Basketball 1988-89Friday, November 18, 19887
Tedh's swccess-deoeinids on HaramoDnds
By NATALIE SEKICKY
StalfWriter
When contemplating the fate of the
Georgia Tech basketball team this
year, it is tempting to place all the
responsibility for success on the
broad shoulders of senior forward
Tom Hammonds.
After all, the Yellow Jackets are
significantly weakened by the gradua
tion of key starters Duane Ferrell and
Craig Neal and are counting on solid
performances from three junior
college transfers to fill the void. It
would be easy to grant franchise
status to Hammonds, a preseason
All-American and first-team 1987
1988 AU-ACC pick.
Hammonds definitely has the stats
to go along with those accolades. The
6-foot-9, 217-pound forward was the
only player to rank in the ACC top
10 in four crucial categories: scoring
(second, 18.9 points per game), field
goal percentage (fifth, .568), free
throw percentage (fifth, .826) and
rebounding (eighth, 7.2 per contest).
Impressively, Hammonds accomp
lished most of this while playing with
his back to the basket, which led to
some fatigue problems.
"The season really took a lot out
of me last year," Hammonds said.
"Having to play a lot of minutes and
against bigger people really took its
toll toward the end of the year."
While Hammonds was pounding
away in the paint last year, he was
not without help from the outside.
Namely, sophomore guardforward
Dennis Scott. Scott rode the three
pointer all the way to ACC top
freshman honors and a place on the
All-Freshman team. Scott proved
that Jeff Lebo is not the only long
range bomber in the conference, as
he led the ACC in three-point per
centage (47.6) and treys per game
(3.1), while averaging 15.5 points, five
rebounds and 3.6 assists per game
from the small forward position.
Scott should be even more effective
this year because he has slimmed
down markedly during the offseason.
"Dennis Scott is only five pounds
overweight compared with 45 pounds
last year at this time," Tech coach
Vellei'j Jzsliett Rs2gp
No. Name Pos.
34 Rod Balanis G
52 Maunce Brittian C
5 Karl Brown G
12 Brian Domafik G
20 '"Torn Hammonds F
44 Johnny McNeil F
24 "'James Munlyn ' C
13 "Brian Oliver G
31 "'Willie Reese F
4 'Dennis Scott G-F
42 '"Anthony Sherrod F
23 David Whitmore G-F
'Denotes Letters Won
Head Coach
Bobby Cremins (South Carolina. 1970)
Assistants
Kevin Cantwell (UNC-Asheville, 1973)
Jimmy Hebron (UNC-Wilmington. 1973)
Sherman Dillard (James Madison, 1978)
Bobby Cremins said."
Scott's shooting, combined with
Hammonds' intimidating strength on
the front line, should give Tech a
substantial inside-outside threat as
the Yellow Jackets attempt to better
their 1988 record of 22-10, 8-6 in the
ACC.
This one-two punch will be crucial
to offsetting the loss of Ferrell's 18.6
scoring average.
Completing the nucleus of return
ing starters is 6-4 junior guard Brian
Oliver ( 12.6 ppg, 4.3 apg), who started
all 32 games last year at the off guard
spot. Oliver is Tech's defensive
specialist, playing the thief 42 times
in the last campaign. Oliver played
14 games at the point as a freshman
and may see substantial time there
this year as Tech tries to overcome
the vacancy left by Neal, who set an
ACC single-season record for assists
with 303 in 1987.
Lest he should miss out on the
latest trend in collegiate hoops,
Cremins, in his eighth season with the
Ramblin' Wreck, has jumped on the
junior college bandwagon this year.
He is relying heavily on the perfor
mances of three juco transfers 6
9 center Maurice Brittian, 6-1 point
guard Karl Brown and 6-8 power
forward Johnny McNeil to com
plement his returning nucleus.
"In late November, early
Hgt.
6-3
6-9
6-1
5- 11
6-9
6-8
6- 11
6-4
6-10
6-8
6-7
6-5
Wgt.
185
225
170
165
217
225
206
199
200
225
213
195
Year
Fr.
Jr.
Jr.
So.
Sr.
Jr.
Jr.
Jr.
Sr.
So.
Sr.
Fr. .
Hometown
Va.
Williamsburg.
Atlanta, Ga.
Leicester. England
Leesburg. Va.
Crestview. Fla.
High Point. N.C.
Aiken. S.C.
Smyrna. Ga.
Atlanta, Ga.
Reston. Va.
Millen. Ga.
Los Angeles, Calif.
December we had our recruiting
meeting and made a decision to
improve ourselves through the junior
college ranks," Cremins said. "The
game plan is for these players to hold
the fort and for us, hopefully, to have
an excellent season. The adjustments
that these players will have to make
will be the key."
Indeed, the jucos are the key to
allowing the Tech returnees to shine
this year. Brittian, a first-team junior
college All-American at Hutchinson
J.C. (12.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg), will provide
additional rebounding and defense in
the paint. Even more importantly,
should Brittian find himself at home
in the lane, Hammonds will be
assured the opportunity to return
permanently to the much more
comfortable power forward spot, a
move that can only make Tech better.
"He's a solid player with a great
attitude on the court," Cremins said
of Brittian. "He's a real banger inside
and that's what we really needed."
Brown is another essential piece of
the basketball puzzle for Tech this
year. His responsibility will be to fill
the void left by Neal, and that is no
small job. The question mark at the
point is a major obstacle for Tech
this season, but Cremins believes
Brown can perform adequately, thus
allowing Oliver to remain at the
shooting guard position where he is
Xft
1 S
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DTH file photo
1988 ACC Rookie of the Year Dennis Scott will be dangerous
much more effective.
"Karl Brown doesn't look to score
a whole lot," Cremins said. "He will
have to look to score a little bit more.
But he's a great passer. He's an
excellent ballhandler. He can give us
that controlled, set-up offense we
need."
McNeil (1 3.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg), a
bruiser at 6-8, 225-pounds, will give
Tech some much needed frontcourt
depth, as the Yellow Jackets try to
alleviate the rebounding woes which
caused them to lose the battle of the
boards in 19 of 32 contests last season.
"Johnny McNeil is not a great
See TECH page 14
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