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Friday, December 15, 2000
Wake up! ACC has another contender
By Bill Doherty
Special to ESPN.com
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Wake Forest coach Dave Odom looks more like a CPA than a big-time men's basketball coach. But, even the laid-back Odom's pulse had to be raised by his team's recent 84-53 thrashing of then-No. 3 Kansas. The win was a complete whipping. In fact, it marked the fourth-worst loss in Kansas' storied hoops history.
Name a phase of the game and Wake completely dominated Kansas. The Demon Deacons were rebounding demons, hammering the Jayhawks on the backboard, 43-26. They held Kansas to 38-percent shooting.
But afterward, Odom was quick to point out the calendar says December, not February or March. Odom has seen impressive wins before. Just last year, in fact, his team defeated both Temple and Arkansas in December, but Wake's postseason invite ended up reading "NIT", not "NCAAs" come March.
|  | | Wake Forest coach Dave Odom has guided Darius Songaila and the Deacons to a 7-0 start. |
"I don't know how we could play any better at this time of the year," Odom said. "But that's the challenge I've got to make for this team -- to play better."
The lopsided win over Kansas has raised the bar in Winston-Salem a great deal. Considered a nice, solid team coming off a NIT title a month ago, Wake Forest is now 7-0 and ranked seventh in the coaches' poll (sixth by AP). In the next week or so, the Demon Deacs' new lofty perch will be tested --starting this weekend against Georgia and then next Thursday night at Temple.
But, if Wake plays anywhere near the level that it displayed against Kansas, the Deacons will be a handful both in the next few weeks and come March.
"Everybody is hungry and everybody wants to win," point guard Ervin Murray said. "Everybody is willing to give of themselves for the sake of the team, and that's what we're doing."
That includes Murray, the starting point guard in last year's NIT championship run who lost time in preseason with mononucleosis and can't displace Broderick Hicks in the starting five. But, he's not complaining. Instead, Murray is just trying to contribute in any way he can.
Besides the team's unselfish nature, the biggest difference between this Deacs team and those of season's past is the inspired wing play of Josh Howard and Craig Dawson, who is finally 100-percent healthy. Howard and Dawson give Odom the type of ultra-athletic wings he needs to compete with the Dukes, North Carolinas and Marylands of the ACC world.
Howard, a sophomore sleeper from Winston-Salem, was the best player on the floor against the Jayhawks. Showing absolutely no nerves, Howard hit 6 of 12 from the floor, 2 of 5 from 3-point range, pulled down seven rebounds, and added two blocks, an assist and a steal in perhaps the best 28 minutes of his career.
"He has a carefree spirit," Odom said. "But deep down inside you'll find a competitor who likes a challenge. He's not afraid to succeed and he's not afraid to fail. He plays the game and what happens happens. Then he moves on. He's a very unique young man."
The scary part? An already deep Wake Forest squad could become markedly better in the coming weeks.
Against Georgia this weekend, Odom will welcome center Rafael Vidaurreta back into the rotation. The 6-foot-9 senior is a three-year starter who has missed the first seven games while recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery. Vidaurreta will play around 10 minutes against Georgia to see if he'll be able to contribute even more for the game on Dec. 21 at Temple.
Vidaurretta's return makes a tough frontline even more rugged. In his absence, front-line regulars Josh Shoemaker, Darius Songaila and Scott have all been playing well. But, they'll have to play better in what looks like a deep and loaded ACC. Four of the nation's top 15 teams -- No.1 Duke (9-0), No. 7 Wake Forest (7-0), No. 14 Virginia (6-0), No. 15 North Carolina (5-2) -- reside on Tobacco Road. And after a rugged early-season slate, No. 19 Maryland (6-3) has rattled off five consecutive wins since the insertion of enthusiastic and athletic wing player Byron Mouton into the starting lineup.
And then there is Georgia Tech, which looks much improved under first-year coach Paul Hewitt, who first made his name as a recruiter at Villanova (where he landed Tim Thomas, among others) and then as a Xs-and-Os man at Siena, where his up-tempo style produced high scores and NCAA berths.
"We're happy with our start, but it's just a start," cautions Odom. "The league looks tougher than ever and we'll have to get better in the coming weeks and months in order to reach our goals."
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Games of the Week
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Georgia at Wake Forest
Saturday
The Demon Deacons enter Saturday's game with a 12-game winning streak -- the second-longest streak nationally -- dating back to last season. Only Michigan State (18 straight wins) owns a longer current streak. Wake Forest also enters the Georgia game with its highest national ranking since being ranked No. 5 on Feb. 24, 1997. Under second-year coach Jim Harrick, the Bulldogs are on quite a roll as well, having beaten ACC teams in consecutive games - Georgia Tech (Dec. 6) and N.C. State (Dec. 9).
St. Joseph's (Pa.) at DePaul
Sunday
Two of the nation's best freshman point guards will be on display here in St. Joseph's Jameer Nelson (12.6 ppg) and DePaul's Imari Sawyer (12.9 ppg). How good is the mature-beyond-his-years Nelson? The Atlantic 10 has presented four A-10 Rookie of the Week awards this season and Nelson, who teams with high-scoring Marvin O'Connor (22.5 ppg) in a dynamic backcourt, has won it three times. For St. Joseph's, which is in the midst of exams, to have a chance in this test, its frontcourt must keep DePaul's Lance Williams and Bobby Simmons off the defensive glass. No small task, considering Villanova registered 17 offensive rebounds against the Hawks in a hard-fought 78-75 win Monday night.
Tennessee vs. Virginia
Seton Hall vs. Michigan St.
Jimmy V Classic, New Jersey
Tuesday, Dec. 19
The Meadowlands will have an NCAA tourney feel next week as four of the nation's top 15 teams will be on the same court in the annual Jimmy V Classic. In the first game (7 p.m. ESPN), expect a high-scoring, track meet. Five different Virginia players are currently averaging in double figures, led by Roger Mason Jr. (15.7 ppg) and Chris Williams (14.2 ppg), while four of Tennessee's starters are scoring in double digits. In the nightcap (9:30 p.m. on ESPN), Seton Hall's super freshman Eddie Griffin will get re-acquainted with a guy he's battled tooth-and-nail on the AAU circuit the past few summers, Michigan State's fellow freshman frontcourt stud Zach Randolph.
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Potential lottery winner
Villanova's Michael Bradley continues to impress NBA scouts and opposing coaches alike with his myriad of skills, which include low-post scoring, rebounding, soft hands and passing skills.
One NBA Eastern Conference scout said earlier this week that Bradley looks like a top-15 pick, if he elects to enter the NBA draft next spring. After Bradley notched 20 points and 10 boards in Villanova's 78-75 win over St. Joseph's (Pa.) Monday night at the Palestra, Hawks coach Phil Martelli too came away impressed.
"He will be on my Christmas card list," said Martelli. "Because he's going to be a multi-millionaire sooner or later. He just has a way about him. To me, great players see the game in slow motion and Bradley is like that. He plays with a relative calm. He's just a wonderful player."
Led by Bradley (21.2 ppg, 9.0 rpg), Villanova is off to a 5-1 start (its best start since the Tim Thomas-led Cats started the 1996-97 season at 11-1) and is among the nation's leaders in team field goal percentage (.553). Bradley has made 51 of 67 shots from the field (.761) through the first half-dozen games.
Appalachian woes
The tough times continue at Appalachian State where Shawn Alexander and Corey Cooper, two of the team's top players, are no longer on the team. Earlier this week, Alexander, the Mountaineers' leading scorer, left the program for personal reasons and Cooper, the team's only senior, was dismissed in accordance with Appalachian's student-athlete discipline policy.
The losses are the latest blow to a team that has lost six of its eight games this season.
Alexander, a junior guard, was the Mountaineers' only double-figure scorer this season. He was averaging 15.6 points and 4.1 rebounds a game this season after three seasons of averaging 9.9 points a game for the Mountaineers. Cooper, a 6-8, 280-pound center, was in his second season with the Mountaineers after transferring from Allen County (Kansas) Community College. Cooper was averaging 5.9 points and 4.1 rebounds.
Alexander and Cooper were the Mountaineers' only returning starters from last year's team that finished 23-9 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history.
The Mountaineers lost most of their top players from last season, including Tyson Patterson, a senior point guard, and Rufus Leach, last season's top scorer, who drowned while swimming last summer.
Bruised egos
In Amherst, UMass coach Bruiser Flint is catching serious grief after the team's 1-6 start -- which includes a loss to Holy Cross (no, that's not a typo).
UMass fans sported "Bruiser Must Go" signs during the team's 82-67 loss to UConn this week. It was the Minutemen's sixth straight loss after a season-opening win by just two against Iona.
But Flint isn't the only A-10 coach catching flak in New England. Rhode Island is 2-7 to start the season, making coach Jerry DeGregorio a combined 7-32 since replacing Jim Harrick. Ouch.
The play of Tavorris Bell has been the lone bright spot for Rams' fans. Despite a bum ankle, Bell has been at or near the top of the Atlantic 10 scoring charts all year and currently is averaging 20.7 points a game.
In DeGregorio's defense, the Rams have been decimated by injuries. Although Bell played against Yale (Dec. 11), he took just four shots and was clearly limited by his severely sprained ankle. Guard Brian Woodward is out one more week with a knee injury. As a result, URI is using Dinno Daniels and Zach Marbury at the guard spots, with Bell (when healthy) joining Marcus Evans and Andre Scott, a pair of struggling newcomers, up front.
On the plus side, more frontcourt help will come in the second semester, when forward Tiger Womack becomes eligible, after missing the first term due to academic problems.
Around the East
Holden out: No. 20 Maryland could be without 6-10, 250-pound sophomore backup forward Tahj Holden perhaps until early February. Holden's tenacious work around the basket will be missed, but Terps coach Gary Williams looks at Holden's injury as an opportunity, especially for 6-10 highly-touted freshman Chris Wilcox.
"Good teams don't use (injuries) as an excuse," said Williams. "You have to grow up a little bit."
Holden had successful surgery to repair a broken bone last Saturday, two days after taking a bad step during a non-contact moment in practice. The earliest Holden, averaging 3.7 points and 2.7 rebounds, is expected back is in four weeks. But he could be out until early February, which would be the middle of the ACC schedule that commences at Clemson on Jan. 2.
Wilcox was impressive in Maryland's 93-67 win over Maryland-Baltimore County Wednesday night, scoring eight points (on 4-for-5 shooting) in just 11 minutes of action.
Hunt-ing for points in Providence: So much for that dreaded sophomore jinx in Providence, R.I., where Brown's sophomore swingman Earl Hunt continues to tear it up. Through the first half-dozen games of the 2000-01 campaign, Hunt is leading the Ivy League and is tied for 21st nationally in scoring (with Boston College scoring ace Troy Bell) at 21.5 ppg for 2-4 Brown.
And Hunt isn't just racking up garbage-time buckets against Nowhere State.
Hunt had 26 points against UConn in a closer-than-expected 88-78 loss to Jim Calhoun's Huskies, the 1999 national champs. The last time a Brown player averaged 20 points a game for an entire season was 1979-80 when Peter Moss netted 20.8 per game.
CAA additions official: In a move that had been anticipated for several months, it was announced this week that Drexel, Delaware, Hofstra and Towson are leaving the America East Conference to join the Colonial Athletic Conference effective in July, 2003. The CAA was looking to replace East Carolina, American U and Richmond, which are moving to Conference USA, the Patriot League and the Atlantic 10, respectively.
While the additions represent a nice recovery by the CAA, the defections of the Drexel, Delaware, Hofstra and Towson greatly weakens the America East, which now is said to be interested in adding Albany and Stony Brook to its list of league members.
Tyler may not raise any more 'Caine: Under former Tulane coach Perry Clark, Miami (Fla.) is 4-2, but has looked bad in its two losses, a 95-63 drubbing at the hands of Charlotte and a 67-45 loss to North Carolina. Off the court, Clark was forced to suspend Elton Tyler for academic reasons for the first semester and is still debating whether to re-instate or redshirt Tyler.
The Miami Herald reported Clark is leaning toward redshirting Tyler, who hasn't practiced all summer or fall. A decision is expected any day now. The 6-9 Tyler started every game last year and averaged 10.1 points and 5.5 rebounds.
Quote to Note
"We want Oakland ... We want Oakland."
-- Chanted by the Cameron Crazies after top-ranked Duke broke out to a 34-2 lead against Michigan last week. Of course, they were referring to Oakland (Mich.) University, which upset the Wolverines earlier this season.
Bill Doherty, a freelance writer from Bethlehem, Pa., and covers East Coast men's basketball for ESPN.com.
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