Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 22, 1995 TAG: 9503220085
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
``I know the rumor has been going around,'' Jones said. ``I believe [commentator] Dan Bonner started it, but they blew that one.
``Virtually every Monday, I've gone and gotten X-rays. While they say it's making progress, it's still broken. Hopefully, I'll get the cast off before long.''
The original prognosis was for Jones' hand to be in a cast for three or four weeks, but it has been seven weeks since he punched a blackboard and broke his hand after a 71-62 loss at Maryland.
The Cavaliers have won 12 of 14 games since that night, with the only losses coming to ACC tournament champion Wake Forest. UVa (24-8) meets Kansas (25-5) at 10:30 p.m. Friday in a Midwest Region semifinal of the NCAA Tournament.
UVa senior Jason Williford stopped shaving shortly after the Cavaliers' trip to Maryland and resumed only reluctantly after the ACC tournament. Williford has urged Jones to keep the cast until Virginia's season ends.
``I've already taken it off a few times when I wasn't supposed to,'' Jones said, ``[but] I would probably consider wearing it for games only.''
SALES PITCH: Agents reportedly are telling UVa senior Cory Alexander that he will be taken in the first round of the NBA draft, an assessment not yet confirmed by NBA scouts.
Alexander has not backed off his decision to pass up a fifth year of eligibility, although he has that option after missing virtually the entire 1993-94 season after breaking his right ankle for the first time.
Alexander, who broke the ankle for a second time Feb.8, will lose his amateur status if he comes to terms with an agent. Otherwise, he is eligible to return to Virginia if he does not like his draft position.
OFF TARGET: Virginia guards Harold Deane and Curtis Staples are a combined 26-of-86 (30 percent) from the field in the past three games, including 16-of-57 (28 percent) from 3-point range.
Staples denies he is in a slump. But Deane has made as many as half his shots in only two games since taking over from Alexander as UVa's full-time point guard. Deane is 13-of-53 from the field in the past four games.
``In terms of Harold's shooting, I'm more concerned with the shots he's taking and his decisions when to shoot,'' Jones said. ``If he forces it, then a low shooting percentage is to be expected.''
CRADLE OF SHOOTERS: Deane, whose father played at Lucy Addison High School in Roanoke, has moved into third place on UVa's single-season 3-point list with 66. He trails a couple of Roanoke Valley natives, Staples (96) and Richard Morgan (82).
ON THE QT: Kansas coach Roy Williams was vague Tuesday when asked if he had talked to or would talk to Dean Smith, his former boss at North Carolina, about the Cavaliers. Jones said the ACC has a gentleman's agreement that forbids coaches from trading secrets with non-conference schools.
ABOUT KANSAS: The Jayhawks, who usually start 7-foot-2 Greg Ostertag and one other big man, are 20-1 when they outrebound the opposition and 3-4 when outrebounded. ... Kansas is 11-4 in NCAA Tournament games in Kansas City, Mo., and has a four-game winning streak dating to its loss to North Carolina in the 1957 title game.
by CNB