Conference Call

Sporting News, The, Dec 18, 2000

                 Hits                      Misses

ATLANTIC COAST   Wake Forest. The team     Florida State. And you
CONFERENCE       shot better than 60       thought Furman only
                 percent from the field    embarrassed the ACC in
                 in the second half as     football, as the
                 it flogged Kansas.        Paladins did at UNC
                 Broderick Hicks, ACC's    last year. But the
                 most improved player,     middle-of-the-pack
                 has become a first-rate   Southern Conference
                 point guard.              team beat the Seminoles
                                           in OT last week.

PACIFIC 10       California. The Bears     Oregon State. Injuries
CONFERENCE       kept their season from    dampened the team's
                 sinking before New        once-promising season.
                 Year's when defense       But that's no excuse
                 fueled two home wins      for a loss to UC
                 last week. Improvement    Riverside. PF Brian
                 from the big men helped   Jackson shot 2-of-11,
                 frequently                had just two rebounds
                 double-teamed Sean        and collected four
                 Lampley.                  fouls.

BIG TEN          Michigan State's          Michigan. A 43-point
CONFERENCE       freshmen. If they keep    drubbing by Duke on
                 it up, Marcus Taylor      Saturday was the team's
                 and Zach Randolph might   16th loss in 21
                 even crack the starting   games--its worst
                 lineup. The dynamic duo   stretch in 18 years, UM
                 combined for 73 points    is allowing a whopping
                 in wins over Florida      87.4 points a game.
                 and Loyola.               Where have you gone,
                                           Fab Five?

SOUTH-EASTERN    Adam Harrington,          Brett Nelson, Florida.
CONFERENCE       Aurburn. The transfer     Maybe a 14-point night
                 from NC State scored a    against Rutgers last
                 career-high 32 (6-of-9    Saturday will get the
                 on 3s) in a 75-72 win     guard on track. In
                 over Detroit. He only     Florida's first four
                 hits 57 percent of his    games, Nelson was
                 free throws, but he is    9-of-40 from the field,
                 averaging 16.2 points a   4-of-25 from 3-point
                 game.                     range.

BIG TWELVE       Kareem Rush and           Kansas. The Jayhawks
CONFERENCE       Clarence Gilbert,         suffered their their
                 Missouri. The wings       second-worst loss under
                 went nuts in the second   Roy Williams, falling
                 half against DePaul,      84-53 at Wake Forest.
                 combining for 39 points   The starters totaled
                 on 12-of-16 shooting,     just 35 points, shot
                 including 6-of-6 beyond   12-of-35 from the field
                 the arc in a 99-84 win.   and hit 3-of-16 3s.

BIGGEST EAST     Mike Sweetney,            Ajou Deng, Connecticut.
CONFERENCE       Georgetown. The           Once heralded as the
                 freshman forward had 28   next great Huskie, Deng
                 points and 16 rebounds    skipped two practices
                 as the Hoyas defeated     and was in street
                 Grambling and             clothes for the win
                 Louisville. The team's    over Arizona as he
                 7-0 start is its best     contemplated
                 since 1992-93.            transferring over
                                           decreased playing time.

CONFERENCE USA   Ledaryl Billingsley,      DePaul. The team's lack
                 Tulane. The senior        of effort, hustle and
                 forward had his sixth     passion in a loss at
                 double-double of the      Missouri should have
                 season with a 24-point,   C-USA coaches looking
                 17-rebound day against    forward to playing a
                 Loyola-New Orleans. His   team many preseason
                 17-point 12-board         polls picked as the
                 averages have caught      league favorite.
                 NBA eyes.

                 Coaches' corner           Week ahead

ATLANTIC COAST   Mike Kryzewski used       Georgia at Wake Forest
CONFERENCE       Casey Sanders early and   (Saturday).This is exam
                 often in the public       week for most ACC
                 execution of Michigan.    schools, and action is
                 This could be a key       light. The Bulldogs
                 move for a program that   went 2-0 vs. the ACC
                 may lose Carlos Boozer    last week, beating
                 to the NBA and has not    Georgia Tech and NC
                 signed a post player.     State. But this one
                                           isn't in Atlanta.

PACIFIC 10       Arizona's loss at UConn   Arizona vs. Illinois
CONFERENCE       probably won't be the     (Saturday in Chicago).
                 last Jim Rosborough       Imagine if Frank
                 will coach for Lute       Williams puts together
                 Olson, whose wife is      a whole game against
                 fighting cancer. The      Arizona after
                 former Northern           engineering a furious
                 Illinois coach has        but futile rally in
                 served under Olson for    Arizona's 79-76 Maul
                 20-plus seasons.          Invite title win.

BIG TEN          Indiana's Mike Davis      Michigan St. vs. Seton
CONFERENCE       didn't suspend Tom        Hall (Tuesday in East
                 Coverdale after a         Rutherfod, N.J.). The
                 second alcohol-related    matchup could decide if
                 offense (he responded     Spartan big man Zach
                 with 30 points vs.        Randolph or Hall big
                 Notre Dame). The coach    man Eddie Griffin comes
                 imposed even stiffer      away with freshman of
                 sanction-a 10 p.m.        the year honors in
                 curfew.                   March.

SOUTH-EASTERN    Billy Donovan is tired    Tennessee vs. Virginia
CONFERENCE       of trying to protect C    (Tuesday in East
                 Udonis Haslem from foul   Rutherfod, N.J.). UT
                 trouble. Haslem fouled    has been inconsistent
                 out in 13 minutes in      but so far has found
                 Florida's loss at         ways to win. But it'll
                 Michigan State but        need its hefty front
                 eased up and played 34    line to slow the
                 vs. Rutgers.              Cavaliers in the Jimmie
                                           V. Classic.

BIG TWELVE       Rick Barnes spent three   Missouri at Iowa
CONFERENCE       days days preparing his   (Saturday). The Tigers
                 Longhorns for South       continue a difficult
                 Florida's 1-3-1           five-game stretch,
                 trap--to no avail. His    heading to unbeaten
                 three point guards each   Iowa after defeating
                 had four turnovers, and   DePaul and Saint Louis
                 his team had 21 in an     last week. Indiana and
                 87-69 loss.               Illinois follow.

BIGGEST EAST     Mike Bray benched Troy    Michigan St. vs. Serge
CONFERENCE       Murphy at the start of    Hall (Tuesday in East
                 Saturday's loss to        Rutherfod, N.J.). The
                 Miami (Ohio) as part of   Pirates let a 21-point
                 his punishment for        lead get away in their
                 using a fake ID. Murphy   overtime loss to
                 never quite recovered,    Illinois. This time, C
                 totaling four boards      Samuel Dalembert has to
                 while Miami won the       collect rebounds, not
                 glass, 44-26.             fouls.

CONFERENCE USA   The John era is off to    Charlotte at Indiana
                 a rough start. Memphis'   (Saturday). When this
                 2-6 start is its worst    series was scheduled,
                 in almost 50 years,       who thought the 49ers
                 Courtney Trask and John   would be favored to win
                 Grice were suspended,     in Bloomington? A
                 Marcus Moody quit and     victory can secure the
                 returned, and Shamel      49ers' role as new
                 Jones is injured.         league favorite.

                 Best defenders

ATLANTIC COAST   Shane Battier, Duke.
CONFERENCE       Critics say he flops a
                 lot and gets too many
                 calls. But he can defend
                 shooting guards or power
                 forwards and is key for
                 a team that has only
                 one true post on
                 defense--Carlos Boozer.

PACIFIC 10       Loren Woods, Arizona.
CONFERENCE       He's not the best on-ball
                 defender, and he'll let
                 a pass or two slip in.
                 But his shot blocking
                 makes penetrators think
                 twice before shooting
                 and allows teammates to
                 gamble more.

BIG TEN          Mike Kelley, Wisconsin.
CONFERENCE       Ohio State's Ken Johnson
                 is the Big Ten's top
                 shot blocker, but nobody
                 takes a back seat to
                 Kelley when it comes to
                 straight-up, man-to-man
                 D. He had 95 steals
                 last year.

SOUTH-EASTERN    Chuck Edison, South
CONFERENCE       Carolina. He's far from
                 the quickest, but he has
                 a knack for knowing
                 where the ball is going
                 and had 93 steals as a
                 freshman. At 6-7, he
                 can defend any of the
                 three perimeter spots.

BIG TWELVE       Jamal Tinsley, Iowa
CONFERENCE       State. The guard set a
                 school record for steals
                 with 98 last year. Not
                 only does he excel in
                 roaming the passing
                 lanes, he also is a
                 master at knocking the
                 ball away from dribblers.

BIGGEST EAST     Samuel Dalembert, Seton
CONFERENCE       Hall. He's only the
                 second-best shot blocker
                 on the team, behind Eddie
                 Griffin. His footwork
                 needs work, but his 7-7
                 wingspan lets him alter
                 as many shots as he
                 blocks.

CONFERENCE USA   B.B. Waldon, South
                 Florida. He's known more
                 for offense. But the
                 Bulls average nearly 10
                 steals a game, and almost
                 one-fourth of those come
                 from the versatile
                 forward, who is
                 deceptively strong.