Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Standing tiall Marquette's Jim Chones displays his scoring talents under the boards. Cougars, Lewis ha4 problem wIt mU1 By BILL GRANT Sports WriterSpahaigaltstlets In Houston, Guy, ,Lewis has a rnat,mhnn,nvc h towl arrinScandingftahe Cou,mut romin i e w i a pero- sqadwthtemtalents their best team since the days of By BIL GRANTthe Big' E, Elvin Hayes. Spors WrterSpearheading all this talent is In Hustn, Gy .ewlshasaDwight "Double D" Davis, the probem.Howver its nt uualonly senior on the club. The 6-7, shotag oftalnt robemsofforward led Houston in both somecoahes qute te oposte.scoring (20.3) and rebounds (12-3), Lewi, te coorfl, plkadotlast year. Davis's sense of. timing towe caryin coah oftheand fantastic jumping ability Couars mut Cm'~ne inemake him one of the better retuningveteans rom astdefensive players in the country. yea's 2-7squd wth he aletsHe averaged five blocked shots a of frshan eamtht fnisedgame, with a personal high of 13-2andscoed t th rae o 98twelve, last year. "That guy can poins pr gme.Thi mitur ofjump to the moon", Carolina's expeiene ad aded couingFrank McGuire has said of Davis. punch'sol give the Cougars' "He's the best forward in the AUE You Gamsecoeck Fans Stop Dy After Thse Gamse For *A Hot Sandivichs ~~AAnd A Deer. Fast Friendly Service Go-Go-Gauucocks! 2005 Green Street Marqu after By STEVE PARKER Sports Writer "I don't think there is any way we can come near last year's record. It's a once in a lifetime thing. But we have some good, experienced players back, and we should be tough," said Coach Al McGuire in evaluation of his 1971 72 Marquette basketballers. Last year's "once in a lifet,ie" team battled to a final season record of 28-1, with a regular season showing of 26-0. The lone Warrior loss came at the hands of Ohio State in the NCAA playoffs. Their fine showing proved enough to rank them second in the nation, behind powerhouse UCLA, in both wire service polls at the season's conclusion. Missing from last year's strong squad are guard Dean Meminger, an All-America last year who was the first round draft choice of the NBA New York Knickerbockers, and forward Gary Brell, the third round pick of the NBA Milwaukee Bucks. Despite the loss of Meminger and Brell, most basketball experts feel Marquette once again has the potential to be one of the finest teams in the nation. Three starters return from last year's squad to attempt a repeat performance. They are center Jim Chones, forward Bob Lackey, and guard Allie McGuire. Center Chones, a 6-11 junior, is a bonifide candidate for All-America honors this season. Chones was the starting center on the United States squad in the Pan-American Games this past summer. He 3 happy ch talent country," said Lewis, apparently with some reason as Davis has been placed on many pre-season All-America teams. Aiding Davis with the reboun ding and scoring chores will be 6-10 center, Dwight Jones, up from the frosh squad. Jones brings his 21.7 and 20.3 scoring and rebounding marks with him. Jones is "as fine a sophomore I've had since Elvin Hayes," said Lewis. Teammate Davis is also high on Jones, saying, "I've seen Marquette's Jim Chones and he's great. But Dwight can play with him. He can be as great as he wants to be, all he needs now is to develop a killer's instinct, but we're helping him. At guard, Lewis is unsure of one of his starters as opening day nears. Sophomore Donnell Hayes, a 27.5 froskh scorer and "as good an outside shooter as I've had here at Houston," and junior Larry Brown are battling it out. The edge at this moment is given to the experienced Brown, because, "we need someone to run the team, someone to make the fast break work, and to get the ball Inside when we slow down the pace," said Lewis. Jerry Bonney, 6-4, has been given the other guard position. Bonney, who switched from for ward late last year, is an excellent rebounder for a gusard ette ret 28-1 r4 Al McGuire returns to pace the Marquette team on both offense and defense after turning away attractive offers from the Virginia Squires of the ABA to become a professional. Chones' statistics from last campaign include a respectable 17.9 scoring average and 11.4 rebounds per game. He also lead the team in field goal percentage, hitting on some 57 per cent of his attempts. Team captain and starting forward Lackey averaged 12.9 points and 8.8 rebounds in each of last year's outings. However, the 6 6 senior is counted on by Coach McGuire just as heavily for his ability to make the key steal or block important shots. He was perhaps the best defensive player on the '70 squad which ranked as the third best defensive team in the nation, surrendering an average of 62.8 points to each opponent team. Another of the returning Warrior starters is also not counted on primarily for his offensive scoring talents. Allie McGuire, the coach's son, is the playmaking guard of the team. His contribution to the team lies not in his ability to score lofty point totals, as his seven point average would evidence, but in his ability to weave into action the team's plays. Coming up from the freshmen Riker ma USC's Tom Riker makes gname ls er urnmg ecord squad of last year, which finished 16-1, are two fine prospects for the remaining two starting roles. Larry McNeil, a 6-9 forward, is the likely candidate for the for ward opening. McNeill spearheaded the freshmen team in just about every category; he averaged 21.8 points a game, 13.9 rebounds, and clicked at a 52 field goal percentage. Six-three junior George Frazier is the leading candidate for the other open guard spot. He was used last year at both the guard and forward slots. Sophomore Marcus Washington is just as likely to procure the position. The 6-1 guard averaged 16.8 points a game. Another sophomore, 6-4 Randy Wade who averaged 14.2 as a frosh, also battles for the job. As is the true strength of most of basketball's top teams, the Warriors are well stocked in capable bench strength. Backing up Chones at center will be 6.9 junior Mike Mills, a reserve last year who saw action in 28 of Marquette's 29 contests. Supporting the forward slots will be backups Kurt Spychalla, 6-4 junior, Guy Lam 6-7 senior, Terry McQuade 6-5 senior, Andy Friedrich, 6-5 sophomore, and Paul Vollmer, a 6-3 sophomore. Coach McGuire, the 1971 Coach of the Year, has guided his Warrior teams to five post-season playoffs berths in the past seven cam paigns, while piling up a fine 94-24 coaching record there. Chones and the strength of the Warrior bench could add another playoff berth to McGuire's coaching statistics this season. kes move move toward basket during