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Hurricane warning precedes tourney
Posted: Wednesday March 08, 2000 01:34 AM
By Ron Chimelis, Special to CNNSI.com Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim mulled the question about the wide-open nature of the Big East tournament, perhaps wondering if it suggested a short memory or was, perhaps unwittingly, shortchanging his own team. Maybe he was thinking of the fact that just a few weeks ago, the talk in the Big East was largely about the wondrous balance found in his own lineup, and the difficulty of playing a Syracuse team that featured veteran stars like Etan Thomas, Jason Hart and Ryan Blackwell. But after a brief pause, Boeheim chose to go along with the line of questioning, accepting the premise that Syracuse -- the league's dominant team for much of the season -- no longer is. "UConn has been an exceptional team for the past couple of years, but this year is the most wide-open tournament I can remember," said Boeheim, who has been coaching the Orangemen since 1976, three years longer than the conference has existed. "And I think it will be the most fun." There is Syracuse, a 24-4 team (13-3 Big East) that lost a chance to clinch the regular-season title outright with a 69-54 final-game loss to Connecticut, which outworked the Orangemen on the boards. There is St. John's, the ultimate survivor. And there is Miami, whose second-half emergence may have written the final chapter to its status as what St. John's coach Mike Jarvis termed "that well-kept secret" and stamped the Hurricanes -- finally -- as a team of national impact. Miami coach Leonard Hamilton, whose team beat St. John's 74-70 in overtime Sunday to share the regular-season title with Syracuse, will believe his team is a nationally-recognized entity when he sees it. But no one is hotter than the Hurricanes, who have won 11 of their last 12 conference games, including six straight on the road. "Maybe in some ways, it's been beneficial to have built the program without all the hype and hoopla," Hamilton said as his team awaited the winner of Wednesday's Notre Dame-Rutgers game for its Thursday quarterfinal at Madison Square Garden. "I think it's because when something happens in Coral Gables, you might not even know about it in New Jersey, while it something happens in a place like Philadelphia, you'll hear about it in New York and Boston." Perhaps, but the stage is set to make the Big East tournament a coming-out party for Miami, if the Hurricanes cooperate by making a run at the title. UConn's decisive win over Syracuse stamped the Huskies, who open against Boston College Wednesday, as a legitimate darkhorse threat to win a third straight tournament title, though UConn will have to win four games in four days to do it. St. John's is playing on its own court, and Syracuse is still Syracuse. But don't discount Miami, which is led by point guard Vernon Jennings (the first player to lead the Big East in assists in consecutive years since Syracuse's Sherman Douglas in 1987-88 and 1988-89), undersized but effective Mario Bland, high-scoring Johnny Hemsley and shot-blocker Elton Tyler. The 'Canes are an evolving storyline that re-entered the Top 25 at the very end of the season and come to New York with a share of their first basketball championship of any kind since winning the Florida Intercollegiate Conference in 1965. "I couldn't sleep," Hemsley said before the St. John's game, which saw Tyler (20 points) and Bland (19) provide the frontcourt scoring that Miami sometimes lacked earlier this season. "I didn't want to be on the floor crying at the end."
Hobbling HoyaGeorgetown forward Lee Scruggs may struggle if the Hoyas last for an extended period at the tournament. Scruggs has twisted his left ankle in each of the last two games, but will play Wednesday against West Virginia.If he needs backup, the Hoyas have it in Jameel Watkins, a senior who lost his place in the starting lineup to Scruggs but is, at 6-10, the same size. Watkins and Rhese Gibson, a 6-7 senior forward, were bypassed for starting assignments at the Hoyas' final regular-season home game, even though when many teams give their seniors a ceremonial start in such circumstances. Coach Craig Esherick said he didn't want to make changes that would reduce the Hoyas' momentum heading into the Big East tournament. At 16-13, Georgetown seems locked into the NIT unless they win the Big East event and the automatic bid. Watkins shrugged off the issue of starting, but Esherick's plan didn't work, anyway. The Hoyas enter the tournament after one of their worst games, a 77-54 loss to Notre Dame. Even worse, they were pounded on the inside, a poor omen with a physical conference tournament up next.
A word for GoreeLast year, West Virginia forward Marcus Goree was a second-team all-conference choice. This season, with comparable numbers, Goree wound up on the third team, but the consensus around the league was that the 6-8 senior was a victim of the Mountaineers' eighth-place finish, which was better than expected but still not among the league's elite."I was surprised about the pick, because I think Marcus should have been on the first team," West Virginia coach Gale Catlett said. "He was double-teamed all year, and he's better now than he was last year when he was on the second team." "The difference with Goree this year is that he does so many things well," said Georgetown's Esherick as the Hoyas prepared for their first-round game with West Virginia. "He defends, rebounds, can run the floor, and now he can score from the outside. "They've been playing him practically at small forward, but he can post up smaller guys, and he can guard on either the perimeter or in the post," Esherick said. "At first, he was just an inside player, but not anymore." As with everything involved with West Virginia, Catlett points out that Goree's achievements have been accomplished virtually entirely on the road. The WVU Coliseum was closed for environmental reasons, and the Mountaineers had to play home games at three other sites around the state. The gypsy feeling won't change this week, either. "We haven't played a game at Madison Square Garden, other than the Big East tournament, since I've been at West Virginia," said Catlett, who has been there since 1978. "Maybe we should schedule somebody there, just so we can get familiar with it like other teams do."
Still playing ballTwice suspended for investigations into his recent past, Erick Barkley scored 15 points against Miami on Sunday, but shot 5 for 18 as Hurricanes fans waved dollar bills and car keys at him.Those heckling devices were references to the NCAA-related matters of Barkley's car swap with a friend, and of questions about whether Riverside Church had paid $3,500 for his tuition to Maine Central Institute, a prep school he attended before reaching St. John's. "Any time people bring up the past and use it against you, I think it's silly," Barkley said. "It's part of immaturity. But that's all right." But Barkley's subpar shooting raised questions of whether the controversy has taken a toll on the court, even now that he's at least able to play. "I think it's been incredibly difficult for him," Red Storm coach Mike Jarvis said. "But as much respect as I had for him before, I have much more for him now. "Ninety percent of the players in America could have been in his position, and very few would have handled it as well," Jarvis said. "He hadn't practiced since last Monday, and that was half a practice. And I still think he played well against Miami." At least Barkley will be home for the Big East tournament, where visiting fans who try to heckle him may find it uncomfortable to do so in Madison Square Garden. The Red Storm plays the Villanova-Pittsburgh winner Thursday, a quarterfinal Villanova may need to win in order to reach the NCAA tournament, provided it gets past Pitt.
Return engagementsIn a 76-51 win over Notre Dame Jan. 18, Rutgers held Irish forward Troy Murphy to 5-for-16 shooting, mostly through the physical play of 6-6, 265-pound forward Rashod Kent. No one sounded happier than Murphy that the teams will meet again Wednesday in the first round."I'll be ready," the 6-9 Murphy said. "Hearing about that made my day. I'm happy to get another shot at Rutgers." Kent had help on defense last time, and he may need it again. But Notre Dame will also have to figure out a way to contain Todd Billet, the freshman point guard who hit eight 3-pointers and scored 31 points in the first game. Seton Hall, an 82-67 winner over Providence Feb. 1, hopes to do as well against Shabazz as it did in that game, when the Providence center scored six points with six turnovers. As his team chases that elusive 20th victory (which Seton Hall hasn't achieved since 1993) and the NCAA berth, Pirates' coach Tommy Amaker hopes a surprisingly good season isn't downgraded too much by their recent 1-4 slide. "We've had a good year, though sometimes, in our current situation, I think that gets lost," said Amaker, who is bringing in highly-acclaimed recruiting class next season. Ron Chimelis covers college basketball for the Springfield (Mass.) Union-News.
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