ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 6, 1996 TAG: 9603060052
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
It hasn't turned into a bonfire yet, but it's obvious some flames have started to blaze inside the Virginia Tech men's basketball team.
After it seemingly was in cold storage for keeps in a 57-41 loss at Temple on Feb.25, Tech relit its pilot light with back-to-back strong efforts in victories over Xavier and Dayton to close the regular season.
Suddenly, a team that a few weeks ago looked burned out, has its torches fired heading into this week's Atlantic 10 Conference tournament at the Philadelphia Civic Center.
Let Tech's chief fire marshal, senior point guard Shawn Good, assess the situation. After all, this guy was in the middle of last season's closing inferno that carried the Hokies to a school-record 25 victories and their second National Invitation Tournament title.
A day before the Temple roasting, Good readily confessed, ``the fire isn't there like last year.''
``It's not been the same as it was last year,'' Good said then. ``I've been trying to find a reason. We've been winning, but we haven't been playing as well as we played at the end of last year.''
Until now. Good said the Hokies' work against Xavier and Dayton has changed his Philadelphia story.
``Yeah, I see some spark there now,'' Good said, smiling. ``We're starting to get it going again. I think everybody is starting to realize it's about to end, so we're going to go and give it all every night out.
``So, yeah, I feel a lot better now. We're starting to play harder now and I see everybody wants it more, like at the end of the season last year, and I think that's what we need.''
The Hokies' timing couldn't be any better. With an NCAA Tournament bid all but in hand, 15th-ranked Tech (22-4) would like to play arsonist in Philly this week. The Hokies open play at 7 p.m. Thursday (HTS cable) in a quarterfinal against the winner of tonight's first-round game between Rhode Island and La Salle.
Good said Tech's season and postseason hopes have been rekindled by the Hokies' work on the defensive end of the court.
No argument there. Tech's last three opponents have shot a combined 34.5 percent from the field. Although it didn't matter against Temple, when the Hokies shot 30.5 percent, Tech's defense has resembled the swarming bunch that carried it to the NIT title last season. In the Hokies' NIT run, Tech's five opponents shot 40.8, 34.2, 34.9, 31.9 and 38.5, respectively.
``That's where it all starts for this team - the defensive end,'' said Bill Foster, the Hokies' coach. ``When you play good on the defensive end, you've always got a shot to win, no matter what you shoot.''
Of course, it never hurts to shoot well. After a slow start against Xavier, Tech hit 18 of its final 32 shots (56 percent), then threw a 54 percenter (28-of-52) at Dayton. Before facing the Flyers, the Hokies had eclipsed 50 percent only one time in their previous eight games.
``The Dayton game - on both ends - is the best we've played in a long time,'' Good said. ``We defended well, and offensively we shot the ball well. If we can do both of those things, it's going to be hard for people to beat us.''
If not anything else, the final two regular-season games did wonders for Tech's mindset entering the postseason.
``I know it helped mine a whole lot,'' Foster said. ``We got back to the basics and really dug it out defensively.
``I think at this time of year, with nine seniors and juniors, our kids know it's crunch time now and they tend to get a little more focused. The two wins and how we played certainly helped how we felt about ourselves.''
Tech hopes to be feeling even better come Saturday night. The Hokies would like nothing more than a title shot in their first season in the A-10.
``It'd sure be nice,'' said Shawn Smith, a senior forward. ``But right now the main thing is to keep playing well and get as good a seed for the Big Dance [the NCAA Tournament] as possible.''
Second-ranked Massachusetts (27-1), led by Marcus Camby, the A-10's player of the year, is the heavy tournament favorite. The Minutemen, No.1 in the nation for nine consecutive weeks before being upset by George Washington on Feb.24, will look to become only the second team in NCAA history to win regular-season and conference tournament titles in five consecutive years.
Tech, GW (20-6) and Temple (17-11), which like UMass figure to have NCAA bids sewed up, pose as the Minutemen's biggest obstacles.
First-round action starts today. Xavier (12-14) meets Fordham (4-22) at noon; Dayton (15-13) faces St.Bonaventure (9-17) at 2:30 p.m.; St.Joseph's (14-11) takes on Duquesne (9-17) at 7 p.m.; and Rhode Island (16-12) meets La Salle (6-23) at 9:30 p.m.
Massachusetts vs.
Dayton-St.Bonaventure winner, noon
Temple vs.
Xavier-Fordham winner, 2:30 p.m.
Virginia Tech vs.
Rhode Island-La Salle winner, 7 p.m.
George Washington vs.
St. Joseph's-Duquesne winner, 9:30
LENGTH: Medium: 94 linesby CNB