ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 10, 1997 TAG: 9702110019
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: TECH NOTES
DATELINE: PHILADELPHIA
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
If somebody had told Bill Foster his basketball team would score a combined 95 points in two games and win both, the Virginia Tech coach would have thought you were as cracked as the Liberty Bell.
``I never would have believed it,'' Foster said. ``That's kind of hard to fathom.''
Such is life in men's college basketball these days. Scoring and shooting numbers are down everywhere, especially in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Tech scored 45 points - its worst output in a victory since 1947-48 - and beat George Washington by two on Tuesday. The Hokies managed 50 points Saturday at Fordham and won by 18. The Rams' 32 points were the fewest scored against Tech since the 1958-59 season.
The Hokies haven't scored 60 points in a game in nearly a month. Nevertheless, they have won five of eight games.
``We're getting it done on defense,'' said Foster, whose club has yielded 127 points during its three-game winning streak.
``It ain't very pretty,'' Foster said. ``You think it's tough to watch? Well, come sit in my seat.''
The Hokies have shot 50 percent or better twice in their past 13 games. But so have their opponents.
``I try to look at the positive side,'' Foster said. ``All these [shots] we're missing, we're gonna make 'em up some time. So maybe the good days are ahead. We're know we're capable of shooting in the 50s.''
Besides poor shooting, Foster said the trend of lower-scoring games can be attributed to officials allowing more physical contact inside the lane and advanced scouting.
``You have to get mugged to get a foul called anymore,'' Foster said. ``Also, this time of year everybody has a zillion films on everybody else. There aren't any secrets anymore. Everybody knows everything.
``Furthermore, I think more guys are shooting 3s than ought to be. There are too many guys spending time on 3s and dunks than the medium-range jumper.''
Foster, who is retiring after this season, said you can expect an NCAA rules change soon.
``I think they make the lane wider in the next year or two in an effort to open things up,'' he said. ``Until then, there's going to be a lot of games in the 50s and 60s.''
MISSING ``WAT'': Foster likely would surrender his right arm to have Damon Watlington back. The Hokies desperately miss Watlington's shooting prowess and defense.
``Out of the four seniors we lost off last season's club, I felt `Wat' would be the hardest guy to replace,'' Foster said of the Hokies' former point guard.
``Last year, we'd say `glove up' a guy like [Virginia guard] Curtis Staples or `glove up' this guy. When you sicked [Watlington] on one, church was out. We don't have a guy who can do that right now who also can give you offensive production. We don't have anybody who approaches what `Wat' did.''
Watlington is trying to catch on with a Continental Basketball Association club.
NEXT SEASON'S MENU: The Hokies' 1997-98 schedule is all but etched in stone.
In its first season under Bobby Hussey, who will replace Foster, Tech will open at home against Tennessee-Martin. The rest of the Hokies' nonconference schedule is Radford, East Tennessee State, Liberty, VMI, William and Mary, Virginia, West Virginia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
Tech will face the two Carolina clubs in Charlotte, N.C., as part of a two-day tournament. When Tech was invited to play in the Charlotte tournament, it pushed back a scheduled meeting with Wake Forest in Blacksburg to 1998-99.
KEY ASSIST: The Hokies still might be driving around the Bronx looking for Fordham's Rose Hill Gym if not for freshman guard Brendan Dunlop.
When the bus driver taking the Hokies from Secaucus, N.J., to New York City for Saturday's game got lost, Dunlop came to the rescue and guided the Tech party to the Fordham gym.
Dunlop, of course, knows the Bronx like the back of his hand. He grew up in the New York borough.
SAY WHAT?: After the Hokies found Rose Hill, a man wearing a Tech hat rushed up and told the players as they got off the bus, ``Go Wahoos, go. Get 'em Wahoos.''
The puzzled Hokies just shook their head. As they say, you can hear and see anything and everything in the Big Apple.
TOUR OF DUTY: The Fordham trip completed Tech's two-year travel log of every A-10 site.
``I've seen 'em all now,'' Foster said, ``and I don't have to worry about going back.
``One of the best things about retiring is I won't have to go back to Olean [N.Y.] again. Y'all be sure and call me from Olean [the home of St.Bonaventure] next year. Believe me, that's one trip I won't miss.''
Visitors to Olean routinely stay at a place named The Castle Inn. Veteran A-10 travelers commonly refer to the old Olean spot as the ``Bates Motel,'' the place made famous in the movie ``Psycho.''
TECH TIDBITS: Speaking of Rose Hill, Fordham's home floor is the oldest court still being used by an NCAA Division I school. The 3,470-seat bandbox opened in 1925. The antiquated gym was the site for the final high school game of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was known as Lew Alcindor when he played at now-defunct Power Memorial. ``It wasn't near as bad as I'd been led to believe,'' Foster said of Fordham's home. ...
Say one thing for Fordham - it knows how to shut down Ace Custis. The Rams' collapsing defense held Tech's outstanding senior forward to a season-low seven points Saturday. Last season, the Rams held Custis to four points, his lowest scoring output since 1993-94. ... The balance of power in the A-10 resides in the East. The division owns a 16-9 edge over its West counterparts this season and has four clubs jockeying for spots in postseason play .
LENGTH: Long : 106 linesby CNB