THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 15, 1994 TAG: 9412140195
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 26 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, SUN SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
The Packers are hungry.
And they are getting hungrier with each game.
It has been more than a year since Smithfield won a basketball game, but first-year head coach Jonathan Penn would prefer to think of the streak as 0-2 rather than 0-18.
``When you come in new you expect the world,'' Penn said. ``It's going to take some patience.
``I wasn't here when they were losing so I'm trying to be positive with the kids and we're staying focused.''
The Packers' biggest problem now may be confidence.
Smithfield opened its season with a pair of games against Windsor.
In the first game Penn may have wondered if the Packers were even going to score as the Dukes opened up a 15-0 lead. But Smithfield rallied and went ahead, 59-58, when Dewayne Wilson hit a jumper with 24 seconds to play.
The lead was short-lived as Wayne Briggs converted a three-point play with 10 seconds left to lift Windsor to victory.
The Packers rallied again in the second game but ran out of time.
Smithfield closed Windsor's eight-point lead to four with less than one minute to play and Carlos Parker sank a jumper at the buzzer to get the Packers within two.
``The first two games have been really frustrating,'' Penn said. ``You hear people say they'd rather be lucky than good, right now we aren't getting any breaks.
``We had a lot of balls rim out.
``The kids start doubting themselves and they don't have the confidence to win.''
On the up side, the Packers didn't repeat the same mistakes in the second game.
``We didn't make the same mistakes, we made some new ones we'll have to work on, but at least we didn't regress and make the same ones we did in the first game.
``We just need to believe in ourselves.''
Penn said senior Lamont Tucker has taken it upon himself to try to instill that spirit into the team.
``These are all good positive kids,'' Penn said. ``They all support one another and there is a lot of camaraderie. They know they are going to sink or swim together.
``Tucker is showing great senior leadership. He came in with a good attitude and he came back real hungry, so he really took it upon himself to lead this team.''
He isn't doing too badly at playing on-court role-model either.
Tucker scored 17 and 18 points in the first two games.
The Packers begin district play at York Friday night. by CNB