Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 19, 1995 TAG: 9501190062
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RINER LENGTH: Long
Not only are the Eagles battling the opposing team, but they are also battling themselves.
How else to explain the current state of Auburn basketball affairs? And what a supremely vexing set of affairs it is.
``I'm frustrated,'' Eagles coach Kevin Harris said. ``I see the ability we have and what we're producing and there's such a huge gap.''
Not that we're talking about a total disaster. The Eagles had, after all, won eight of their first 12 games. But it was the losses and how they came about that had the players and coaches talking to themselves, not to mention to the odd telephone pole or a parked piece of farm machinery.
The Eagles led their old rivals from Floyd County by 23 points in the first half before imploding after intermission and losing 77-73. Turnovers were identified as one of the primary causes of that debacle. Against Christiansburg, there was a no-show first half, terrible shooting, and another narrow loss. At Fort Chiswell, it was a sleep-walking second half punctuated by a 49-26 Pioneer scoring spree that provided the poison.
If you're seeing some sort of pattern here, then you're a more insightful individual than any who changes clothes in the Auburn dressing quarters.
Still, there are two givens here: The Eagles have talent and they have a tendency to fall to pieces at inconvenient times.
What's going on and what to do about it?
``If we knew that, then it wouldn't happen,'' point guard Bradley Hudgins said.
Here again. it must be emphasized that the situation on the surface isn't all that grave. The record is still good - the envy of many a lesser team. And it's still early in the season.
But history suggests that there is not a moment to lose. The Eagles started 9-0 last year and the next thing they knew, they were careening down a catastrophic path, losing left and right, until the season was terminated hideously in the opening round of the Mountain Empire District tournament.
Certainly, it wasn't supposed to be this way. As far back as five years ago, people around these hoops-crazed parts were saying that 1994 and '95 would be the new golden age of Eagles basketball. A couple of prodigies were in the pipeline and they would be the foundation on which the team would be built.
The new kids were Terry Millirons, a lean and tall inside player who could score, and Hudgins, an athletic perimeter player who could man the point or off guard position.
Millirons and Hudgins are both seniors and they have come as advertised.
Millirons has started for four years and is likely to graduate with around 1,500 career points. Currently, he's averaging 18.9 points and 8.3 rebounds while shooting almost 60 percent from the floor. He's been as consistent as McDonald's.
Hudgins, likewise, has been a four-year starter, but his term has been somewhat more rocky. A year ago, Hudgins and Harris had a little ``difference of opinion,'' as Harris called it, that ended with Hudgins being excised from the roster at midseason. All has been pleasant this season so far and Hudgins is averaging 6.5 points and 3.4 assists while shooting 53.3 percent from 3-point range.
Those two would have been enough to carry most teams but Auburn has had the good fortune to have yet another splendid player come along. Jon Reed, another senior, has started for three years. This season he is averaging 26.6 points points per game and has sunk 19 3s on 44.2 percent long-range shooting.
``You can't leave him alone for a second,'' Fort Chiswell coach Danny Jonas said.
Reed is murder, no doubt about that.
``A scoring machine,'' Harris said. ``He's been on fire since the beginning of the season.''
Add to those three an able supporting cast led by Kenny Wojciechowski (10.6 ppg., 5.3 rpg.), the third son of a family that has been stocking Auburn athletic rosters for years, and you have a team that worries everybody it plays.
So how can these Eagles lose?
Of course, that's complicated. Christiansburg has the best team it's had in years. Fort Chiswell will always be tough as a longhorn steer steak as long as Jonas is the boss. And Floyd is Floyd, the Eagles' most bitter rival, a neighbor that for reasons nobody can satisfactorily explain, had won 10 straight against Auburn.
``We put way too much emphasis on that game,`` Reed said, his voice getting edgy. ``If we beat them, then we think that our season is made. If we lose, then the season is over.''
Well, that must mean the Eagles' campaign has been lost then made in the space of less than a month. Last week, Auburn slaughtered the Buffaloes 94-67, leading by 41 points in the third quarter. Then, it was back to the glazed-eye look with a loss to Giles two days later.
The erratic behavior notwithstanding, there is certainly no need for the Eagles to panic at this stage. Nonetheless, it's hard to ignore the realization that players such as Millirons, Reed, and Hudgins don't come around very often. As the local landowners are fond of saying, when the sun is shining, you better make hay.
``Maybe we'll get the kinks out early this year,'' Millirons said.
Maybe.
``We think too much,'' Hudgins said. ``When we start thinking, then we're in trouble.''
by CNB