Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 4, 1994 TAG: 9402040103
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
"I guess we prove you can win by doing other things," said freshman point guard Harold Deane, the most unlikely important piece in the Cavaliers' 12-5 start.
UVa may be shooting 40.5 percent this season, but its opponents are hitting only 38.5 percent. With Wednesday night's 73-66 victory over 21st-ranked Maryland, the Cavaliers reached the midway point of their ACC season with a 6-2 record.
"We did it the Virginia way, which means it was ugly," Jones said.
"Virginia plays great, great defense," said retired Richmond coach Dick Tarrant, a University Hall visitor for the game. "That's as good a man-to-man defense as you'll see. Virginia's games with Duke must really be ugly, they both play so well on defense."
When Duke won at U-Hall on Jan. 15, Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski said he really enjoyed watching the Cavaliers play - "except when we're playing them."
If it hasn't always been a dream season to date for the Cavaliers, it certainly hasn't been the nightmare expected when point guard Cory Alexander was lost to a broken ankle in the regular-season opener.
"What that meant is that we'd struggle even more offensively than we had," Jones said. "It wasn't like we were a well-oiled offensive machine with him."
It isn't like UVa has munched on cupcakes, either. The Ratings Percentage Index, which the NCAA uses to help pick its 64-team tournament field, has UVa ranked 20th this week. UVa is 15th on the RPI's toughest-schedule index.
Forward Junior Burrough unquestionably is the Cavaliers' scoring force, but their success starts out front with Deane.
Most teams, even the successful ones, allow their opponents to enter their offense with a little-contested pass from a guard. Deane, Alexander's replacement, has refused to do that. Against the Terps, Deane bothered Duane Simpkins so much, the Maryland guard scored only seven points, ending a 10-game streak in which he was averaging 14.4.
Deane is averaging more than 34 minutes per game, and, until Alexander was injured, the freshman wouldn't have played more than 15 - and most of that as the backup to two-guard Cornel Parker. In preseason practice, freshman Mike Powell was playing behind Alexander until mononucleosis changed that. When UVa lost offense, however, Jones knew it needed more defense.
"Coming into the preseason, even before we'd had a chance to see Harold, Cory told us, `Hey, this kid is good,' " Jones said. "Cory said he had a harder time scoring on Harold than just about anyone he'd played other than [North Carolina's] Derrick Phelps. That's pretty high praise."
Although the 6-foot-1 freshman stands second in scoring among the Cavs, it's what he consistently shows at the other end of the floor that UVa can't afford to lose.
"Sometimes we have to back Harold off a little bit because, in practice, he fouls," Jones said. "If somebody goes by him, he just kind of tackles him. He and Mike Powell, the last couple of days, have just had absolute wrestling matches. It's not a good habit as far as the defense is concerned, but it does make you tougher."
It's intriguing to consider what Jones might do at point guard when Alexander returns.
"It's a nice dilemma to have," Jones said. "Still, everyone involved has to be conscious of what we've accomplished. Cory has voiced the same thing. We don't want to screw this up. Everything is not the way it was."
Deane, the son of Virginia State coach Harold Deane, said his respect for defense and discipline came from coach Fletcher Arritt last season at Fork Union Military Academy, after he averaged 26 points as a Matoaca High School senior in 1991-92.
"When you're in high school, all you want to do is shoot the ball," Deane said. "Last year I learned how to play defense. Being a coach's son, you learn situations and how to play the game in those situations. Making steals is defense and it's fun, but it's not always the right thing to try.
"If you play defense, even when your shot's not there, you contribute. It all starts out where I play. You can take teams out of their offense if you try hard enough."
by CNB