Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 5, 1992 TAG: 9202050040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
TEMPO COULD BE THE KEY IN UVA-TECH SHOWDOWN
For years, Virginia Tech has tried to get Virginia into a running game. Now, the Cavaliers want the Hokies to pick up the pace.That's fine with Bill Foster, who gets his first exposure to the Tech-UVa basketball rivalry tonight at 7:30 at the Roanoke Civic Center.
"Everybody has us pegged as a halfcourt team because we score in the 50s and 60s," said Foster, the Hokies' first-year head coach. "But you're not going to score a lot of points if you shoot 40 percent and have 25 turnovers.
"I don't mind running up and down the court as long as we do it sensibly. They've got 15 players on scholarship and we've got seven, but I've been looking at their box scores and they're only playing eight people a game."
Virginia, it should be pointed out, ranks last in the ACC in scoring and only two weeks ago scored 48 points in a loss to Clemson.
"I didn't think I'd ever see a Virginia team wanting to run the ball after all those years of trying to get Terry [Holland] to run," said Foster, who was the head coach at Clemson from 1975-84 while Holland was the coach at Virginia. "They're a little like us in a sense."
Jeff Jones, a Holland disciple who is in his second year as the Cavaliers' coach, has been challenging his team - particularly freshman point guard Cory Alexander - to attack the basket.
"Number one, we've got to establish the tempo," said Jones, when asked about the keys for his team. "That means up-tempo, not run-and-gun. I do think Virginia Tech would rather play in a halfcourt game.
"I also think we need to get points inside and make them honor our inside game."
When asked what his team needs to do to win, Foster took a deep pause.
"Ooooh," he said. "Some things we haven't been doing.
"We've got to take better care of the ball. If we shoot what we're shooting, we can't afford to have 20 turnovers. I see where Wake Forest had 22 turnovers [in a 69-66 victory over Tulane]. But look what they shot [60 percent].
"I've been kidding with the media that, if they're covering us, they better have their insurance paid up. If you're sitting at courtside, sooner or later you're going to get hit by an errant pass or shot."
The Hokies (7-10) are shooting 43.8 percent from the field - compared with Virginia's 44.5 - and, like the Cavaliers, rank last in their conference in that category.
"I shudder to think what we're shooting the last five games, particularly the guards," Foster said.
Tech has gone 106-of-257 on field-goal attempts (41.2 percent) in losing four of its past five games. The guards have been 42-of-124 (33.9 percent) over that span.
"We started out playing good in Florida [at the Red Lobster Classic] and, if we'd had the right guys in there at the end, we'd have come close to scoring 100 points," said Foster, whose team beat Florida 79-57 in the first round.
"I told 'em in practice [Monday], if they'd messed up early, maybe we wouldn't expect as much out of them. But they've shown they're capable of playing pretty good basketball, so we expect more."
Virginia (10-8) comes to town with some momentum after scoring 80 points or more in back-to-back victories over Maryland and North Carolina State. The Cavaliers have moved into the first division of the ACC at 4-4 but have had more trouble than usual against out-of-conference opposition.
UVa's modest winning streak coincides with a surge by senior Bryant Stith, who has scored 29 and 30 points in the past two games. He made 23 of 28 free throws against Maryland and North Carolina State, underscoring Tech's need to keep him off the line.
Jones announced Wednesday night that sophomore guard/forward Cornel Parker, who has started the past three games, will miss the Tech game because of personal reasons. He is expected to rejoin the team before the end of the week.
Sophomore guard Derrick Johnson is expected to start in Parker's place.