Winston-Salem Journal from Winston-Salem, North Carolina • 14

WINSTON SALEM JOURNAL Thursday March 1 1990 PAGE STEWART Continued rom Page 30 said we had a marvelous time It iwas a close feeling for us Almost like I a long auv On Oct 15 30 pounds lighter and considerably balder Stewart re vgumed control of his program Any one close recognized an immediate difference which the coach himself summarizes like so: Bob Wenzel (the Rutgers coach who had life threatening brain surgery several years ago) said something to me about it get it when you touch your own BUT WHEN Stewart talks about his enlightenment a sly and slightly crooked smile crosses his face There is something here to understand about this complicated man nothing that can be explained away in some thing as hoary as smelling the roses To be sure he is more relaxed now used to run into him before games and he even speak to said Dave Knight a Colurn tbia attorney and longtime friend of Stewart we can have a chat I think looking long His calm and his recovery have affected his team been so re taxed this year that rubbed off on these Athletics Director Dick Tamburo of Missouri said But do not believe Stewart has been overcome by his perspec tive There are those who say Stor Norman who maniacally pushed 11 overachieving teams into the NCAA Tournament' was a cal culated creation itself had an image that he used to protect his teams" said Bill Kircher another longtime Stewarf acquaint ance he was short on talent he won with that NOW HE HAS simply given up fighting the little fights The big ones however he approaches as he always has There is no anger in voice only in his eyes He under stands when the perspective must give way to passion and allows it to happen It is important for him to shape his thoughts beforexplaining this: won a few gamqi if I win any more had a good But that same day he tossed his team out of practice for its lethargy After that practice junior Doug Smith pointed out all still Norm A week and a half ago after a tough call during 92 90 homecourt win over Oklahoma Stewart ran past halfcourt his face twisted into a rage screaming at the Oklahoma coaching staff Just as an official spotted him the new Norm Stewart turned impishly away and tiptoed back to his seat want to seem too com petitive RAWLINGS CMtinved rom Page 30 ment But this is team and the Cavaliers surge seems like busi ness as usual Holland took over a program that had produced one 20 game winner and no NCAA teams in 46 years Near the end of his second season 1976 the sixth place Cavs whipped North Carolina for the ACC cham pionship Virginia came within six points of duplicating the upset the next March Holland continued to improve personnel and records He recruited Jeff Lamp and Lee Raker then landed the biggest flounder in the ocean Ralph Sampson It is no small irony that reputation suffered as his winning percentage soared Sampson turned everything upside down starting with the form sheet Virginia never won the ACC Tournament or NCAA title with Sampson in the middle Virginia never matched ex pectations because the expectations were outrageously high In retrospect part of the problem was aloofness Showered with attention he became larger than the program Sampson become the next Kareem Abdul Jab bar or Bill Walton or Akeem Olajuwon for that matter and Holland was left to explain why the Cavaliers had come up short As the years pass and Sampson bounces off yet another NBA trading block Hol record during that era looks better and better Virginia was 112 23 during Samp career The Cavs were 88 13 his last three seasons when they ranked among top four in the coaches final poll led the ACC standings once and twice tied for first No pro coach has approached that level of success with Sampson Just when superficial basketball analysts were questioning abilities he led the 1984 team to the inal our without Sampson The Cavs 6 8 finished fifth in the ACC that season which reestablished the Holland pattern of jelling in ebru ary and making mischief in March He has returned to the NCAA Tournament three times since then the 1990 bid will be his ninth in 16 Virginia seasons and sustained a program that often has looked a star or two shy of greatness Hol reliance on gritty defense and intelligent players paid huge divi dends last season when Virginia tied for second in the league its highest finish since Sampson and knocked off Oklahoma en route to the South east championship game The 1989 team also reflected Hol resilience and ability to adapt to changing conditions He returned from intestinal surgery for the stretch drive and he accepted suggestion that the coaches unleash gunner Richard Morgan Holland an outspoken opponent of the short 3 point field goal undoubt edly winced whenever Morgan lauched a stupid shot but the tradi pain evolved into rapture After the season Holland serious ly weighed the heavy factors in his career His wife and friends worried about his health A succession of intestinal problems may or may not have been related to coaching but the stress have helped Holland had lobbied for a new basketball arena arguing that Uni versity capacity (8864) was in sufficient to allow new blood into the booster mainstream The same aging folks held the same tickets year after year and they often stayed home or sat silently unless properly motivated by a hated opponent When Athlet ics Director Jim Copeland a former Virginia football lineman committed $10 million to a new football office training complex beside Hall Holland detected a distressing shift in priorities Holland might have retired last spring if Copeland had let him choose his successor Odom was the obvious pick but Copeland facing the first major hiring decision of his tenure give in Odom took the Wake orest job Holland stiff ened accepted proposal and announced that he would com plete his coaching career as a lame duck And what a happy duck he has become Although center Brent Dabbs left ahead of schedule blow ing a hole in the middle the Cava liers won eight of their first nine games The 0 4 ACC start uncovered the transparent weaknesses not enough scorers or rebounders not enough of anything that would sug gest a finish higher than sixth or seventh As usual Virginia got better as the season progressed Kenny Turner and Anthony Oliver began to pro vide scoring assistance for stars Bry ant Stith and John Crotty Blundin also a football player regained his basketball legs and smothered re bounds Reserves contributed more Holland made the right moves and I capitalized on strange moves such asl setting the ACC 3 point record dur3 ing a win over North Carolina Virginia ranks last in shooting per centage (442) and blocked shots sev enth in rebounding and sixth in 3 point shooting People are still trying to figure out how this team caught up with NC State and North Caro lina in the standings how this team' locked up an NCAA bid with a week left in the regular season The answer very complicated: Holland has done his customary job' without fanfare or tears After nearly 16 years of ACC warfare he has retained his perspective humanity and sense of humor He deserves the icing on every one of those ceremo 1 nial cakes SOONERS Continued rom Page 30 in the final five minutes of the half Coach Roy Williams of Kansasaid: think they just got after us a little harder than we were ready to be gotten after They just got after our tails and we do a good job of taking care of the basketball" i When the Jayhawks did protect the ball they were effective A 14 2 run late in the first half brought them to 12 behind and they trailed by 14 at halftime Oklahoma scored the first four points of the second half to take a 52 34 lead and later used a 14 2 spurt to take its largest lead 71 45 Kansas got no closer than 13 after that despite five 3 pointers during one six minute span a last home game for seniors is usually a very emotional Wil liams said they played very well It just emotion out there They executed did the things they wanted to do and made us look a little silly at As was the case against Missouri when four players scored at least 15 points Oklahoma had several stand outs Skeeter Henry had 23 points and iix assists and Terry Evans had 22 points five assists and five steals Two others scored in double figures Oklahoma also shot 53 percent the first time in nine games the Sooners have shot 50 percent and made 10 of 18 3 pointers did have some lapses defen sively and we did some dumb things offensively but gonna take Tubbs said was an outstanding win An outstanding pair of Oklahoma is 22 4 overall 10 3 in the Big Eight and Kansas is 27 3 and 10 3 after losing to someone other than Missouri Each of those losses knocked the Kansas from No 1 like to play it over again right Williams said maybe the one TAR HEELS Continued rom Page 30 eight of the first 10 points Tech built a 13 6 lead on 3 pointer with 16 minutes left North Carolina rallied scoring six straight to pull to 13 12 by the first television timeout at 14:20 Another surge carried the Yellow Jackets to a 25 18 lead on three point play with 9:44 left And again the Tar Heels rallied outscor ing Tech 9 2 to pull even at 27 on basket inside NORTH first two tries at taking the lead foiled when Williams goal tended on a shot by Rice with the Tar Heels trailing 31 30 and when ox missed a3 pointer with the Tar Heels trailing 32 inally Williams followed a miss by Hubert Davis for North Caroli first lead at 34 33 with 3:50 re maining The Yellow Jackets stormed back with six of the next eight points and took a 42 36 lead on fifth 3 pointer of the half North Carolina controlled the fi minutes outscoring Tech 8 5 to pull even by halftime Scott hit nine of 16 field goal at tempts for the Yellow Jackets who shot 51 percent nine assists in the first half North Carolina with hitting all five of his fielcf goal at tempts shot 55 percent for the half Georgia Tech stomped the cold shooting 'Tar Heels 102 earlier this year in Atlanta posting the larg est margin of victory by a Yellow Jacket team in ACC play The loss vzas North worst since a 92 65 defeat to Purdue in the 1969 NCAA Tournament It was also North worst defeat to an ACC team since a 104 69 pounding by Duke in 1964 IN ATLANTA the Tar Heels hit only 23 of 71 shots for 32 percent It was the lowest percentage for a North Carolina team in two decades Going into last night the Yellow Jackets had won two of their last three games with North Carolina Overall however North Carolina held a 33 7 advantage in the series The Yellow Jackets were coming off an 88 80 overtime victory at No tre Dame where Anderson scored 32 points The Tar Heels have slumped of late shooting less than 50 percent in five of their previous six games The overall team percentage is 489 after 19 straight seasons of shooting at least 51 percent Atlanta International Raceway has 84 percent of the Stock And Charlotte othcials have said they expect to be running AIR by the time NASCAR teams arrive in Atlanta for the March 18th Motor craft 500 However statement? yester day cloud those plans Several others have been interested in buying AIR including Roger Penske It was un clear last night if the AIR board had expressly rejected offer Les Richter con firmed that Bill rance Jr the presi dent of NASCAR had at one time been interested in buying AIR one time it was said MIKE MULHERN State into a 37 35 advantage State had an opportunity to pad its lead when Maryland turned the ball over for the 12th and last time in the half but Bryant eggins a freshman forward from Winston Salem walked on a breakaway rom then on the Terrapins scored on every possession to regain the lead Maryland caught up at 39 39 when Martin scored in the lane and went in front for good in the half at 41 39 when Williams made two free throws Williams hurt State in the first half scoring 15 points and pro viding an outside complement to inside attack The Terrapins extended the lead to 45 39 on hook but State cut it to four when Corchiani scored from the lane A free throw by Broadnax gave Maryland the 46 41 advantage with three seconds left before the break WOLPACK Continued rom Page 30 advantage of turnovers surged into the lead Howard the senior from Win ston Salem led the early scoring and helped State forge a 9 2 lead State was up 17 12 with 11:06 left but Corchiani went out for a rest and State suddenly score and Maryland crept back The Terrapins went ahead for the first time at 19 17 on a three point play by guard Teyon McCoy ive minutes later the Terrapins had built the 35 28 lead and appeared to be on the verge of taking control But State fought back behind the scoring of Monroe Monroe went scoreless for the first 14:55 but had 11 points in a span of 1:31 to put Atlanta Raceway Not Sold Nix Says not been sold president Walt Nix Said last night despite statements from officials at Charlotte Motor Speedway last riday that CMS own er Bruton Smith had acquired 84 percent of the shares of stock in AIR And the fete of the Atlanta track remains uncertain Nix said After a meeting yesterday after ftoon of Board of Directors Nix announced that his track had ftot been sold and he said that he was now directly asking for specific fi nancial offers from anyone else inter ested in buying the track Smith according to sources has offered $15 million to Nix and LG DeWitt the two principal sharehold their shares which comprise HORNETS TONIGHT OPPONENT: Los Angeles Clippers SITE: Charlotte Cottseum TIME: 7:40 pm TVRADIO: Radio WSJS (AM 600) PROBABLE LINEUPS LOS ANGELES Starters: David Rivers (5 11 180) Ken Norman (6 8 225) Benoit Benjamin (7 0 255) Danny Manning (6 11 225) Charles Smith (6 10 235) Top reserves: Jeff Martin (6 6 205) Joe Wolf (6 10 230) Winston Garland (6 2 195) CHARLOTTE Starters: Tyrone Bogues (5 3 145) Rex Chapman (6 4 190) JR Reid (6 9 256) Armon Gilliam (6 9 245) Kelly Trtpucka (6 6 225) Top reserves: Dell Curry (6 5 190) Kenny Gattison (6 8 250) Randolph Keys (6 7 195) SCOUTING REPORT LOS ANGELES The Clippers (22 33) have lost three of four and 10 of their last 14 They're 7 21 on the road Injuries have ravaged the Los Angeles backcourt knocking the once promising team from serious playoff contention One time starters Ron Harper and Gary Grant are both out for the season with serious leg Injuries Potentially useful backup Tom Garrick Is hobbled with a season long groin Injury The Clippers traded for ex Golden State guard Winston Garland and Just signed Steve Harris to bolster the sagging guard corps Charles Smith leads the active Clip pers In scoring (203 ppg) The second year player Is shooting 528 percent from the field Garland averaged 155 points and four assists In his first two games as a Clip per Benoit Benjamin Is averaging 94 re bounds and 28 blocks a game He's fifth In the league In the latter department Danny Manning averages 155 points and 58 re bounds for Los Angeles Ex UNC star Joe Wolf a backup center now averages 53 points and 36 rebounds a game The Clippers are one of the NBA's top shooting teams (486 percent on field goals) but have trouble on the boards and with turnovers CHARLOTTE The Hornets (9 44) have lost five straight 2 1 of their last 23 8 20 at home where they play their next two Thirteen of the next 20 are on the road howev er The Hornets need to win one of their last 30 games to avoid tying the 1972 73 Philadelphia 76ers for the worst record In NBA history Charlotte's string as a rebounding power was snapped Tuesday night In Orlando when the Magic outrebounded the Hornets AB AO Charlotte had outrebounded two straight foes after getting outrebounded 47 times In their first 50 Armon Gilliam has 39 re bounds in his last three games but also 13 turnovers Tyrone Bogues is 26 for 46 In his last six games (566 percent) That's much better than Charlotte's "shooters'' in the same period Kelly Trlpucka Is 21 for61 (327 percent) Dell Curry Is 24 for 70 (343 per cent) Rex Chapman Is 30 for 80 (375 per cent) JR Reid averages 24 points a game against the Magic HORNETS Continued rom Page 30 ics but we do think got a lot going for him He could be an admin istrator of some kind I know what but like to have him with Reid a 12 year NBA veteran who will be 35 next August be a major player on the court for Char lotte In feet already fading from view Last addition of Randolph Keys a 23 year old who plays primary position of small forward signaled a further reduction in the few minutes Reid was receiving Al though he was healthy Reid even play Tuesday night against Or lando And depending on per formance the rest of the season the Hornets may try to upgrade the posi tion in next college draft as well Reid who is averaging 67 points a game could still earn a roster spot next season as a playing assistant: a position some teams are ere ating for veteran players whose phys i ical skills are fading but who still possess valuable leadership traits Reid heard about the playing 'as sistant idea at this All Star game from Coach Pat Riley of the Los Angeles Lakers who is trying to talk veteran Michael Cooper into such a role said be perfect for Reid said I think I would still think I can play for a few more years But if I could learn about coaching while I did that would be Reid points to such players as Lio nel Hollins Paul Westphal Maurice Lucas and Mike Dunleavy players he once played with or against but who are now NBA assistants as examples Scheer said that the Hornets would talk more with Reid after the season ended I THIS WEEK'S SPECIALS! 10 KANGEROO LEATHER BASEBALL SOTBALL 10 Baseball and Softball season is just around the corner You can have the advantage of the same equipment as the Pros Come to Bocock for the finest in the field with quality products from Rawlings Our knowledgable staff will assist you with your selection and find our prices very competitive LITTLE LEAGUE HIGH SCHOOL SOTBALL 10 Start Out Right at Bocock! with SHOES (GLOVESff PANTS LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL SOTBALL 3 Ml TV If A Thruway 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