Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 20, 1994 TAG: 9402210041
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: CHAPEL HILL, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Second-ranked North Carolina, with the best talent in the nation, was stinging from back-to-back losses. Virginia, which should schedule a victory parade when it shoots 50 percent again, has been sinking toward the NIT.
The Tar Heels were without their best player of late. Point guard Derrick Phelps has a knee sprain. UVa, which has played a tough season without fractured floor leader Cory Alexander, started against UNC without injured scoring leader Junior Burrough.
Burrough has a strained abdominal muscle, but otherwise there's obviously nothing wrong with the Cavaliers' stomachs. They must be playing on guts. Will that be enough to get them an NCAA bid?
Carolina was waiting to be beaten again. Virginia really had a shot at a season sweep of the Tar Heels, which is different from saying the Cavaliers have a shot.
In a 69-56 victory, North Carolina shot a season-low 36 percent. Despite their superior size and depth - even without Phelps - the Tar Heels managed only 18 field goals. North Carolina also shot 40 free throws.
"I'd like to think we play pretty good defense," said Jeff Jones, Virginia's coach.
The Cavaliers do that. They also rebound remarkably for a team with a sizable shortage of height and talent in the middle. Their problems begin when they get the ball.
Their biggest problem is they don't know what to do with it. What can you say about a team that gets 24 offensive rebounds and only 21 baskets?
"We're used to not making a lot of shots," Burrough said.
When you say a team has a "half-court game" you're usually talking offense. When you put "Virginia" and "half-court" in the same sentence, you're talking about the other 47 feet of hardwood.
After a 9-for-11 start against the Heels, the Cavaliers finished 12-for-57. UVa made two of its last 20 shots, going 11 1/2 minutes without a field goal during an 0-for-16 stretch.
"It's a shame to waste that kind of effort and come away with these results," Jones said.
It's nothing new. Jones' team hasn't shot 50 percent in 24 games since beating Manhattan in the opening round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament. In the Cavaliers' past 51 ACC games - including tournament appearances - they've made at least half their shots once, in last season's University Hall victory over Clemson.
UVa is shooting 38.3 percentage for the season. In the past five games (1-4), the Cavaliers have shot 32.7, 33.9, 28.8 twice and 30.9 percent. Soon, they'll be issued cards in the ironworkers' union.
To put it another way, they could get to 50 percent by making their next 295 shots.
Jones has insisted in recent weeks that the Cavaliers are getting good shots, just not hitting them. Is Burrough or Cornel Parker slashing off-balance toward the hoop with defenders draping him a good shot?
Early against the Heels, Virginia opened some driving room by trying - and making some 3-pointers. From beyond the arc, the Cavaliers' usual move is the pump fake. Is an open 3-pointer or 15-foot jumper a worse shot than a layup contested by a forest of arms?
No.
It has reached the point where the Cavaliers have to be frustrated. They play so well defensively, but that's the only way they can win a game and they know it.
"It's not like it's anything new," Burrough said. "It's been like this for three years."
If it's like that for the next three weeks, the Cavaliers (13-9) are going to have trouble reaching the NCAA Tournament. Since the field was expanded to 64, no team with fewer than 16 victories has received an at-large bid.
UVa has Georgia Tech and Wake Forest visiting this week before facing Virginia Tech at the Roanoke Civic Center on March 2 and visiting Maryland to close the regular season. Then it looks like a fourth or fifth seed for the ACC Tournament.
So, what can the Cavaliers do now that their play has gone from the sublime to the ridiculous from baseline to baseline?
"We sure as hell can't quit and feel sorry for ourselves," Jones said.
You certainly can't call them a basket case.
by CNB