Sports Monday § DAVE ALEXANDER COMPOUND FRACTURE Duke Best in ACC History? Not So Fast It’s a natural debate when it comes to athletics. In a forum where the object is to be the best, it stands to reason that we want to know who is the best. That’s why there’s a tournament for just about every sport in the world, from soccer to billiards (and, new for 1999, the Match Play Championship for golf). But every so often there’s a team or an individual that comes along and takes the fun out of the discussion. Say, for instance, Michael Jordan. Or the 1998 New York Yankees. In those cases, there’s just not much to be debated. MJ and the Yanks were clearly head and shoulders above their respective competitors (unless, of course, one has an uncommon appre ciation for the pure fundamental genius of Vlade Divac, for whom a strong case could be made). In these instances, the scope of the discussion expands to all of time. Is His Aimess the greatest basket ball player ever? Has there ever been a team as good as last season’s Bronx Bombers? Now that’s a discussion worth hav ing, one that could last for hours and raise the ire of fans, purists and histori ans all at once. So let’s throw this one out just for kicks: Are the 1998-99 Duke Blue Devils the best team ever in ACC his tory? Sound ridiculously premature? Don’t laugh. Opinions were being sub mitted just minutes after Duke had capped the first flawless ACC season in 12 years with an 81-61 trouncing of UNC. “They’re a great team, a superb team,” UNC forward Ademola Okulaja said. “Probably statistic-wise, they’re the best team ever in the ACC. But I think our team last year was bet ter.” There are probably a lot of players who have graced ACC courts and think they played on a team that was better than Duke is this year. A case could be made for last sea son’s Tar Heels. Likewise for last sea son’s Blue Devils. And so on. That’s the beauty of it. There’s absolutely no way to tell, so the debate rages on. But Duke does have the opportuni ty to join some pretty elite company before the book is closed on this sea son. Should the Blue Devils win the rest of their games (three in the ACC Tournament, six in the Big Dance), they would become the fifth team in league history to win the regular sea son conference crown, the conference tournament and the national title. The others: Duke in 1992, UNC in 1982 and 1957 and N.C. State in 1974. Duke’s potential 38-1 record would be surpassed, in terms of winning per centage, by only the ’57 Tar Heels, who finished 32-0. But that discussion, for now, is irrel evant. As it stands, the Blue Devils aren’t even in a class with those afore mentioned teams. Or, for that matter, with the 1997-98 Tar Heels. For everything they’ve accom plished so far, what they achieve in the next month will be doubly important. “We’re good, but we’re not there yet,” Duke forward Chris Carrawell said. “We’re a long way off. We won an ACC championship, we’re 16-0, but there’s a lot more to come.” There better be, or there’s simply nothing to debate. Jordan has six NBA tides to his credit. The Yankees topped their dream season with a four-game sweep of San Diego in the World Series. What has Duke done except win a few relatively meaningless games? Let the Devils go 9 for 9 down the stretch. Then let the debate begin. Dave Alexander can be reached at dalexand@email.unc.edu. Tar Heels Reach ACC Final Third-seeded North Carolina will face No. 4 Clemson tonight in Charlotte for the ACC Tournament title. By Brian Murphy Sports Editor CHARLOTTE - Sylvia Hatched doesn’t like to play zone defense, and North Carolina’s women’s basketball coach has complained all year about how the changing game has made zone play necessary. But after the Tar Heels’ 83-70 victo ry against Virginia in the ACC Tournament semifinals at Independence Arena on Sunday, Hatched just might be softening her stance. Watching the Cavaliers (20-8) blister UNC ’ s defense for a 36-17 first-half advantage, thanks in Women’s Basketball UNC 83 Virginia 70 Georgia Tech 71 JUNc 87 large part to Virginia’s inside play, con vinced Hatched that the zone might be the way to go. The Tar Heels (26-6) responded, clos ing out the half with a 23-4 run, and headed into the locker room tied at 40. “I’m starting to like the zone,” Hatched said with a smile after the game. “When we played Virginia at our place, in the second half we played zone and it worked, so I didn’t hesitate to go to it.” The change in momentum crushed the Cavs, while UNC, behind senior forward Chanel Wright’s 20 second-half points, held off Virginia to earn a spot in tonight’s final against Clemson (23-5). “It will come down to who wants it the most,” Hatched said. “It’s always a dogfight when we play Clemson.” The fourth-seeded Tigers knocked off top-seeded Duke 76-71 to advance to their fourth-consecutive ACC Tournament final. UNC has topped Clemson for the last two tourney tides. The Tar Heels advanced to the semi finals by topping No. 6 Georgia Tech on Saturday. All five starters scored in dou ble figures, paced by Wright’s 18, in the 87-71 win. Against Virginia, the Tar Heels’ bal ance was not as apparent on the stat sheet. Wright (27 points) and point guard Nikki Teasley, who poured in 19 in the first half and finished with 25, were the only Tar Heels to score more than 11 points. But UNC did receive contributions from numerous sources. Five-foot-7 reserve guard Jessica Gaspar pulled down a team-high nine rebounds in 36 minutes as Hatchell stuck with a four- See WOMEN'S BASKETBALL, Page 9 Blue Devils' Dominance on Glass Paves Way for Big Win Vs. UNC Despite playing without Shane Battier, No. 1 Duke controlled the rebounding war against the Tar Heels. By Dave Alexander Senior Writer Forgive Jason Capel for his lack of an explanation. It’s understandable. What could he possibly say to explain how North Carolina was so thoroughly embarrassed on the boards against Duke on Saturday night? “I really don’t know,” Capel said. “We were banging in there just like they were. They just came up with loose balls, rebounds, long rebounds - every thing.” That was a certain shock to the Tar Heels, who, amidst much inconsistency this season, have been consistendy dom inant on the glass. UNC entered the contest as the nation’s best rebounding team, out boarding its opponents by an average of 10.4 per game. Of the Tar Heels’ 10 reg ulars, six are 6-foot-8 or taller. Apparently someone forgot to pass the word of UNC’s size and rebounding prowess to the top-ranked Blue Devils. Despite giving away inches at nearly every position on the floor, Duke 2* kl l. ■ : ik; Jr i % fl 11111. ; DTH/SEAN BUSHER Duke's Elton Brand (left) battles with UNC's Jason Capel for a loose ball Saturday. The Blue Devils outrebounded UNC 52-36 on the night. INSIDE: ■ Gymnastics stays unbeaten. Page 11 ■ Women's tennis gets split. Page 11 ■ Visit our Web site at www.unc.edu/dth for more tennis, lacrosse and swimming results. Wins Give Baseball Best Start UNC's baseball team swept: three games from Temple to surpass its previous best start of 9-0, set in 1942. By Joe Disney Staff Writer In the old-time style of baseball dou ble-headers, North Carolina broke an old record. In the three-game series with Temple, the Tar Heels took the game on Friday 11-4 and both games of the rain induced twin bill on Saturday, 18-5 and 8-1 at Boshamer Stadium. With the sweep of Temple, the fifth- Baseball ranked Tar Heels (10-0) broke the record for best start to a sea son. The pre vious record was a 9-0 start in 1942. “I’m happy for our play- Temple K UNC 8 Temple 5 UNC 18 Temple 4 UNC II ers,” UNC coach Mike Fox said. “It says a lot about them that they came out and started off on a good note.” In the Owls’ first series of the year, they were not prepared for the explo sive offense and stifling pitching that UNC brought to the ballpark. Temple was outscored 37-10 in three games. The first game of the doubleheader exemplified the impressive combina tion of hitting and pitching that UNC possesses. In all, the Tar Heels produced 18 runs off 15 hits and six stolen bases. Eight different Tar Heels tallied hits. Through the first five innings, Corey Richardson pitched perfectly, facing the minimum of 15 batters. Although Owls’ first baseman Samuel Sabolchick broke the bid for perfection in the top of the sixth, Richardson finished the inning to earn the win with seven strikeouts, three hits and three runs allowed. “It was a good outing,” Richardson said. “I just didn’t make a couple of pitches I needed to make. That happens sometimes.” At the plate, shortstop Clay Hooper and third baseman Chris LaMarsh both went 3 for 5 and combined for three RBI. For the weekend, LaMarsh was 7 for 12 with two RBI to raise his team’s leading batting average to .464. In the second game of the double header, lefty Ryan Snare pitched six shutout innings to earn his first win. Another first came in the sixth as freshman Chris Maples lined the first See BASEBALL, Page 11 14