Is it the shoes? North Carolina State, which has had four
players miss time this season because of foot injuries,
including three with broken bones, thinks it might be. So, in
what is surely a p.r. nightmare for sneaker impresario Sonny
Vaccaro, the Wolfpack has temporarily dumped its Adidas shoes in
favor of Nikes. Though N.C. State athletic director Les Robinson
could find no other Adidas-affiliated program with a similar
pattern of injuries, he made the switch for peace of mind.
Questions about footwear, he said, "get in peoples' heads." …
Kansas's Raef LaFrentz returned to action with a bang last
Saturday, getting 31 points and 15 rebounds in just 24 minutes
in an 88-49 demolition of Texas Tech. The question remains,
though, Will the nine games LaFrentz missed with a broken finger
cost him in the player of the year balloting, especially since
North Carolina's Antawn Jamison played so well in his
absence? … What's with Missouri? The Tigers (11-8 through
Sunday) have a 4-0 record versus Top 25 teams since Dec. 30,
including last week's upsets of third-ranked Kansas and No. 10
Iowa. Now, if they could figure out how to win on the road
(Missouri has lost 18 straight away from the Hearnes Center,
including a 55-point whipping at the hands of Kansas State on
Jan. 3), the Tigers might get to go to their first NCAA
tournament in three years.
Issue date: February 2, 1998
|
|
