Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 26, 1995 TAG: 9503280014
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KANSAS CITY, MO. LENGTH: Medium
Curtis Staples set an ACC record for 3-point field goals and all anybody wanted to talk about Friday night was his defense.
Now, that's a switch.
Staples, whose playing time lagged until his defense came up to speed, shut down Kansas scoring leader Jerod Haase in the Cavaliers' 67-58 upset of top-seeded Kansas in the NCAA Midwest Regional.
``Coach [Jeff Jones] always gives me a challenge,'' Staples, a 6-foot-3 freshman from Roanoke, said. ``He wanted to know if I could defend Haase. He also wanted to know if Billy Thomas was the best freshman shooter in the country.''
Just how much longer is Staples going to fall for these ploys?
``This kind of stuff goes on all the time,'' Jones said. ``They all know, when it's said, that it's tongue in cheek. We're just digging at each other.
``We were watching film, Thomas hit a couple of 3's and I looked back and said, "Did Roy Williams really say Billy Thomas was the best freshman shooting guard in the country?' ''
But make no mistake, the defensive assignment on Haase was no joke. Haase, came into the game averaging 15.3 points, with a team-high 66 3-point field goals.
``He stuck to the way we said to guard Haase,'' Jones said. ``Crowd him. Stay in front of him. But, understand he wants to drive, possibly to the basket. Curtis played him tough physically.
``Haase didn't get any easy opportunities. That's what you've got to do; it's called playing the percentages. Maybe they make the great shots. Good players are going to do that.''
Said Haase: ``We missed some open shots, but they did an outstanding job of getting out and challenging our shots. There was a point of frustration throughout the game.''
Haase's only field goal of the game was a 3-pointer that enabled the Jayhawks to close to 44-41 with 9:06 remaining, but Staples responded with an immediate 3-pointer at the other end.
``We had practiced all week against their 1-3-1 trap and I had hit numerous shots from the same spot,'' Staples said. ``It was a coincidence that I got the same shot in the game and knocked it down.
``It was the most wide-open I was the whole game.''
Staples finished with 18 points, including three 3-point field goals. It gave him 99 for the season - one more than the ACC freshman mark set by Dennis Scott of Georgia Tech.
``I knew I wasn't in a slump,'' said Staples, who had gone 14-of-42 in UVa's three previous games. ``I wasn't excellent tonight (6-of-14), but it was a lot better than I had been doing. It's all about relaxing.''
Staples' first basket of the game came on a dunk - the first of his college career - but moments later he passed up an opportunity for a slam following a steal.
``I was tired,'' Staples said. ``I just wanted to be [Haase's] shadow because, basically, he does the same things that I do. He runs off a lot of screens and guys look for him.
``Maybe before I started playing, defense was [the knock] against me. As soon as I started playing, I established that I wasn't a slouch. I could always guard my man; it was just position that I had to work on.''
Staples played more than 36 minutes Friday night and has played at least 30 minutes in the last 12 games and 14 of the last 15. He averaged fewer than 18 minutes in the first 11 games.
``He wasn't going to play a whole lot of minutes - and he wouldn't be playing the minutes he is now - if he was a defensive liability,'' Jones said. ``He was a weak link at a position where you better be able to guard people. Curtis still has lapses in terms of concentration, but nobody's perfect. He's worked himself to the point where he's a good defensive player.''
by CNB