Backcourt beasts

Sporting News, The, Jan 29, 1996 by Michael Bradley

"I knew I had to improve on those areas of my game, because the other guys on the team made up for my weaknesses last year," Allen says.

That doesn't mean Allen has sacrificed his offense. He assumes a somewhat predatory posture when he gets the ball. His long, muscular arms clear space for his taut, pogo-stick frame, allowing him to blast through people in the lane, around them the baseline or over them on the perimeter. His offensive game is complete, and woe to the man charged with defending him.

"His ability to turn it up to a different level offensively when we need a basket is phenomenal," Calhoun says. "The only guys in the league capable of taking good shots at big times and making almost at times impossible shots and making them into good shots are Ray and probably Kerry Kitties."

The Finisher

Maybe if Felipe Lopez's picture hadn't appeared on the cover of every periodical except Mad Magazine before last season, he might have been able to enjoy a normal freshman year at St. John's and wouldn't still be struggling to meet the ridiculous standards set by Red Storm fans and alumni, not to mention New York City's considerable Hispanic community. If Lopez had been able to ease into college basketball, folks might have marveled over his 17.8-point scoring average and 5.7 rebounds per game. Instead, they called him a Dominican Michael Jordan and waited for miracles that never came. St. John's stumbled to a 14-14 record that included a first-round NIT loss to South Florida. And everybody wondered why Lopez hadn't led the Red Storm to the Final Four.

"It was unfortunate he was on the cover of those magazines," Gillen says. "No matter what he did, he couldn't have reached the expectations put on him. He still had a helluva year last year. He's a great player."

Part of Lopez's difficulties can be attributed to the pressure he has endured since arriving on St. john's nondescript Jamaica, N.Y., campus. there is another reason his game is wobbling. While Lopez remains one of college basketball's most flamboyant fastbreak practitioners, he has yet to develop a solid halfcourt game. Like many high school standouts who often thrive in relatively unstructured settings, Lopez was allowed to do pretty much as he pleased while at Rice High in Manhattan. Since no one could handle him one-on-one, Lopez enjoyed a three-year clear-out, a perfect situation for developing open-court skills but not conducive to learning how to flourish within a team concept.

"It's real hard to change a kid's game in one short year," O'Brien says. "Kids don't understand that they can get away with things in high school that they clearly can't get away with at this level."

When the action is fast and loose, Lopez shines. His sinewy 6-foot-6 frame is perfect for slicing past helpless defenders from the wing, and he seems to cover the distance between halfcourt and the hoop in two or three loping strides. "He's probably the most athletic of us all," Allen says admiringly. Lopez dunks with a flourish, passes well in transition and can challenge bigger men close to the basket. He is also an excellent offensive rebounder, a trait he demonstrated against Niagara, when during a 2:45 first-half stretch he converted three teammates' misses into layups.