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Page 3 SPORTS Bradleydefense steals wins for UNC’s Tarheels JAMES ALEXANDER JR. Staff Writer Dudley Bradley is a thief and the victims of most of his crimes have been opposing players that have been defended by him in his career as a forward at the University of North Carolina. Most recently, Bradley’s defense has propelled UNC to frustrating victories over Duke, Arkansas and N.C. State. His steal with seven seconds left in the State game led to his game winning islam dunk, giving the Heels a one-point victory. After an early season one-point victory over then third ranked Michigan State, the Spartan’s 6’8” playmaking guard Earving “Magic” Johnson said Bradley was one of the best defensive players he’d ever seen. Known for his outstanding defensive play around the league (particularly this season), Bradley is said to possess the quickest pair of hands in the Atlantic Coast Conference and quite possibly in the nation. His intense and intimidating style of guarding is not only known for depriving opponents of the ball, but probably of their confidence and poise as well. “I reaUy don’t have any type of basic formula for playing defense,” said Bradley, “other than to stay with my man and react to what happens.” So far this season, Bradley’s reactions has amassed a total of 51 steals in 16 games (through the NCSU contest) and that number is tops on the Tarheel squad. In addition, he has a leaping ability (a vertical jump of 32 inches) which helps him get airborne enough to cancel many of his opponents’ shots and pick off a few rebounds. Through his sophomore season, Bradley had been little more than a sporadically- used erratic player on the UNC squad, who didn’t possess the ideal jump shot or any outstanding offensive moiety skills to Being a Black quarterback starting for an ACC school is a rarity in itself. Duke is the culprit in this case and Mike Dunn takes the leading role. Critics have often wondered why he didn’t go to an Ohio State, USC or any other big-time NCAA winner that has a tradition of playing Black quarterbacks and winning witt them. But Dunn says he has no regrets about coming to Duke after ending his career in a bitter and heartbreaking 16-15 defeat to Carolina. “I never regretted coming to Duke. My teammates respect me and I respect them. I have over 5,000 yards total offense and I’ve had a good career here.” Ending your career on a losing note in a thriller to your arch rival opponent may be the worst way to go out, especially when you’ve never beathen them. Dunn com- receive a whole lot of playing time. He was often criticized for his lack of offensive punch, which many considered his only hinderance to being rated a complete player. His lack of scoring was a mystery to many (including Coach Dean Smith), because Bradley was a threat offensively as well as defensively on a high school team that captured the Maryland State championship. “I really had problems getting into the system here at Carolina, and trying to learn to do the things that Coach Smith wanted me to do,” said Bradley of his first two seasons at Carolina. He then emerged from under Coach Smith’s wraps last season when thrusted into a starting role due to the graduation loss of highly-regarded forward Walter Davis. Bradley turned in a promising per formance then, and showed signs of brighter days ahead for him and the Tarheels. He averaged 5.6 points per game and played his usually exceptional defense with a team-record 61 steals. However, this season the 6’6” senior from Edgewood, Maryland, has come on like gangbusters from the start, and has been instrumental in leading the Tarheels to a 14-2 record and a second place national ranking. Although Bradley’s contributicHis to the Tarheels are rarely noticed by the average fan, he is definitely a defensive plus for Carolina when in the lineup. Coach Smith has made room for his solid defense and teanunate A1 Wood’s hot shooting by switching the pesky defender to the big guard spot and putting Wood at Bradley’s old forward slot. Bradley is now being counted on every game to stop the opposition’s hottest shot from penetrating inside the circle or from taking an uncontested jumper. He has seemingly improved his own shot, adding a boost to his offensive game. [deted eight of 19 passes for 69 yards and ran for what seemed to be the winning 29- yard touchdown with just over four minutes remaining. “I just wanted to go out winning and see what it was like to beat Carolina,” said the sociology major from Hampton, Va. “We didn’t have a letdown (after his late touch down). They came to life. They did what it takes.” Speaking about the touchdown run, Dunn said, “I just kept running and run ning and the end zone seemed like it was moving away. I don’t think I’ve run that far for a toudi down in my life.” Before the season, Dunn was billed as an All-America candidate and even a Heisman trophy nominee. Prior to the ‘78 season, he had amassed 4,578 yards on total offense and was expected to break numerous Duke and ACC records even without having a great season. But Dunn’s |»'oblems started even before Duke’s opening game with Georgia Tech. He missed the spring semester in Through the first 16 contests this season, he has hit on 65 of 117 field goal attempts fcH* an accuracy of 56 percent, which computes to a 9.6 scoring average. “I’ve been shooting around a lot more before and after practice, and I’ve also Photo by David R. Squirot Bradley steals inbounds pass from Michigan State player. been concentrating more when I’m shooting in the game,” says Bradley. “I’m not really surprised with our play so far this year, because although we lost three players (notably Phil Ford), we still had a lot of talent left,” he said. “We basicaly did what we had to do to make up for the losses,” he added. One of the important changes that the Tarheels had to make was to play even tighter defense, and one wonders what fears a tenacious defensive player like eluding spring practice because of academic ineligibility. And although Duke beat Tech with backup quarterback Stanley Driskell, Dunn was on the bench with an injured thumb. “I tore Ugaments in my thumb and it hurt me mentally. I worked hard all summer on my passing. People think I’m only a running quarterback. I wanted to prove that I can throw the ball” After the Carolina game, head coadi Mike McGee’s dismissal became puUic after the nnnors that spreaded the week before became reality. His eight year tenure as the Duke mentor became history. Amid reports of dissension among the Blue Devil players and despite the demand for a winning team from the Duke faithful, Dunn still had high praise for McGee. “I have all the respect in the world for him,” said Dunn. “With odds he has had against him, he’s done a good job.” Bradley would have when chedclng op ponents so tight. There’s always the possibility of com mitting a large number of fouls, which can lead to fouling out of ballgames, or having to sit out great portions of a game to keep from being disqualified. However, Bradley says that he has no featr, and goes all out on defensive every game. “I’m so busy concentrating on my man, and trying to find his weaknesses that I don’t think about fouls except before the game, and not during it,” he said. Obviously, fouls have not been a problem for the 6’6” senior, since he has not fouled out of a game this year. Recently, some have said that Bradley’s defensive capabilities may earn him a shot at pro ball, following his graduation from Carolina in May, but he adds “I really haven’t thought about that, because right now my goal is to win an NCAA cham pionship. It would be unfair to the team to give a lot of thought to that right now.” Bradley is still no offensive whiz, and you probably won’t see his true value by examining the box scores. You have to really see the ballgames he plays in, or better yet, play against him or be his coach. If you could play against him you would stand a good chance of becoming frustrated, and if you were his coach (like Dean Smith), you would could at least be comfortable with the thought that if Dudley’s out there, they’ll (the opponents) certainly have a hard way to go...to the basket. ENTER MEDICAL SCHOOL IN AUGUST Pay Only On Acceptance — W.H.O. Recognized — Orientation by For application & information write PROVEN MEDICAL STUDENT PLACEMENT SERVICE 100 LaSalle St. New York, N.Y. 10027 or call (212) 865-4949 Copies of Ebony Images are on salefor four dollars i#l)K Carolina Union, Mon- day-Thursdays from 11-2:00. Quarterback ]\Iike Dunn closes out grid career at Duke, as an ACC football rarity GREGORY CLAY Sports Writer “Mike Dunn”
Black Ink (Black Student Movement, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
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