THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 31, 1996 TAG: 9601310414
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Desperate times call for desperate measures, which is why Virginia had a 6 a.m. practice Tuesday.
Coach Jeff Jones says said he doesn't want to waste a minute in trying to end a four-game losing streak that has given the Cavaliers (7-9, 2-5 ACC) the only overall losing record in the conference.
Not only have the Cavaliers lost four straight, the average margin of defeat has been 20 points.
``The NCAA allows us 20 hours a week to practice, and we don't want to waste any of that time,'' said Jones, who had his team back on the court Tuesday afternoon.
Jones says it is ``an understatement'' to describe Thursday night's home game against Maryland as a big one. ``Sometimes all it takes is one good game to boost your confidence,'' he said.
Jones planned to have his players up at 6 again today.
``We don't want to be stupid and run them into the ground,'' he said, ``but there are lots of things we need to work on and fine-tune.''
Most of those things are on offense. The Cavs rank last in the league in field-goal percentage and 3-point shooting, and next-to-last in scoring offense.
FOOLING 'EM: The ACC is taking shots from critics and highly ranked opponents this season, but the league continues to draw good ratings from the RPI Report.
The RPI lists the ACC as the strongest league in Division I, and based on its ratings through last Saturday, six ACC teams would merit bids to the NCAA tournament.
The teams listed were North Carolina, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Maryland, and Duke.
The RPI Report is produced by an independent company and is based on the same criteria used by the NCAA to select the NCAA tournament field. Won-lost records, strength of schedule and opponents' strength of schedule are figured into the ratings.
NOISE MACHINE: Those new video walls, which tell fans in the Smith Center when to cheer, seem to be working.
Wake Forest's Tim Duncan and Tony Rutland both said North Carolina fans were a big factor in the Tar Heels' come-from-behind victory last Saturday.
North Carolina guard Dante Calabria said the noise level was the highest he had heard in the Smith Center in four years.
``If the fans keep that up, we'll have a real home-court advantage,'' Calabria said.
It should be loud again tonight for Duke's annual visit. The Tar Heels have won the last five games in college basketball's best rivalry.
NAME GAME: You knew there had to be a story behind the spelling of North Carolina freshman Antawn Jamison's first name, and there is.
``His mother is the one who did it,'' Antawn's father, Albert, confided to a reporter last week. ``She said in Louisiana it's spelled that way, but I think she was full of novocaine at the time.''
FEET FIRST: North Carolina State coach Les Robinson believes that kids who want to grow up to be great basketball players should get their start on the soccer field.
``I'd recommend that 10- to-12-year-olds play soccer instead of basketball to develop their footwork,'' Robinson said. ``The biggest problem for most college recruits is developing good footwork to become agile and mobile in getting up and down the court.''
HEAVYWEIGHTS: N.C. State's Todd Fuller and Wake Forest's Tim Duncan, the two best big men in the ACC, and, some say, the nation, have their first meeting tonight in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The two are 1-2 in the conference in both scoring and rebounding. Fuller is the top scorer with a 21.8 average while Duncan the leading rebounder, averaging 11.9.
Fuller averaged 23 points and eight rebounds in last year's games against Duncan, who replied by averaging 21 points and 12 rebounds.
ALUMNI NEWS: The revival at the University of Washington is being directed by former Duke guard Bob Bender, who also is a former Blue Devils assistant.
Washington, which upset ranked California last week, is looking to get back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1986. by CNB