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Reggie Theus 9 gamble on Nevada-Las Vegas paid off
By KEN RAPPOPORT
AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA (AP) - Reggie
Theus rolled the dice and they
came up “Nevada-Las Vegas.”
It was a lucky break, he said.
“I wanted to go to UCLA
first,” said the 6-foot-7 guard of
the Runnin’ Rebels. “Then my
second choice was San Fran
cisco. I wasn’t thinking about
anyone else at first.”
But Theus ultimately took a
gamble on Jerry Tarkanian’s
high rollers two years ago after
weighing the conditions at the
other two schools.
“I knew both had a lot of good
freshmen,” Theus reflected
Friday on the eve of the NCAA
basketball playoffs, “and I
knew there would be a com
petitive clash with the other
players at UCLA and San Fran
cisco. Also, I got bad vibrations
from UCLA. So I decided to go
to Nevada-Las Vegas.”
Theus poured his playground
moves right into the Nevada Las
Vegas pattern. He is the master
of the “no-look” pass and
displays uncommon poise for a
sophomore.
“I’m trying to do a little of
Notes and quotes
from the NCAA
By ED SHEARER
AP Sports Writer .
ATLANTA (AP) — Notes and quotes from the NCAA
basketball championship tournament:
Every coach wants a slight edge.
Coach Dean Smith of No. 5 North Carolina said Friday
he figured fourth-ranked Navada Las Vegas was the
favorite in the NCAA championships beginning today in
Atlanta’s Omni.
Someone told Smith his Tar Heels had been established
a two-point favorite over the Runnin’s Rebels.
“Is that a Vegas line?” Smith asked.
It was, but not officially. State law prohibits setting
lines on teams in Nevada.
Meanwhile, Coach Lee Rose of North Carolina-
Charlotte had heard before that his team might have an
edge against Marquette because of UNCC’s underdog,
Cinderella role.
“We’ve got to be the underdog because all these other
teams are ranked so far ahead of us,” Rose said.
He added that Marquette also had an extra dimension —
the retirement of Coach Al McGuire following this week
end’s tournament.
“This is his (McGuire’s) last walk on the beach, so
that’s an advantage for them.”
Rose also was asked to describe the style of play used by
Charlotte’s star center, 6-foot-8 Cedric “Combread”
Maxwell.
“The style he plays is very pleasing to my eye,” Rose
said.
Sam Smith of Nevada-Las Vegas got a nickname last
season when he entered a game against Nevada-Reno and
reeled off seven straight points in a span of nine seconds to
erase a 93-91 Reno lead.
Since that time, he’s called “Sudden Sam.”
He is a long-range bomber who usually fires his first
shot from 30 feet away. Last year he came off the bench 31
times and hit his first shot 22 times.
Coach Jerry Tarkanian was asked about Smith’s range.
“Sam doesn’t have any range,” he said.
Coach Al McGuire of Marquette said his ego was dented
Thursday night.
McGuire said he rented a motorbike and rode to the
community of Social Circle to visit former Atlanta
Falcons football Coach Norm Van Brocklin, who owns a
farm there.
“When I rode up they thought I was a veterinarian
because a cow was sick,” McGuire said.
“That kind of hurt the ego a little bit,” he added. “I
thought I was a celebrity.”
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everything this year, not just be
a shooter,” noted Theus. “I’m
trying to perfect my allaround
game. I’m not trying to be a big
man here. There’s enough glory
for everyone at Nevada-Las
Vegas.”
Theus is one of the reasons the
Runnin’ Rebels find themselves
in the elite company of the
NCAA’s final four today at the
Omni.
Nevada-Las Vegas, the na
tion’s fourth-ranked team, met
No. 5 North Carolina in the sec
ond half of the semifinal dou
bleheader after seventh-rated
Marquette took on No. 17 North
Carolina-Charlotte.
A sellout crowd of 15,600
packed the Omni while millions
more watched the semifinals on
national television. Marquette
and North Carolina each were
2%-point favorites.
Theus and his teammates
have rushed into Atlanta with a
sizzling style unlike few teams
in basketball this year. True to
their name, the Runnin’ Rebels
have kept up a crackling pace
all season and run everyone off
the court, with the exception of
Northern Illinois and Utah. The
result has been a 28-2 record
and the highest-powered offen
sive machine in the nation in
Tarkania’s second year there.
If one was looking for sym
bolism, plenty could be found in
the Rebels’ high-flying style.
Some observers point out that
they not only could be running
toward a goal, but perhaps run
ning away from something ter
rifying.
“The NCAA hasn’t left us
alone all year,” notes Theus,
talking about NCAA investiga
tions into possible recruiting
violations at his school.
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Food coupon books
The Griffin Little League Auxiliary today placed on sale its food coupon books. Many of the
coupons are buy-one-get-one-free type bargains and are redeemable at fast-food chains in
the area. The coupon books may be purchased from Little Leaguers. Proceeds from the sale
go to the Little League Auxiliary which uses the funds to aid the Little League program.
Randy Thomas (1) of the 9-10-year-old league and Jeff Foster of the 11-12-year-old league
are shown making a sale.
Players
ratify
pact
WASHINGTON (AP) - With
only 20 dissenting votes, Na
tional Football League players
have ratified a collective bar
gaining agreement that already
is benefitting the rank-and-file,
says union boss Ed Garvey.
Garvey, executive director of
NFL Players Association, told
a news conference Friday that
416 of the 812 union members
had voted for the five-year pact,
with some ballots still out. Only
20 negative votes were counted,
thus far.
In citing early benefits of the
labor peace, Garvey noted that
NFLPA President Dick Ander
son met Friday with the NFL’s
competition committee in Phoe
nix, Artz., in preparation for
next week’s league meeting.
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“They’ve been harrassing us a
lot. NCAA investigators have
been over my house and over
my girl friend’s house.”
And of course they have
talked to Tarkanian innumer
able times.
If anyone can give Nevada-
Las Vegas a hard time, it’s
possibly North Carolina. The
Tar Heels’ patience has been
known to drive opposing teams
to distraction.
Once in the lead, they are a
tough team to beat, the way hey
hold the ball wih their four
comer offense.
Sports
on teevee
SUNDAY
1:30P.M. (B — Major League Baseball
Exhibition Game: Atlanta vs. NY
Mets
2:00P.M. (D — Superstars
3:30P.M. (D — U.S. Boxing Championship
4:00P.M. 0 -P G A Golf: Heritage Classic
4:30P.M. (D — Wide World Os Sports:
Phoenix 'lso'
MONDAY
8:00P.M. O —NCAA Basketball
Championship
WEDNESDAY
7:30P.M. (B — NHL Hockey: NY Rangers vs.
Atlanta Flames
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Phil Ford’s ailing right elbow
could give plenty of pain to the
Tar Heels, though. The All-
American guard hurt the elbow
against Notre Dame in the East
Regionals and reinjured him
self during practice last week.
Ford took “about 15 shots”
during Friday’s practice at the
Omni and pronounced himself
ready to play. With Ford in the
lineup, North Carolina is well
heeled. He helped the Atlantic
Coast Conference champions
post a 27-4 record.
Marquette, tight and rugged
on defense and methodical and
Page 7
patient on offense, does just
enough to win, it seems. The
Warriors have been strangely
inconsistent this season and
have lost seven games, most
among the four teams, while
winning 23.
“We rarely win by more than
eight or nine points,” noted
Marquette Coach Al McGuire,
who is retiring after this season
to go into business.
Teams are rarely awed by
Marquette. The Warriors are
perhaps the least impressive
team here, although they in
variably find away to win. But
Bonnell’s single snaps
13th inning deadlock
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.
(AP) — Barry Bonnell drilled a
run-scoring 13th inning single to
pace the Atlanta Braves to an
11-10 exhibition baseball victory
over the Chicago White Sox
Friday night.
Warriors
with sth
Barnesville Academy won its
fifth game in a row Thursday by
defeating Nathan Green
Academy 5-3 in Sloam, Ga.
Jim Milam was the winning
pitcher. He fired a 2-hitter,
struckout 6 and walked 3. He
helped his own cause with 2 hits.
Both teams scored 2 runs in
the first.
Green pulled ahead 3-2 in the
Ford
to play
ATLANTA (AP) - AU-Amer
ica guard Phil Ford definitely
will start today when fifth-rank
ed North Carolina meets No. 4
Nevada-Las Vegas in the NCAA
basketball finals at the Omni,
Coach Dean Smith announced
Friday.
“He is experiencing very
little pain,” said Smith after the
Tar Heels worked out Friday.
Ford suffered a hyperexten
sion of his right elbow in the
regional tournament against
Notre Dame and hurt it again
Wednesday in practice.
The 6-foot-2 junior did little
work in the practice session,
shooting only a few times.
Horse racing
NEW YORK - Magnetizer,
$5.60, scored a 1%-length
triumph over Gabe Benzzur in
the $25,000 Bolinas Boy Purse at
Aqueduct.
HIALEAH, Fla. - Gitch
Gumee, $11.60, outran Peppy
Addy to capture the feature at
Hialeah.
on Cable
TV
WTCG
Atlanta
■S ATLANTA BRAVES BASEBALL “
77Games in the ’77season...LiveonWTCG! |
APRIL TV GAMES
Sun. March 27 (pre-season)New York Mets 1:30 PM
Sat. April 2 (pre-season) Baltimore Orioles 1:30 PM
Sun. April 3 (pre-season) Minnesota Twins 1:30 PM
Fri. April 8 Houston Astros 8:30 PM
Sat. April 9 Houston Astros 8:30 PM
Sun. April 10 Houston Astros 3:00 PM
Tues. April 12 Los Angeles Dodgers 10:30 PM
Wed. April 13 Los Angeles Dodgers 10:30 PM
Fri. April 29 St. Louis Cardinals 8:30 PM
Sat. April 30 St. Louis Cardinals 8:00 PM
griffin cable television
— Griffin Daily News Saturday, March 26,1977
they usually have to struggle for
their victories.
The best one can say about
Marquette is that the Warriors
take away what a team does
best. They can run when they
have to, but rarely do, especial
ly when they’re ahead.
North Carolina-Charlotte is a
virtually faceless team aching
for identity. The 49ers have
come out of nowhere in the past
two years with players no one
ever heard of to become one of
college basketball’s goldplated
teams.
There wete 35 hits in the 4-
hour, 25-minute game with the
Braves pounding out 20 hits, in
cluding Jeff Burroughs’ fourth
home run in three games, a solo
shot in the third inning.
Ralph Garr, an ex-Brave, sent
third on a solo homer by Jimmy
Parrish.
The Warriors went ahead to
stay in the third on a run scoring
double by Ty Griffin and a RBI
single by Rusty Jackson.
Milam held Nathan Green
hitless over the last 5 innings.
Barnesville scored an
insurance run in the seventh on
a suicide squeeze by Jay Peavy.
Griffin and Jackson were the
leading hitters. Both had 2
RBIs.
Barnesville was scheduled to
play McDonough Christian
today at 2 p.m. in Barnesville.
The Warriors open the region
season Monday at 4 p.m.
against Indian Springs in
Barnesville.
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The 49ers’ approach to the
game is similiar to the way
Coach Lee Rose dresses—very
businesslike.
It’s a small team governed by
a 6-foot-8 center whom Rose
calls “the best college basket
ball player in America today”—
Cedric “Combread” Maxwell.
In the unorthodox North
Carolina-Charlotte style, Max
well is one of the key ballhand
lers, very often bringing the ball
downcourt against fullcourt
pressing defenses.
'the game into extra innings
when he drilled a two-run
homer in the ninth inning to tie
it at 10-10.
Chicago starter Bart Johnson
had three hits and drove in five
runs, three with a bassesloaded
triple in the third inning.
Johnson, however, gave up
five runs in the three inning he
worked.
Biff Pocoroba had three hits
for the Braves and knocked in
one run.
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