THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 22, 1997 TAG: 9702220633
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: 66 lines
The question no longer is if Wake Forest, once the ACC's golden team, is having a little problem.
The question now is if the Deacons can regroup around All-American center and national player-of-the-year candidate Tim Duncan to become the powerhouse it was perceived to be only a few weeks ago.
Back then, following 24- and 12-point victories over North Carolina and Duke, the Deacons were ranked No. 2 and seemingly a lock for the ACC regular-season title and a No. 1 seeding in the NCAA East Region.
It is a vastly different story now for the fourth-ranked Deacons, who visit Virginia today for a game of huge importance to both teams.
Wake Forest (20-4, 9-4), has lost three of its last four ACC games and needs a win to remain in contention for the league title and a No. 1 NCAA tournament seed.
The Cavaliers (16-10, 6-8) probably need to beat the Deacons or Maryland in their final two ACC games to even receive a bid to the NCAA tournament.
``At one time you might have considered this to be a bigger game for Virginia, but it absolutely is not now,'' Wake Forest coach Dave Odom said after Wednesday's 74-60 loss to North Carolina.
``It is as big for us as it possibly could be for them. We need to play well in that game. We've lost a little edge and we need to get that back.''
Just how the Deacons lost that ``little edge'' is a matter of contention. Some critics say the Deacons haven't played as well since Odom benched senior forward Sean Allen in favor of 7-foot-1 freshman Loren Woods. The Deacs are 4-3 in the league since the switch, and two of the victories were by 3-point margins.
The Deacons beat Duke in Durham with Woods on the bench, and lost to the Blue Devils at home with him starting.
Allen didn't score much, but he is considered one of the top defensive forwards in the league and was a source of senior leadership.
Woods takes offensive pressure off Duncan down low - the reason for the move - and is another shot-blocker, but the Deacons aren't as quick in transition with him.
Other critcs also accuse Odom of over-coaching a winning team.
After losing to last-place North Carolina State last week, Odom went on a tirade and demanded that other players step up to help Duncan.
``Balance, balance, balance. We must have more balance,'' Odom said. ``We have too many people standing around watching Duncan.''
In the first half against North Carolina, Duncan deliberately stepped back offensively to give his teammates the opportunity to provide the balance Odom wanted.
It didn't work.
The Deacons were down by 20 at intermission and Duncan had only seven points.
``I was just being passive. I wasn't attacking, I was just backing away. I wasn't trying to score,'' Duncan said. ``I was trying to do other things, but it didn't work and it may have messed up my teammates. We have to assert ourselves against Virginia and get focused from the get-go.''
A loss today would drop the Deacons two full games behind first-place Duke, which plays a non-conference game Sunday at UCLA.
The Deacons conclude the regular-season next week with games against lowly Georgia Tech and Florida State while Duke plays Maryland and North Carolina.
Maryland, tied with the Deacons for second place, is at home today against North Carolina.
The Tar Heels, who blew a 22-point lead to lose to Maryland at home in January, have won six straight games and nine of 11.
In other league games, Georgia Tech is at N.C. State today and Florida State is at Clemson on Sunday.