Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / April 3, 1982, edition 1 / Page 8
Part of The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
A S THE CAROLINA TIMES SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 1282 V In Defense Of "The MEAC In The NCAA Tourney By jfcon Armstrong, Jr. Recently, during a friendly sports argument here fa the Times offices, (we -were arguing over the ' tlNC-Georgctown game), I made a statement-where I put my big -foot:Sfighl into my, even bigge'jfi mouth, I . said , something cra2y like. , 'A&f ?i shouldn't have been in the NCAA tour-. nameni!' Before all of you Aggie fans run' me out of town, let me say emphatically that I take it back, hook, line and sinker! - ' - i I think the MEAC and. other so-called smaller conferences should have a bid even though snort scasters such as Dick Vital or ESPN" say thai I hey have no business at' the same party with the big . boys. Vital, and others like him, base ..; tffcir opinions on the' : " facial huv the jMfcAC Champion has -been ' Mown, off the court over the past few ycars.in the! NCAA's opening round.!, It's hard to argue with, that (ir.did happen). But ' what they've also got to take into account is that during those same two years, the MEAC. Champ has been placed v in the Western Regional over three thousand miles from their home base. Most MEAC fans can't afford to trek that far to1 give their teams support, and yes, this: does make a difference. Even Georgetown com plained when it was an . nounced that they were going out west. All of the -crowds' there naturally will be hostile to any eastern outfit and Georgetown was just so overpowering that they: , snatched the west title in; defiance. Just because a team loses badly in one par ticular year in the NCAA's doesn't mean that the entire Icaunc has to be barred. It lut hap-' peried to the bcsi , UCI-A was sent u the cast and: was oromptly blown ' away in an early round last year, but you better! believe that this' won't;' deny the Pac-Tcn or' UCI.A any future invita- lions."'. : This brings up the question why, other than being placed in a hostile .region, has; -the MEAC' looked so Bad in the ,', playoffs? ' My answer to that is one : word "DEFENSE". The smaller; ' predominantly Mack schools just don'l have tlw depth to get in a irunning'-gunning match with a. 'national' power. (This was. illustrated when A&T chose to run wi t h ' West Vi rg i ni a an d lost by a score of 102-72. Fresno state, . which cm-. C' hasizes defense, also icked depth but 4hey beat the high scoring! Mountaineers 50-46 in, the next round.) Sure. MEAC schools are capable of putting points, on the board, but as has been proved time' and time again, the, NCAA .winner is the team that plays the best defense. North Carolina and Georgetown can . run with anyone, but. their defense is awesome. This is what got them into (he national finals. Georgetown even out 'defensed Fresno State (tears, i tears), the nation's 'No. 1 defensive: team over the past two seasons. If you saw that, game, sure the HOyas were not only blistering ' with their shooting percentage (64), they also played great ;''D"., Fresno State was still in; the game until 'the' last j four minutes when the Georgetown . defense kept them from getting! their usually high percent' tage shots. Defense can be ex-i citing and it does not mean holding the ball.' Fresno State Coach Boyd Grant, whose i junior college teams used to run and gun, says,; "Defense will always' keep you in the gamc.j , even when your shooting! is off ". ' . ' 1 ' There is where I think the MEAC can itnpro 0h sure, the fans like t!ic running style, but con trary to what many peo ple think, a team can be high scoring and play defense, too! A case in point was Hillside's teams of the mid-1960's that were coached by the late Carl Easterling. The Hornets made hitting the 100-mark a tradition, but they also played a stifling press that made scores like 147-57, 138-70,-t!;tlM8,,j and 1 19-57 common, If you noticed. Hillside ; must have ; been-' putting the ball up (which they did), but when you score over 100 points and hold the other team to 70 or less, you're also playing some great defense (which they also did). -.: The great Morgan State team of 1974 was the last ; really great defensive MEAC team that I've seen and it got the . Bears a national championship. So, for the MEAC to be competitive now in the NCAA's, 1 think the coaches should em phasize the defensive aspect of the game more. I hope ,to see the day come when there's a MEAC team in. the final four and this is a major way u get there. , L f ix i r "Neatness Counts!" ' Referee Davey Pearl halls action in a World Bo T in Council light heavy weigh! championship bout ; in Im Vegas, lo pull up the trunks of challenger Jerry Martin. 173 Vi. of Anliqua, W,l. Martin had problems with his trunks, but had more problems . with champion D wight Braxton, Pearl stopped the fight la the sixth round as the champion successful-, ly defended his crown it the Showboat Hold. - ini L ' t 10D3 7c3t Chcpcl Hill Street ' " '3 (f JeeAt L1 1 Village Big A Auto Parts is fully stocked with an indepth inventory of domestic and foreign car parts. Jim Hudson, owner, can supply you with more than 100,000 parts immediately in most cases, and on those rare occasions when it's an unusual part it can be obtained within 24 hours from our dis tribution center! Jim, a mechanic by trade, offers you a service above and be yond a normal parts dealership he gives you his professional advice and expertise when you buy a part and will also take the time to help you service your car. So, come on out meet Jim Hudson and join the festivities! I 1 Cliscfj tfieosl cpsclal prices: Troll DlflEpirSSieek Salt Ends Junt21,1SS2 OIL CHANGS KIT w ,a fir nff . The 1 31 6 Trail Blazer Is tougher than a standard 1 " s10 absorber. More rugged with 40 thicker cylln- Th win pay for itself with ona usa m d walls and 100 coil spririg controlled nine-stage He oi a!S ysMy- Tn8y,,, ,on9er ride better, on radial or eludes a galvanized drain pan, opener- re9Ular tires, epout and filter wrench all guaranteed to simplify your oil change. ' ; - t ' h Li y SHOCKSisrnuTs Lifetime Guarantee Part IB&ei2 iturtlel TURTLE WAX MINUTE WAX This remarkable combination of silicons and wax allows you to wax any size car domestic or foreign in less than IS minutes. CATTERY COOSTEn CAELES hu::w chock absoers esch These 12 foot tangle proof Big A Booster Cables This 1 316 computer tuned Husky smoothes could save a towing charge. Features include out the low speed harshness of radials and acta- wiw wnm, wiwwiv-jiuui ciiunpn, via caoies re 'y impruvos nanuung or oias pry tires at hioher main flexible, even at low temperatures. speeds. A premium quality, long lasting, heavy duty shock absorber with 40 more resistance to oounce man tne r standard IN HOUSE SPECIALS 07J UOTOn OIL, OIL FILTERS Aim All! FILTERS. - . ' i 4 ' 9 1C0a 7c:tCSr?:l I (HI Gtrc:!, Durhcni, N.C. je ' '; .5 V ,y'i'i;a7' C32-2101
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 3, 1982, edition 1
8
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75