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8 • The Red and Black • Wednesday, April 4, 1990
SPORTS
FANFARE
Georgia's Al Parker dropped to No. 4 In the Volvo Tennis Colle
giate Rankings released yesterday. The duo of Parker and Mur-
phey Jensen dropped to eighth from No. 6. The team as a whole
maintained Its No. 3 spot behind Stanford and Cal-Berkeley.
Georgia Dogs finish season: success surprises everybody
Against all odds ... r —- Dogs need challenge
Now that the madness of the
NCAA tournament is over, let’s
recap the roller-coaster ride that
was the men’s basketball team’s
season.
Georgia, picked to finish in the
middle of the SEC pack, blew odds-
makers away by snagging its first
conference championship in 57
years of trying
The Dogs, apparently out of gas
from their title-run, turned around
and lost their first SEC tourna
ment game to Vanderbilt 78-74 in
overtime. A week later, playing in
he first-round of the NCAA tour
nament in Indianapolis, Georgia
x)wed before the Texas Ixmghoms
LOO-88.
Although the Dogs played rela
tively uninspired ball in these two
losses, you can’t take anything
away from Vanderbilt or Texas.
Texas went on to make it to the
Midwest Regional Pinal before
losing to Final Four participant Ar
kansas. Vanderbilt smoked every
body in the NIT and captured its
first-ever post-season
•hampionship in New York.
‘This was a special team,” Conch
Hugh Durham said. “We reached a
goal that many people not asso
ciated with Georgia basketball
bought we could achieve.”
Heck, a lot of people associated
with the Dogs probably didn’t
think they could have won a con
ference championship at the start
of this season Although they prob
ably will not admit it.
When the Dogs opened up SEC
ulay way back on the third of Jnn-
iary against Kentucky, they had
won eight of their first ten games.
Not bad, except for the fact that
most of those eight wins were over
teams like Mercer and Baptist Col
lege. The Dogs lost to Top 20 teams
Georgia Tech and Arizona. Ken-
David
Pace
tucky was dangerous but no match
for the Dogs. Georgia started out 1-
0 in the SEC before heading to
Florida to face the Gators.
Unless you’ve forgotten bv now,
that’s when the Dogs looked a
whole lot like everybody had pre
dicted. Florida, complete with
Dwayne Schintzius and Livingston
Chatman, pounded Georgia 97-69.
Three days later, Alabama extin
guished whatever self-respect the
Dogs had in a 79-62 thumping.
The only thing keeping Georgia
on anyone’s minds was the Col
iseum. The Dogs were winners at
home.
The turning point in the season
came when Georgia faced the pos
sibility of total destruction against
LSU in Baton Rouge. The Dogs
handed LSU a stunning 94-92
overtime loss. Suddenly the Dogs
were contenders. But it was a tight
race all the way.
The Dogs defeated LSU 96-95 in
a thriller here in Athens. But still
had to beat Auburn on the final
day of conference action to capture
the title outright.
First and foremost, Georgia won
its first-ever SEC title. That’s im
portant, because Georgia was
picked to finish no higher than
fifth in the conference. The title
gives the Dogs a base to build on.
The key here is finally Georgia has
a championship banner to hang in
the Coliseum. The first title is the
milestone. Future Georgia basket
ball teams can now look back at
this season and know it can be
done.
REPORT CARD
416) was phenomenal, while
They averaged 82.7
SHOOTING: A-
The Dous’ three-point shooting (165-397,
their overall Held goal percentage woa u solid .474
points o game.
REBOUNDING: B
The Dogs’ nveraged a mediocre 38.6 bounds a game, but considering the
lack of brawn in the middle this is commendable. Alec Kessler was key,
averaging 10.4 bounds n game.
DEFENSE: C+
Opponents nveraged 76.4 points per game against the Dogs, while
shooting .454 from the door —ench dcent figures. But when the defense
wus needed most, it wasn't there (i.e., Texas 100-88).
HUSTLE: B-
At times it seemed a Dog would dive into the (ire for a loose ball, but at
others it seemed they wouldn't go after one for money. In short, it was
erratic.
MENTALITY: C-
The Dogs came out psyched for the underdog role beating LSU twice,
but tucked their tails between their legs and ran when favored. First-
half lapses also plagued the Dogs throughout the year.
OVERALL: B
Except for the Intc-seuson collapse, the Dogs disappointed no one in
bringing home the SEC regular-season crown. And accomplishing the
improbnble is worth a plus in anyone's book.
— Compiled by Sports Staff
- Graphics by Dauis O'Keeffe
It can be compared to the 500-
pound bench-press. Long ago no
one believed that it was possible
until someone finally accomplished
the feat. Within a few years, hun
dreds of guys were doing it and
more.
Before now, most fans lost little
sleep when the Dogs slumped in
basketball. “Hey, Georgia is a foot
ball school, who cares about bas
ketball?” I’ve often heard.
Well, not anymore. Hoop fans
should expect the Dogs to contend
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UNIVERSITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS
STUDENT MEMBERS
I he deadline for petitions of candidacy for election to the University Council as a
student member from the schools and colleges listed below has been extended.
Agriculture Forest Resources
Arts and Sciences Graduate School
Business Administration Home Economics
Education Journalism and Mass Communication
Environmental Design
These elections will be held April 17, 1990 in conjunction with the Campus wide
elections. Any regularly enrolled, full-time student of sophomore level or above
in good academic and disciplinary standing is elegible to qualify for election. Un
dergraduate students must be elected by the students in their respective school or
college. Graduate students may be elected by graduate students to represent the
Graduate School or may stand for election by the undergraduate students enrolled
in the school or college which directs their degree program. No graduate student
may qualify simultaneously in both categories.
Petitions for candidacy are available in the Office of Student Affairs, 201 Academic
Building and at the Information Desk in the Tate Student Center. Completed peti
tions are due and must be retuned to the Student Affairs no later than 5:00 p.m.,
Wednesday. April 11,1990.
For more information contact the Office of Student Affairs.
for titles now. And when they
don’t, they should get upset and de
mand better.
Next season, Georgia will return
four starters. The one casualty is a
biggie though. It will be interesting
to see who will fill the shoes of All-
American Alec Kessler.
Conch Durham and his staff
have already been spreading the
word on the recruiting trail and
former Dogs like Sebastian Neal
and Arlando Bennett could return
from junior college to help the Dogs
out next year.
But, traditionally the Dogs
prove the critics wrong whether
they are picked to do well or not.
Could it be possible that Georgia’s
first-SEC championship will
change things? Tune in next year
Hoop fans.
After the excitement of this year’s
Georgia men’s basketball team, the
University is no longer recognized
as solely a football school.
However, this may not last.
Coach Hugh Durham now has the
task of repeating the success of the
1989-90 campaign and turn fair-
weather fanB into die-hards. One
suggested solution: Schedule
better non-conference games.
Durham’s Dogs now need to
schedule better opponents to keep
Hoop Hysteria brewing and give
Georgia more national prominence
and exposure.
Georgia needs more national TV
games. Georgia needs more co
lossal confrontations. The Col
iseum needs Dick Vitale.
Take for instance LSU, a team
Georgia beat twice this season.
They played Notre Dame, Loyola
Marymount and the NCAA champs
UNLV, and gained national tele
vision exposure. Of course, Chris
Jackson had a lot to do with that,
but Georgia has Litterial Green to
showcase, and by winning the SEC
regular-season crown, Durham’s
Dogs are also on attractive, recog
nizable team. Georgia Tech and
Florida followed similar paths as
the Jackets took on Notre Dame
and Louisville, while the Gators
squared off against Illinois and
Georgetown. Can you imagine how
rockin’ the Coliseum would be if
Georgetown came to Athens?
If Georgia were to beat such a
national giant, it would be great for
the program and unreal for re
cruiting. Every high school player
dreams of playing on national TV
in such big games.
Of course, college basketball
teams are limited to 27 regular-
season games per season, but per
haps Georgia could eliminate a few
of the weaker opponents. Sched
uling teams like Baptist College,
Jacksonville, and Augusta College
are necessary at the start of a
season to rack up a few wins and to
get the season rolling. But how
about scrapping a fall tournament
like the Western Kentucky Invita
tional or one game against a con-
Randy
Walker
siderably weaker opponent in favor
of a big time match-up.
Coach Durham cited several
times that the fan support spurned
his team to victory and even wrote
a letter to The Red and Black
thanking the fans for their sup
port. Well Coach Durham, perhaps
you owe it to these fanB to schedule
some better games. The LSU game
was a spectacle that everyone in
the Coliseum will never forget. But
how long do Georgia hoop fans
have to wait to see such a match-up
and witness the drama again?
Most everybody at Georgia hates
Clemson. Why not start a rivalry
with them? Clemson just placed
themselves into prominence by
reaching the NCAA’s “Sweet 16”
and by winning the ACC regular-
season title.
Alabama basketball fans were
treated to a great show when Dean
Smith’s North Carolina squad, an
ESPN national cable audience, and
Dick Vitale came to Tuscaloosa.
Wimp Sanderson’s boys rocked the
house as they won a significant vic
tory for their program over the
Tarheels that evening. How about
a Dogs-Heels confrontation in
1991?
Why not schedule some ACC op
ponents like a 1983 Final Four re
match with N.C. State or other
nearby teams like Arkansas, fresh
off their Final Four appearance.
Playing LSU, Alabnmh, and Ken
tucky provides some great match
ups and games every year or so,
but playing a Georgetown,
Clemson, North Carolina or Ar
kansas would surely keep Georgia
basketball in the limelight for
years to come.
Randy Walker, a sports writer
for The Red and Black, generally
covers tennis, but decided to
broaden his horizons.
niimTnuTr.ii v. i
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page 5
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