Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 23, 1995 TAG: 9511240024
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
One of Jeff Jones' goals, even before the start of preseason basketball practice, was to avoid the embarrassing opening-week defeats that have befallen Virginia the past two seasons.
Jones isn't sure an exhibition loss to the Brisbane Bullets served that purpose.
Two seasons ago, Connecticut handed Virginia the worst home loss in the history of the program, 77-36. Last season, unheralded Ohio University upset the Cavaliers 94-83 in the second round of the Preseason NIT.
``I haven't seen enough of this group yet to say that it won't happen again,'' Jones said this week. ``It could. Hopefully, it won't.''
Jones has arranged the schedule in such a way that he hopes the Cavaliers won't be undressed on national television when they face Kansas at 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Great Eight in Auburn Hills, Mich. Virginia opens the season Friday night against Tennessee-Martin, followed by a visit Monday night from William and Mary.
Great things have been predicted for this team since March, when the Cavaliers reached the championship game of the Midwest Regional before losing to then-defending NCAA champion Arkansas. UVa won 13 of its last 16 games to finish 25-8.
That team had four seniors among its top eight players, including point guard Cory Alexander and power forward Junior Burrough, both among the top 35 selections in the NBA draft.
However, the Cavaliers did not have Alexander after Feb.8, when he suffered a season-ending foot injury for the second year in a row. UVa showed it could manage without Alexander, going 12-3 after he left the lineup, and there is some belief Burrough can be replaced just as easily.
Not so fast.
Burrough scored more than 20 points in six of the last eight games and had double-figure rebounds in five of the last seven. More than that, UVa's four seniors were 1-2-3-4 on the team in rebounding.
That was one of the reasons Chris Alexander, Virginia's starting center last season, was joined by 7-foot-4 freshman Chase Metheney in the lineup for the Cavaliers' second preseason scrimmage.
UVa trailed Court Authority 34-33 at the half before taking a cue from junior point guard Harold Deane and pulling away for an 84-68 victory over a team composed mostly of former Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth players. Deane finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Even more significant than the Chris Alexander-Metheney pairing was Jones' decision to start 6-5 freshman Courtney Alexander at small forward. Alexander took the place of 6-7 junior Jamal Robinson against Court Authority and could start again vs. Tennessee-Martin.
``I would say, right now, that it's a dead heat between the two of them,'' Jones said. ``Although Courtney has played better most recently, we want everybody to realize that starting is not the most important thing. I'm not thinking about it as a reward.
``We're going to start the five guys who make the best team. Ultimately, I don't think we can make a decision based on whether or not it might hurt somebody's feelings.''
One reason Jones could experiment with a different lineup was the absence of Norman Nolan, a 6-8 sophomore who suffered a severe ankle sprain at the beginning of the month. Nolan resumed practice this week and is expected to be available Friday night, although Jones has not been happy with his progress.
It has been Jones' contention that, given comparable playing time, Nolan could approach Burrough's numbers. That's why the coaching staff was so concerned when Nolan was declared academically ineligible, only to be reinstated following an appeal to the NCAA.
Nolan, frustrated by a lack of playing time and out of shape as a freshman, lowered his body fat from 19 to 13 percent during the off-season. However, Nolan was totally ineffective against the Brisbane Bullets and was pulled by Jones after contributing two points and three rebounds in 13 minutes.
``Yeah, I was disappointed,'' Jones said. ``He was just not very good against the Australian team. It seemed like he was just kind of out there. Maybe you could chalk it up to inexperience or nerves, but he doesn't have the luxury of being inexperienced.''
The biggest surprise of the preseason has been Scott Johnson, a 6-10, 243-pound freshman from Atlanta. Johnson, billed as more of a shooter than an inside force, played 25 minutes against Court Authority and had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
``He's very skilled and has a feel for the game,'' Jones said. ``But, first, he's got to learn how to do things the Virginia way. We're kind of butting heads right now. In practice, we don't see an emphasis on being physically tough or going after every rebound.''
Jones acknowledges he did not coach against the Brisbane Bullets in the same manner he would coach during the regular season. In other words, the game reached a point when it became more important to teach the players a lesson than to win.
``We were down by nine with a couple of minutes left, had all our timeouts left and didn't use them,'' Jones said. ``We could have used Norman. We could have used Curtis [Staples].''
Although Staples came out early against the Australians, he led the Cavaliers in scoring with 16 points in 26 minutes. He added 14 points against Court Authority and should team with Deane to give Virginia one of the top backcourts in the country.
``While we've got experience, we're going to count a lot on inexperience,'' Jones said. ``I looked out there once the other day and we had three freshmen, a sophomore and a junior on the court. I looked out there a little while later and it was three freshmen, Harold and [senior] Chris Alexander.''
Clearly, there is a sense of urgency with Kansas, eager to avenge its loss to Virginia in a Midwest semifinal, looming in less than a week.
``Sure, I'm concerned,'' Jones said. ``I think `alarmed' is the right word. You would have thought we had a wake-up call against the Australians, but it took a while for the message to get across. There's not enough history with this particular group that we can rely on individual abilities.''
NOTE: PLease see microfilm for scores.
by CNB