The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 25, 1996, Page 8, Image 8
Basketball re
LARRY WILLIAMS Staff Writer
For Melvin Watson, there's only one
thing wrong with a three-day, allexpenses
paid trip to Hawaii for the
men's basketball team.
The flight.
Tm not looking forward to that long
flight there one bit," USCs junior point
guard said. The shorter ones are okay,
but one this long, I'm dreading it."
Perhaps head coach Eddie Fogler
could offer Watson some advice: play
hard, win a few games against some
top-notch competition, and the trip home
won't be so bad.
The Gamecocks begin their regular
season Monday in the first round of the
Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii,
when they take on the Virginia Cavaliers
at 4:30 p.m., EST. And, going by the
slate of other possible opponents in the
tourney (No. 15 UMass, Chaminade,
No. 2 Kansas, LSU, California-Berkeley
and Iowa), the Gamecocks won't have
much time to bask in the radiant glow
of the Hawaii sun ? nor their own
accomplishments ? if they are
entertaining hopes of leaving a mark
on championship-caliber teams and a
national-television audience (the
tournament will be carried by ESPN).
"If s an outstanding tournament,"
Fogler said. "You're talking Kansas,
Iowa, UMASS, and Chaminade's the
home team. You never look past them.
so it's tough, but it will be a good
experience."
The Cavaliers, despite having
finished seventh in the Atlantic Coast
Conference last season, return four
starters from a 12-15 team (6-10-ACC);
however, they've had more than their
share of off-the-court problems.
Gamecocks.
MAUI continued from page 1
Weaknesses: Many consider the frontcourt
the only obstacle holding this team back.
The Gamecocks relied too heavily on
their guard play last season, and enued
up paying for it down the stretch, having
been shoved around in the paint by
Georgia, Ole Miss, Arkansas and
Alabama.
4. Virginia Cavaliers: The Cavs are
trying to overcome an offseason in which
several players had run-ins with the law.
i
c
^ady for Maui
Melvin Whitaker, a highly-touted
recruit intended to have replaced
departed center Chris Alexander, pleaded
guilty in the offseason to a felony charge
of malicious wounding. Head coach Jeff
Jones tried to plug the holes by bringing
in VioralrlorJ rof*vnito T?Via Unntar anri
Craig McAndrew; however, McAndrew
must sit out six to eight games for having
played on an Australian team that had
pro players during the offseason.
Virginia's backcourt rivals that of
South Carolina's, as everyone returns
to a unit considered among the best last
season. The troika of Hartfld Deane,
Curtis Staples and Courtney Alexander
should provide USC's guard trio of BJ
McKie, Larry Davis and Watson with
a good test of mettle.
What stands in the way of Virginia's
being a contender is the questionable
strength of their frontcourt.
Which may sound familiar to USC,
who is hoping its frontcourt of Bud
Johnson, Nate Wilbourne, and Ryan
Stack will be able to take considerable
pressure off the guards, who were relied
upon to carry most of the scoring load
last year and suffered from fatigue down
the stretch.
The Gamecocks traveled all day
Friday, and practiced Saturday and
Sunday. If USC beats the Cavaliers,
they will play the winner of the UMASSChaminade
matchup.
Watson says the Gamecocks will
have to get better on the boards and
play better defense if they hope to make
an impact in Maui.
"In order for our team to take the
next step, we have to become better
defensively, there's no ifs, ands or buts
about it."
Last season, the Gamecocks gave
stack up well
5. Iowa Hawkeyes: The Hawkeyes had
great expectations last season and
answered them with a disappointing
mid-level Big-Ten finish and an early
exit from the NCAAs.
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his team to a miserable 12-17 record last
season, head coach Dale Brown must
produce this season, or else.
7. California (Berkeley) Golden Bears:
In the past six months, the Bears of
Berkeley have experienced perhaps their
?arn
... \i
Invitational
up 73.5 points per game, while the offense
produced 78.3 points per contest.
Whereas the offensive effort was enough
to rank USC third in the SEC in scoring,
the defensive numbers ranked ninth
out of thel2 teams in the conference.
There was no better (or worse)
example of the soft late-season defense
last season than when, on the road at
Vanderbilt, the Gamecocks managed
to score 97 points, but still ended up
losing to the Commodores, 107-97.
Watson says USC will exorcise the
defensive ghosts of last year, and,
hopefully for the Gamecocks, do it before
the tournament.
"No question," Watson said. "Coach
is making (defense) a point in practice.
We're going to be a better defensive
team than we were last year."
In its previous two games, both
exhibitions, the Gamecocks beat the
Charlotte Royals and the Puerto Rican
National team. Sophomore guard BJ
McKie said he feels the team is ready
for the stiff challenge in Maui;
"We want to play for real and get
after it," McKie said. "We know that all
these games are going to count, and if s
crunch time.
"It's time for us to suck it up, play
hard as a team, and play hard out there."
McKie said the feeling amongst the
team before they left Columbia was one
of eager anticipation to prove competent
against respected competition.
"Everybody's excited to play the bigname
teams," McKie said. "I think we're
ready to compete with those teams, and
if we play our best, play hard and believe
in ourselves, good things will happen."
' with tough ft
worst offseason ever. First, superstar
Shareef Abdur-Raheem opts for the NBA
Then, Tremaine Fowlkes and Jelani
Gardner transfer to other schools.
8. Chaminade Silverswords: The
mighty swords of silver are the gracious
hosts of this prestigious tournament.
They'll be upset-minded when they
take on UMass in the first round, and
again if they play South Carolina in the
second round.
Chaminade sports a 1-0 all-time
record against the Gamecocks.
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Volleyball t*
DWAYNE MCLEMORE Asst. Sports Editor
MIKE SkSMON Staff Writer
The Carolina volleyball team will
have to wait until after Thanksgiving
to see if its season will continue, after
falling to Arkansas Saturday in the
semi-finals of the SEC Tournament.
l he Lady Lramecocks have had the
goal of returning to the NCAA
Tournament after making the trip last
season and winning their first
tournament game ever. The selection
show will take place at 6 p.m. Dec. 1.
The overall opinion of the team,
however, wasn't too optimistic about a
bid, and Carolina head coach Kim
Hudson didn't want to rule out the
team's chances.
"I'll have to get a feel of what
happened this weekend around the
country to see what the possibilities
are of us getting an NCAA bid," Hudson
said.
Sophomore Ashley Edlund said the
team has really been looking forward
-to the possible bid.
It's a longshot now," Edlund said.
The NCAA Tournament features
48 teams, 24 of which receive automatic
bids and 24 of which get at-large bids.
The Gamecocks' chances should be
good if records are an indicator for an
NCAA bid. The Carolina team that
advanced to the postseason last year
was 20-10 following the SEC
Gamecock Sports Challenoe
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hid in Maui
This is how things could turn out this
week in Maui.
In the first round UMass will beat
Chaminade, South Carolina will defeat
Virginia, Kansas will beat LSU and Iowa
will defeat California.
In the second round UMass will defeat
South Carolina while Kansas will defeat
Iowa.
South Carolina will defeat Iowa in
the Consolation game to take claim of
third place.
Kansas will beat UMass to win the
Maui Invitational.
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jam hopes fo
Tournament, while this year's squad
' was 22-8 after the conference
tournament.
Still, junior Lori Drost said the
chances are not as great as if the team
would have made it to the SEC
Tournament finals.
"We're still going to keep practicing,"
Drost said.
Gamecocks defeat Mississippi, fall
to Arkansas
Carolina opened the SEC
Tournament Friday with a 3-2 victory
over Mississippi and then fell 3-2 to
Arkansas Saturday.
The Lady Gamecocks trailed the
Lady Rebels 2-1 before rallying to win
15-12,11-15,12-15,15-9 and 15-9.
Freshman Fernanda Laires led the way
with 21 kills. Junior Shani Abshier
recorded 13 kills, 14 digs and two aces.
Arkansas then defeated Carolina
Saturday in the semi-finals in similar
fashion. The Lady Razoibacks overcame
a 2-1 deficit to win 12-15,15-12,13-15,
15-12 and 15-11.
The Lady Gamecocks were led by
Laires' 24 kills. Drost added 21 kills,
five block assists and two block solos.
Junior Heather Larkin recorded 17
kills.
Florida wins fifth-straight title
No. 1 Florida defeated Arkansas 3
Penc leton St.
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1 Sunday, winning its 32 consecutive
match and capturing its fifth-straight
SEC Tournament title.
The Gators were led by Aurymar
Rodriguez, who hit .486 and recorded
20 kills, as the team won 15-4,11-15,
15-10 and 15-10. Arkansas' Denise Baez
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Florida coach Mary Wise summed
up her feelings about this season's
tournament and sent praise toward
Carolina's volleyball program.
"South Carolina did a great job of
putting on the tournament from eveiy
aspect," Wise said. "I hope it won't be
12 years before the tournament returns
here.
"The sport of volleyball in the SEC
has been better since South Carolina
joined. Kim Hudson and her staff have
elevated volleyball at this school to be
very competitive and professional."
All-Tournament team announced
The All-SEC Tournament team was
announced Sunday with Drost and
Edlund of Carolina being selected.
In the Gamecocks' two matches,
Edlund recorded 115 assists and 14
kills, while Drost had 32 kills and eight
block assists, hitting .354.
Rodriguez, who recorded 44 kills in
the tournament and hit .439, was also
named tournament MVP.
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