Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 2, 1994 TAG: 9404020076
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
The metal detectors installed today at the Charlotte Coliseum aren't the defense that will matter at the NCAA Final Four.
The national semifinals have attracted the nation's First Fan, but President Clinton isn't the Arkansas star that worries Arizona.
"We've got to stop the inside game and that's Corliss Williamson," said Arizona guard Damon Stoudamire. "And you've got to defend the perimeter. If they start hitting 3-point shots, they'll be hard to beat."
Arkansas (29-3), favored to win the 56th NCAA championship here Monday night, meets ninth-ranked Arizona (29-5) in the Final Four opener at 5:42 p.m. The nightcap, with a tipoff expected about 8, sends Florida (29-7) against ACC regular-season champion Duke (27-5), which is making its seventh national semifinal appearance in nine years.
Clinton's expected attendance will make him the first U.S. president to attend a Final Four, and the coliseum doors will open at 2:30 p.m. to handle the capacity crowd of 22,876 through the metal detectors.
Those who arrive early should eventually be rewarded with two very different games. While Arkansas-Arizona is expected to be a war of transition and attrition, the Duke-Florida contest should be a coaches' game.
The second-ranked Razorbacks are two-point favorites, but they must stop the Wildcats' terrific backcourt of Stoudamire and Khalid Reeves, who is averaging 29.3 points in four NCAA games.
Their defense, and that of third guard starter Reggie Geary, likely will determine which of these UA teams reaches its first NCAA title game. That's because Razorback guards Scotty Thurman and Alex Dillard are shameless shooters.
"How far out do I have to play defensively on them?" Stoudamire repeated. "Scotty, maybe 30 feet. Dillard, maybe 40. He'll shoot from anywhere. We've got to get into them, make them drivers, make them do things they're not accustomed to doing."
Arizona's second Final Four visit has been fueled by defense. In four wins, the Wildcats have held their opponents to 32.9 percent shooting. Louisville's 37.3 percent has been the best against Arizona in the NCAA.
That kind of defense will be crucial today. Arkansas, the only No. 1 regional seed to survive, is shooting 57.2 from the floor in the tourney, led by the 6-foot-7, 250-pound Williamson's 34-for-47.
Arkansas has the Final Four's deepest team. The only tournament club that could have matched the Razorbacks in personnel was defending champion North Carolina, which made a second-round exit against Boston College.
"We're a decent halfcourt team," said Arizona coach Lute Olson, "but we're a very good fullcourt team. I'm sure Nolan [Richardson, the Razorbacks' coach] feels the same about his team.
"We're not going to [slow it down]. If you go down, you go down doing what you do best."
Added Williamson, "If the game goes to 94 feet it will be to our advantage. We have a deeper bench."
Olson and his team seem to have put their first-round exits in the 1992 and '93 tournaments behind them and are no longer trying to defend West Coast basketball.
The Pacific 10 champions are playing for themselves after the conference went 1-6 in first-round NCAA and NIT games, and Arizona was the only one of eight western schools to win an NCAA opening-round game.
"It's no question we're playing our best ball of the season by leaps and bounds," Olson said. "Reeves and Stoudamire, if those two are on together, we're a real problem to deal with."
While Arizona may need the best game of the season from the nation's best guard duo to advance, Duke is a 6 1/2-point favorite to reach its third NCAA title game in four years.
Florida has been cast as the Cinderella of this Final Four, although the Gators came out of the East Region as a No. 3 seed. In the past five Final Fours, eight of the 20 berths have been filled by seeds third or lower.
The sixth-ranked Blue Devils are in their 11th straight NCAA Tournament. Florida never has advanced past the Sweet 16 regional semifinals before.
"We haven't addressed the experience that Duke has," said Florida coach Lon Kruger, a former two-time Big Eight Conference player of the year at Kansas State. "We're going to line up and prepare, just like we have for the 36 games before."
The Duke-Florida semifinal is expected to be played in the 60s. While the Gators have more beef inside in 286-pound Dametri Hill, the Blue Devils are much better on the perimeter than Florida.
The event remains a very hot ticket, and some people have gotten burned.
On Thursday, Charlotte police arrested a stockbroker who tried to sell a plainclothes cop two $65 seats for $5,500. The undercover officer answered a classified ad. The stockbroker said he had just purchased the tickets for $2,000 a couple of days earlier.
If you're wondering . . .
The White House is paying $65 per seat.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB