVa to stretch its six-game winning streak. Virginia came up short, which shouldn't be surprising for a team with a 6-foot-8 center.
In an ACC game that was often about as pretty as Tonya Harding's bodyguard, 6-11 Duke pivotman Cherokee Parks forced Virginia to play heads-up.
"He was the guy we couldn't defend," UVa coach Jeff Jones said after Duke's 66-58 victory at University Hall. "Duke didn't force it to him, but he had it going."
Less than 48 hours after producing a non-scoring, one-rebound second half in a home-floor loss to Wake Forest, Parks turned in his fifth double-double in Duke's 11-1 season.
After handling Clemson's Sharone Wright in Wednesday's road win, the Cavaliers couldn't cope with another ACC big man with a different style. On Wednesday night, North Carolina's Eric Montross will be the next center of attention for the UVa defense.
With 19 points, 14 rebounds and a versatile game, Parks produced the type of effort the Blue Devils need from their junior center if they are to reach the NCAA semifinals for the sixth time in seven years and seventh in nine seasons.
"In this league, you can't just try to play a power game under the basket when you play North Carolina and Clemson," Parks said. "When you play a team like Virginia, and the biggest guy out there is 6-8, it's easier.
"I play away from the basket a lot, and I'll shoot it from out there. It's important to be able to make that shot, but I do have to do more to establish better position in the low post and have our guys look down there."
Parks dominated the game until the final 10 minutes, when teammates Chris Collins and Marty Clark blew away the Cavaliers by simply running the floor and filling lanes.
Virginia scored 13 of the final 15 points to make the score respectable, and although Cornel Parker's tough defense held Duke star Grant Hill to four points, the Cavaliers still had too many other problems.
Except for Parks when he's playing in the paint, Mike Krzyzewski's 14th Duke club is basically a jump-shooting, slashing team. That, of course, is preferable to a team like UVa that can't shoot.
The absence of injured point guard Cory Alexander leaves the Cavaliers groping for offense. Without Alexander, UVa has no one to create and improvise for points against a solid defensive club like Duke.
Parks wasn't the only sizable challenge for Jones' defense. For about 20 percent of the game, Krzyzewski played a lineup with no one shorter than 6-6 - and that wasn't even the stretch when UVa went 7 1/2 minutes without a rebound.
Virginia, without Alexander, couldn't offset its shortage with more quickness. When Jones went taller, his club was less talented.
"It didn't matter who Duke had in there, they were quicker at every spot," Jones said.
UVa stopped Clemson's Wright by playing him tough down low. The Cavaliers couldn't do that with Parks and didn't dare try. The Duke center is mobile enough to go around a shorter defender or to shoot the jumper in someone's face.
One-fourth of the way through the ACC season, the league has no unbeaten teams in conference play. Virginia is one of five teams with one loss.
More remarkably, the once-prominent home-court advantage in the conference has all but evaporated. After hosts won 57 percent of the league games a year ago, the visitors have an 8-7 edge this season.
The difference in the standings at season's end could be only a few inches. Hill may be Duke's player of national attention, but the Blue Devils should keep playing big as long as Parks does, too.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB