THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 3, 1995 TAG: 9504030132
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SEATTLE LENGTH: Long : 114 lines
When television commentator Al McGuire a few years ago said Arkansas would be college basketball's premier program in the 1990s, few gave it a second thought.
McGuire can be pretty flippant, and admits to shooting from the lip occasionally without taking aim.
That appeared the case again with his Arkansas prediction.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski seemed to have a road map for getting his team to Final Fours, and the Blue Devils won back-to-back titles in 1991-92.
Dean Smith at North Carolina still had the most durable program, Rick Pitino had set up shop at Kentucky, and Bobby Knight was still raising hell in Indiana.
Arkansas may have looked like at longshot at the time, but give McGuire the credit he deserves on this one.
At the midway point of the decade, the Hogs are on a roll and looking every bit the program of the decade, if not a blueprint for programs the next century.
Duke didn't even make the tournament this year, Indiana went out in the first round, and Arkansas sent North Carolina packing in the semifinals Saturday night.
Now, Arkansas, which has won more games than any other team this decade, goes for its second straight NCAA title in the Kingdome tonight against another of history's blue bloods, UCLA.
Considering the Bruins' past, and Arkansas' future, it is a good matchup between the ages.
Without question, UCLA was the dominant program when it won 10 championships in the '60s and '70s under coach John Wooden.
But, as Arkansas' All-American forward Corliss Williamson noted Sunday, that was a different era.
The current one belongs to the Hogs.
``I think the last time UCLA won a title was probably when I was a kid, or right around when I was born,'' said the player who answers to the nickname ``Big Nasty.''
``We are not too worried about about tradition. This is a new day and a new age.''
Even so, the Razorbacks aren't taking these current Bruins lightly.
They are ranked No. 1 nationally and the only No. 1 seed in the tournament to reach the Final Four.
``They have a great team, and you can't take anything away from them,'' Arkansas' Scotty Thurman said.
``But we feel we have a great team, too.''
No one should question that.
The big question - and it won't be answered fully tonight - is if this is just a great Arkansas team, or is it a great program that is revolutionizing the game?
Other schools, such as Nevada-Las Vegas, Duke, and Michigan, have threatened to build dynasties in recent years, only to fall back while Arkansas was charging by them to the front.
What happens when six seniors from this year's Arkansas team leave, and should Williamson, a junior, make himself available to the NBA draft?
If, indeed, this is the program of the '90s, it won't matter.
Richardson says his team's strength against UCLA, as it was against North Carolina and Virginia a week ago, is the program and not individual players.
``I don't have a lot of McDonald's All-Americans, like North Carolina and Duke,'' Richardson said.
``But we play a style that makes us a very good team, and while individuals come and go, that style is going to stay here.''
That style is to use superior reserve strength to wear down an opponent, force them to the breaking point, and make the kill.
Richardson calls it ``40 minutes of hell.''
``I didn't get this out of a text book,'' he said.
``But a great football coach whose name was Vince Lombardi once said `Fatigue will make cowards of us all,' and that is a true statement.''
Luck was credited for Arkansas escaping the upset clutches of Texas Southern in the first round and Syracuse in the second round.
But, Richardson likes to think fatigue played a role in Southern missing crucial free throws and Syracuse committing a fatal mental blunder.
He said fatigue also was the key factor in the semifinals win, when North Carolina shot only 25 percent in the second half, and will be a key against UCLA.
``I have heard all month that depth does not play an important part in basketball,'' Richardson said. ``If you play a half-court game like Carolina and Virginia, it might not.
``But when you play at a pace that the Razorbacks play, it is different. Our game is a little bit unorthodox than most that play the game. We need more people to play that way. And it stands to reason if I need more people to play that way, you must need more people to play the way I want to play. That is how I see it.''
That is why Arkansas seems to have the edge against UCLA.
The Bruins used only seven players and got only four points from reserves in their semifinals win over Oklahoma State.
Arkansas used 10 players against North Carolina and its bench outscored Carolina's reserves, 27-6.
``Our game plan is work you and work you and see what happens when my bench plays your bench,'' Richardson said.
It is not a novel philosophy, of course.
Wooden's UCLA teams wore down opponents, Carolina in normal seasons does the same, and with Krzyzewski on the bench, Duke has been a master at crunch time.
But Richardson's Hogs have taken it a notch higher, and more than McGuire have noticed lately.
``I see teams playing more like us,'' Richardson said.
And why not?
If the Razorbacks leave the Kingdome with another championship trophy tonight, there will be more converts - and more believers that this is the program of the decade. ILLUSTRATION: Associated Press color photo
Corliss Williamson, right, and Clint McDaniel are two of the waves
of Razorbacks who will try to wear down UCLA tonight.
by CNB